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How to Create a Custom Filter Rule In Rules Advanced Mode? (Enterprise Plan Only)
How to Create a Custom Filter Rule In Rules Advanced Mode? (Enterprise Plan Only)
Karin Hollstein avatar
Written by Karin Hollstein
Updated over a year ago

How to Create a Custom Filter Rule In Rules Advanced Mode? (Enterprise Plan Only)

Creating a Filter Rule in Adspert's Criterion Hub: A Step-by-Step Guide

Before I show you how to create a custom rule with filters, you should know that this feature is only available to Enterprise Plan users through Criterion Hub’s Rules Advanced Mode. Moreover, you can only create this type of rules for keywords (all platforms) and placements (Google Ads).

What are filter rules?

Filter rules is a collection of subrules. They are segmented by different filters. Each subrule can set a different action and destination.

With the Rules Advanced Mode and the Filter Rules mode you have the control and power to truly nitpick. That’s how you can align your campaigns with your PPC advertising strategy down to the smallest detail - in an automated way!

And in this comprehensive guide, I will show you exactly how to create a custom filter rule. Let's get started!

⚠️ Please note that Filter Rules are available only for keywords (all platforms) and placements (Google Ads).

Step-by-Step Guide: Create a Custom Filter Rule:

1. Open the Rules page

Go to Criterion Hub in the Adspert navigation and click on "Rules" in the dropdown.

2. If you are using Rules Simplified Mode, switch to Rules Advanced Mode – Enterprise Plan Only

Simplified Mode is the default view on the Rules page. To change the view from “Simplified Mode” to “Rules Advanced Mode”, simply click the link in the introductory text. And, don't worry, you can revert back to the Simplified Mode at any time!

⚠️ You can freely switch between Rules page modes. However, when you switch from Advanced Mode to Simplified Mode, you will lose all custom rules that you have created in the Advanced Mode. .

3. Navigate to the desired entity:

Choose the entity for which you wish to create a Filter Rule:

platform, account, campaign, or ad group.

4. Click "Add/Edit Rule"

From the Action column, click on the "..." icon for the chosen entity, then select the option"Add/Edit Rule." The rule editing screen opens.

5. Enable Filter Rules:

By default, rules creation is set to a non-filter mode, so you first need to enable the filter rules mode. You can do this in a similar way as switching from Rules Simplified Mode to Advanced Mode. Scroll down and click “Filter Rules mode”.

(Look for the sentence in the bottom left corner containing the link to enable Filter Rule and click it.)

Note that Filter Rules are available only for keywords (all platforms) and placements (Google).

⚠️ In the rule editing screen, you can always return to a “No Filters rule” (look for the sentence in the bottom left corner containing the link). Just keep in mind that your sub-rules will be deleted, so you’ll have to start anew in case you decide to return to Filter Rules at a later stage.

6. Define Sub-Rules:

Filter Rule always consist of:

  • At least one Sub-Rule (You can add as many sub-rules as you want. Simply click the “Add another sub-rule” button.)

  • And a Catch-All Sub-Rule without filters. Catch-All Sub-Rule catches everything else that does not match with the sub-rule’s filters.

7. Edit Sub-Rule 1:

At the top right of Sub-Rule 1, hover over the arrow icon and click “Edit”..

7.1 Pick your filter(s)

The first thing to define is the filter at the top. Define Filter type, Filter operation and Filter values. These are all mandatory - if you don’t set the filters, then why even bother with the Filter Rules mode, right. :)

Here’s where again Adspert steers your way and only offers sensible options. You will notice that as you change the Filter type, the possible Filter operation and Filter values change accordingly.

And if you choose Keywords as your Filter type, you can even enter multiple keywords under Filter values. Simply type or copy-paste a keyword, hit enter, add another keyword and so on.

You can go all out and add more filters to the sub-rule. Click “Add another filter” and filter away! The filters can also be removed, but at least one needs to be available for this to remain a filter rule.

For every set of filters, you should pick the Action, Destinations and (Match) Type individually. Let’s take a close look at all three options:

7.2 Select an Action

First, pick a rule action. The options are Review, Add and Ignore. Keep reading to see what each of them does.

The default action is ReviewThis means that all suggestions are added to the Suggestions Review page for your approval. You can always skip that step and set your rule action to Add or Ignore.

Rule actions explanation:

1. Review:

Once Adspert identifies candidates to add to your advertising accounts, review them on the Suggestion Review page and decide on your own which to add, and which not.

2. Add:
Have Adspert automatically add all criteria that meet the Criterion Hub’s thresholds directly to your advertising platform.

3. Ignore:
Adspert will not suggest any criteria that meet the conditions of this (sub)rule.

A quick reminder on what is “criteria”: criteria is an umbrella term for everything that can be bid on: keywords, products, categories, and so on.

7.3 Select Destinations and (Match) Types

  • Destinations:

Based on your selected rule action you might need to set a Destination for your rule:

  • If you choose Add, you have to specify the Destination

  • If you choose Review, you can specify the Destination or not

  • If you choose Ignore, you cannot specify the Destination.

All destination options are on the left. You will notice that destination options will vary depending on the level you’re at: Platform, Account, Campaign or Ad Group level.

The best part is that Adspert guides you: only the ad groups that could be logically correct destinations are clickable. The ad groups that don’t make sense are still visible but grayed out, and you cannot select them.

Similarly, Adspert guides you through options: it only shows the relevant options for that level and entity. We help you to create custom rules that make sense! Simply tick the boxes to make your selection.

  • (Match) Types:

After you select the destination, you need to choose the match type or a type as well. And the same thing happens: Adspert only offers match type options that make sense based on your selection (level, action and destination). Click on the corresponding edit icon if you’d like to select more/other (match) types.

8. Add Additional Sub-Rules (Optional):

  • If necessary, you can add more Sub-Rules. There is no limit to how many Sub-Rules you can set up.

  • Each Sub-Rule can have its unique custom filters, actions, and destinations.

9. Edit Catch-All Sub-Rule:

The Catch-All Sub-Rule is automatically created by Adspert and cannot be removed. It is designed to catch any suggestions not picked up by the other sub-rules you create.

You can still edit the Catch-All Sub-Rule. The only difference is that it does not have filters like all other sub-rules.

If you are not an Amazon user, that’s it. Click “Confirm” and you’ve created and saved a custom filter rule!

10. Define Product Ads Sync (Amazon Ads only)

⚠️ The “Product Ads Sync” section only shows up for Amazon Sponsored Products Auto ad groups!

The Products Ads Sync feature is exclusively for Amazon Ads. It is designed to keep your Auto and Manual campaigns in perfect sync!

What Does Product Ads Sync Do?

Start by mapping out your ad group destinations according to your Amazon strategy. Specify which Auto ad group should sync with each Manual ad group. Then, Adspert takes the wheel, automatically syncing your Auto and Manual campaigns. That’s how our advanced AI automates yet another task that you would otherwise have to do manually. So when you create a custom rule, you can specify the Product Ads Sync at the same time, and get two things done at once!

How to Define Product Ads Sync:

A very simple table shows you:

  • Destinations
    Amazon Sponsored Products Manual ad groups

  • Current sync source
    Amazon Sponsored Products Auto ad group (if there is one) that the Manual ad group is currently synced with

  • Actions
    Here you can define how Adspert should keep the Product Ads in sync.

Destination does not have a Current Sync Source

This means that a Destination does not have a current sync source. In the Actions column you can choose between 3 options: Add missing, Overwrite or choose No Sync. The default option is “Add missing” but you can change that anytime.

  • Add missing” (default)
    Product Ads from the Auto ad group that are not in the Manual ad group are added. Ads in the Manual ad group that are not in the Auto ad group are not removed.

  • “Overwrite”
    All the ads in the Manual destination ad group are overwritten by those in the Auto source ad group, so as to keep the ads 100% in sync. One thing to keep in mind is that the destinations created by Adspert will always have the Overwrite mode which you cannot edit.

  • No sync”
    Removes the existing sync, but doesn’t set up a new one, meaning you will have to maintain the product ads manually to make sure everything is making sense in terms of the products advertised.

Destination is currently synced with a different Auto ad group (not the one you are currently creating a filter rule for):

A source (Auto ad group) can have several product ads sync destinations. A Manual ad group (destination), on the other hand, can only be synced with one source.

If a Manual ad group (destination) is currently synced with a different Auto ad group (source) than the one you are editing a rule for, you can set one of the following 4 actions:

  • “Keep current sync source” (Default)
    The sync source for the Manual ad group will not be changed.

  • Add missing”
    The previous product ads sync mapping will be deleted, and a new one will be created. Product Ads from the new Auto ad group that are not in the Manual ad group are added. Ads in the Manual ad group that are not in the new Auto ad group are not removed.

  • “Overwrite”
    The previous product ads sync mapping will be deleted, and a new one will be created. All the ads in the Manual ad group are overwritten by those in the new Auto ad group, so as to keep the ads 100% in sync. One thing to keep in mind is that the destinations created by Adspert will always have the Overwrite mode which you cannot edit.

  • No sync”
    Removes the existing sync, but doesn’t set up a new one, meaning you will have to maintain the product ads manually to make sure everything is making sense in terms of the products advertised.

Depending on what the Destinations are, you could also see “Create Keyword Ad Group” or “Create Exact Campaigns” options.

The “Create …“-options are Adspert’s clones of the Auto ad group when it comes to Product Ads Sync. They are read-only, not editable and always set to Overwrite action. Why show them if you can’t edit them? Because Adspert is 100% transparent and we want you to be aware of what's going on in each and every place.

There’s another option, you can also simply keep the Adspert default which is:

  • “Add missing” for non-Adspert created destinations (these are editable),

  • and “Overwrite” for Adspert-created destinations (these are ready-only)

11. Save Your Filter Rule:

  • Once you're satisfied with your custom filter rule, click "Save" to implement it.

Conclusion:

Creating a custom filter rule inCriterion Hub’s Rules Advanced Mode allows you to apply custom filters to your targeting criteria on platform, account, campaign, or ad group level. Like this, you can automate refining the criteria additions based on specific conditions. Thus, the Filter Rules give you greater control over where criteria are added and how.

By following the step-by-step guide provided in this article, you'll be able to leverage Filter Rules and make data-driven decisions to achieve outstanding results.

For more information and additional tutorials on optimizing your campaigns with Criterion Hub, explore ourHelp Center or reach out to us. We are only one click or email away.

Happy optimizing!

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