Intra-campaign experiments are used to test a specific feature within a single campaign. Unlike system-managed experiments where traffic is split between control and treatment campaigns, intra-campaign experiments split traffic within the campaign, based on whether the feature is enabled or not.
This workflow is supported for the following
ExperimentType values:
ADOPT_AI_MAX- Tests the impact of AI Max features on Search campaigns.
ADOPT_BROAD_MATCH_KEYWORDS- Tests the impact of broad match keywords on Search campaigns.
PMAX_TEXT_CUSTOMIZATION_FINAL_URL_EXPANSION- Specifically used for testing Performance Max features: text customization and final URL expansion. Enables Google AI to send traffic to relevant landing pages and generate text assets to better match search queries.
Setup
- Define the
Experiment(withstatusset toENABLED), providing an experiment type, a controlExperimentArm, and a treatmentExperimentArm:- For
ADOPT_AI_MAXandADOPT_BROAD_MATCH_KEYWORDS, both the control arm and the treatment arm must reference the same campaign incampaigns. - For
PMAX_TEXT_CUSTOMIZATION_FINAL_URL_EXPANSION, only the treatment arm specifies the Performance Max campaign incampaigns(leavecampaignsunset on the control arm).
- For
For
ADOPT_AI_MAX, create aCampaignOperationupdate with a field mask to enableai_max_setting.enable_ai_maxand configureasset_automation_settings.Send a
GoogleAdsService.Mutaterequest that includes mutate operations to create the experiment and experiment arms, and (forADOPT_AI_MAX) to enable the test feature on the campaign.
For ADOPT_AI_MAX and ADOPT_BROAD_MATCH_KEYWORDS, traffic must be split
evenly (50/50) within the campaign so that 50% of traffic is exposed to the
enabled feature (the treatment group) and 50% is not (the control group).
PMAX_TEXT_CUSTOMIZATION_FINAL_URL_EXPANSION supports custom traffic splits
that sum to 100.
Java
// Create the experiment resource name using a temporary ID. String experimentResourceName = ResourceNames.experiment(customerId, -1L); // Create the experiment. Experiment experiment = Experiment.newBuilder() .setResourceName(experimentResourceName) .setName("ADOPT_AI_MAX Experiment #" + UUID.randomUUID()) .setType(ExperimentType.ADOPT_AI_MAX) .build(); MutateOperation experimentOperation = MutateOperation.newBuilder() .setExperimentOperation(ExperimentOperation.newBuilder().setCreate(experiment).build()) .build(); // Create the control arm. Both arms in an intra-campaign experiment reference the same base // campaign. ExperimentArm controlArm = ExperimentArm.newBuilder() .setExperiment(experimentResourceName) .setName("Control Arm") .setControl(true) .setTrafficSplit(50) .addCampaigns(ResourceNames.campaign(customerId, campaignId)) .build(); MutateOperation controlArmOperation = MutateOperation.newBuilder() .setExperimentArmOperation( ExperimentArmOperation.newBuilder().setCreate(controlArm).build()) .build(); // Create the treatment arm. ExperimentArm treatmentArm = ExperimentArm.newBuilder() .setExperiment(experimentResourceName) .setName("Treatment Arm") .setControl(false) .setTrafficSplit(50) .addCampaigns(ResourceNames.campaign(customerId, campaignId)) .build(); MutateOperation treatmentArmOperation = MutateOperation.newBuilder() .setExperimentArmOperation( ExperimentArmOperation.newBuilder().setCreate(treatmentArm).build()) .build(); // Create a campaign operation with an update mask to enable AI Max and configure asset // automation settings. // Note: For intra-campaign experiments, these settings are applied to the base campaign but are // only active for the treatment traffic split. Campaign campaign = Campaign.newBuilder() .setResourceName(ResourceNames.campaign(customerId, campaignId)) .setAiMaxSetting(AiMaxSetting.newBuilder().setEnableAiMax(true).build()) .addAssetAutomationSettings( AssetAutomationSetting.newBuilder() .setAssetAutomationType(AssetAutomationType.TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION) .setAssetAutomationStatus(AssetAutomationStatus.OPTED_IN) .build()) .addAssetAutomationSettings( AssetAutomationSetting.newBuilder() .setAssetAutomationType( AssetAutomationType.FINAL_URL_EXPANSION_TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION) .setAssetAutomationStatus(AssetAutomationStatus.OPTED_IN) .build()) .build(); CampaignOperation campaignOp = CampaignOperation.newBuilder() .setUpdate(campaign) .setUpdateMask(FieldMasks.allSetFieldsOf(campaign)) .build(); MutateOperation campaignMutateOperation = MutateOperation.newBuilder().setCampaignOperation(campaignOp).build(); // Send all mutate operations in a single Mutate request. List<MutateOperation> mutateOperations = ImmutableList.of( experimentOperation, controlArmOperation, treatmentArmOperation, campaignMutateOperation); try (GoogleAdsServiceClient googleAdsServiceClient = googleAdsClient.getLatestVersion().createGoogleAdsServiceClient()) { MutateGoogleAdsRequest request = MutateGoogleAdsRequest.newBuilder() .setCustomerId(Long.toString(customerId)) .addAllMutateOperations(mutateOperations) .build(); MutateGoogleAdsResponse response = googleAdsServiceClient.mutate(request);
C#
// Create the experiment resource name using a temporary ID. string experimentResourceName = ResourceNames.Experiment(customerId, -1); // Create the experiment. MutateOperation experimentOperation = new MutateOperation() { ExperimentOperation = new ExperimentOperation() { Create = new Experiment() { ResourceName = experimentResourceName, Name = $"ADOPT_AI_MAX Experiment #{ExampleUtilities.GetRandomString()}", Type = ExperimentType.AdoptAiMax } } }; // Create the control arm. Both arms in an intra-campaign experiment // reference the same base campaign. MutateOperation controlArmOperation = new MutateOperation() { ExperimentArmOperation = new ExperimentArmOperation() { Create = new ExperimentArm() { Experiment = experimentResourceName, Name = "Control Arm", Control = true, TrafficSplit = 50, Campaigns = { ResourceNames.Campaign(customerId, campaignId) } } } }; // Create the treatment arm. MutateOperation treatmentArmOperation = new MutateOperation() { ExperimentArmOperation = new ExperimentArmOperation() { Create = new ExperimentArm() { Experiment = experimentResourceName, Name = "Treatment Arm", Control = false, TrafficSplit = 50, Campaigns = { ResourceNames.Campaign(customerId, campaignId) } } } }; // Create a campaign operation with an update mask to enable AI Max and // configure asset automation settings. // Note: For intra-campaign experiments, these settings are applied to the // base campaign but are only active for the treatment traffic split. Campaign campaign = new Campaign() { ResourceName = ResourceNames.Campaign(customerId, campaignId), AiMaxSetting = new Campaign.Types.AiMaxSetting { EnableAiMax = true } }; campaign.AssetAutomationSettings.Add(new Campaign.Types.AssetAutomationSetting { AssetAutomationType = AssetAutomationType.TextAssetAutomation, AssetAutomationStatus = AssetAutomationStatus.OptedIn }); campaign.AssetAutomationSettings.Add(new Campaign.Types.AssetAutomationSetting { AssetAutomationType = AssetAutomationType.FinalUrlExpansionTextAssetAutomation, AssetAutomationStatus = AssetAutomationStatus.OptedIn }); MutateOperation campaignOperation = new MutateOperation() { CampaignOperation = new CampaignOperation() { Update = campaign, UpdateMask = FieldMasks.AllSetFieldsOf(campaign) } }; // Send all mutate operations in a single Mutate request. List<MutateOperation> mutateOperations = new List<MutateOperation> { experimentOperation, controlArmOperation, treatmentArmOperation, campaignOperation }; MutateGoogleAdsResponse response = googleAdsService.Mutate( customerId.ToString(), mutateOperations);
PHP
This example is not yet available in PHP; you can take a look at the other languages.
Python
# Create the experiment resource name using a temporary ID. experiment_resource_name = googleads_service.experiment_path( customer_id, "-1" ) # Create the experiment. experiment_operation = client.get_type("MutateOperation") experiment = experiment_operation.experiment_operation.create experiment.resource_name = experiment_resource_name experiment.name = f"ADOPT_AI_MAX Experiment #{uuid4()}" experiment.type_ = client.enums.ExperimentTypeEnum.ADOPT_AI_MAX # Create the control arm. Both arms in an intra-campaign experiment # reference the same base campaign. control_arm_operation = client.get_type("MutateOperation") control_arm = control_arm_operation.experiment_arm_operation.create control_arm.experiment = experiment_resource_name control_arm.name = "Control Arm" control_arm.control = True control_arm.traffic_split = 50 control_arm.campaigns.append( googleads_service.campaign_path(customer_id, campaign_id) ) # Create the treatment arm. treatment_arm_operation = client.get_type("MutateOperation") treatment_arm = treatment_arm_operation.experiment_arm_operation.create treatment_arm.experiment = experiment_resource_name treatment_arm.name = "Treatment Arm" treatment_arm.control = False treatment_arm.traffic_split = 50 treatment_arm.campaigns.append( googleads_service.campaign_path(customer_id, campaign_id) ) # Create a campaign operation with an update mask to enable AI Max and # configure asset automation settings. # Note: For intra-campaign experiments, these settings are applied to the # base campaign but are only active for the treatment traffic split. campaign_operation = client.get_type("MutateOperation") campaign = campaign_operation.campaign_operation.update campaign.resource_name = googleads_service.campaign_path( customer_id, campaign_id ) campaign.ai_max_setting.enable_ai_max = True for asset_automation_type_enum in [ client.enums.AssetAutomationTypeEnum.TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION, client.enums.AssetAutomationTypeEnum.FINAL_URL_EXPANSION_TEXT_ASSET_AUTOMATION, ]: asset_automation_setting = client.get_type( "Campaign" ).AssetAutomationSetting() asset_automation_setting.asset_automation_type = ( asset_automation_type_enum ) asset_automation_setting.asset_automation_status = ( client.enums.AssetAutomationStatusEnum.OPTED_IN ) campaign.asset_automation_settings.append(asset_automation_setting) client.copy_from( campaign_operation.campaign_operation.update_mask, protobuf_helpers.field_mask(None, campaign._pb), ) # Send all mutate operations in a single Mutate request. mutate_operations = [ experiment_operation, control_arm_operation, treatment_arm_operation, campaign_operation, ] response = googleads_service.mutate( customer_id=customer_id, mutate_operations=mutate_operations, )
Ruby
This example is not yet available in Ruby; you can take a look at the other languages.
Perl
This example is not yet available in Perl; you can take a look at the other languages.
curl
Report on the experiment
Because control and treatment traffic are mixed within a single campaign, you must use direct experiment reporting to compare metrics between the control and treatment groups. Standard campaign-level reporting only shows aggregated metrics for the entire campaign and cannot distinguish between the two groups.
The following GAQL query retrieves click statistics for an ADOPT_AI_MAX
intra-campaign experiment over the last 30 days:
SELECT
experiment.resource_name,
experiment.name,
metrics.clicks,
metrics.control_clicks,
metrics.clicks_point_estimate,
metrics.clicks_p_value
FROM experiment
WHERE segments.date DURING LAST_30_DAYS
AND experiment.type = 'ADOPT_AI_MAX'
Promote, graduate, or end the experiment
After evaluating the results, you can complete the experiment using
ExperimentService:
- End: If you are not satisfied with the results, use
EndExperiment. The feature is disabled, and the campaign reverts to serving all traffic without the experimental feature. This is a synchronous operation. - Promote (
ADOPT_AI_MAXandADOPT_BROAD_MATCH_KEYWORDS): If you are satisfied with the results of a Search intra-campaign experiment, usePromoteExperiment. This applies the experimental change as the new permanent state of the campaign. This is an asynchronous operation; see Asynchronous errors for details. - Graduate (
PMAX_TEXT_CUSTOMIZATION_FINAL_URL_EXPANSION):PromoteExperimentis not supported forPMAX_TEXT_CUSTOMIZATION_FINAL_URL_EXPANSION; instead, useGraduateExperimentto apply the treatment arm's text customization and final URL expansion settings in-place to the existing Performance Max campaign. Include aCampaignBudgetMappingentry incampaign_budget_mappingsspecifying the treatment arm's campaign (experiment_campaign) and its budget (campaign_budget). This is a synchronous operation. (GraduateExperimentis not supported forADOPT_AI_MAXorADOPT_BROAD_MATCH_KEYWORDSbecause there is no separate treatment campaign to graduate.)