optimization strategies for automatic placements

•Use relevant keywords. The AdWords system always starts by looking through every possible page in the Google Display Network to find placements that match your keywords. Only the pages that match your keywords can show your ads. Therefore, it's very important to only use keywords that are highly relevant to your business, product, or service.

•Group keywords by theme. A placement is chosen based on its relevance to your entire ad group's keyword list.

To optimize your performance on the Display Network, make sure your keywords share the same theme, such as describing the same product or service. If you have keywords describing several themes or products (such as roses and gift baskets, or hotels in Paris and hotels in Hawaii), separate them into different ad groups.

•Write ads that match your keywords. Your ad text is not taken into consideration when automatic placements are chosen for you. However, it's important for your overall success that your ad text matches the same theme as its corresponding keyword list. If your keyword list's theme is wedding bouquets, your ad will likely be placed on a site about that topic, so you won't want to show an ad about Valentine's Day bouquets.

Tools and Strategies for Optimizing Display Network Placements

Find relevant placements

Use the Placement Tool to select websites and other placements in the Display Network where you'd like your ad to appear. The tool appears when you create a new campaign or ad group starting with placements, or when you click the Add placements link on the Placements tab of an existing campaign.

For campaigns focused on branding or traffic, think of what type of websites your target audience might visit. For campaigns focused on ROI and conversions, consider what type of website a potential customer is likely to visit when they're most likely to make a purchase or convert.

Track success with Placement Performance reports

The Placement Performance report shows performance statistics for your ads on specific domains and URLs in the Display Network. Use this information to optimize your placements on the Display Network and improve your return on investment. For example, use the report to find placements where your ads are earning the most clicks. If you find that your ad converts particularly well on a given website, try adding that website to your ad group as a placement, with a higher placement bid to help your ad appear on that site more often.