How does Google Ads work?

Google Ads works in a simple way: you pay to reach people who are interested in what you have to offer.
Think about your own behavior: at some point, you’ve used Google to search for something — whether to learn about a topic or to buy a specific product.

When you perform this search, the first results that appear are usually sponsored ads, marked with the word “Ad.”

How does Google know what the customer wants?

The answer is simple: by the searches they make. When someone searches for a product or service, they are showing direct interest in that subject. Google Ads allows you to take advantage of this moment and place your ad right in front of that person when they are ready to take action.

For example:

If you sell sports shoes and someone searches for “buy running shoes,” your ad could appear among the top results. This means you are reaching a potential customer who is already interested in what you offer.

Google Ads connects the customer’s intent with your offer, ensuring that you advertise in a targeted way to those who are genuinely interested in purchasing your product or service.

How does Google Ads work in search?

It works simply: you advertise for keywords that represent the customer’s interest in your product or service.

Consider the following example:

Search 1: “iPhone 7 price”
This person already knows what they want: an iPhone 7. They’ve made their decision and are now searching for the price. They are close to making a purchase.

Search 2: “iPhone 7 is better than the 6?”
Here, the customer is comparing options. There is interest, but they are still looking for more information before deciding.

Search 3: “What is the best smartphone under $200?”
This person is interested in buying a smartphone, but they haven’t decided on the model yet. They are in the early stages of the purchasing journey.

What does this mean for your ads?

In Google Ads, each keyword represents a different stage of the customer’s decision process. For example:
Someone searching for “iPhone 7 price” is much more ready to buy than someone searching for “what is the best smartphone?”. You can advertise to both, but the strategy will be different.

Therefore, the logic is:

  • Map the relevant keywords for your product or service.
  • Evaluate the purchase intent of each one (whether the person is searching to buy or just to compare).
  • Decide where to invest: start by advertising for keywords with a higher chance of conversion, like those that show direct purchase intent.

Improving Your Campaigns Over Time

Don’t worry about getting it right on the first try. Creating campaigns is a continuous learning process. Over time, you will:

  • Identify which keywords generate the best results;
  • Add or remove keywords based on performance;
  • Refine your campaigns to reach more qualified customers.

In Google’s search engine, it all comes down to selecting strategic keywords that connect your offer with what the customer is searching for at the right moment.

Search Network and Display Network

Google Ads offers different payment methods and two main channels for ad display: the Search Network and the Display Network. Understanding how each one works is essential to effectively reach your audience.

Payment Methods

The most common payment model is CPC (Cost per Click), where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. However, there are other models, depending on the strategy and network being used.

Search Network: The Proactive Network

The Search Network is the Google search engine, the one everyone uses to search for something specific. This is one of the best channels for advertising because you target people who are proactively searching for your product or service.

Example: If someone searches for “buy running shoes,” they are a customer with a clear intent to purchase. Here, the ad appears as a direct response to the user’s search, making it an efficient way to connect your offer with someone already interested.

Display Network: Reaching People Who Aren’t Searching

Not every customer is searching on Google at the moment, but that doesn’t mean they can’t buy. This is where the Display Network comes in.

What is the Display Network?

The Display Network allows you to advertise on Google’s partner sites. You know those banners or ad images that appear on news portals, blogs, and even YouTube? That’s Google Ads in action.
Examples of where ads appear:

  • Partner sites: Such as news portals (e.g., uol.com.br);
  • YouTube: Ads shown before or during videos;
  • Apps: Banners or pop-ups in partner apps.

Why use the Display Network?

If your target audience isn’t searching at the moment but you know they visit specific sites or consume videos on YouTube, you can use the Display Network to:

  • Reach your audience where they are;
  • Reinforce your brand with visual ads;
  • Generate interest in potential customers who aren’t in the search phase yet.

Summary

Google Ads allows you to choose where to advertise:

  • Search Network: Reaches people who are already searching for your product or service.
  • Display Network: Reaches people who aren’t searching right now but can be reached on sites, YouTube, and partner apps. With this, you can reach your audience at different stages, increasing the chances of generating results and attracting new customers.

Segmentation: Advertising to Those Who Really Matter

Imagine a crowd of 500,000 people at a concert. Are they all interested in your product or service? Of course not. Google Ads solves this problem through segmentation, which allows you to identify, among these thousands of people, those who truly have the potential to buy from you.

How does segmentation work?

You can segment your audience in various ways, including:

  • Positive keywords: These are keywords that show direct interest in your product or service.
    Example: If you offer an in-person cooking class, the keyword “in-person cooking class” indicates a potential customer.
  • Negative keywords: These filter out people who aren’t interested in what you offer.
    Example: If you only offer in-person courses, terms like “online cooking course” indicate an audience that doesn’t match your offering.

Why is this important?

Segmentation ensures you don’t waste money on people who aren’t interested in your product. Instead, you invest only in those who are likely to purchase from you.

This is just one of the major advantages of Google Ads, and as you can see, it solves a crucial problem: reaching the right audience at the right time.

Segmentation and Budget Control

Google Ads provides powerful features that allow you to reach only the right audience and control exactly how much you want to spend. Let’s explore how these two advantages can transform your campaigns.

With Google Ads, you can segment precisely, ensuring that your ads are shown only to the audience that really matters. You can define various conditions, such as:

  • Negative keywords:
    Example: If you offer an in-person cooking class, you can exclude the word “online” to avoid irrelevant clicks.
  • Geographic location:
    Example: If your pizzeria only delivers in São Paulo, you can exclude searches for “pizza delivery Campinas.” You can also define a mileage radius, like deliveries within 30 km.
  • Specific hours:
    Example: If your pizzeria delivers only from 5 PM to 11 PM, your ads will show only during that time frame.
  • Demographics and interests:
    Example: You can target men aged 25-40 or people with specific interests.

Combining these criteria allows you to hyper-target your ads, ensuring they appear for the right people, in the right place, at the right time.

Total Control Over Spending

Here, you decide how much you want to spend. Unlike traditional media, such as television or radio, where costs are high and inflexible, with Google Ads, you have complete control over your budget.

How does spending control work?

  • Daily or weekly budget: For example, set $50 per week or $10 per day.
  • Specific days: Choose which days your ads will appear. If you don’t want to advertise on weekends, just adjust the campaign.
  • Continuous optimization: As you get to know your audience better, you can optimize results, making the same budget generate more return.

You only pay when your ad is clicked, and you can adjust your budget at any time.

Precise segmentation and budget control are major advantages of Google Ads, allowing you to advertise efficiently and spend exactly what you planned.

What are the advantages of advertising on Google Ads?

In addition to precise segmentation and full control over spending, Google Ads offers two more powerful advantages: the ability to analyze results in real-time and gain deep insights into your target audience.
Here’s how these advantages can transform your campaigns.

Analyze Results: Know What Works and What Doesn’t

One of the great advantages of Google Ads is the ability to analyze your ad results in detail.

What can you measure?

  • Website visits: See if your ads are generating qualified traffic.
  • Local business visits: Identify if people are visiting your physical store or service location.
  • Sales and leads: Track how many sales you made or how many email leads you captured.

How does it work?

With the Google Ads tracking code, you can monitor with precision:

  • Which ads are performing well;
  • Which campaigns are generating real results (customers or visits);
  • Which ads aren’t performing well and need to be adjusted or paused.

This analysis allows you to make strategic decisions quickly, optimizing your investment and directing your ads to what truly brings a return.

Know Your Target Audience Deeply

For more advanced users, Google Ads allows you to understand your target audience’s behavior through integration with Google Analytics.

What does Google Analytics reveal?

  • Who the people are that arrive at your site through your ads;
  • How they navigate: how long they stay on your site, which pages they visit, and what they do before making a purchase;
  • Specific behaviors: navigation patterns that help identify what attracts your audience and what can be improved.

With this information, you can:

  • Segment your campaigns even more effectively;
  • Adjust your messages to attract more qualified customers;
  • Create a results machine by constantly refining your strategies.

With Google Ads, you don’t just create campaigns, but develop a complete strategy:

  • Target the right audience;
  • Control your investment;
  • Analyze results in real-time;
  • Gain deep insights into your audience.

This combination makes Google Ads a powerful tool for attracting customers and maximizing your results.

Google Ads goes far beyond simple ads; it offers a combination of strategic tools that allow you not only to reach the right audience but also to track, analyze, and optimize every step of the process.

With features like precise targeting, full budget control, result analysis, and integration with Google Analytics, you don’t just invest in advertising but create a continuous learning cycle to understand and improve your campaigns.

By leveraging these advantages, you build an efficient system that turns data into decisions and concrete results. The key is to use all these features to refine your strategy, direct your investment precisely, and, thus, generate qualified customers and a significant return for your business.

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