Google Ads Search Certification Exam — Questions and Answers

Question 1: What type of ad does a Google Shopping campaign display?

Product Listing Ads showing product image, title, price, and store name (Correct answer)
Banner ads on the Google Display Network
Video ads on YouTube
Text-only ads with keyword-based targeting

Correct answer: Product Listing Ads showing product image, title, price, and store name

Shopping campaigns display Product Listing Ads (PLAs) that include a product image, title, price, and store name, appearing in Google Search and the Shopping tab.

Question 2: What is the maximum membership duration that can be set for a Google Ads remarketing list?

365 days
180 days
90 days
540 days (Correct answer)

Correct answer: 540 days

Google Ads allows a maximum remarketing list membership duration of 540 days, after which users are automatically removed from the list if they do not revisit.

Question 3: Which bidding strategy automatically sets bids to maximize the number of clicks within your budget?

Maximize Clicks (Correct answer)
Target ROAS
Target CPA
Enhanced CPC

Correct answer: Maximize Clicks

Maximize Clicks is an automated bidding strategy that sets bids to get as many clicks as possible within your specified budget.

Question 4: What is the purpose of product groups in a Shopping campaign?

To organize products for bid management and performance reporting (Correct answer)
To set daily budgets at the product level
To create separate ad text for different product categories
To automatically exclude low-performing products

Correct answer: To organize products for bid management and performance reporting

Product groups let you segment your inventory within a Shopping campaign to set different bids and analyze performance for subsets of products.

Question 5: Which YouTube ad format is specifically designed for the mobile vertical video experience?

Bumper ads
TrueView In-Stream
YouTube Shorts ads (Correct answer)
Masthead ads

Correct answer: YouTube Shorts ads

YouTube Shorts ads are short vertical video ads designed specifically for the YouTube Shorts feed, targeting mobile-first viewers watching short-form vertical content.

Question 6: Which keyword match type gives you the broadest reach but least control?

Phrase match
Negative match
Broad match (Correct answer)
Exact match

Correct answer: Broad match

Broad match shows ads on related variations and synonyms, reaching the widest audience.

Question 7: What is the 'sale price' attribute in a Shopping product feed used for?

To flag items for inclusion in seasonal ad campaigns
To qualify products for Google's Shopping promotions program
To display a discounted price alongside the original price in Shopping ads (Correct answer)
To set the maximum CPC bid for promotional items

Correct answer: To display a discounted price alongside the original price in Shopping ads

The sale_price attribute allows you to show a reduced price alongside the strikethrough original price in Shopping ads, highlighting discounts to shoppers.

Question 8: What happens when two Shopping ads from the same advertiser compete in the same auction?

Google selects only the most relevant product and shows a single ad (Correct answer)
Both ads can appear, doubling the advertiser's visibility
The ad with the higher bid always wins the placement
The advertiser with the higher total budget wins both placements

Correct answer: Google selects only the most relevant product and shows a single ad

Google's system prevents the same advertiser from showing multiple Shopping ads for competing products in a single auction, selecting the most relevant one to display.

Question 9: What is 'close variant matching' in Google Search Ads?

Google's system for matching keywords to searches with similar intent, including misspellings and synonyms (Correct answer)
A bidding approach for closely related ad groups
Matching ads to users who closely resemble your existing customers
A feature that shows ads to users geographically close to your business

Correct answer: Google's system for matching keywords to searches with similar intent, including misspellings and synonyms

Close variant matching allows exact and phrase match keywords to trigger ads for searches that are semantically similar, including misspellings and paraphrases.

Question 10: What is a Smart Shopping campaign?

A campaign that only appears in the Google Shopping tab
An automated campaign combining Shopping and Display remarketing, with machine learning optimizing bids and placements (Correct answer)
A Shopping campaign limited to mobile devices
A Shopping campaign managed with manual CPC bidding only

Correct answer: An automated campaign combining Shopping and Display remarketing, with machine learning optimizing bids and placements

Smart Shopping campaigns combine standard Shopping and Display remarketing, using Google's machine learning to automatically optimize bids and placements across networks to maximize conversion value.

Question 11: What is a Responsive Search Ad (RSA) in Google Ads?

An ad that automatically resizes for mobile screens
An ad that responds to competitor bids in real time
An ad format where you provide multiple headlines and descriptions that Google tests in combination (Correct answer)
An ad that uses dynamic keyword insertion

Correct answer: An ad format where you provide multiple headlines and descriptions that Google tests in combination

A Responsive Search Ad lets you input up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions, and Google's machine learning tests combinations to find the best-performing ones.

Question 12: What is a non-skippable in-stream ad on YouTube?

An ad that pauses content and requires a viewer action to continue
A video ad of up to 15 seconds that viewers cannot skip, charged on a CPM basis (Correct answer)
A 30-second ad that appears only in YouTube Shorts
A 6-second ad that viewers must watch before accessing content

Correct answer: A video ad of up to 15 seconds that viewers cannot skip, charged on a CPM basis

Non-skippable in-stream ads are up to 15 seconds long, cannot be skipped by the viewer, and are charged on a CPM (cost-per-thousand impressions) basis.

Question 13: What happens when multiple advertisers bid on the same keyword?

An auction determines which ads show and in what order (Correct answer)
Ads rotate randomly with no ranking
Google picks the oldest account
The highest budget always wins automatically

Correct answer: An auction determines which ads show and in what order

Google Ads runs an auction using Ad Rank to decide which ads appear and their order.

Question 14: Caleb owns a music store and is creating an ad group for musical instrument rentals. What would be the most appropriate landing page for his ad?

A page with information on instrument rentals and a contact form (Correct answer)
A page with a wide selection of instruments for sale
His homepage, with links to instrument sales, rentals, and music lessons
A page with information on music lessons and a contact form

Correct answer: A page with information on instrument rentals and a contact form

The landing page should be highly relevant to the ad's specific message to provide a good user experience and improve Quality Score. Since the ad group is for 'musical instrument rentals,' sending users directly to a page dedicated to rentals with relevant information and a contact form ensures they quickly find what they're looking for. This reduces friction and increases the likelihood of conversion.

Question 15: Which of the following is a benefit of advertising online with Google AdWords? OR Which is a benefit of advertising online with Google AdWords?

Advertisers pay the same amount every time someone clicks their ad
Advertisers can choose how many times their ad should show during the day
Advertisers can pay to always show their ad above the organic search results
Advertisers can choose how much they spend and only pay when someone clicks their ad (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Advertisers can choose how much they spend and only pay when someone clicks their ad

One of the primary benefits of advertising with Google Ads is the control it offers over spending. Advertisers can set daily budgets and only pay when someone actually clicks their ad (Cost-Per-Click model). This makes it a highly measurable and cost-efficient way to reach potential customers.

Question 16: What is a callout extension used for in Google Search Ads?

To show your business rating and reviews
To display customer phone numbers in ads
To add a direct link to a specific page on your website
To highlight specific offers or benefits with short descriptive text (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To highlight specific offers or benefits with short descriptive text

Callout extensions add short snippets of text (up to 25 characters) to your ad that highlight unique offerings like 'Free Shipping' or '24/7 Support'.

Question 17: Which type of audience targeting lets you create a list based on people similar to your existing site visitors?

Similar audiences (Correct answer)
In-market audiences
Custom affinity audiences
Affinity audiences

Correct answer: Similar audiences

Similar audiences (now called optimized targeting) use machine learning to find new users who share characteristics with your existing remarketing lists.

Question 18: What is Customer Match in Google Ads?

A feature that shows ads only to existing customers currently signed into Google Search
A tool that automatically matches your ads to relevant third-party websites
A feature that matches your ads to customers based on browsing behavior
A targeting option that uses uploaded customer emails to reach known users across Google properties (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A targeting option that uses uploaded customer emails to reach known users across Google properties

Customer Match allows advertisers to upload a list of customer email addresses so Google can match them to signed-in Google users and serve targeted ads across Search, YouTube, and Gmail.

Question 19: What is Smart Display campaign in Google Ads?

A campaign that only runs on Google's own display properties
A campaign restricted to responsive ad formats only
An automated campaign that uses machine learning to optimize targeting, bidding, and creative (Correct answer)
A display campaign managed manually with full advertiser control

Correct answer: An automated campaign that uses machine learning to optimize targeting, bidding, and creative

Smart Display campaigns automate targeting, bidding, and ad creation using machine learning to maximize conversions across the Google Display Network.

Question 20: What is a Responsive Display Ad (RDA)?

An ad format where you upload assets and Google automatically creates and tests ad combinations (Correct answer)
A display ad that resizes only for mobile devices
A display ad that responds to user behavior in real time
An ad that adjusts its message based on the user's search history

Correct answer: An ad format where you upload assets and Google automatically creates and tests ad combinations

Responsive Display Ads accept images, headlines, logos, and descriptions, then Google's machine learning automatically creates and optimizes combinations to fit available ad spaces.

Question 21: What is the function of Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)?

To automatically generate bids based on competitor activity
To insert search terms directly into ad copy
To create ads that change based on the time of day
To automatically generate ads and target searches based on your website content (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To automatically generate ads and target searches based on your website content

Dynamic Search Ads use your website content to automatically target relevant searches and generate ad headlines, filling gaps in keyword-based campaigns.

Question 22: Which of the following methods can be used to collect remarketing data in Google Ads?

Only server-side API calls to the Google Ads API
Only a custom third-party JavaScript library
Only the Google Ads conversion tracking tag
The Google Ads global site tag or a linked Google Analytics account (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The Google Ads global site tag or a linked Google Analytics account

Remarketing audiences can be built using the Google Ads global site tag placed on your site, or by linking a Google Analytics account and importing audiences from there.

Question 23: What is a bumper ad in YouTube advertising?

An interactive overlay ad shown at the start of a video
A skippable 30-second ad shown between YouTube videos
A non-skippable video ad of up to 6 seconds charged on a CPM basis (Correct answer)
An ad that bumps your brand to the top of YouTube search results

Correct answer: A non-skippable video ad of up to 6 seconds charged on a CPM basis

Bumper ads are 6-second non-skippable video ads sold on a CPM basis, designed to deliver a brief, memorable brand message.

Question 24: What is the purpose of 'call-to-action overlays' in YouTube TrueView ads?

To trigger an interactive poll for viewer engagement
To add subtitles to video ads for accessibility
To automatically skip to the advertiser's website after ad completion
To display a clickable text and image overlay on the video ad that drives traffic to a URL (Correct answer)

Correct answer: To display a clickable text and image overlay on the video ad that drives traffic to a URL

CTA overlays are clickable banners that appear over in-stream ads, displaying a headline and thumbnail image linked to your destination URL to drive direct response from video viewers.

Question 25: Which bidding strategy aims to get as many conversions as possible within a set budget?

Target impression share
Manual CPC
Maximize conversions (Correct answer)
Maximize clicks

Correct answer: Maximize conversions

Maximize conversions automatically sets bids to win the most conversions for your budget.

Question 26: Cliff just started working with a client who has a very disorganized AdWords account. What’s an effective way for him to begin restructuring his client’s account?

Create campaigns based on the structure of his client’s website (Correct answer)
Create one campaign with a broad selection of keywords
Create multiple campaigns, each with a set of related keywords
Create one campaign for all the products his client offers

Correct answer: Create campaigns based on the structure of his client’s website

An effective way to restructure a disorganized AdWords account is to create campaigns and ad groups that mirror the client's website structure. This approach ensures that keywords, ads, and landing pages are highly relevant to each other, leading to better Quality Scores, improved ad performance, and easier management and optimization.

Question 27: Which metric measures the percentage of clicks that result in a conversion?

Return on ad spend (ROAS)
Cost per click (CPC)
Conversion rate (Correct answer)
Click-through rate (CTR)

Correct answer: Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of ad clicks that result in a conversion, calculated as conversions divided by clicks multiplied by 100.

Question 28: Which targeting option on the Display Network allows you to show ads on specific websites you choose?

Demographic targeting
Keyword targeting
Managed placements (Correct answer)
Topic targeting

Correct answer: Managed placements

Managed placements let you select specific websites, YouTube channels, apps, or pages where you want your display ads to appear.

Question 29: What does CPM stand for in Google Display advertising?

Cost Per Minute
Clicks Per Month
Cost Per Mille (per thousand impressions) (Correct answer)
Cost Per Match

Correct answer: Cost Per Mille (per thousand impressions)

CPM stands for Cost Per Mille, meaning you pay a set rate for every 1,000 times your display ad is shown, regardless of clicks.

Question 30: What targeting option allows you to show YouTube ads on specific YouTube channels or videos?

Keyword targeting
Demographic targeting
Topic targeting
Placement targeting (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Placement targeting

Placement targeting lets you specify individual YouTube channels, videos, apps, or websites on the Display Network where you want your video ads to appear.

Question 31: What is 'Target ROAS' bidding in Google Shopping campaigns?

A manual bidding approach where you set a return threshold per product group
A strategy that sets bids to maximize the number of product page visits
A strategy that prioritizes impression share over revenue
An automated bidding strategy that optimizes bids to achieve a specific return on ad spend (Correct answer)

Correct answer: An automated bidding strategy that optimizes bids to achieve a specific return on ad spend

Target ROAS bidding automatically sets bids to maximize conversion value while achieving your target return on ad spend ratio.

Question 32: In Google Search, what is the 'search term report' used for?

To measure organic search performance
To see the actual queries that triggered your ads (Correct answer)
To review your competitors' top search terms
To view your keyword Quality Scores

Correct answer: To see the actual queries that triggered your ads

The search term report shows the exact search queries that triggered your ads, helping you identify new keyword opportunities and irrelevant searches to add as negatives.

Question 33: When are you charged for a skippable TrueView In-Stream ad?

When a viewer watches at least 5 seconds without skipping
When a viewer completes 50% of the ad
Every time the ad begins playing
When a viewer watches at least 30 seconds or the full ad (if shorter), or clicks (Correct answer)

Correct answer: When a viewer watches at least 30 seconds or the full ad (if shorter), or clicks

With TrueView In-Stream ads, you're charged when a viewer watches 30 seconds (or the complete ad if shorter than 30 seconds) or interacts with the ad — skippers cost you nothing.

Question 34: What is the 'Google product category' attribute in a Merchant Center feed?

A required field using Google's taxonomy to classify your products (Correct answer)
A custom label you create to segment products for bidding
A merchant-defined grouping for internal reporting only
The URL path of the product category page on your website

Correct answer: A required field using Google's taxonomy to classify your products

The Google product category attribute maps your products to Google's standardized taxonomy, helping Google understand and appropriately match your products to relevant searches.

Question 35: What is the primary goal of keyword match types in Google Search campaigns?

To determine ad position on the page
To define the ad schedule
To control which searches trigger your ads (Correct answer)
To set the maximum bid per keyword

Correct answer: To control which searches trigger your ads

Keyword match types control which user search queries can trigger your ads to appear.

Question 36: Which type of ad extension shows your business address and phone number alongside your ad?

Callout extension
Location extension (Correct answer)
Sitelink extension
Structured snippet

Correct answer: Location extension

Location extensions display your business address, a map marker, and phone number to help nearby customers find and contact you.

Question 37: You signed 3 new clients, each with an existing AdWords account. What’s the best way to manage these accounts?

Pause your clients’ campaigns and recreate them in your manager acccount
Link the client accounts to your My Client Center (MCC) manager account (Correct answer)
Consolidate the 3 accounts into a new AdWords account you create
Use your clients’ sign-in information to access and manage the accounts

Correct answer: Link the client accounts to your My Client Center (MCC) manager account

A My Client Center (MCC) manager account is designed for agencies or large advertisers to efficiently manage multiple Google Ads accounts from a single dashboard. Linking client accounts to an MCC allows for centralized billing, reporting, and management without needing individual login credentials for each client.

Question 38: Your travel agency client is running a very targeted campaign to reach people who are visiting Paris on vacation and don’t live in France. What would be an effective way to target this client’s customers?

Create a campaign targeting French and regions other than Paris
Create a campaign targeting Paris and languages other than French (Correct answer)
Create a keyword list with the exact match keyword “Paris” and negative keyword “France”
Create a campaign with ads and keywords written in French

Correct answer: Create a campaign targeting Paris and languages other than French

To reach visitors in Paris who are not French residents, you should target the geographical location of Paris. Additionally, by setting the language targeting to 'languages other than French,' you can focus on tourists whose browser settings indicate they speak a different language, effectively excluding local French speakers.

Question 39: What is 'view-through conversion' in YouTube advertising?

A metric tracking how many users viewed the conversion confirmation page
A conversion where a user watched the full video and then clicked through to purchase
A conversion attributed to users who saw but did not click a video ad before converting (Correct answer)
A conversion counted when a user watches more than 50% of a video ad

Correct answer: A conversion attributed to users who saw but did not click a video ad before converting

View-through conversions are credited when someone who saw (but didn't click) your video ad later visits your website and converts within the view-through conversion window.

Question 40: A client wants to promote her new mobile app by showing her ads in other mobile apps. How can AdWords help accomplish her goal?

She can use keywords like “mobile app” to target people who are more likely to download her app
Google’s Display Network includes many mobile apps where she could show her ad (Correct answer)
Google’s Search Network will help her target people who are more likely to download her app
She can use mobile app extensions to reach users in apps

Correct answer: Google’s Display Network includes many mobile apps where she could show her ad

The Google Display Network extends beyond websites to include a vast network of mobile apps. Advertisers can target specific app categories or even individual apps to show their ads, making it an ideal channel for promoting mobile apps to relevant users. This allows the client to reach potential users directly within the app environment.

Question 41: What is a Merchant Center product disapproval?

A penalty applied when your Shopping ads receive low click-through rates
When Google rejects a product from serving in Shopping ads due to policy violations or data errors (Correct answer)
A quality score drop for poorly optimized product titles
A temporary pause applied to products with insufficient bid amounts

Correct answer: When Google rejects a product from serving in Shopping ads due to policy violations or data errors

Product disapprovals occur when a product in your Merchant Center feed violates Google's policies (e.g., prohibited content) or contains data quality issues, preventing it from serving.

Question 42: When creating a keyword list using broad match, why should you leave out misspellings and plural forms of keywords?

Broad match includes the exact words and phrases a user searches for
AdWords can automatically include these variations for you (Correct answer)
Your keyword list would be disapproved based on Google’s advertising policies
AdWords only shows an ad for keywords with proper spelling and plural forms

Correct answer: AdWords can automatically include these variations for you

When using broad match keywords, AdWords automatically includes close variations such as misspellings, plural forms, singular forms, and other related searches. This feature saves advertisers time by eliminating the need to manually add every possible variation. It ensures your ads can still be triggered by relevant searches even if the user's query isn't an exact match to your keyword.

Question 43: Each campaign in your AdWords account should have a single:

maximum cost-per-click (max. CPC) bid
business goal (Correct answer)
landing page
ad group

Correct answer: business goal

Each campaign in your AdWords account should ideally be structured around a single, clear business goal. This allows for focused budgeting, specific targeting, and accurate performance measurement tailored to that particular objective, whether it's driving sales, generating leads, or increasing brand awareness.

Question 44: What does RLSA stand for in Google Ads?

Remarketing Leads for Sponsored Audiences
Remarketing Links for Search Analytics
Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (Correct answer)
Remarketing Levels for Search Automation

Correct answer: Remarketing Lists for Search Ads

RLSA stands for Remarketing Lists for Search Ads, a feature that lets advertisers customize search campaigns for users who have previously visited their website.

Question 45: What does a Quality Score of 10 indicate in Google Ads?

Your ad, keyword, and landing page are highly relevant (Correct answer)
Your ad has been approved for all networks
Your ad has the highest bid in the auction
Your campaign has reached its daily budget

Correct answer: Your ad, keyword, and landing page are highly relevant

A Quality Score of 10 (the maximum) indicates excellent relevance between your keyword, ad, and landing page experience.

Question 46: What is a companion banner in YouTube TrueView advertising?

A static image or interactive banner that appears alongside the video player during a TrueView ad (Correct answer)
A banner ad shown on the YouTube homepage alongside your video campaign
An overlay that appears within the first 5 seconds of a video
A secondary video that plays alongside the main ad

Correct answer: A static image or interactive banner that appears alongside the video player during a TrueView ad

Companion banners are 300x60 image ads that appear to the right of the YouTube video player during TrueView In-Stream ads, providing a persistent visual after the video ends.

Question 47: What does 'feed optimization' mean for Google Shopping campaigns?

Increasing bids to improve Shopping ad positions
Adding more products to the Merchant Center feed
Reducing the number of disapproved items in the feed
Improving product feed attributes like titles, descriptions, and images to boost relevance and performance (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Improving product feed attributes like titles, descriptions, and images to boost relevance and performance

Feed optimization involves refining product data attributes—especially titles and descriptions—to better match user search queries and improve Shopping ad visibility and CTR.

Question 48: Your client’s campaign is consistently meeting its average daily budget. What should you do to maximize your client’s budget throughout all hours of the day?

Lower the daily budget amount
Increase the maximum cost-per-click (CPC) bid
Change the ad delivery method from “Accelerated” to “Standard” (Correct answer)
Pause the campaign to stop showing ads and accruing costs

Correct answer: Change the ad delivery method from “Accelerated” to “Standard”

When a campaign consistently meets its daily budget, 'Accelerated' delivery spends the budget as quickly as possible, potentially exhausting it early in the day. Changing to 'Standard' delivery tells Google Ads to spread the budget more evenly throughout the day. This helps ensure ads are shown across all hours, maximizing visibility and potential conversions over the entire day rather than just the morning.

Question 49: What is the recommended minimum number of headlines for a Responsive Search Ad?

8 (Correct answer)
15
3
5

Correct answer: 8

Google recommends providing at least 8 to 10 headlines in an RSA to give the system enough variety to optimize combinations effectively.

Question 50: How does 'target frequency' work in Google Video campaigns?

It lets advertisers set a weekly frequency goal for how often to show ads to the same user (Correct answer)
It determines how often new audiences are added to the campaign targeting
It controls the refresh rate of video creative across ad groups
It sets the maximum number of ad variations shown per campaign

Correct answer: It lets advertisers set a weekly frequency goal for how often to show ads to the same user

Target frequency campaigns optimize delivery to show your video ad to each unique user a specified number of times per week, ideal for sustained brand awareness.

Google Ads Search Certification Exam

The Google Ads Search Certification exam validates your ability to build and optimize Google Search campaigns, covering keyword targeting, bidding strategies, ad formats, extensions, and performance measurement.

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75 min

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