Adding personalization to Dynamic Search Ads significantly improves their performance. Personalized ads speak directly to what individuals are looking for rather than showing everyone the same generic message.
Research shows that 80% of consumers prefer buying from brands that offer personalized experiences. People respond better to ads that feel relevant to their specific needs and interests.
In terms of additional benefits, pairing DSAs with personalization:
- Saves you hours every week. You don't have to spend your Monday mornings digging through keywords or writing dozens of ad variations. The system does the heavy lifting while you focus on the big picture.
- Catches customers you'd normally miss. Think about all those super-specific searches like "waterproof blue hiking boots size 10 with ankle support." Your keyword list would never include that, but DSAs will catch it and show the perfect product.
- Keeps itself fresh without your help. Add new products to your site today, and your ads will show them tomorrow. No need to create new campaigns or update old ones; it all happens automatically.
- Makes your ad budget work harder. When ads are more relevant, more people click them, and more of those clicks turn into sales. You'll see higher click rates and lower costs for each new customer.
How to Create Your First Dynamic Search Campaign
Setting up your first DSA campaign isn't complicated. Here's how to get started:
1. Create a New Campaign
Log into Google Ads and look for the "Campaigns" tab.
- Click the blue "+" button and select "New campaign"
- Choose a goal like sales or website traffic
- Select "Search" as your campaign type
- Enter your website and name your campaign
- Click "Continue."
2. Choose Your Campaign Settings
On the next page:
- For bidding strategy, "Maximize clicks" works well for beginners
- Set your daily budget to control your spending
- Select your target locations and languages
- Uncheck both "Display Network" and "Search partners" to keep focused
- Choose "People in or regularly in your targeted locations."
3. Skip the Keywords Section
When you reach the keywords and ads section, just click the trash icon to remove it. DSAs work differently from regular search ads.
4. Publish Your Campaign
Review what you've set up and click "Publish." Don't worry about Google's warning about missing ads here. We’ll address that next.
5. Turn On Dynamic Search
Find your new campaign and:
- Click "Settings" in the left menu
- Scroll to "Dynamic Search Ads" and click "Edit"
- Enter your website domain and save
6. Create a Dynamic Ad Group
Regular ad groups won't work for DSAs, so:
- Click "Ad groups" and hit the "+" button
- Change the type from "Standard" to "Dynamic"
- Name your ad group and select your website as the source.
7. Choose Your Target
Decide which parts of your website Google should use:
- "All web pages" uses your entire site (easiest for beginners)
- "Categories" uses groups of pages Google found
- "Specific web pages" lets you target certain pages only.
8. Write Your Ad
Google handles most of the work here.
- Headlines and links are created automatically from your site
- You just write two descriptions (up to 90 characters each)
- Include what makes your business special
- Add a call-to-action like "Shop Today" or "Get a Quote."
9. Add Protection
Before finishing:
- Add negative keywords (words you don't want to trigger your ads)
- Add negative targets (pages you don't want to advertise)
10. Launch and Monitor
Let your campaign run, then check back in a few days to see how it's performing and make adjustments as needed.
7 Ways to Personalize Your Dynamic Search Ads
Want to get more from your DSAs without rebuilding everything? Here are seven personalization tactics that actually work:
1. Customize Descriptions for Different Customer Types
Google makes your headlines, but you write the descriptions. This means you can talk to different types of customers in different ways.
For example, if you sell cookware, you could write:
- "High-quality pots and pans used by real chefs" for people who love cooking
- "Easy-to-clean, affordable cookware for busy families" for parents.
To do this: Make separate ad groups in your campaign. Then write different descriptions for each type of customer.
2. Make Ads Location-Specific
Nothing grabs attention like seeing your city mentioned in an ad. You can add the city name to your ads using the {LOCATION} code in your descriptions.
This code puts in the city of the person who sees your ad. Try writing something like "Find plumbers in {LOCATION} today" or "Visit our {LOCATION} store."
To do this, just type {LOCATION} in your ad where you want the city name to show up.
3. Show Different Ads to Previous Visitors
People who already know your site should see different ads than new visitors. You can do this with remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA).
RLSA lets you show personalized ads to people who visited your site before when they search on Google again. Here are ways to use it:
- Bid more for your best visitors - Spend 30% more on people who looked at your best products.
- Help people finish shopping - Show "Complete your order with free shipping" to people who left items in their cart.
- Welcome back old customers - Use "It's been a while! See what's new" for past buyers.
To do this: Go to Audiences in your campaign settings, add your remarketing list, and set it to "Observation" with a higher bid.
4. Create Mobile-Specific Messaging
Phone searchers and desktop searchers want different things. Create separate campaigns with messaging tailored to each device.
For mobile users, try descriptions like "Easy mobile checkout - Order in under 30 seconds" or "Call directly from this ad to speak with a specialist."
To do this: Duplicate your DSA campaign, then go to Devices in settings. For your mobile campaign, decrease desktop bids by 100%. Do the opposite for your desktop campaign.
5. Adjust Bidding and Budgets by Time of Day
Morning shoppers often want different things than evening shoppers. You can't change your ad text by time of day, but you can:
- Spend more when people buy most. Look at when people usually buy from you and spend more ad money during those times.
- Use pages that match the time. If you have morning pages on your site, Google will use them for morning searches.
- Change bids by time and device. Spend more on phone ads during travel times and computer ads during work hours.
To do this: Use the schedule settings in your campaign to change how much you spend at different times of day.
6. Add Countdown Timers for Sales and Promotions
Make people want to act quickly by adding a countdown timer to your ads. Use the {COUNTDOWN} code to show how much time is left.
Try writing ads like "Black Friday deals end in {COUNTDOWN(2025/11/27 23:59:59)}" or "Free setup offer ends in {COUNTDOWN(2025/12/15 23:59:59)}."
To do this: Put the {COUNTDOWN} code in your ad text with your end date. It will show days, hours, and minutes left until your sale ends.
7. Test Strong Call-to-Action Phrases
Different CTAs drive different results. Test various action phrases in your descriptions to see what resonates with your audience.
For a software company, compare "Start Your Free Trial Today" against "See Demo & Pricing" against "Chat With Sales Now" to find what drives the most valuable conversions.
To do this: Create an experiment in Google Ads, splitting your traffic between variations with different CTAs in the description lines.
Additional Tips for DSA Success
Want your DSAs to work even better? Try these simple tips:
Make Your Website Content Better for Ads
Your website words become your ad headlines. Write clear page titles using words people search for. Add good details to your product pages. The better your website text, the better your ads will be.
Use Negative Keywords to Block Bad Searches
Negative keywords let you block searches you don't want. This saves you money by keeping your ads away from:
- Products you don't sell
- Words like "free" if you're selling something
- Your competitors' names
- Job-related terms like "careers"
Tell Google Which Pages to Skip
You can tell Google which pages should NOT trigger ads. These are called negative dynamic ad targets. Skip pages like contact info, privacy policy, and help pages. This way, you only pay for clicks on pages that can make sales.
Add Extensions to Make Ads Bigger
Ad extensions are free add-ons that make your ads bigger and give people more ways to reach you.
- Sitelinks to your best pages
- Callouts showing "Free Shipping" or other offers
- Location extensions showing your store address
- Call extensions adding your phone number.
Let Google's Smart Bidding Help You
Automated bidding lets Google set bids for you. This works better than setting bids by hand. Just tell Google what matters most to you (more sales, steady costs, or better return), and it will handle the rest.
Make Your Dynamic Search Ads Even Better With Relevic
Dynamic Search Ads with personalization help you reach more people with less work. But the journey doesn't end when someone clicks your ad.
What happens after the click matters just as much. This is where Relevic can help you.
Our personalization tools make it easy to show the right content to each visitor. With AI Insights that analyze your pages and pre-built assets for quick setup, you can create tailored experiences without any coding.
Relevic also offers powerful filters to complement your Dynamic Search Ads strategy:
- Visitor Behavior Filter - Show content based on how people interact with your site
- Geolocation Filter - Personalize by country, state, or city level
- UTM & Query Parameters - Match content to specific marketing campaigns
- A/B & Multivariate Testing - Test different versions to see what converts best
When you use Dynamic Search Ads with Relevic, you create a smooth path from search to sale. People find your ad, click it, and see exactly what they expect on your website. This means more people buy from you without you spending more on ads.
