Guarded Google Ads launch

Everything Adwarp creates on Google is PAUSED, and no tool or flag can create an enabled campaign, ad group, or ad. On top of that, every write is validated server-side first with validateOnly, which asks Google to run the whole batch through its validators and persist nothing. So the cost of a mistake is rework, not money. This skill's job is making rework rare.

How to reach Adwarp#

Prefer the Adwarp MCP tools if loaded: gads_list_accounts, gads_keyword_ideas, gads_list_conversion_actions, gads_launch_search_campaign, gads_list_campaigns, gads_performance, gads_search. CLI fallback:

adwarp google accounts list
adwarp google keywords "project management software" --url https://www.example.com/product
adwarp google conversions list
adwarp google launch --brief brief.json            # dry run
adwarp google launch --brief brief.json --apply    # create it

Without a global install, use npx -y adwarp in place of adwarp.

If a command says there are no Google Ads credentials, the user needs a developer token (from a Google Ads manager account at ads.google.com/aw/apicenter) and a Google Cloud OAuth client, then adwarp google auth login. That is a setup task, not something to work around.

Naming map, because it differs from LinkedIn: Google's campaign holds the budget and targeting (LinkedIn's ad group), its ad group holds keywords and ads, and there is no campaign-group level.

Step 1: gather the brief#

Required before anything is created: campaign name, daily budget, landing URL, the ad groups, and for each ad group its keywords and at least 1 responsive search ad. Ask for what is missing rather than inventing it.

Name ad groups so the angle is legible (theme, match type, persona), because later analysis reads intent off the names.

Display paths: path2 requires path1. Google rejects path2 on its own and the brief schema refuses it before the call, so put a lone path segment in path1.

Step 2: research keywords before quoting anything#

Never accept a keyword list at face value. Run gads_keyword_ideas on the seeds and the landing page, then report volume, competition, and the top-of-page bid range. This is the step that catches a term nobody searches and a term that costs $60 a click.

• Quote the bid range against the user's proposed max CPC. If the bid range sits above it, say so plainly: the keyword will not serve.
• Start with EXACT and PHRASE for B2B. BROAD without a strong negative list is how Google budgets disappear.
• Propose negatives from what the research surfaces (jobs, salary, free, course, tutorial, competitor brand terms the user does not want to bid on).

Step 3: state the house rules being applied#

These are hard-coded and cannot be overridden. Say them out loud in the confirmation so the user knows what they are getting:

• Search network only. Display expansion and search partners off. This is the Google equivalent of Audience Expansion and Audience Network off, and it is the single biggest silent waste leak on a B2B search campaign.
• Physical presence only. Location targeting is PRESENCE, not the default presence-or-interest, so "US" means people in the US rather than people anywhere who searched about it.
• Manual CPC to start. Smart bidding on a campaign with no conversion history spends unpredictably. Switch to conversion bidding in the UI once there is data.
• A daily budget is required. No brief without a stated cap.

A shared negative-keyword list is deliberately not a default. Attach one only when the user names it (negativeKeywordListId).

Step 4: wire conversions, and be honest about the gap#

Run gads_list_conversion_actions and name the right one in conversionActionNames (or set defaultConversionActionNames in ~/.adwarp/google.json). Adwarp verifies the action exists and warns if it does not.

Be straight about what this does and does not do: Adwarp verifies the conversion actions but does not set per-campaign conversion goals at creation. Google applies the account-level goals by default, and under Manual CPC conversion goals do not affect bidding at all. If this campaign should optimize for a narrower set than the account default, that is a UI step after creation. Say this in the handoff rather than implying it is wired.

Step 5: dry run, confirm, then create#

1. Call gads_launch_search_campaign with validateOnly: true (the default). Google validates the entire batch and creates nothing.
2. Show the returned plan (budget, campaign, targeting, each ad group with its keyword and ad counts), the operation count, and every warning.
3. Only after the user confirms, call again with validateOnly: false.

If validation fails, the error names the exact field path (for example operations[0].create.campaign_budget). Fix the brief and re-validate; do not retry blind.

The whole launch is a single atomic mutate, so a failure creates nothing at all. There is no orphan cleanup to worry about, unlike the LinkedIn path.

Step 6: verify and hand off#

• gads_list_campaigns to confirm the tree exists, and report every id.
• Tell the user the 4 things to eyeball in the Google Ads UI, because they are the ones that cost money if wrong: status is Paused, networks are Search only, location targeting says presence, and the budget is what they asked for.
• Hand off activation explicitly. Adwarp never enables anything; turning the campaign on is a human action in the UI.
• The launch is journaled automatically to ~/.adwarp/changelog.jsonl alongside LinkedIn changes, so adwarp changelog list shows both.

What this skill does not do#

Performance Max, Display, Shopping, and video campaigns are not supported; Adwarp builds Search campaigns only. Customer Match audience upload is not built yet either. Say so rather than improvising with raw GAQL.