Transitioning to category targeting from an alternate approach

If you already target by category with keywords, reserved keys or AdQuery, you do not need to change anything. This page helps you decide whether to move to category targeting, which Kevel recommends for most new setups, and points to the guide for your approach. It is for ad ops and developers. To compare the approaches side by side, see Compatibility by approach.

When to move

Move when you want:

• Your team or advertisers to choose categories from a managed list, instead of typing or pasting keywords.
• Include and exclude rules on a Flight or Ad.
• Reports on the category that matched each Ad, with Placement Category (Matched).
• Category bid modifiers.
• Advertisers to choose categories in Console.

Keep your current approach for pages where you need patterns, or a parent category matching its children.

Before you start

What you need. Category targeting enabled for your network, your current approach, and a list of the categories your pages send.

Choose your move guide

Each guide has the steps, validation and rollback.

• Move from keyword targeting to category targeting, including reserved keys.
• Move from AdQuery category filtering to category targeting.

Run two approaches together, or roll back

Each approach is one condition on a Flight or Ad, and an Ad serves only when it passes every condition it has. Running two approaches together is safe: an Ad with both keyword targeting and category rules must pass both. You can move one Flight at a time.

To roll back, delete the category rules from the Flight or Ad. The keyword targeting and AdQuery filters you kept continue as before.

Troubleshooting

Related

• Category targeting
• Send a category in decision requests
• Alternative category targeting methods
• Report on categories