No-Cost Campaign Design

How to Move and Copy Ad Groups within Your Campaigns

I don’t know about you, but I am a huge fan of do-it-yourself home design shows. My favorites are those that demonstrate how moving a few pieces of furniture can change the whole look of a room without spending any money.

It’s hard to believe that an area rug from a dining room and a few pieces of wall art from a bedroom can transform a living room into the perfect gathering place, but these no-cost design shows produce dramatic transformations each and every time.

Similarly, you can make improvements in your account by doing your own “Spring cleaning:” moving ad groups from one campaign to another. You may want to move ad groups when your campaigns become too large for easy management, or when you want to add certain ad groups to a newly created campaign.

Moving an Ad Group to a Different Campaign
Transferring approved and pending keywords and ads to a new or different campaign is simple and quick if you follow these steps:

1. Click the Campaigns tab.
2. Click on the name of the campaign that contains the ad group that you want to move.
3. Click on the name of the ad group you want to move.
4. Click the down arrow to the right of the Ad Group Settings button.
5. Select “Move.”
6. You can make changes to these parameters:
• Assign to Campaign – Select an existing campaign to which to assign your ad group.
• Excluded Words – You can add excluded words to apply to your ad group.
  Click the “Save Changes” button. 

Copying an Ad Group to a Different Campaign
You also have the option to duplicate ad groups and assign them to other campaigns—without moving them from their original location—by following these steps:

1. Click the Campaigns tab.
2. Click on the name of the campaign that contains the ad group that you want to copy.
3. Click on the name of the ad group you want to copy.
4. Click the down arrow to the right of the Ad Group Settings button.
5. Select “Copy.”
6. You can make changes to these parameters:
• New Ad Group Name—Create a new name for the ad group you are creating. Ad group names must be unique within a campaign. If you copy an ad group to the same campaign, you must choose a new name for the ad group.
• Assign to Campaign—Select an existing campaign to which to assign your ad group.
• Ad Group Status—You can turn the status of your ad group on or off.
• Watch List—You can add or remove the ad group from your Watch List.
• Distribution Tactic—You can change Sponsored Search and Content Match distribution tactics for your ad group.
• Match Type—You can select the Standard or Advanced match type for your ad group.
• Excluded Words—You can add excluded words to apply to your ad group.
• Optimize Ad Display—Select “Yes” to ensure that the ads that have higher click-through rates are displayed more frequently, or select “No” to equally display each ad in the ad group.

7. Click the “Save Changes” button.

Remember that ad groups can be moved whether their status is “on” or “off.” When you move ad groups, their status does not change, nor does the status of the ad group’s keywords and ads.

If your mop and dust-rag are at the ready, it’s time to start your Spring cleaning!

—Stephanie Bilberry, Yahoo! Search Marketing Writer