What Is Google Ads Editor?

What is Google Ads Editor?

Google Ads Editor is a free downloadable tool from Google that streamlines both the creation and editing of advertising campaigns.

Here are a few key advantages of this tool:

It works offline: Working offline means you can make changes without worrying about accidentally affecting your live campaigns.
It supports bulk edits: You can select multiple campaigns and add extensions to all of them at once, for example.
It lets you review and verify your changes: To make the platform easier to read and navigate, Editor highlights additions and edits in bold. Before you push your work live, Editor shows you a summary of all changes so you can confirm everything is ready to publish.
It lets you duplicate campaigns, ad groups, ads, and extensions in just a few clicks. This is undoubtedly the platform's number-one value-add. Duplication is incredibly fast and saves you valuable time every day.

In theory, Editor can be used for all campaign types, but it's most useful for Search campaigns, especially for managing ads, keywords, and extensions.

What does the interface look like?

The tool is divided into 5 spaces and can be thought of as a horizontal funnel:

The toolbar: This area is critical. You should always use it at the start and end of every session. Breaking down the buttons one by one:

Accounts gives you access to all your client accounts.
Download recent changes updates the database. It's essential to do this every time you open an account. Click this button, then More data, then All campaigns. This ensures you're working on an up-to-date account and prevents conflicts with a colleague's changes, for example.
Check changes lets you verify at the end of your session that your work can be pushed to Google Ads. The tool will flag any blockers using color-coded icons.
View statistics gives you access to reports at the account level or for specific campaigns. The available KPIs are as follows:

Upload is your final click: it pushes all your work live to Google Ads. A summary table is shown before the data transfer. The transfer is nearly instant. You can then close Editor and open Google Ads to verify everything is working correctly.

The tree view: This is where you choose which level of the account you want to work on. You can position yourself at the account level, campaign level, or ad group level.

The type list: This complements the tree view and lets you drill down further into the details. It gives you access to all elements below whatever you selected in the tree view. If you're at the campaign level, you can work on ad groups, keywords, ads, audiences, extensions, and more. The list is comprehensive!

Make sure you select both in the tree view and in the type list exactly what you want to edit, and nothing else, to avoid making unintended changes.

The display panel: This is the main display area. Your previous selection appears in the center. You can then use the various commands to create and make changes. The most frequently used command is undoubtedly "Replace text," represented by the magnifying glass icon. It allows the following actions:

The configuration panel: This displays the details of your selection from the display panel and allows you to edit it. It's your actual workspace. If you select an ad, you can edit its headlines, descriptions, and corresponding URLs. If you select a campaign, you can edit its name or bidding strategy, for example.

In the example above, you can see how the configuration panel looks for an ETA. All your ad's settings are right at your fingertips, including character counts and a preview.

A closer look at extensions

Google Ads Editor has one specific quirk when it comes to extensions. Before associating them with an account, campaign, or ad group, you first need to create them within the shared library, which you'll find at the top of the type list area.

Once the extension is created in that space, you can go to the category specifically reserved for extensions and pull from the library the extensions you've created.

To wrap up, Google Ads Editor isn't necessarily very intuitive at first, since the platform isn't the most ergonomic and displays a lot of information at once. That said, once you've mastered it, it's a powerful tool for saving time in campaign management. On top of the speed gains, you can easily verify the quality of your work.

Looking to get support with Google Ads, or more broadly with your digital marketing strategy? Don't hesitate to reach out!

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By Ronan Lecointre