Dynamic Search Ads vs Manual Campaigns: When to Automate (and When Not To)

Dynamic Search Ads vs Manual Campaigns: When to Automate (and When Not To)

Table of Contents

1. The Real Deal on Automation in Google Ads
2. What Are Dynamic Search Ads?
3. When to Let Automation Take Over
4. When to Keep Your Hands on the Wheel
5. The Pragmatic Approach: Build a Hybrid System
6. Before You Implement DSAs: Technical Prerequisites
7. Could Your Campaigns Be Smarter?

The Real Deal on Automation in Google Ads

As an advertiser, you're constantly making tradeoffs between control and efficiency. Your ad campaigns are no different.

We've seen plenty of tech companies burn cash on overly complex campaigns or miss growth opportunities because they couldn't scale their advertising fast enough. Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) can help with the scaling challenge, though they aren't always the right solution.

Let's break this down in plain language.

What Are Dynamic Search Ads?

Dynamic Search Ads let Google scan your website and automatically match searches to your content. Instead of you manually building out thousands of keywords and ads, Google does the heavy lifting:

• You point Google to your site (or specific sections).
• Google indexes your content and understands what you offer.
• When someone searches for something related, Google creates an ad with a dynamic headline.
• The person clicks through to the most relevant page on your site.

Think of it like having an AI sales rep who's read all your documentation and can match prospects to the right solution.

When to Let Automation Take Over

DSAs make the most sense in these scenarios:

1. You've got a complex product with tons of use cases. If you've built something that solves multiple problems for different industries, DSAs can capture search intent you might not have thought of.
2. Your website has hundreds of pages or changes frequently. Tech products evolve quickly. If your docs, features, or pricing update often, DSAs can keep pace without you rewriting ads every week.
3. You're testing market fit or new verticals. Not sure how customers describe their problems? DSAs can surface the actual language they use when searching for solutions like yours.
4. You need to preserve engineering and marketing bandwidth. Your team is already stretched thin. DSAs reduce the overhead of campaign management.

When to Keep Your Hands on the Wheel

Sometimes automation doesn't cut it. Stick with manual campaigns in these situations:

1. You're targeting high-intent, high-conversion keywords. For bottom-funnel terms where someone is ready to sign up or buy, you want precise control over messaging and landing pages.
2. You're in a heavily regulated industry. If your compliance team needs to approve every word of ad copy, DSAs introduce too much risk.
3. You're running controlled experiments. Testing specific value propositions or messaging angles requires the controlled environment of manual campaigns.
4. You're defending your brand terms. Don't let Google experiment with how it positions your company name or product names.

The Pragmatic Approach: Build a Hybrid System

The smartest advertisers we work with use both:

• Manual campaigns: for their core use cases, high-intent keywords, and brand terms.
• DSAs: to discover new opportunities and cover the long-tail searches they couldn't anticipate.
• Regular reviews: to identify winning DSA queries and graduate them to manual campaigns.

Think of it like development: you need both your core product (manual campaigns) and your experimental features branch (DSAs).

Before You Implement DSAs: Technical Prerequisites

For DSAs to work effectively, your site needs:

• A well-structured website with clear information architecture.
• Unique page titles and meta descriptions that accurately reflect each page's content.
• Proper technical implementation (site crawlability, no blocking of Google's ad crawlers).
• Regular monitoring systems to catch any strange query matches.

Could Your Campaigns Be Smarter?

DSAs aren't a set-it-and-forget-it solution. They're a tool in your growth stack. Used strategically, they can help you scale faster while discovering how your market actually thinks about your product. The real magic happens when you combine the efficiency of automation with the precision of human oversight.

Need help implementing this approach for your product? Let's analyze your current campaigns and find the right automation balance for your growth stage.