Ad Grants basics
Keywords that fit the grant rules
Ad Grants keywords have to match your mission and be specific. Grantkeeper flags the ones that break Google's rules and helps you replace them with phrases that describe your programs.
Text it like this
Fictional example.
What the policy says
Google's keyword policy for grant accounts asks that keywords reflect your primary mission, relate to your programs and services, and be specific enough to give searchers a good experience. Single-word keywords are not allowed, with exceptions for your own brand terms, recognized medical conditions, acronyms and a published list of other cases. If a keyword depends on one of those exceptions, keep a note of which one, and check Google's list again before a new campaign.
Overly generic keywords, such as “things to do” or “best videos,” are out, and so are place names or organization names standing alone. Keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2 can't be used. The policy says Google can pause keywords that break these rules automatically, without a notice.
Quality Score in plain words
Quality Score is Google's 1 to 10 rating of how well a keyword, its ad and the landing page fit together. New keywords often have no score yet; a blank is not a 1, and Grantkeeper doesn't treat it as one. A score of 3 is outside the 1-or-2 rule, though it's worth improving.
Scores tend to rise when an ad group sticks to one theme, the headlines use the words people search, and the page is about that exact topic. Sending a search about tutoring to the homepage can pull the score down.
How Grantkeeper helps
The weekly check lists live keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2 and single-word keywords. Your organization's own name is set as a brand term during setup, so it isn't flagged. Grantkeeper suggests multi-word replacements that name the program and the place, adds them as paused keywords in the same ad group, and pauses the flagged ones as soon as you ask.
Fictional example: a youth center replaces “tutoring” and “homework” with “free tutoring for kids Elm County,” “after school homework help Elm Grove” and “teen tutoring program near Elm Grove,” each in an ad group whose ads and page are about tutoring.
Negative keywords work the other way: they stop your ads from showing on searches you don't want, and they never add spend. Grantkeeper reads your search terms report to suggest them. Turning new keywords on happens in Google Ads.
Clean up keywords before the month ends, since the click rate is counted by calendar month. The keyword cleanup recipe shows the text to send.
Sources: Google Ad Grants keyword policy, Google Ad Grants policy compliance guide
Start here
Single-word keywords, generic phrases and Quality Scores of 1 or 2: what Google's Ad Grants keyword policy asks and how to clean up.
- List keywords with a Quality Score of 1 or 2.
- Find single-word and generic keywords.
- Pause them and add specific phrases in their place.