2.1 Account Structure Philosophy¶
What this page teaches: This defines how accounts, portfolios, campaigns, and naming conventions should be organized.
Why this matters in real accounts: This topic affects money, visibility, campaign control, reporting clarity, or team execution. Understanding the business reason first makes the console steps much easier to learn.
Practical workflow: - Read the definition and linked glossary terms. - Identify what decision this topic affects. - Find the report, console screen, or input data required. - Make a small reversible change first when working in a live account. - Write down what changed and why.
Worked mini-example: Open the relevant report, check the key metric, make one small change, and note what you did and why.
Common beginner mistakes: - Skipping the context and copying tactics blindly. - Changing a live account without checking eligibility, budget, or data window. - Forgetting to log the reason behind the change.
Definition of done: - The learner can explain the topic without jargon. - The learner can name the report, console area, or data input used for this topic. - The learner can describe one safe action, one risky action, and one escalation trigger.
Merged from Complete Data-Filled Guide¶
Complete data-filled section notes¶
Account architecture is the filing system for your PPC work. A strong structure lets any strategist understand purpose, budget, match type, funnel stage, and ownership without asking the person who built it.
Naming convention standard¶
Use a predictable pattern such as:
Brand | Parent ASIN or Product Line | Country | Ad Type | Strategy | Target Type | Match Type | Bid Strategy | Portfolio
Simpler beginner version:
Product - Match Type - Purpose - Date or Version
Examples:
RunningShoes-Men-Exact-Scaling-2026CoffeeMugs-Winter-Broad-Launch-2026BrandDefense-Branded-Exact-Protect-2026
Structuring models¶
| Model | How it works | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| SKU-level | Separate campaigns per product or parent ASIN | Clean product-level control |
| Category-level | Campaigns cover a product family | Smaller accounts or shared budget |
| Match-type segmented | Separate Broad, Phrase, Exact | Cleaner reporting and control |
| Funnel-stage | Awareness, consideration, conversion | Strategy-led scaling |
| Defense/offense | Protect own brand, attack competitor traffic | Mature accounts |
| Launch/mature/harvest | Structure changes by lifecycle stage | Product lifecycle planning |
Ad group rule¶
Use one theme per ad group. Do not mix unrelated products or intents. A messy ad group gives messy data, and messy data makes optimization feel like reading tea leaves in a thunderstorm.
Portfolios¶
Portfolios act like folders with optional budget control. Use them to group by product line, season, campaign objective, or P&L owner. Portfolio budgets work best when grouped campaigns have similar priorities.
Definition of done¶
A campaign architecture is ready when a new team member can answer these questions from the name and folder alone: What product is this for? What ad type is it? What targeting method is it using? Is it for discovery, scaling, defense, or harvesting? Who owns the budget?
Operator checklist¶
- Explain the topic in plain English.
- Identify the report, console area, or input data needed.
- Make the smallest safe change first.
- Log the action, reason, and expected review date.
- Escalate if the issue touches policy, inventory, account health, or large budget changes.