Why is AdWords Express ruining good PPC?

Campaign management

It is precisely in campaign management that these two systems differ radically.

In Google Ads, you have free rein and can regularly update your campaigns and optimise them to the best of your knowledge and belief. You can adjust keywords, bids and targeting by interests, topics, etc. It’s all in your hands. Beginners may find it a bit overwhelming at first, but with a little effort they’ll get the hang of it and soon have it down to a tee.

In contrast, AdWords Express allows you to create a campaign, set a daily budget, and create an advert, and that’s where your control ends. AdWords Express is, in fact, fully automated. Once the campaign is created, Google’s algorithms take over the entire management, and all you can do is watch from a distance to see how well (or rather, how poorly) they manage to optimise your campaigns. The bots may use the latest Google technology, but you’ll struggle to explain to them what you want to achieve with the campaign and what’s most important to you. After all, what could you possibly expect from a campaign you set up in under 15 minutes?

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Ad formats

Both systems allow you to advertise on the Search and Display Networks, on Google Maps and on partner websites. However, the formats they use to do so also differ significantly.

With Google Ads, you can use animated or static banners, video ads of all types and lengths, create lightboxes or campaigns on Google Shopping, or use ads in Gmail.

With AdWords Express, you only have access to text ads and responsive ads. Nothing more.

Detailed comparison of the systems

		Google Ads	AdWords Express
Formats	Text ads in search	Yes	Yes
	Responsive ads	Yes	Yes
	Static banners	Yes	No
	HTML5 banners	Yes	No
	Video banners (out-stream)	Yes	no
	Advertising on Google Shopping	Yes	no
	Lightbox	Yes	no
	Advertising in Gmail	yes	No
	TrueView InStream (video format)	Yes	no
	TrueView Discovery (video format)	Yes	no
	Bumper Ads (video format)	Yes	No
Campaign settings	Daily budget settings	Yes	Yes
	Geotargeting settings	Yes	Yes
	Creating individual campaigns (campaign structuring)	Yes	No
	Adding custom keywords to campaigns	Yes	No
	Exclusion of inappropriate keywords	Yes	No
	Custom targeting by interests, purchase intent, topics, location, etc.	yes	No
	Exclusion of irrelevant interests, topics, locations, etc.	Yes	No
	Bidding settings	Yes	No
	Bid strategy settings	Yes	No

Express is the choice for beginners

AdWords Express is ideal for complete beginners and for people who don’t have time to devote to PPC campaigns. However, you must expect to pay more for your campaigns in the end, as optimisation by robots will not be as effective as if it were done by a person who really thinks through each campaign and knows what their customers are actually looking for. Furthermore, due to the limited number of ad formats, your advertising will achieve much lower results.

In contrast, Google Ads allows you to fine-tune every campaign down to the last detail. You can experiment with targeting and combining different formats, thereby having a real influence on achieving your goals. You can decide on which websites your ad will appear. You can completely exclude certain websites, and you can decide for yourself how much you’re willing to pay per click or per conversion. Quite simply, PPC advertising is an investment in your business, and only with Google Ads do you have real control over these investments.

Which system should you choose?

We would recommend Google Ads even to beginners. Although it is more sophisticated, it allows you to target and set up your campaigns more effectively. Working in AdWords itself is not at all complicated once you get used to the system. Google also has a comprehensive help section should you need guidance. With a little effort, you can achieve incomparably better results.

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P.S.: And if you’re tempted by the idea of using both systems at the same time, don’t do it. You’ll be unnecessarily increasing your advertising costs. The systems will compete with each other, and this will affect the cost per click or conversion.

You can try AdWords Express here. To use Google Ads, sign up here.