Google Ads Dynamic Search Ads (DSA): The 'Safety Net' Strategy (2024)

Keyword research is exhausting. Even if you build a list of 5,000 keywords, you will miss the weird, specific things people type.

• "2015 honda civic red bumper replacement near me"

You cannot bid on that exact string. It's too rare. But you have the landing page for it.

Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) solve this. Instead of targeting Keywords, you target URL Content. Google crawls your site. When it sees a search query that matches your content, it dynamically generates a Headline and serves the ad.

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Part 1: How DSA Works

1. No Keywords: You do not enter keywords.
2. No Headlines: You do not write the Headline. Google pulls it from your Title Tag / Content.
3. You Write Descriptions: You only write Description Line 1 and 2.

The Workflow: Query: "Leather repair kit for sofa" -> Google crawls your site -> Finds /products/leather-kit -> Generates Headline: "Leather Repair Kit for Sofas" -> Serves Ad.

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Part 2: The "Safety Net" Architecture

We do not use DSA as the primary campaign. We use it as the Sweeper.

Structure:

• Campaign 1: Standard Search (High Intent Keywords).
  • Priority: High.
• Campaign 2: DSA (The Net).
  • Target: "All Webpages" (or specific Categories).
  • Priority: Low (Lower Bids/tCPA).

The Logic: If a user searches for something covered by Campaign 1, Campaign 1 wins. If a user searches for something weird that Campaign 1 misses, the DSA Campaign catches it.

Result: You capture 15-20% incremental traffic without doing keyword research.

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Part 3: The "Page Feed" (Advanced Control)

Targeting "All Webpages" is dangerous. Google might send traffic to your "Privacy Policy" or "Blog". You want to restrict DSA to only your Money Pages.

The Page Feed Solution:

1. Create a spreadsheet with two columns: Page URL and Custom Label.
2. List all your product URLs. Label them "Product".
3. Upload to Business Data → Page Feeds.
4. In the DSA Campaign settings, select "Use URLs from my Page Feed only".

Now, DSA is forced to only look at your high-value pages. It cannot accidentally advertise your "Careers" page.

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Part 4: The Danger Zone (Headlines)

DSA Headlines are generated dynamically.

• Pros: They are hyper-relevant to the search query. High CTR.
• Cons: They can look ugly if your SEO Title Tags are messy.
  • Bad Title Tag: "Home | Acme Inc | Best Products"
  • Bad DSA Headline: "Home - Acme Inc - Best Products"

Requirement: Before running DSA, ensure your SEO Title Tags are clean and descriptive.

• Good Title: "Leather Sofa Repair Kits | Acme Inc"

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Part 5: Negative Keywords (Crucial)

DSA is aggressive. It will match broadly. You must apply your Master Negative List to the DSA campaign immediately. Also, add your Brand Name as a negative keyword in the DSA campaign.

• Why: You want Brand searches to go to your dedicated Brand Campaign (where you control the perfect message), not a generated DSA ad.

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Summary

DSA is the ultimate "Gap Filler." It finds the long-tail queries you didn't know existed.

1. Set it up as a separate campaign.
2. Use Page Feeds to blacklist non-commercial pages.
3. Clean your SEO Titles.
4. Add Negatives.

Let the crawler do the work.