An ad group is a collection of ads within a campaign that share similar targets, keywords, or themes. In platforms like Google Ads, each ad group allows marketers to organize ads around a specific set of keywords, making it easier to control and optimize ad performance based on specific audience intent.
Ad groups in Apple Search Ads serve as containers for keywords and ads. Targeting and max CPT bids are defined on an ad group level. Ad groups are subject to campaigns; their exact function depends on the ad placement.
An Apple Search Ads campaign may contain a single or multiple ad groups. The content of a typical ad group depends on the ad placement.
Ad groups in the Today tab, Search tab, and product page campaigns will include settings for bidding and targeting only and contain only ads;
Ad groups in search results campaigns will include targeting and bidding settings and contain keywords, negative keywords, and ad variations leading to custom product pages. Discovery campaigns will also contain search terms.
For search results ads, each ad group typically contains multiple keywords. However, creating a single-keyword ad group (frequently abbreviated as SKAG) is possible, although Apple Search Ads does not officially recommend this practice.
Ad group audience settings include:
Search Match is also a feature that can be enabled on an ad group level for search results ads.
Ad groups in Apple Search Ads allow fine-tuning ad targeting within any campaign structure. Organizing campaigns into ad groups will enable advertisers to manage their keywords in Apple Search Ads better, optimize bids for different audience segments, and test various ad creatives to improve overall ad performance. This granularity allows for more precise control over how ads reach potential users, ultimately enhancing the effectiveness of the advertising spend and improving key performance metrics like CPT, CPA, and ROAS.
Ad groups allow grouping keywords or ads according to their targeting parameters and bidding priority. These are the most frequent criteria, although more can be applied, depending on the Apple Search Ads campaign structure of choice.
For example, a Category campaign (also referred to as a Generic campaign) can contain multiple ad groups with generic keywords sorted by their logical and semantic relevance to an app, as shown on the schematic below:
The free SplitMetrics Acquire Starter Plan is a front-end service for the Apple Search Ads advertising platform that lets you fully manage all your campaigns, ad groups, ads, keywords, and ad variations. You can create the entire campaign structure on our platform, using its graphical user interface and additional management and automation capabilities to improve your functionality and gain significantly higher transparency.
Apple Search Ads ad groups can have automation rules for easy bid control and keyword management.
For example, SplitMetrics Acquire allows you to add keywords as SKAGs (single-keyword ad groups) easily. Despite being not officially recommended, running SKAGs is a fairly common practice among advertisers for the best possible control over bids and performance.
To properly understand the implementation and configuration of ad groups, please refer to our articles on the semantic-based campaign structure and value-based campaign structure, which significantly impact their configuration, management, and optimization.
