The basis of a ruleset template is simple: one condition, one action. But the real power is in combining them. Multiple conditions that all have to be true at the same time. Alternative situations that trigger the same action. Multiple actions that are executed in one go. This article shows how to set that up and when to use which approach.
Within one IF group, all conditions work as AND. All conditions must be true at the same time before the action is executed.
This is the most common way to prevent a template from stepping in too early or based on too little evidence.
Why use AND?
Say you only set: IF keyword ACOS greater than 40%. Then every keyword with a high ACOS gets hit, including keywords with just 2 clicks where the ACOS is high purely by chance. Those aren’t reliable decisions.
If you add a second condition, you protect yourself against that noise:
IF keyword ACOS greater than 40% (14 days) AND keyword clicks greater than 20 (14 days) THEN decrease bid by 15%
Now the action is only executed if the keyword both has a high ACOS and enough clicks to justify that conclusion. Both have to be true at the same time.
Three or more conditions
You can add as many conditions as you want. Every extra condition makes the trigger more specific.
IF keyword ACOS greater than 40% (14 days) AND keyword clicks greater than 20 (14 days) AND keyword spend greater than €5 (14 days) AND keyword conversions less than or equal to 1 (14 days) THEN lower bid by 20%
The more conditions you add, the fewer keywords are affected, but the more certain you are that the decision is justified. Add conditions as long as they add something to the reliability of the trigger. Don’t add them just to make it complicated.
Using Add IF group you add a second conditional group. Groups work as OR in relation to each other: if group 1 is true or group 2 is true, the action is executed.
When to use OR?
Use OR when there are several separate situations that all justify the same action, but don’t occur at the same time.
A keyword can perform poorly in two ways: it spends a lot of money without sales, or it does convert but at too high an ACOS. Both situations justify a bid decrease, but they rarely happen at the same time. With OR you catch both in one template:
Group 1: IF keyword spend greater than €10 (14 days) AND keyword conversions equal to 0 (14 days)
OR
Group 2: IF keyword ACOS greater than 40% (14 days) AND keyword clicks greater than 20 (14 days)
THEN lower bid by 20%
If group 1 is true, the action is executed. If group 2 is true, it is too. If both are true, it is as well.
AND within OR groups
Each OR group has its own AND conditions. So you’re basically building multiple small AND rules that can each trigger the action separately. This gives you a lot of flexibility without having to create multiple templates.
Via Add action you link multiple actions to one template. All actions are executed at the moment the conditions are met.
When to stack actions?
Sometimes one action isn’t enough. A keyword you pause might be something you also want to immediately report back via a notification. Or for a campaign you pause, you might also want to send a notification so you can decide yourself whether reactivating is needed.
IF campaign spend greater than €200 (7 days) AND campaign conversions equal to 0 (7 days) THEN pause campaign AND send notification
The order of actions
Actions are executed in the order in which you added them. If you want to lower a bid and send a notification, first add the bid reduction and then the notification. That way the message always follows the action, not the other way around.
You build complex logic by combining AND, OR and stacked actions. Here are two detailed examples of templates you can use right away.
Template: Phased bid optimization
You want to lower bids in two steps. First a small decrease when ACOS is just a bit too high, then a bigger decrease when things really get out of hand. This requires two separate templates that you both link to the same campaign.
Template 1: first warning IF keyword ACOS greater than 30% (14 days) AND keyword clicks greater than 15 (14 days) THEN lower bid by 10% AND send notification
Template 2: hard intervention IF keyword ACOS greater than 50% (14 days) AND keyword clicks greater than 25 (14 days) THEN lower bid by 25% AND pause keyword AND send notification
Both templates run daily. Template 1 steps in earlier with a cautious decrease. Template 2 steps in when the situation escalates. Together they form a phased approach that matches how serious the situation is.
Template: Complete safety net for a campaign
You want one template that covers multiple problem situations and always sends a notification.
Group 1: high spend without results IF campaign spend greater than €150 (7 days) AND campaign conversions equal to 0 (7 days)
OR
Group 2: fast-rising ACOS with enough data IF campaign ACOS greater than 45% (14 days) AND campaign clicks greater than 50 (14 days)
OR
Group 3: disappearing visibility IF campaign impressions smaller than 100 (7 days) AND campaign spend greater than €0 (7 days)
THEN pause campaign AND send notification
This template covers three separate problems. The campaign will be paused and you’ll get a notification, no matter which problem occurs.
Too few conditions A template with only one condition is often too broad. A keyword with 2 clicks and an ACOS of 100% isn’t statistically reliable. Always add a click threshold or minimum spend as a second condition to filter out noise.
Too many actions that conflict Don’t add a bid decrease and a bid increase to the same template at the same time. Adyard will perform both actions, which leads to unpredictable behavior. Make sure actions within one template logically fit together.
Overlapping templates If two templates are linked to the same campaign and both adjust the bid on the same keyword, both will be executed. That can be what you want in a phased approach, but not if the templates give conflicting instructions. Keep a clear overview of which templates are active on which campaigns.
Time windows that don’t match If you combine, within one AND-group, one condition with a time window of 7 days with a condition of 30 days, they measure over different periods. That makes the combination less logical. Keep time windows within one group consistent unless you deliberately want to measure across different periods.
