What is a daily budget in Google Ads?

November 26, 2024

Get FREE Training Workshop from John Crestani

John Crestani has been recognized by Forbes, Business Insider, Entepreneur.com, and dozens of other publications for his success online. More importantly, he’s helped thousands of everyday people from around the world create success for themselves as well.

What is a daily budget in Google Ads?

A daily budget in Google Ads is the maximum amount of money you’re willing to spend on your campaign each day. It’s an important part of managing your Google Ads account because it controls how much you’re spending on ads over time, helping you stay within your overall advertising budget.

Key Features of a Daily Budget:

  1. Set Per Campaign:
    • The daily budget is set at the campaign level, meaning each individual campaign can have its own budget. If you’re running multiple campaigns, you can control how much to allocate to each one based on your priorities.
  2. Amount You’re Willing to Spend:
    • The daily budget is the maximum you’re willing to spend on your ads within a 24-hour period. Google Ads will try to spread your spending evenly throughout the day, but it can also adjust to accommodate higher traffic times.
    • For example, if you set a daily budget of $50 for a campaign, Google Ads will aim to spend no more than $50 in a single day. However, on days when more opportunities are available (like during peak times), Google Ads might spend a bit more than your set daily budget, but it won’t exceed your monthly budget (which is calculated based on the daily budget).
  3. Spending Variability:
    • While the daily budget is meant to control your overall spend, Google Ads can fluctuate daily spending based on the campaign’s performance and the opportunities available. On high-traffic days, Google may spend more than the daily budget, and on slower days, it may spend less. However, it will not exceed your monthly budget.
    • For example, if you have a daily budget of $10, Google Ads might spend $12 one day, but the total amount spent over the course of the month will average out to the equivalent of your daily budget multiplied by the number of days in the month.
  4. Impact on Ad Delivery:
    • The daily budget determines how frequently and for how long your ads will be shown each day. If your budget is too low, your ads might not be shown as often or may be paused when the budget is exhausted for the day. Conversely, if your budget is high, your ads can be shown more frequently and reach a broader audience.
  5. Setting Your Daily Budget:
    • Google Ads will often recommend a daily budget based on your campaign goals and historical performance, but you have the flexibility to set your own budget according to your needs. It’s important to set a budget that aligns with your business objectives and financial capacity.
  6. Budget Flexibility:
    • Adjustments: You can increase or decrease your daily budget anytime to reflect changes in your marketing goals or financial situation.
    • Budget Sharing: For campaigns that target multiple networks (Search, Display, YouTube, etc.), you may want to manage your daily budget across these platforms to ensure efficient spending.

Benefits of a Daily Budget:

  • Control Over Spending: A daily budget ensures that you don’t exceed your desired spending limit. It helps you stay on track financially and avoid overspending.
  • Consistency: By setting a daily budget, you ensure that your ads are running consistently each day without the risk of overspending during certain periods.
  • Flexibility: You can adjust your daily budget at any time based on performance and business needs, making it easy to scale up or down as required.

Example:

Let’s say you set a daily budget of $20 for a Search campaign. Google Ads will attempt to distribute this budget evenly throughout the day, ensuring that your ads are shown as frequently as possible without exceeding the $20 limit.

  • High-Traffic Days: If your ads receive more clicks on a particular day (due to high search volume), Google might spend a little more than your daily budget (e.g., $25), but it won’t go over the monthly cap (which is $600 if you have a $20 daily budget).
  • Low-Traffic Days: If there’s less demand, Google might spend less than your daily budget (e.g., $15) on those days.

Conclusion:

A daily budget in Google Ads gives you control over how much you spend each day, allowing for effective budget management while optimizing your ads’ performance. Setting a reasonable daily budget helps ensure that your ads are running consistently, with the flexibility to adjust based on performance and business needs. It’s important to align your daily budget with your campaign objectives and be mindful of fluctuations in spend throughout the month to maintain efficiency in your ad spend.

Free Webinar Training Reveals From John Thornhill