Consolidate Legacy SKAGs: Why & How to Upgrade

For businesses aiming to maximize their Google Ads performance, moving away from the outdated single keyword ad group (SKAG) structure is no longer optional. The digital advertising environment has fundamentally shifted, with Google’s sophisticated automation and AI now rewarding streamlined, data-rich account setups. While the precision of legacy SKAGs was once appealing, their intensive maintenance demands and inefficiency in today’s landscape make consolidation into fewer, more powerful ad groups a necessary strategic upgrade. This transition allows marketers to harness better data density for the algorithms while freeing up valuable time to focus on higher-impact optimization activities.

Many performance marketers, myself included, initially resisted this shift. The ability to assign custom bids, craft perfectly tailored ad copy, and direct traffic to specific landing pages offered a comforting level of control. However, the reality is that this precision is largely an illusion now. Google’s expanded match types mean we can no longer micromanage every single search query, even those that convert well. The platform’s algorithms now perform best when fed substantial data from consolidated campaigns, and the interface itself is designed to support this approach. When executed correctly, this consolidation can lead to a noticeable efficiency gain, often around 10% or more.

The true levers for control and performance have moved. Marketers achieve better results by concentrating their efforts on enhanced conversions, strategic implementation of offline conversion tracking, a disciplined negative keyword strategy, and creating ad copy that demonstrates a genuine understanding of the user’s intent. Optimizing these areas delivers far greater value than the endless, manual labor previously spent building and maintaining thousands of isolated SKAGs. A well-planned consolidation can even avoid the typical performance dip that accompanies major account restructures, allowing the benefits of improved data density to take effect almost immediately.

To ensure your consolidation efforts are successful, it’s critical to build a structure that finds the right equilibrium between gathering enough data and retaining necessary control.

A common mistake is failing to consolidate enough. Simply moving from one-keyword ad groups to two-keyword groups is insufficient. Many accounts we inherit still contain hundreds of ad groups that require further merging. Over-segmented accounts create tangible problems, including inefficient budget distribution across too many campaigns, data cannibalization that obscures true performance, management becoming a major time sink, and inconsistent ad messaging. The time saved through proper consolidation is substantial and can be redirected to strategic work. In one specific case, a SaaS account we consolidated saw its cost per opportunity improve by 6% in the first month and a remarkable 27% in the second, all while maintaining the same volume of opportunities, gains that were clearly attributable to the structural changes.

On the flip side, it is possible to over-consolidate. We also encounter accounts where a single ad group contains hundreds or even thousands of keywords. This extreme gives Google too much leeway, often resulting in ads showing for irrelevant searches and the algorithm prioritizing its own revenue over your campaign goals. Over-consolidation also cripples your ability to glean actionable insights. For instance, grouping dissimilar geographic regions into one ad group makes it impossible to determine which areas are driving profitable growth and which are simply wasting budget.

Smart Segmentation: The Shield Against Google’s Shortcuts

Strategic segmentation is essential to prevent Google from exploiting loopholes in your campaign setup. The platform is remarkably efficient at taking the path of least resistance to hit your targets , often at the expense of profitability. To avoid falling into that trap, keep these principles in mind when consolidating your campaigns.

1. Separate Brand from Non-Brand Keywords
Google’s algorithm favors brand terms because those users are already close to converting. While this boosts your conversion rate, it adds minimal incremental value. Separating brand and non-brand keywords forces the system to work harder to reach new audiences rather than relying on loyal or returning customers.

2. Strengthen Your Negative Keyword Strategy
With consolidated ad groups, irrelevant search queries become a bigger threat. That’s why a solid negative keyword strategy is crucial. You can’t block every unproductive query, but applying broad, directional negative lists helps minimize waste and protect your budget from poor-quality traffic.

3. Focus on Efficiency, Not Just Performance
A slight performance improvement often follows successful consolidation, but that’s not the main reward. The real value lies in the time saved from managing a simpler account structure and letting Google’s AI handle repetitive tasks. More importantly, stepping away from query-level micromanagement allows you to focus on higher-level strategy , finding smarter ways to differentiate your campaigns and achieve stronger, sustainable business results.

(Source: Search Engine Land)