For most businesses, Google Ads is the first choice for reaching potential customers and driving relevant traffic to their website. It is a convenient and effective platform for capturing high-intent audiences and generating measurable business results. But what if you are managing campaigns for a large-scale agency, or a global brand with a big ad spend budget?
That’s where Google Search Ads 360, the advanced advertising platform developed by Google, works best. Since its rebranding in 2018, it has become a go-to tool among enterprise PPC platforms. Confused about which advertising platform to choose?
This blog breaks down Google Search Ads 360 vs Google Ads, covering their features, benefits, and key differences to help you decide the right fit platform for your enterprise advertising needs.
What is Google Search Ads 360 (SA360)?
Google Search Ads 360 (SA360) is an advanced and dedicated search campaign management platform that lets advertisers manage and optimize multiple ad accounts in one place. It is a tool created by Google to help agencies and large-scale enterprises maximize their advertising return on investment (ROI) and improve campaign performance.
SA360 comes with robust reporting, bidding strategy automation, and workflow tools to help you get the best value from your search campaign investment. It also integrates well with other native Google Marketing Platform tools. One noteworthy aspect is that Search Ads 360 connects directly to multiple search engine APIs and lets you view all campaign data in one place.
SA360 supports the following search networks:
- Google Ads
- Bing Ads
- Baidu
- Yahoo! JAPAN Ads
- and other supported search engines.
Prominent Features of Google Search Ads 360
- Cross-Platform Reporting: One of the noteworthy SA360 features is that it provides insights into cost, clicks, conversions, Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), and customer acquisition costs.
- Unified Dashboard: Lets you view and control ad campaigns, and make better business decisions with reporting features, attribution tools, and more in one place.
- Seamless Integration: Allows you to bring data together, including call tracking and the ability to upload offline conversions.
- Programmatic Search Bidding: Offers real-time data, analysis, and bid adjustments powered by Google’s machine learning and optimization to take your search campaign to the next level.
- Mobile Optimization: Search Ads 360 can be optimized using a set of audience signals and mobile-specific capabilities such as mobile bid automation and geo-bid adjustments.
Top Benefits
- Delivers faster, real-time search campaign insights for better business decisions.
- Lets you understand what’s working and what’s not by connecting with your other digital channels.
- Improves collaboration between teams.
- Supports multiple search engines.
- Integrates with Google Marketing Platform- with products such as Campaign Manager, Google Analytics 360, Display and Video 360, and more.
What is Google Ads? Your Entry to the Advertising World
Google Ads is basically Google’s online advertising platform. It allows PPC advertisers to create online ads and reach potential customers by displaying service offerings, product listings, video content, and more. Google Ads is a solid product from Google designed to promote your business, sell products, increase engagement, and drive traffic to your website. According to reports, Google ads hold 80.20% of the global PPC market.
These ads usually appear on websites, search results pages, and YouTube within Google’s Display Network. Google Ads works well for small to mid-scale businesses. You can create an ad campaign for your business, write an ad text, choose where you want the ad to appear, and even set up a budget based on your spending capacity.
Below are some of the common marketing goals that you can try with Google Ads:
- Redirect visitors to your website.
- Visit your online store.
- Call your business.
- Install your app.
Prominent Features of Google Ads
- Customer Match: Use your first-party data to connect with your customers across Google channels.
- Test and learn with Experiment Page: The Experiment Page allows you to make changes in your campaign or bid strategy to see what improves ad performance.
- Audience Targeting: Focuses on location, demographics, and user interests.
- Keyword Planner:Â Find relevant keywords for your business to build a successful search campaign.
- Local Service Ads:Â Connect with nearby customers looking for a specific service. It targets ads in the geographical area and helps generate leads.
- Performance Max: Run AI-powered campaigns optimized to your marketing strategy across Search, Display, YouTube, Maps, Gmail, and more.
Top Benefits:
- Unlock the full benefit of different ad formats and features to customize your ads to your business goals.
- Lets you quickly track your ad performance and make changes to improve results.
- Pay only when a user clicks on your ad, not when they view it.
Google Search Ads 360 vs Google Ads: A Clear Comparison
| Factor | Google Search Ads 360 | Google Ads |
| Definition | Dedicated search campaign management that helps advertisers manage and optimize campaigns across multiple search engines. | Google Ads is a self-service advertising platform for creating and managing campaigns on Google. |
| Auction | Doesn’t run its own auction. It takes optimized bids into Google Ads auction and other connected engines. | Runs its own auction directly. |
| Inventory | No additional campaign inventory. | Google Search and Search Partner based on campaign settings. |
| Supported platforms | Google Ads, Yahoo! Japan Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and Baidu | Google Ads only. |
| Reporting | Cross-platform reporting | Google Ads data only. |
| Workflows | Supports advanced workflows | Supports basic workflows. |
| Budget management | Cross-account budget management. | Campaign budgets, shared budgets, portfolio bidding, and forecasts. |
| Campaign scale | Enterprise scale | Small to medium scale |
Related Read – DV360 vs Google Ads: Key Differences Every Marketer Should Know
The Strongest Recommendation for Your Enterprise: Google Search Ads 360 or Google Ads
Choose Google Ads for: Marketers, SEO professionals, and small-scale business owners can choose Google Ads if they want to advertise on Google only and need standard conversion tracking with a clear, manageable account structure. Plus:
- Need to manage a limited number of campaigns.
- Reporting needs are simple.
- Run a small-scale business.
Choose Search Ads 360 for: Enterprise-scale business owners can choose Search Ads 360 to manage campaigns across multiple search engines. Plus:
- Need to manage multiple brands.
- Need a centralized reporting and management platform.
- Need advanced automation and portfolio bidding.
The Bottom Line: Google Ads Got You Started. SA360 Gets You Scaling
Google Ads and Google Search Ads 360 are complementary rather than competing platforms. Google Ads is ideal for creating and managing campaigns within Google’s advertising ecosystem, making it well-suited to small- to medium-sized businesses. However, upgrading to Search Ads 360 is a great choice for your enterprise that needs centralized control, cross-platform reporting, and advanced automation.
In fact, SA360 is a milestone for your organization’s growth. Understanding the differences between Google Search Ads 360 and Google Ads is important for determining which platform works best with your digital marketing strategy and meets your business goals.
Read more about such top-blog picks published on our website.
FAQs
1] What are the types of Google Ads?
Answer: Google offers nine Google Ad campaign types, including Search, Display, and Performance Max. It also covers Shopping Ads, Video Ads, Apps, Discovery, Local Services, and Smart Campaigns.
2] Do small businesses need Search Ads 360?
Answer: No. Usually, most small and medium-sized businesses can manage their campaigns using Google Ads alone.
3] How much does Search Ads 360 cost?
Answer: Google Search Ads 360 (SA360) does not have a fixed price. However, the cost mainly falls between 2% and 5% of your total managed monthly ad spend as a platform license fee.
4] What industries benefit from SA360?
Answer: Retail, travel, finance, automotive, any industry that depends on feeds, multiple markets, or cross-engine strategies.
Also Read:
Google Ads AI Essentials 2.0: Know the Fundamentals for Effective Advertising and Business Growth
Expansion of Advanced Database Security (ADS) into Advanced Database Security Suite (ADSS)