My Green Lab

• Science
• 03. 06. 2026

About

My Green Lab is a nonprofit organization focused on building a global culture of sustainability in science. Through certification programs, educational resources, industry partnerships, and advocacy initiatives, the organization helps laboratories, research institutions, universities, and biotech companies reduce the environmental impact of scientific research.

Their work supports laboratories in adopting more sustainable practices while also educating scientists and organizations about the long-term environmental and operational benefits of sustainability in research.

• Website: My Green Lab
• Location: United States & Europe (global operations)
• Cooperation period: December 2020 – Ongoing

Marketing Goals

• Increase utilization of the grant
• Increase awareness of certifications, resources, webinars, and events
• Increase awareness of sustainable laboratory practices globally
• Support long-term growth content development
• Build a scalable acquisition channel across both the US and European markets

Initial Situation

When our cooperation with My Green Lab began in December 2020, the organization already had an active Google Ad Grants account that had existed since July 2017. However, despite having access to the full $10,000 monthly grant, only a relatively small portion of the budget was being utilized for a long time.

The account structure was limited, campaigns were configured relatively narrowly, and the organization was missing opportunities to appear for broader sustainability, laboratory, and educational searches. While My Green Lab already had strong authority within the sustainability-in-science space, their Google Ads presence was not fully aligned with the growing global interest in green lab practices.

During the onboarding phase, we identified several opportunities:

• expand the list of keywords beyond branded search terms
• capture educational and informational queries related to lab, ecology, waste reduction, and sustainability topics
• expand the overall campaign structure, including Dynamic, Donation, Green Chemistry, and other campaigns
• promote webinars, certifications, programs, resources, and events
• implement automated bidding strategies
• increase budgets and use more aggressive bidding
• enhance the ad copy with dynamic headlines and popular keywords
• negative match irrelevant keywords and remove those with long-term low performance

Results Of Our Intervention

After completing a comprehensive audit of the account and defining a clear strategy, we developed a restructuring plan aimed at improving My Green Lab’s reach and maximizing grant utilization. We introduced a new campaign structure covering a broad range of topics relevant to the nonprofit’s mission, with a strong emphasis on high-intent long-tail keywords that offered meaningful search volume while facing lower competition, helping improve visibility within the limitations of the Ad Grants program, where commercial advertisers are prioritized in search results.

Example Campaigns

• Brand
• Dynamic
• Brand Awareness – Sustainability
• Brand Awareness – Lab
• Education
• Resources
• Donate

Sample Ad:

• Headline 1: Make Your Lab More Sustainable
• Headline 2: Reduce Waste, Energy & Water
• Headline 3: Free Resources For Labs
• Headline 4: Adopt Green Lab Practices
• Headline 5: Save Money & Environment
• Headline 6: Resources, Events, Certificate
• Description line 1: We Build A Culture Of Sustainability Through Science. Explore Our Sustainability Programs.
• Description line 2: Scientifically Proven Laboratory Sustainability Standards & Best Practices. Learn More!
• Description line 3: Sustainability Standards, Implementation & Inspiration For Scientific Community.
• Description line 4: Learn To Reduce The Environmental Impact Of Your Scientific Work. Data & Best-Practices.
• Final URL: https://www.mygreenlab.org/

Key Performance Highlights

The impact became obvious very quickly. By March 2021, the account was already utilizing nearly $9,000 of the monthly grant budget.

(Campaign performance development before and after the establishment of cooperation)

By April 2021 we’ve achieved:

• Almost full $10,000 grant utilization
• Over 1,000 website visits in one month
• Over 200 meaningful conversions, including file downloads, Freezer Challenge link clicks, newsletter signups, and more

Global Targeting & Seasonality

One of the unique aspects of the account is its international reach. We targeted both the United States and Europe, allowing My Green Lab to reach audiences across multiple scientific and research markets. Expanding geographic targeting also played an important role in increasing grant utilization, as broader targeting enabled us to reach larger audiences, capture additional search demand, and effectively scale monthly spend.

As the organization regularly hosts events, webinars, educational initiatives, and other industry-focused campaigns, the account required an agile and continuously evolving strategy. Because many of these initiatives were tied to specific industry timelines and promotional periods, campaign performance naturally fluctuated throughout the year depending on event schedules, scientific conferences, and seasonal interest within the sustainability and lab sectors.

To accommodate this, we consistently expanded their account by creating new campaigns, introducing new keywords, optimizing messaging, and more. This allowed us to remain highly relevant, capture timely search demand, and support the organization’s ongoing educational and community outreach efforts.

AI Overviews Impact

One of the defining characteristics of My Green Lab’s search profile is the high percentage of informational and question-based queries.

Many users search for terms such as:

• lab sustainability
• how to reduce lab waste
• green lab best practices
• how can we reduce energy consumption, etc.

Historically, these educational searches generated traffic. However, after the rollout of AI Overviews in Google Search during 2025, the account experienced a slight traffic decline. This trend affected many organizations relying heavily on informational searches because Google increasingly answers simple educational questions directly within the AI Overview before users click through to websites.

(The impact of AI Overviews on campaign performance)

Although the impact was not dramatic, it became clear that future success would require adapting campaign strategies to changing search behavior.

How We Adapted

To reduce the overall impact of AI-Overviews on our campaigns and maintain strong performance, we implemented several strategic adjustments.

1. Performance Max (PMax) – We launched Performance Max campaigns within the account to extend reach beyond traditional keyword targeting and help surface additional high-intent audiences across Search.
2. AI Max –We enabled AI Max, a campaign expansion feature designed to help Google identify additional relevant search themes and uncover new keyword opportunities beyond the existing campaign coverage within the account.
3. Content Development Strategy – Through our experience managing Google Ad Grants accounts, we’ve found that content development plays a critical role in long-term account growth and scalability. In collaboration with the client, we worked on developing keyword-optimized content designed to support campaign expansion, improve search relevance, and capture additional traffic.

Today, My Green Lab maintains a strong international Google Ad Grants presence with:

• high monthly grant utilization
• campaigns designed for both the US and EU audience
• stable traffic for sustainability and laboratory-related searches
• support for ongoing webinars, certifications, and events
• consistent promotion of resources and educational initiatives

Road Ahead

While the Google Ad Grants account has established a strong foundation for long-term growth, there are still several opportunities to further expand My Green Lab’s reach across relevant digital channels and connect with new audiences. As search behavior continues evolving and competition within search results increases, future growth will likely depend on diversifying beyond traditional Google Ad Grants search campaigns and exploring additional advertising channels capable of supporting broader visibility and audience engagement.

Several future expansion opportunities exist:

1. Bing Ads – Because My Green Lab targets professional audiences, universities, research institutions, etc., Bing Ads represents a strong opportunity due to its higher concentration of professional and enterprise users.
2. Commercial Google Ads – While Google Ad Grants provides significant exposure, combining the grant with commercial Google Ads could provide additional inventory, more competitive placements, remarketing opportunities, and broader campaign flexibility.
3. Reddit Ads – Reddit contains highly active scientific, laboratory, sustainability, biotech, and research-focused communities. Carefully targeted Reddit campaigns could help My Green Lab reach niche professional audiences engaged in sustainability discussions.

Conclusion

From an underutilized Google Ad Grants account with limited account structure to a globally active acquisition channel, My Green Lab has significantly expanded its online presence through strategic campaign restructuring, adaptation to the evolving search environment, and continuous optimization.

If your nonprofit organization is struggling with the Ad Grants utilization, search traffic declines caused by the introduction of AI Overviews, or account deactivation, we can help! At AboveX Digital, we specialize in maximizing the value of every ad dollar, grant-funded or not. Schedule a consultation!