What are the Types of Ad Groups?

Ad Groups represent strategic units within a campaign. You can use an ad group to represent multiple ads running on different channels, or a single ad running on different channels using different strategies contain multiple ads targeting different audiences or using different strategies to achieve a specific objective. 

Types of Ad Groups

XPO lets you run campaigns across the following 11 key advertising channels:

• Display: Includes static ads, dynamic ads, placements running on standard banners (single image) and on rich media (dynamic) ads. 

• Video: Includes in-stream and out-stream video ads. These can be further broken down into pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll video ads.

• Native: Includes placements running in-feed, Taboola / Outbrain, and mobile app in-feed.

• OTT/CTV: Includes placements running on Connected TV, Smart TV, and set-top box.

• Audio: Includes interactive audio ads that run on desktop, mobile, and tablet. 

• DOOH (Digital-Out-Of-Home): Includes placements running on digital billboards and outdoor signage, as well as digital signage networks found at retail stores, inside elevators, or connected to public EV charging stations.

• Email: Includes placements running ads in banners that appear at the top and the sides of your web-based email services, such as Google's Gmail, YahooMail, Hotmail, etc.

• Search: XPO is integrated with Google Ads' API, giving you access to the full stack of placement options that Google Ads offers its partners.

• Meta: XPO is integrated with Meta Ads' API, giving you access to the full stack of placement options that Meta offers its partners.

• TikTok: XPO is integrated with TikTok Ads' API, giving you access to the full stack of placement options that TikTok Ads offers its partners.

• LinkedIn: XPO is integrated with LinkedIn Ads' API, giving you access to the full stack of placement options that LinkedIn Ads offers its partners.

How to Set Up an Ad Group

Follow the video and step-by-step guide to create ad groups across multiple channels:

1. To begin setting up the ad group, enter the campaign level and click on the campaign you wish to create an ad group under.
2. Click on + Ad Group to bring up the "New Ad Group" page.

1. Programmatic - Ad Group: Display, Video, Audio, Native, OTT/CTV, DOOH

1. Fill in the Ad Group Name and select any programmatic ad group type.
   Set a Start Date and an End Date (if any) for the period of time the ad group is going to run for and select the Time Zone in which it is to run.
2. Set up your Targeting filters to serve your ads to the right audiences.
   
   • • Audiences: Add an existing audience or create a new one in XPO by clicking on +Audience.
       
     • Segments: Learn more about segments.
       
     • Geo Location: Enter a country name, city name, or postal. You can also import a geo list.
3. Under the Budget section, enter the allocated amount for this particular ad group.
   Since ad group budgets are part of the overall campaign budget, ad group budgets cannot exceed the campaign's total budget.
   You have the option to set an Impression Cap for the entire duration of the ad group as well as a daily limit for the number of impressions that can be served in the Daily Impression Cap.
4. Set the Pacing for the budget spend. Below are the different combinations of pacing that can be applied. 
   
   • • Daily Even: A daily spend cap is a fixed hourly budget that can be adjusted daily.
     • Daily ASAP: A daily spend cap sets a daily spending goal that XPO actively works to meet.
     • Flight Even: Similar to Daily Even, a daily spend cap is fixed by dividing the total budget equally across flight days. However, unlike Daily Even, XPO aims to spend the daily budget quickly rather than spreading it out evenly over the period of a day. The daily budget cap is automatically allocated by XPO, ensuring that the budget is spent efficiently.
     • Flight ASAP: XPO pushes to spend the entire ad group budget ASAP. The daily spend cap amount automatically updates itself to the budget cap amount when you select Flight ASAP. Learn more amount Budget Options and Pacing.
5. Pick a bidding strategy to determine where your ads will be displayed. XPO gives you two bidding options:
   1. Automatic Bidding: Decide the metric that XPO should optimize for and the system then sets the bids to help achieve that objective. XPO can optimize for Clicks, Conversion, and Click-through Rate.
   2. Manual Bidding: This option allows you to control the bidding rates by allowing them to set a minimum and a maximum bid limit. This is useful in situations where you know the market CPM rate for winning inventory.
6. Click on Save and launch the new programmatic ad group.
   
   

2. Meta Ads - Ad Group

1. Enter an appropriate Ad Group Name.
2. Select Meta as the Channel.
3. Set a Budget Cap by entering the amount you wish to allocate for this particular ad group. Here, you can choose between a daily budget cap and a lifetime budget cap that lasts for the entirety of the campaign's flight time.
4. Set a Start Date and an End Date (if any) for the period of time the ad group will run.
5. Set up your Targeting filters to serve your ads to the right audience on Meta. Targeting filters include:
   
   1. Placements: You can either decide where the ad is placed (Manual) or leave it to the system to decide and bid for the best inventory (Advantage+).
   2. Audiences: You can create a Custom audience or use an existing audience. 
   3. Age, Gender, Languages, and Geo Locations: Location filters are mandatory. 
   4. Detailed Targeting: Select your audiences' demographics, behaviors, and interests.
6. Set the bidding and optimization strategies for your campaign. Under the Optimization for Ad Delivery, choose the option that best suits your marketing objective. Under the Conversion Window, there are Post-Clicked and Post-Clicked/Post-Viewed conversion window options. You can control the bid price with a cap, without a cap, or at a target cost in terms of bidding strategy.
7. Click Save to confirm your changes and complete your Meta Ad Group setup.
   
   

3. Google Ads - Search Ad Group

1. Enter an appropriate Ad Group Name.
   
2. Select Search as the channel.
3. Set a Minimum and Maximum Daily Budget Cap by entering the amount you wish to allocate for this particular ad group.
4. Set a Start Date and an End Date (if any) for the period of time the ad group will run.
5. Set up your Targeting filters to serve your ads to the right audience via search. Targeting filters include:
   
   1. Keywords:  You can either manually add keywords or upload a list of keywords. The system will then bid for ad inventory if the search content matches the list of keywords and deliver ads. XPO currently supports the following Keyword match types:
      
      

      

   2. Geo Locations and Audiences: Location filter is mandatory.

   3. Language: Set these filters to target audiences based on their preferred language, which can be identified through search queries, Gmail, and Google drive. Multiple languages can be targeted at once.

6. The final step is to set a target CPC bid limit for your bidding strategy. You may also choose to optimize your better-performing ads to be served more frequently to reach your target CPC rate.

7. Click on Save to confirm your changes and finish the process of Search ad group setup.

4. Google Ads - Performance Max Ad Group

Performance Max campaigns are only supported with the Search channel and Sales objective. It is NOT available for cross-channel campaign and other objectives.

1. Enter an appropriate Ad Group Name. By default, Performance Max will be selected the ad group type.
2. The budget at Ad Group level will be shared.
   
3. Follow the detailed steps to finish setting up your Performance Max ad group.
   
   

Refer to Prerequisites for Applying Targeting Settings on Ad Group Level article to learn how to apply targeting settings.