Transforming Wizz Air’s paid search activity through data-driven automation and scalable control.
- Client
- Wizz Air
- Capability
- Brand & comms strategy · Paid media
- Industry
- Travel
From manual to scalable paid search
Wizz Air, one of Europe’s fastest-growing airlines, runs paid search across hundreds of routes in various European markets in local languages - each with its own pricing, demand patterns, and promotional priorities. Managing such a dynamic network had become a real challenge. Campaigns needed frequent updates to reflect live pricing and route availability, but manual setup and maintenance were time-consuming and difficult to scale.
To keep pace with Wizz Air’s rapidly changing business needs, we needed to build a smarter, more agile system that could adapt to daily changes without human intervention, while still giving the client full control when priorities shift rapidly.
The Challenge - automating without losing local relevance
The task was clear: automate the creation and management of paid search campaigns for hundreds of flight routes while ensuring that every ad reflected the most up-to-date availability and local pricing.
However, this level of scale and complexity made manual campaign management unsustainable. Frequent updates were needed to reflect new routes, changing fares, and varying promotional focuses across different markets and languages. The process not only consumed valuable time but also introduced room for human error and inconsistency between markets.
We had to design a scalable system capable of running itself - but also flexible enough for Wizz Air’s team to fine-tune priorities in real time.
Our Approach - a feed-driven, self-updating campaign engine
We started by identifying the backbone of automation: live route data. Working closely with Wizz Air’s digital and performance teams, we developed a feed-based setup that connected directly to their data sources via API.
This system continuously pulled information about:
- Active routes and destinations
- Country-level origin and destination combinations
- Current lowest fares and availability
Using Google Search Ads 360 (SA 360) templates, we built a dynamic framework that automatically generated and updated campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ad creatives in multiple languages - all based on the live data feed.
To give Wizz Air full autonomy, we introduced a secondary data layer: a backend route-priority control table. This allowed the client to easily toggle which routes should be promoted, instantly updating the system without any external assistance.
Token-based generation of ads, keywords, and negative keywords ensured localized, relevant messaging and streamlined setup, while dynamic cross-campaign negative keyword mapping maintained campaign integrity and prevented targeting overlap between campaigns within the same account.
The Solution - an automated system with human control where it matters
In practice, this meant that when a route became unavailable, or fares changed overnight, campaigns automatically adjusted - no manual edits, no lag time. The entire ecosystem refreshed several times a day, keeping every market’s campaigns current and consistent.
The result was a fully automated, yet controllable campaign structure:
- Google SA360 templates ensured scalable automation across markets.
- Custom API feeds supplied live route and fare data.
- Backend control tools empowered Wizz Air’s internal teams to adjust promotion priorities independently.
- Dynamic ad generation keeps creatives timely, relevant, and multilingual.
This setup aligned perfectly with Wizz Air’s agile marketing model, where data-driven speed and flexibility make all the difference.
Results - lower costs, stronger visibility, real-time responsiveness
While exact performance metrics remain confidential, the impact was clear.
Across all markets, automation significantly reduced operational overhead, eliminated manual errors, and accelerated time-to-market for campaign updates.
As an example from one market:
- Ad Strength: Average → Good/Excellent
- 11.5% decrease in average CPC
- 80% increase in Search Impression Share
Wizz Air’s performance team now manages hundreds of dynamic routes across multiple regions without manual bottlenecks. Campaigns stay aligned with live data - reacting in near real time to price changes, new destinations, or shifting priorities - so the brand remains relevant and responsive in every market.
With this solution in place, we can now layer smarter controls - e.g., rule-based automations that activate or pause campaigns when yield-rate thresholds are met - opening the door to the next wave of efficiency and scale.
Now you.
Enough about what we’ve done. What have you got in mind? A campaign, a product, a big what-if? Our Growth Partners know their way around the industry. And they’re all ears.