Campaign structure & bidding basics

Consolidate: a minimal starter structure on ONE platform, lowest-cost bidding first, cost caps later. Fewer campaigns concentrate the signal the algorithm needs.

Structure and bidding decide how fast the algorithm learns and how much you pay per result. Fragmenting an account into too many campaigns and ad sets, or fighting the algorithm with tight manual bids before you have the data, is one of the most common self-inflicted reasons paid accounts underperform.

Two decisions shape results more than any headline or targeting tweak: how many campaigns and ad sets you run, and whether you or the algorithm sets the bid.

Both platforms have moved toward consolidation. On Meta, Advantage+ sales campaigns (the AI campaign type, formerly Advantage+ Shopping) pull most audiences into one structure. On Google, Performance Max replaces ad groups with asset groups and runs alongside a lean Standard Shopping setup.

AI can design a starter structure. The learning thresholds must come from each platform's own help page, never a guess.

In this lesson

Fastest path: one prompt, end to end
Or do it in 5 steps
Worked example: a minimal Meta starter structure (illustrative)

What you'll learn

Pick ONE platform and consolidate
Match structure to conversion volume
Don't run PMax and Standard Shopping on the same products at once
Start with lowest-cost bidding
Add cost caps or target-ROAS later