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Query sculpting

Query sculpting is a Standard Shopping technique that combines campaign priority and negative keywords to bid differently on generic and specific searches.

How it works

A Shopping campaign has no keywords, so one product can show for “frying pan” and for a search with its brand and model. Query sculpting puts the same products into three Standard Shopping campaigns. A campaign with a matching negative keyword skips the search. Of the remaining campaigns holding the product, the highest-priority one bids.

High priority gets the lowest bid and blocks brand and model words, so it keeps generic searches. Medium blocks model words and takes brand searches. Low has the highest bid and no negative keywords, so it gets the most specific searches.

The search terms report shows whether searches land as planned. For the setup, see query sculpting in Standard Shopping.

Query sculpting works only in Standard Shopping: Performance Max has no priority and steers searches with negative keywords, brand exclusions and search themes.

Example

Example store, not client data.

The tableware shop’s frying pans sit in three campaigns:

CampaignPriorityBidNegative keywords
Pans: genericHigh3“kovo”, “pro 28”
Pans: brandMedium5“pro 28”
Pans: modelLow8none

For “frying pan”, the generic campaign bids 3. “Kovo frying pan” is blocked there, so the brand campaign bids 5. “Kovo pro 28 frying pan” is blocked in both, so the model campaign bids 8.

Not to be confused with

  • Campaign priority — the setting that picks whose bid enters the auction. Sculpting is one way to use it.
  • Negative keywords — alone, they only block searches. Sculpting pairs them with priority, so a blocked search falls to the next campaign.

Right and wrong readings

  • Wrong: “The Low-priority campaign gets the leftovers.” Right: it gets the most specific searches at the highest bid, because the campaigns above block them.
  • Wrong: “A High-priority Standard Shopping campaign keeps a search away from Performance Max.” Right: since October 2024, when both are in the same account and target the same product, the higher Ad Rank serves.

Sources