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What are Rule Engine Operators
Rule Engine Operators are the foundational building blocks used in the Rule Engine to define logical conditions and criteria for custom strategies. These operators allow you to create if-then rules by comparing fields or metrics (like Campaign Name, Clicks, Status, etc.) against specified values to identify and take action on specific subsets of data.
Operators are categorized based on the type of comparisons they perform, such as matching text, numerical values, or membership in a set. Create specific rules tailored to your ad management needs, by combining the right operators with conditions.
For instance, you can use operators to:
Identify campaigns with names containing specific keywords (e.g., "summer" or "winter").
Select items in the top-performing 10% based on clicks.
Exclude items with certain statuses like "Paused" or "Archived."
Text Operators
Multiple Value Support Operators
The following operators support multiple string values:
1. contains: Matches if the field contains any of the specified values.
Example: Campaign Name contains "Labor Day" matches campaigns like "Labor Day Flash Sale" and "Labor Day Weekend Discount".
2. does not contain: Matches if the field does not contain any of the specified values.
Example: Campaign Name does not contain "out of stock" excludes campaigns like "out of stock Holiday Promotions" and "Black Friday Deals: out of stock".
3. in: Matches if the value is in the specified set.
Examples:
Status in "Enabled, Paused" matches campaigns currently running or paused.
Campaign Name in "[Black Friday] [Cyber Monday]" matches campaigns under Black Friday Cyber Monday.
4. not in: Matches if the value is not in the specified set (single value only).
Examples:
Status not in "Enabled" matches campaigns currently "Paused" or "Removed"
Campaign Name not in "[Black Friday] [Cyber Monday]" matches campaigns that are not under Black Friday Cyber Monday.
Case-Insensitive Variants
The following operators perform case-insensitive matching (supports multiple values):
1. contains (ignore case): Matches if the field contains any of the specified values, regardless of case.
Example: Campaign Name contains (ignore case) "summer" matches campaigns like "SUMMER Deals" or "summer special".
2. does not contain (ignore case): Matches if the field does not contain any of the specified values, regardless of case.
Example: Campaign Name does not contain (ignore case) "test" excludes campaigns like "Test Campaign 2025".
3. in (ignore case): Case-insensitive version of "in" operator.
Example: Ad Group Status in (ignore case) "Enabled, Paused" matches ad groups with statuses like "Enabled" or "Paused".
4. not in (ignore case): Case-insensitive version of "not in" operator.
Example: Ad Group Status not in (ignore case) "Archived" matches ad groups like "Active" or "Paused".
Note: Press ‘Enter’ to add multiple values for In and not in operators (case sensitive or otherwise). All other text operators support multiple string values separated by commas.
Single Value Text Operators
1. is equal to: Matches if the field is exactly equal to the specified value.
Example: Campaign Name is equal to "Back to School 2025" matches the exact campaign name "Back to School 2025".
2. is not equal to: Excludes matches if the field is exactly equal to the specified value.
Example: Campaign Name is not equal to "Flash Sale" excludes the campaign "Flash Sale".
3. starts with: Matches if the field begins with the specified value.
Example: Campaign Name starts with "Geo_" matches campaigns like "Geo_USA Deals".
4. ends with: Matches if the field ends with the specified value.
Example: Campaign Name ends with "_active" matches campaigns like "Winter2025_active".
5. is empty: Matches if the field has no value.
Example: Campaign Name is empty matches campaigns with no name entered.
6. is not empty: Matches if the field has any value.
Example: Campaign Name is not empty matches campaigns with any name filled in.
Case-Insensitive Variants
The following operators perform case-insensitive matching (single value only):
1. is equal to (ignore case): Matches if the field is exactly equal to the specified value, regardless of case.
Example: Campaign Name is equal to (ignore case) "SALE" matches "SALE", "sale", or "Sale".
2. is not equal to (ignore case): Excludes matches if the field is exactly equal to the specified value, regardless of case.
Example: Campaign Name is not equal to (ignore case) "TEST" excludes "TEST", "Test", or "test".
3. starts with (ignore case): Matches if the field begins with the specified value, regardless of case.
Example: Campaign Name starts with (ignore case) "geo" matches "geo_US" or "Geo_UK".
4. ends with (ignore case): Matches if the field ends with the specified value, regardless of case.
Example: Campaign Name ends with (ignore case) "active" matches "summer_active" or "Winter_Active".
Text Operators That Support External List Data
The following text operators support external list data, which means that you can connect an external Google spreadsheet to a particular strategy and further filter out the suggestions generated by the rules.
Contains
Does not contain
In
Not in
Contains (ignore case)
Does not contain (ignore case)
In (ignore case)
Not in (ignore case)
Example: Placements in Placement [External List Column] matches all instances under the column ‘Placements’ in the attached external list data spreadsheet.
Numeric Comparison Operators
1. greater than (>): Matches if the value is strictly greater than the specified number.
Example: Clicks > 100
2. greater than or equal to (>=): Matches if the value is greater than or equal to the specified number.
Example: Impressions >= 1000
3. less than (<): Matches if the value is strictly less than the specified number.
Example: Cost < 50
4. less than or equal to (<=): Matches if the value is less than or equal to the specified number.
Example: Conversions <= 10
5. equal to (==): Matches if the value is exactly equal to the specified number.
Example: CPC == 2.5
Percentile and Rank Operators
1. in top: Matches items in the top specified percentage or value within your account.
Examples:
Clicks in top 10% matches campaigns with clicks in the top 10% of all campaigns in the account.
Cost in top 10 matches the top 10 campaigns in the account by Cost.
2. in bottom: Matches items in the bottom specified percentage or value within their account.
Examples:
Cost in bottom 25% matches campaigns with cost in the bottom 25% of all campaigns in the account.
Clicks in bottom 5 matches the 5 campaigns with the lowest number of clicks in the account.