How to structure a Google Ads account in 2026

A good Google Ads account structure is not about looks: it decides which budget funds which searches, which ad each user sees and what data the bidding system gets to learn from. With Performance Max, AI Max and the new channel prioritisation, the 2020 rules (one ad group per keyword, dozens of campaigns) no longer fit. This guide starts from the official documentation and proposes a simple structure.

The three layers of Google Ads

According to the official help, Google Ads is organised into three layers:

The practical rule that follows: split campaigns when you need a different budget, goal or setting, and split ad groups when you need a different message or landing page. Everything else is fragmentation that starves automated bidding of data.

A sensible starting structure

1. Search · Brand: your brand terms on exact match. Cheap, defensive and easy to measure separately.
2. Search · Generic: ad groups per service or product line, with exact and phrase keywords for your key terms.
3. Performance Max: to cover the rest of the inventory with your conversion goal, with brand exclusions if you want to measure brand separately.
4. Demand Gen or video, only if you have dedicated creative and a goal for it.

AI Max: the layer that changes Search

AI Max for Search campaigns is not a new campaign type: it is a set of features you turn on inside a Search campaign. It includes search term matching (broad match and keywordless technology), text customisation, Final URL expansion, ad-group-level locations of interest, brand controls and URL inclusions and exclusions.

• With Final URL expansion on, pinned assets in your responsive search ads are not used when the system picks a more relevant URL.
• Google warns that AI Max won't be effective if the campaign is limited by budget.
• When you move to AI Max, broad keywords are not treated as exact match in prioritisation: to keep it, add exact-match copies.
• Check your tracking templates: Google recommends standard {lpurl} usage so dynamic landing pages don't return 404 errors.

Budget and channels

Since October 2026 Google has been rolling out channel prioritisation and budget allocation across Search, Shopping, Performance Max and Demand Gen. In a Search campaign you can put Google Search, Search partners and the Display Network on different priority levels and cap the share of daily budget for low-priority ones. This reduces the need for separate campaigns just to control networks.

Common structure mistakes

• Too many small campaigns with the same conversion: none gathers enough data.
• Brand and generic mixed: the average cost per conversion looks better than it is.
• Ad groups without their own landing page: if they all go to the home page, splitting them adds nothing.
• Secondary conversions set as primary: bidding optimises for phone clicks or visits instead of sales.