Split Testing Ad Groups and Ads

Split Testing Ads

Learn how to easily split test different ad groups and ads to better optimize your campaigns.

Ads within the same ad group can be split tested using text ad styles and specifying a certain category for each ad. By changing the category field, you can choose which ads you don’t want to be shown at the same time.

Say you have a 300×250 placement on which you will be serving 3 text ads at a time. Create 9 different text ads: 3 for the first offer, 3 for the second offer, and 3 for the third offer. You now have 3 ads of each type that differ from each other in a way you want to test – whether that’s by different text, different images, etc. Since only 3 ads are being served at a time, you’ll want each offer to only show one at a time, so there are always 3 different offers being served and never any duplicates.

To set this up properly, choose one of the text ads you’ve created and click the “Edit” button. In the field marked “Category” enter an appropriate category name for that ad, then save the changes. Open another ad that belongs to the same offer, and type the exact same category name into the category field as with the previously edited one, and then save the changes. Do the same with the last ad that corresponds with the offer and save.

UpRival treats these ads as the same ad when rotating, so now these ads will never show at the same time. Repeat this process for the other sets of ads, using a new unique category name. Of course, you could also split test 4 or more ads by marking them with the same category name.

Warning: Make sure that there are enough ads in the group – if you put 1,000 ads into the group but they all have the same category name, only one will be shown at a time. Since you’ll be serving 3 (or more) text ads at once, you will still need 2 more ads with a different category (or no category) to fill up the placement.

Split Testing Ad Groups

You can also split test multiple ad groups. Not only can you test text ads vs. other text ads, but you can also test text ads vs. image or flash ads, or text ads vs. HTML Ads. You can also split test between text ads and banners. When using multiple ad groups, some users will see one group and others will see the other group. You can use weighting to control which group you’d like to be seen more often.

Say you have a 300×250 placement for which you will be serving 3 text ads at a time. Create 2 text ad groups. Create 3 ads for 3 different verticals, and put them into one text ad group. Create 3 more ads which advertise the same three verticals, but differ in some way from the first 3, and then put them into the second text ad group. Adjust the weight for each ad group to control which group is seen more often. It’s similar to split testing ads, however here you’re able to control which ads are seen together.