Alli for Google Performance Max

Overview

Alli for Google Performance Max provides a user friendly way to schedule asset rotations for your Asset Groups. Alli will leverage the schedule and the inputted assets to make changes automatically on your behalf in Google Ads.

Getting Started

1. Navigate to Actions > Performance Max

2. Click the ‘Manage Account’ button to link your Google Ads account

3. After you’ve connected your Google Account, you will be redirected to the main landing page

Landing Page

The landing page will display the Google Ads accounts you have access to. Based on your account selection, the Performance Max campaigns and asset groups will be populated.

If your client has an MCC, that MCC needs to have access to any account that you wish to manage via the tool, for campaigns and asset groups to begin populating.

Clicking into an Asset Group will allow you to view all the versions you have set up for the select Asset Group. If nothing is displayed, select the ‘New Version’ button to build out your schedule.

Versions

Alli for Performance Max leverages the concept of versions to drive the entire tool. A version can be thought of as a set of assets that align to specific promotional messaging for the selected asset group. There are two different types of versions: Evergreen and Scheduled.

Evergreen Version

The Evergreen version is your default, evergreen brand messaging assets. This version will be the first one created after clicking into an Asset Group. This type of version is very important to have populated as Alli will update the asset group in Google Ads with these assets whenever there is a gap between scheduled versions.

These assets can be updated at any time in Alli. The changes will be reflected in Google Ads immediately if you click ‘Run Now’ or in a future execution based on the schedule.

For more in depth examples, see the FAQ for how PMax responds to Evergreen edits using Run Now vs Save.

Scheduled Versions

The Scheduled versions are leveraged for your promotional messaging assets. This type of version allows you to define a start date/time and end date/time for when you want the assets to be live for your asset group in Google Ads. Alli will leverage the schedule to know when to make the asset changes in Google Ads.

Changes can be seen in Google Ads within ~5 minutes of the scheduled start date.

Version Details

Version Name

The version name will be used throughout the tool as a reference to the set of assets included within the version.

Version Schedule

Currently the schedule timezone aligns to the timezone setting for your Google Customer Account

The version schedule is available for any versions that are not the Evergreen version. By inputing the start date and end date, Alli will know when to update the asset group in Google Ads with the assets included within the version.

Version Status

The version status is found on the All Versions page. The status indicates whether a version is:

• Live: the version’s assets are currently in Google Ads & experience no issues or errors.

• Live + Completed with errors: there was an issue with 1 or more assets, so less than 100% the version's assets are currently in Google Ads. (Alli PMax will always attempt to rotate as many assets as possible, so your assets may be partially rotated in this instance) To see more specific error messages, either

  • Click into the version itself and review each asset, error messages will be clearly visible OR

  • Navigate to the execution log and review the execution details

• Errored: The version rotation failed 100% - the assets failed to rotate into Google Ads. To see more specific error messages, either

  • Click into the version itself OR

  • Navigate to the execution log and review the execution details

• In Progress: the version’s assets are currently in the process of rotating into Google Ads - refresh or check back in in a few moments or minutes, as the status should update to either Live (with or without errors) or Errored (no assets rotated)

• Scheduled: the version’s assets are going to be in Google Ads at an upcoming date based on the schedule.

• Expired: the version’s assets were in Google Ads but since the end date has passed, a new version’s assets are now in Google Ads.

• Draft: the version is created but does not yet have a schedule set. As a result, Alli will not do anything with these assets until a schedule is defined.

Version Assets

The version assets are the actual content that will be sent to Google Ads. These include:

• Text assets: Headlines, Long Headlines, and Descriptions

• Image assets: Marketing Image (1.91:1), Square Marketing Image (1:1), Portrait Marketing Image (4:5), Logo (1:1) and Landscape Logo (4:1).

• Video assets: Youtube URL(s)

• Final URL

If you attempt to provide an image with the wrong ratio type, the image upload section supports cropping so your images match Google’s requirements.

Alli for Google Performance Max requires users to adhere to Google’s asset specifications when image assets are provided. This includes size, file type, image ratio, and minimum/maximum numbers.

• You may either supply no image assets (zero), in which case your version will only swap the provided text assets, and any images that are live in the platform at the time of the swap will continue to stay live OR

• You must supply at least the minimum # of images for each required image type. You are not required to provide an image for the optional image types, but when the version is scheduled, those image types will be wiped/cleared.

Videos (Youtube) operate the same way

• You may supply no (zero) youtube links, in which case your version will only swap the provided text and/or image assets and any video links that are live in the platform at the time of the swap will continue to stay live OR

• You may supply 1 or more youtube links, in which case your version will swap the provided text assets and your youtube videos will reflect only the videos provided in your version.

Final URL

• You may supply no (zero) final url, in which case your version will only swap the provided text and/or image assets and the final destination live in the platform at the time of the swap will continue to stay live OR

• You may a final url, in which case your version will swap the provided text assets, any youtube assets, your final URL will be what you’ve provided in the Alli tool.

To see a full list of asset types and specifications or minimum/maximum requirements, view this sheet.

Execution Log

The execution log enables you to have a history of what Alli has done for your Asset Group allowing you to confirm that things have run as expected. You can click on View Details to see how each asset type performed in the rotation; it will break out any unsuccessful rotations with the details as to why it may have failed.

Duplicate

The duplicate feature allows you create a copy of the version you select to save you time if you’re only needing to make small or if you want to start creating a new scheduled version from an existing version. The duplicate feature can be accessed from the button on the form itself or from the three-dot menu on the All Versions table.

Duplication supports duplicating the the same asset group the version is currently in, or it also allows for you to duplicate to different accounts, campaigns, or asset groups.

Run Now

The run now button is only available for the Evergreen version and will overwrite any assets that are currently in Google Ads with the Evergreen version’s assets until the next scheduled version’s start.

Changes can be seen in Google Ads within ~5 minutes

What can’t I do?

Schedule Overlapping Versions

Due to the fact that only one variation of the creative assets can be live in Google Ads at any given time, the tool will provide an error message when trying to save a version that has a schedule that overlaps with another.

Edit Expired Versions

Once a version's end date has passed, this version falls into an ‘expired’ status resulting in the inability to edit it any further. Duplicating the expired version will create a fresh copy with the ability to make any necessary edits.

OpenAI “Generate”

Alli for Google Performance Max x OpenAI provides a user friendly way to integrate with OpenAI to generate copy, for inspiration or use in you campaigns. Alli will leverage your clients existing version history as the training data for an AI model, and ingest your keywords and extra information to fine tune the AI prompt, and output generated copy.

We recommend everyone review PMGs AI POV and adopt a test-andlearn approach to explore the capabilities of generative AI models. It's important to exercise caution if utilizing AI outputs for commercial purposes, such as AIgenerated images, as the legal use of AI-generated content for enterprise brands remains unclear and we also recommend reviewing the Frequently Asked Questions before you begin leveraging. We’ve detailed how your clients data is being leveraged by the model and within Alli.

How It Works:

Using your previously scheduled versions as the training data for your clients AI model, you can add keywords, extra prompt information, and adjust the AI configuration settings to generate new headlines, long headlines and descriptions. Once you are satisfied with the data you’ve provided, click `Generate, and the AI model will provide you with freshly generated copy options. To use them in your version, simply copy and paste.

Each AI model configuration input has a tool tip describing what that variable’s definition is, and this article provides layman terms definitions in addition to the tool tips. You can use the ‘extra prompt’ or 'keywords` section to provide the AI generator with more information to consider.

Remember, clicking “Generate” costs PMG between $0.10 - $1, so use this feature wisely and efficiently.

Remember: When you use AI to generate responses, the AI model tries to understand the meaning and context of your prompt and generate a response accordingly. However, the AI model is not perfect and may make mistakes or generate responses that are not exactly what you requested.

One reason why the AI model may generate responses that do not match the prompt exactly because it is trying to balance multiple competing objectives, such as generating a response that is coherent and grammatically correct, while also matching the length or tone of the prompt. In some cases, the AI model may prioritize one objective over another, leading to a response that is not a perfect match for your request.

TLDR: AI models can generate impressive responses, but they are not perfect and may generate responses that are not exactly what you requested. It is important to keep this in mind when using AI tools and to be prepared to make adjustments or provide additional guidance to help the model generate the response you are looking for.

FAQs

• What happens when I make changes to my Evergreen version and I click ‘Run Now’?

  • The assets will be pushed immediately to Google Ads. So any changes to text assets should be reflected once Google has processed the request, and if you have images included, those will update as well.

• What happens when I make changes to my Evergreen version and I click ‘Save’ but not ‘Run Now’?

  • The changes you made to assets will be saved and ready for the next execution of your Evergreen version, which depends on the start/end dates of your schedule versions.

Example #1, Edit & Run Now- Calendar Visual Linked Below

Example #1, Edit & Save - Calendar Visual Linked Below

• What if I don’t want Alli to make any more changes to my Asset Group?

  • Delete all future scheduled versions OR delete the dates for future versions by clicking 'X' within the input box and save so they get moved to a draft state.

  • Copy over the assets that are currently in the Asset Group within Google Ads to your Evergreen version in Alli and save.

  • Hit ‘Run Now’ on your Evergreen - Alli will run but nothing will change in Google Ads because the assets are identical

  • Since nothing is scheduled for the future, nothing further will happen.

• Does Alli update Google Ads daily?

  • No, Alli will only make changes if you click ‘Run Now’ OR based on the inputted schedule.

  • Important to note the Evergreen schedule is dynamically generated based on the other versions you have created. Thus allowing it to fill any gaps between promotions.

• I clicked “Save & Run Now” on my Evergreen version but it’s showing the scheduled icon?

  • This will happen if you have future promo versions scheduled as a way to indicate that the Evergreen, though it’s currently live, is scheduled to take over in the future once your promo has reached its end date. To confirm that the “Save & Run Now” did in fact work, check the Execution Log. Keep in mind it will take a few minutes (~5 mins) for everything to process.

• I only need to schedule one type of image to flip with my version (ex: only my Square Marketing Images need to swap, I want to keep the other ones with whatever is already in the Asset group)

  • You may either supply no image assets (zero), in which case your version will only swap the provided text assets, and any images that are live in the platform at the time of the swap will continue to stay live OR

  • You must supply at least the minimum # of images for each required image type. You are not required to provide an image for the optional image types, but when the version is scheduled, those image types will be wiped/cleared.

  • TLDR: Required image types are all or nothing. You must either provide 0 total images, or you must meet the minimum standards set by Google. Using the duplication feature is very handy in “copying” over images from one version to another to reduce the burden of image management

Example #1

Example #2