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    getting startedbeginner3 minutesNov 22, 2024

    Google Ads Integration Setup

    Connect Google Ads to Cogny in 3 minutes for instant campaign performance insights and AI-powered optimization recommendations.

    Google Ads Integration Setup

    TL;DR

    Connect Google Ads to Cogny in 3 minutes to get instant AI analysis of wasted spend, optimization opportunities, and performance forecasting across your campaigns.

    What you'll accomplish:

    • Authenticate Google Ads account via OAuth
    • Select ad accounts for analysis
    • Enable automatic daily data sync
    • Receive AI-generated insights on keyword waste, bid opportunities, and audience performance

    Time required: 3 minutes | Difficulty: Beginner | Prerequisites: Google Ads account with Admin or Standard access, active campaigns or historical data

    Quick Start: In Cogny, navigate to your warehouse → Add Data Source → Google Ads → Connect with Google → Authorize access and select accounts.

    Related Resources

    Make the most of your Google Ads integration with these essential guides:

    Question

    How do I connect my Google Ads account to Cogny for AI optimization?

    Answer

    Click "Connect Google Ads" in Cogny. Sign in with Google. Select your ad accounts.

    Done in 3 minutes.

    Cogny's AI immediately starts finding wasted spend and opportunities.

    Quick Tip: Most teams discover 20-40% wasted spend in the first week after connecting Google Ads. The AI identifies zero-conversion keywords, inefficient budget allocation, and audience overlap issues that are nearly impossible to spot manually. Start by implementing the quick wins, then move to strategic optimizations.

    Why Connect Google Ads?

    Your Google Ads account is probably bleeding money.

    Not because you're bad at your job. Because there's too much data for humans to analyze.

    Thousands of keywords. Hundreds of ad groups. Dozens of campaigns. Millions of auction insights.

    The AI finds patterns you'd never spot manually.

    What You'll Get

    After connecting:

    Wasted spend alerts Keywords with zero conversions → Pause recommendations Ad groups with high spend, low ROAS → Budget reallocation

    Opportunity identification Underutilized high-performers → Scale suggestions Audience overlap issues → Consolidation recommendations Bid optimization opportunities → Automated adjustments

    Performance forecasting Budget impact predictions Seasonal trend analysis Competitive landscape changes

    Time saved Average: 15-20 hours per month on manual analysis

    Note: Cogny connects to Google Ads via OAuth with read-only permissions by default. The AI analyzes your account structure, performance data, and bidding history to generate recommendations, but you stay in control of all changes. You can optionally enable auto-apply for specific optimizations once you're comfortable with the system.

    Prerequisites

    You need:

    1. Google Ads account (obviously)
    2. Admin or Standard access (Read-only won't work for full features)
    3. Active campaigns (or historical data from past campaigns)

    Don't have admin access? Ask your account owner to add you.

    Google Ads → Admin → Access and Security → Add user

    Step 1: Navigate to Data Sources

    Log into Cogny.

    Go to your warehouse.

    Click Add Data Source

    Select Google Ads

    Time: 10 seconds

    Step 2: Authorize with Google

    Click Connect with Google

    A Google sign-in window appears.

    Sign in with the Google account that has access to your ads.

    Important: Use the same Google account you use for Google Ads. Not your personal Gmail if ads are under a work account.

    Time: 30 seconds

    Step 3: Grant Permissions

    Google asks for permissions:

    • ✅ View your Google Ads data
    • ✅ View your customer details
    • ✅ See your campaign performance

    What Cogny can do:

    • Read campaign data
    • Read performance metrics
    • Read audience information
    • Generate insights

    What Cogny CANNOT do:

    • Create or modify campaigns
    • Change bids
    • Pause ads
    • Spend your budget

    Read-only access. You stay in control.

    Click Allow

    Time: 30 seconds

    Step 4: Select Ad Accounts

    Cogny shows all Google Ads accounts linked to your Google account.

    You might see:

    • Your company's main account
    • Client accounts (if you're an agency)
    • Manager (MCC) accounts

    Select the accounts you want to analyze.

    Pro tip: You can connect multiple accounts. Cogny analyzes them together for cross-account insights.

    Click Connect Selected Accounts

    Time: 1 minute

    Step 5: Configure Sync Settings

    Sync frequency:

    • Default: Every 6 hours
    • Can be changed to hourly (for large accounts)

    Historical data:

    • Cogny imports last 90 days by default
    • Can request longer history if needed

    Data to sync:

    • ✅ Campaigns
    • ✅ Ad groups
    • ✅ Keywords
    • ✅ Ads
    • ✅ Audiences
    • ✅ Performance metrics
    • ✅ Conversion data

    Click Start Sync

    Time: 30 seconds

    What Happens Next

    Immediate (5-10 minutes): Cogny pulls your account structure and recent performance data.

    Within 1 hour: First analysis complete. Dashboard shows key metrics.

    Within 24 hours: AI generates first growth tickets:

    • Obvious waste to cut
    • Quick wins to implement
    • Low-hanging fruit opportunities

    Ongoing:

    • Daily performance monitoring
    • Automatic anomaly detection
    • Weekly optimization recommendations
    • Monthly strategic insights

    First Things AI Checks

    1. Wasted Spend Keywords

    Keywords spending money with zero conversions.

    Example ticket: "Pause these 23 keywords → Projected savings: $3,200/month"

    2. Budget Allocation

    Campaigns with strong ROAS getting budget-capped. Weak campaigns getting more budget than they deserve.

    Example ticket: "Shift $5K/month from Campaign A (2.1 ROAS) to Campaign B (6.8 ROAS) → Projected increase: $12K revenue"

    3. Search Term Waste

    Search terms triggering your ads that shouldn't.

    Example ticket: "Add 47 negative keywords → Stop irrelevant traffic → Save $1,800/month"

    4. Audience Performance

    Which audience segments convert best. Which are draining budget.

    Example ticket: "Your 'Engaged Shoppers' audience converts at 3.2x average. Current budget share: 12%. Recommended: 35%"

    5. Geographic Performance

    Cities/states/countries with different ROI.

    Example ticket: "California: 4.5 ROAS. Texas: 1.2 ROAS. Same bid. Adjust geo bid modifiers → +$8K/month"

    Real Example: E-commerce Company

    Before Cogny:

    • $50,000/month Google Ads spend
    • 1,200 active keywords
    • 47 campaigns
    • 3.2 ROAS
    • 10 hours/week on manual optimization

    After 2 weeks with Cogny:

    • Paused 380 zero-conversion keywords → Saved $6,200/month
    • Reallocated budget to top 15% performers → ROAS increased to 4.7
    • Automated bid adjustments → Reduced CPA by 31%
    • Total time spent: 2 hours/week reviewing AI tickets

    Net result: Same spend, 47% more revenue, 80% less time.

    Common Issues

    "Can't find my Google Ads account"

    Make sure:

    1. You're signed in with the correct Google account
    2. That account has access to Google Ads
    3. The account isn't suspended or paused

    Try signing out of Cogny and back in.

    "Permission denied" error

    You need at least Standard access in Google Ads. Read-only access isn't enough for Cogny to generate actionable tickets.

    Ask your account admin to upgrade your permissions.

    "Data sync is slow"

    For accounts with 100+ campaigns, initial sync can take 30-60 minutes. This is normal.

    Cogny imports millions of data points. After first sync, updates are fast (minutes, not hours).

    "Historical data missing"

    Google Ads API has limits on historical data. Some very old campaigns might not sync fully.

    For current campaigns, all data comes through.

    "Conversion data looks wrong"

    Check your conversion tracking setup in Google Ads.

    Cogny shows the same conversion data Google Ads reports. If it's wrong in Google Ads, it'll be wrong in Cogny.

    Fix conversion tracking first, then resync.

    Pro Tips

    1. Connect Google Ads + GA4 for full picture

    Google Ads shows clicks and conversions. GA4 shows what happens AFTER the click.

    Connect both (see GA4 integration guide) to see:

    • Which ads drive engaged visitors (not just clicks)
    • Post-click behavior patterns
    • Multi-session conversion paths
    • LTV by acquisition source

    2. Use Manager (MCC) accounts for agencies

    If you manage multiple client accounts:

    1. Connect your MCC account to Cogny
    2. Select specific sub-accounts to analyze
    3. Get cross-account insights and benchmarks

    3. Set up offline conversion imports

    Selling offline (phone, in-person)? Import offline conversions into Google Ads. Then sync to Cogny for complete ROI picture.

    4. Enable auto-apply recommendations (optional)

    Cogny can execute certain optimizations automatically:

    • Pause zero-conversion keywords
    • Adjust bids based on performance
    • Update negative keyword lists

    You control which actions auto-apply. Most teams start manual, then gradually enable automation.

    5. Combine with Meta Ads data

    Running both Google and Meta? Connect both to Cogny.

    AI analyzes:

    • Cross-channel attribution
    • Audience overlap
    • Budget allocation across platforms
    • Competitive dynamics

    What You Can Do Now

    Immediate actions:

    1. Review wasted spend tickets

      • See exactly what to pause
      • One-click implementation
      • Instant savings

    2. Check budget allocation

      • Compare ROAS across campaigns
      • See AI reallocation suggestions
      • Forecast impact before making changes

    3. Analyze search terms

      • Find negative keywords to add
      • Discover new keyword opportunities
      • Improve match type strategy

    4. Optimize audiences

      • See which audiences perform best
      • Get expansion recommendations
      • Identify overlap issues

    Next Steps

    Recommended guides:

    Combine with other platforms:

    More data = better insights.

    Next Steps

    After connecting Google Ads to Cogny, maximize your campaign performance:

    Immediate Actions (First Week):

    1. Review wasted spend tickets - pause zero-conversion keywords identified by the AI
    2. Implement budget reallocation suggestions for quick ROAS improvements
    3. Add negative keywords from the AI's search term analysis

    Strategic Optimizations (First Month):

    Advanced Capabilities:

    • Connect GA4 for post-click behavior analysis
    • Integrate Meta Ads for cross-platform budget optimization
    • Use CAC analysis to optimize customer acquisition costs across all channels

    Automation Options:

    • Enable auto-apply for pausing zero-conversion keywords
    • Set up automated bid adjustments based on AI recommendations
    • Configure Slack alerts for critical performance changes

    Need help? Get expert support:

    FAQ

    Q: Can Cogny make changes to my account automatically?

    Only if you enable it.

    By default, Cogny is read-only. It generates recommendations. You decide what to implement.

    You can enable auto-apply for specific actions (like pausing zero-conversion keywords).

    Q: How often does data sync?

    Every 6 hours by default.

    You can increase to hourly for faster insights. Or daily if you prefer less frequent updates.

    Q: What about Performance Max campaigns?

    Cogny analyzes Performance Max like any other campaign.

    AI insights include:

    • Asset group performance
    • Audience signal effectiveness
    • Budget recommendations
    • Creative testing results

    Q: Can I see individual keyword bids?

    Yes.

    Cogny shows:

    • Current bid
    • Performance (clicks, conversions, ROAS)
    • AI-recommended bid
    • Historical bid changes

    Q: What if I have multiple currencies?

    Cogny handles multi-currency accounts automatically.

    All metrics can be viewed in:

    • Original currency
    • Converted to USD/EUR/GBP
    • Your preferred currency

    Q: Does this work with Google Shopping campaigns?

    Yes.

    Cogny analyzes:

    • Product performance
    • Shopping feed optimization opportunities
    • Bid adjustments by product category
    • Competitor pricing impacts

    Q: Can I disconnect anytime?

    Yes.

    Settings → Data Sources → Google Ads → Disconnect

    Your Google Ads account is unchanged. Historical data in Cogny is deleted.

    See AI-Powered Google Ads Optimization

    The average company wastes 30-40% of their Google Ads budget.

    Not on bad campaigns. On good campaigns with hidden inefficiencies.

    The AI finds them. You get detailed tickets. Implement in minutes.

    Not set up yet?

    Schedule a demo and we'll show you exactly what Cogny would find in your account.

    About This Guide

    Written by the Cogny team—built by the founders who created AI optimization systems for Netflix, Zalando, and Momondo at Campanja, and scaled growth for Kry, Epidemic Sound, and Yubico through GrowthHackers.se.

    We've optimized over $100M in Google Ads spend. This is how we'd set up our own accounts.

    Last Updated: November 22, 2024

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