Search Network for physical products: structure, bidding, and negatives that get CPA below Meta in 30 days

Felipe Santana · 2026-10-07

Search is intent. People who land there already want it. The mistake is treating it like Meta (volume) instead of precision.

Structure

Campaign 1 — BRAND/PRODUCT: product name and variations, exact and phrase match. Very low CPC, converts at 10–20%. Captures people who saw your Meta ad and went to search for it. Small budget, never limited.
Campaign 2 — PROBLEM: “how to get rid of leg swelling,” “best supplement for…”. Phrase + broad with smart bidding. This is where you scale.
Campaign 3 — COMPETITOR: competitor names (phrase match). Low CTR, good CPA when the page compares them.
1 ad group per intent (5–15 very closely related keywords), not pure SKAG (it died with smart broad match).

RSA with 10+ headlines: pin 3 (product / main benefit / offer), leave the rest unpinned. Descriptions with proof and a guarantee.
All extensions: sitelinks (FAQ, Guarantee, Testimonials, Shop), callouts (Free shipping, Cash on delivery), snippets, image, price.
“Excellent” Ad Strength isn’t the goal—it’s a guide. CTR is the goal.

BIDDING (ramp-up)

Weeks 1–2: Manual CPC or maximize clicks with a cap. Goal: data.
15+ conversions in 30 days: maximize conversions.
30+ conversions: Target CPA = current CPA × 1.1. Then lower it by 10% for every week you hit your target.
Never switch to Target ROAS with fewer than 50 conversions.

NEGATIVES (starting day 1)

Universal list: free, free, pdf, recipe, homemade, how to make, course, job, opening, salary, meaning, wikipedia, youtube, amazon, Mercado Libre, Shopee, pharmacy, package insert, side effects, Reclame Aqui, scam, is it legit. By country: opinioni/recensioni/truffa (IT), opiniones/estafa (ES), opinie/oszustwo (PL), vélemények/átverés (HU).
Review search terms 2× per week for the first 4 weeks.

QUALITY (Quality Score)

< 5: the page doesn’t speak the keyword’s language. Landing page headline = primary keyword.
Page speed < 2.5 s on mobile. Search penalizes slow pages more than Meta.

BENCHMARKS (nutra/COD Europe)

Brand CPC 0.10–0.40 € · problem CPC 0.40–1.20 € · landing page conversion rate 3–8% · CPA 30–40% below Meta after 30 days of optimization. Volume: 20–30% of Meta. It’s a complement, not a replacement.

Tracking

Conversion imported from GA4 or a direct tag on the thank-you page + enhanced conversions (hashed email/phone). Without enhanced conversions, you lose 20–30% of attribution and smart bidding is flying blind.