Five Concepts You Need to Understand Before Taking the Google Ads Display Certification

When it comes to Google Display Ads, there are many concepts that need to be understood before taking the certification exam. In this article, here are five things you should understand before attempting to get certified. While this isn’t a cumulative review, treat this list as a litmus test on how prepared you are on the material.

1. Responsive Display Ads

One of the first things you need to understand in display ads is responsive display ads (RDAs). RDAs are known for its scalability and its dynamic features, allowing advertisers to upload multiple assets at once. Google’s AI will then match each asset based on how it will perform the best. Google’s AI will try different types of tests to learn which assets have the best performance, allowing your campaign to be optimized.

2. The Difference Between Manual and Optimized Targeting

When it comes to targeting your display ads, there are two ways: manual and optimized. Manual targeting is done entirely by the user, which comes with its own pros and cons. On one hand, manual targeting allows users to have ultimate authority on who will see your ads. However, the reach can feel limited with this method.

That is why optimized targeting exists, which combines Google’s AI and conversion tracking to reach the right consumers. So while this method may require the user to give up some control, optimized targeting allows you to reach more people, with Google’s AI finding audiences you may not have been reaching initially.

3. Different Types of Smart Bidding Strategies

Understanding each of the smart bidding strategies is integral if you want to do well on the display ads exam. There are four main types of smart bidding strategies. The first is to maximize conversions, which is exactly what it sounds like, it prioritizes getting the most possible conversions. The second strategy, maximize conversion value is a little different from the first strategy, as it focuses on getting the highest possible revenue, weighting each conversion based on which ones lead to the highest return. The third strategy is target CPA (tCPA), which is better for companies on a tighter budget. tCPA is useful because it will keep your cost per conversion at a set amount. The fourth strategy is target ROAS (tROAS), which is set to hit a specific return on ad spend that is set by the user.

4. Conversion Tracking, View-Through Conversions 

Conversion tracking is simply how your ads are being tracked through conversions. Conversions can be many different things, and it is up to the user to determine what to track. Conversions can be things like purchases, form completions, sign-ups, or leads. This tracking is directly tied to smart bidding, with the conversion tracking data being used by Google’s AI to adjust its bidding based on which ads are performing the best.

View-through conversions is a specific type of conversion that requires a little more complexity than other types. The best way to explain this type of conversion is if a user sees an ad, internalizes the message but chooses not to click on it, and then some time later makes the purchase. In these sorts of cases view-through conversions are more about building awareness instead of trying to immediately make a sale.

5. Knowing How to Match Campaign Goals to Display Features

Many questions on the certification exam ask hypothetical questions that ask you this exact concept. You will see several questions that say “User wants X -> What should they do?” Think about what the advertiser’s goal is, and then map what feature would lead them to said goal. For example, if an advertiser wants to focus on getting the highest possible number of conversions, the bidding strategy they would use is to maximize conversions.

So these were five concepts you will need to understand before taking the Google Ads Display Certification exam. Let me know if any of these tips helped, and whether it improved your exam score!