🔍 Overview
Search Atlas Smart Ads is a tool for building and launching Google Ads campaigns directly from the platform. A common question from customers is whether Smart Ads can be used to optimize a campaign that was already created inside Google Ads. This article explains how Smart Ads works and the best approach for getting the most out of your ad spend.
⚙️ How Smart Ads Works
Smart Ads is designed to create new Google Ads campaigns from scratch using Search Atlas data and AI-driven recommendations. When you build a campaign through Smart Ads, the platform generates ad copy, selects keywords, and structures your campaign based on your target URL and goals.
Key things to know about Smart Ads:
- It generates fully structured campaigns ready to publish to Google Ads.
- Campaigns are built using Search Atlas keyword and competitor data for stronger targeting.
- The tool supports both new campaign creation and importing existing Google Ads campaigns for editing within Search Atlas.
❓ Can Smart Ads Optimize an Existing Google Ads Campaign?
Smart Ads can import campaigns that were already created inside Google Ads, and edits made to supported fields in Search Atlas are pushed back to Google Ads. Note that imported campaigns keep their existing tracking (OTTO tracking applies only to campaigns created in Search Atlas).
If you have an existing campaign you want to improve, we recommend the following approach:
- Use Smart Ads to build a parallel campaign. Create a new campaign in Smart Ads targeting the same keywords and pages as your existing campaign. This gives you an AI-optimized version you can compare against your current one.
- Review the Smart Ads output for insights. The ad copy, keyword suggestions, and structure generated by Smart Ads can inform manual improvements you make directly inside Google Ads.
- Run both campaigns side by side. Use Google Ads' built-in experiments or simply monitor performance metrics to determine which campaign delivers better results over time.
- Gradually transition budget. Once the Smart Ads campaign demonstrates stronger performance, you can shift budget away from the older campaign.
💡 Tips for Getting the Best Results
- When creating your Smart Ads campaign, use the same target URL as your existing Google Ads campaign so the AI has the right context to generate relevant copy and keywords.
- Cross-reference the keyword suggestions from Smart Ads with your current campaign's search term report to identify gaps or new opportunities.
- Use Search Atlas's keyword research tools to find additional high-intent keywords you can add to both your Smart Ads and existing Google Ads campaigns.
- Monitor your Quality Score in Google Ads — well-structured campaigns built with relevant keywords and ad copy tend to improve Quality Scores and lower cost-per-click over time.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.