One of the more common complaints that people have with the Google AdWords system is that there is nowhere detailing new features. New options, preferences and functionality are added on an ongoing basis, but finding them often proves to be a case of hit and miss. Until now.
This page will detail all the Google AdWords changes that we happen upon, along with our own commentary, based on our experiences.
An RSS feed of this information is also available. 
The New AdWords Interface is live - bad news for most advertisers - May 14, 2009
The new interface appears to be out of beta.
But it's not all good news.
Details on our Software Marketing Blog.
New AdWords interface - bad news for most advertisers
New Conversion Metrics - April 14, 2009
Our very own Aaron Weiner has written about some recent changes to Google's conversion tracking in the SharewarePromotions Software Marketing News blog:
"If you are using AdWords conversion tracking on your website, you might not have been aware that only one conversion will be counted for a particular visitor. For example, if you have the same conversion tracking code set up on each of your software downloads, you will only see one conversion for a particular visitor, even though they may have downloaded multiple products from your website. This is because a conversion can only be counted once per user.
So how do you tell if your AdWords traffic is performing a particular action multiple times? In the past, you would need to dig deeper within the AdWords reporting center.
However Google have now moved this value right into the conversion tracking section of your AdWords account. The new name is called "Conversions (many-per-click)"."
New AdWords conversion metrics - Conversions (many-per-click)
Warning: New AdWords phishing - March 17, 2009
Be careful how you log into your Google AdWords account.
Warning: New AdWords phishing and the MySQL saga
More display URL policy changes - February 23, 2009
Inside AdWords have announced a change to their AdWords policy on display URLs:
"In an effort to provide more relevant results and a high quality experience for our users, we've made the decision to disallow multiple display URL domains within a single ad group. Going forward, all display URLs within an ad group must have the same top-level domain. Please note that this amendment to our policy applies to all advertisers, regardless of previous exceptions or acceptability of any ad groups."
The main point is that the display URLs need to have the same top-level domain.
Note that sub-domains are allowed, so all of the following would comply with the new policy:
- www.yoursite.com
- blog.yoursite.com
- www.blog.yoursite.com
Different display URLs are still allowed, but these have to be placed in their own ad groups.
Why? I have no idea.
Google claim that this is "in an effort to provide more relevant results and a high quality experience for our users", but this is clearly nonsense. The user is entirely unaffected by the new policy.
A change to our display URL policy
New AdWords interface - February 2, 2009
From our Software Marketing News blog:
"Google appear to be working on a fresh new AdWords interface. In short it is very impressive. For now, not everyone is able to see the new look, as it appears that Google are rolling it out in stages. In fact out of all the clients whose accounts we manage, only one had access to the new interface."
More details here:
New AdWords interface - very cool!
Using Trademarked Names in Display URLs - January 15, 2009
PPC Hero have a very interesting article on why trademarked names are allowed in Google's Display URL.
Yes, I did say that they are allowed.
According to the article, Google had the following to say:
"Our trademark policy only applies to the use of the term in the ad text. We don't monitor the display URL and thus we will not disapprove an ad if the trademark term only appears in the URL line."
Enjoy it while it lasts.
Why Trademarked Names Are Allowed in Google Display URL
Your “Google AdWords” Approval Status - January 5, 2009
"Thank you for advertising with Google AdWords. After reviewing your account, we've found that one or more of your ads or keywords does not meet our guidelines. You can see your disapproved ad(s), the reason for disapproval, and editorial suggestions, from the Disapproved Ads page within your account."
You've probably seen this sort of email before, but this one isn't from Google.
A new flavour of AdWords phishing?
Your "Google AdWords" Approval Status
AdWords Editor 7.0 released - December 18, 2008
Version 7.0 of Google's AdWords Editor has just been released.
This is technically a major release, but in fact there's nothing particularly major or exciting.
What's new?
First page bid estimates: I'm no fan of this misleading information, so am less than pleased to see it in AdWords Editor.
Keyword Quality Score: In the Keywords tab. As I don't display this by default, there's nothing to get my heart racing here either.
Keyword Opportunities locale: This is a nice addition to the AdWords Editor built-in keyword research tool.
Send feedback to Google: "Help us improve AdWords Editor by enabling usage tracking in your AdWords Editor settings (Tools menu > Settings). Seriously, you have to admire the genius of Google!
And other minor updates.
The bottom line, not much to be excited about here. But it appears to be stable - more so than version 6.5 earlier this year.
Google AdWords Editor version 7.0
iPhones and other mobile devices - December 9, 2008
Google recently added a new option under campaign settings.
Under Networks and bidding, there's a section entitled Device Platform that has two options:
Desktop and laptop computers.
iPhones and other mobile devices with full Internet browsers.
Google define full browsers as "those that can show standard HTML web pages and can support a user making a purchase from start to finish, including supporting any tracking or Analytics functionality on e-commerce pages".
Note that this doesn't include WAP browsers.
My issue with this new functionality is that it is enabled by default.
Realistically, how many of your customers are likely to search for your goods via their iPhone?
Most companies should be able to safely disable this setting.
Top Tactics for Tough Times - December 4, 2008
"Armed with the right advertising strategies, online advertisers can find opportunities in today's economic downturn. And AdWords' real-time targeting and reporting provide advertisers with the most nimble and efficient way to reach customers during these tight times.
We know you're probably keeping a close eye on your bottom line, and in this challenging economic climate, we're committed to helping you maximize your AdWords investment. To that end, we asked experts on the AdWords team to share their top recommendations for getting the most out of AdWords during an economic downturn. "
Top Tactics for Tough Times
More Quality Score Changes - November 5, 2008
Google are soon to introduce two new changes to how Quality Score is calculated and ads are displayed.
The end of the snowball effect:
CTR has obviously been a major part of Quality Score, as the greater the click rate, the more relevant the ads - according to Google.
The catch has been that higher positions usually generate higher CTRs, due to their prominence and visibility.
Google are now removing the "influence of ad position on CTR" from the calculation.
Rather them than me.
Three can be more than one and more than four:
How many times did you have to read that sentence?
Google are changing the rules for the ads that appear above the natural search results.
In the past if the ad with the highest position did not meet the "quality threshold", then no ads were displayed above the search results.
Now Google will allow ads that meet the "quality threshold" to appear above the search results, even if this means that it has to effectively jump over other ads to do so.
The bottom line here is that while these changes are logical, they're going to make tracking and understanding your data more complicated than ever.
From Google's Inside AdWords:
"Keep in mind that these enhancements may cause changes to your ad position, spend, and performance. We're launching these updates soon so that you'll have enough time to review your accounts and prepare for your holiday season advertising. While we don't believe that any immediate changes are needed on your part, we encourage you, as always, to watch your key metrics and to make adjustments as appropriate."
Wise words indeed.
Improvements to Ads Quality
How will the recession affect Google AdWords? - October 29, 2008
The recession is upon us. The credit-crunch has been stinging, the deteriorating exchange rates are good for no-one, and as depressing as it sounds, it's going to get a whole lot worse before it starts to get better.
Perversely, however, the recession is probably going to be quite good for businesses with a Google AdWords account, assuming they know what they're doing.
In the struggle between brain and brawn, the past few years have seen Google lean increasingly towards brute strength; companies who achieve high volumes of traffic by paying dearly for it. And those of us who prefer to use more cost-effective methods of skill, experience and technique have often had quite a fight on our hands.
The recession is set to change this. I predict that as the less-skilled businesses have to start tightening their belts, they won't be anywhere near as eager to recklessly hurl money at their Google AdWords accounts, and may slash their budgets or even stop spending altogether.
This will result in less competition, more clicks, and should even lower the costs.
We've already started seeing the beginning of this trend in some of our client's accounts, and I predict that as the economy gets dragged deeper down the toilet, we'll see a lot more.
There's never been a better time to make sure that your account is in good hands.
Google and Search Partners - the separation begins - October 21, 2008
Google AdWords have taken the surprising step of providing separate stats for Google, Search partners and the content network.
You can see the breakdown of this information at the account, campaign and ad group level, so they're clearly eager to make sure you see this data. The question is why?
A few thoughts:
Cynical: The more data Google provide, the more likely the advertiser is to drown. Death through data is the norm.
Practical: There's greater transparency, but no more control. You still can't (yet) set up a Search partners only campaign.
Optimistic: I can't provide hard/meaningless figures, but am confident that advertising on the Search partners network isn't anywhere near as effective as on Google itself. If budgets are being depleted, then some companies may choose to disable the Search partners. Nothing new here - but now you have the data to hand.
Impressed (by Google and/or myself): It appears that you can go back and look at old data. Meaning that Google knew this information before but only shared part of the picture. Who would have guessed?
Puzzled: Why are Google doing this? Are they providing greater transparency? If so then why? I have a hunch that many advertisers will simply switch-off the Search partners. Could this be the first step towards the end of the Search partners?
Frustrated: When will we be able to block specific domains for the Search partners? Why can we do this for the content network, but not the Search partners?
Why do I have separate account statistics for Google, search partners, and the content network?
New version of AdWords Editor - version 6.5 - October 8, 2008
Version 6.5 of AdWords Editor is now available, and includes a number of new features:
Keyword Opportunities - apparently a tool for generating new keywords. I get an error when I try to use it so can't comment.
Data View Improvements - column auto-sizing, column selection and an oddly basic date selection tool.
Importing and exporting - no significant changes aside from the names of each option!
New editing options - copy campaign or ad group "shells", in other words the campaign or ad group without the items. How odd.
In short, a few minor cosmetic fixes, a few low-key tools, and one potentially interesting feature that won't work.
AdWords Editor release notes
Statistics drop-down menu - September 5, 2008
Some of the accounts I'm handling have a new mini-feature on the Campaign Summary page.
Towards the top right of the data is a drop down menu next to Statistics, with four options:
All (Search + Content)
Search
Content
Summary
It's not exactly useless, but we're not exactly breaking out the champagne either.
Why do I have separate 'Campaign Summary' page statistics for the search and for the content network?
Quality Score "Improvements" - August 27, 2008
More changes afoot for Quality Score.
From Inside AdWords (edited for relevance):
"We'd like to let you know of further improvements [to quality score] that we'll introduce in the coming weeks:
* Quality Score will now be more accurate because it will be calculated at the time of each search query
* Keywords will no longer be marked 'inactive for search'
* 'First page bid' will replace 'minimum bid' in your account"
Interesting. Let's take a look at these three improvements individually.
Quality Score will be calculated at the time of each search query:
According to Google, "we are replacing our static per-keyword Quality Scores with a system that will evaluate an ad's quality each time it matches a search query". This sounds more like refining the existing system, as opposed to actively expanding or enhancing it.
Keywords will no longer be marked 'inactive for search':
Not good news for advertisers. Firstly this takes yet another piece of information away from the advertiser. And as we know, information is money.
Secondly, instead of knowing that there's a problem to be fixed, advertisers will just see their traffic dry up.
'First page bid' will replace 'minimum bid' in your account:
At first glance, this actually sounded quite good. Again, however, there are a number of problems.
Firstly this takes yet another piece of information away from the advertiser. And as we know, information is money. Anyone seeing a pattern here?
Secondly, all this can really do is raise the minimum bids. So what will most inexperienced, gullible or clueless advertisers do? They'll simply raise their bids to be on the first page. And what will that do to the minimum bid? Hint; It'll go up.
You have to tip your hat to Google. If "dressing-up bad news as great news" was an Olympic event, they'd take Bronze, Silver and Gold every time.
Quality Score Improvements
Google AdWords Cheat Sheet - August 19, 2008
Hi all,
At last month's Software Industry Conference we gave all attendees a printed Google AdWords Cheat-Sheet in their goodies bag, that apparently went down very well.
We're now making it available for download (as a PDF) from our website.
I hope you find it useful.
Enjoy:
Google AdWords Cheat Sheet
Google + DoubleClick = better content network - August 8, 2008
From Inside AdWords:
"We're happy to announce that we'll soon be enabling a number of new features made possible by a new DoubleClick ad serving cookie on our content network. All advertisers will soon be able to take advantage of features like frequency capping, better reach and frequency reporting, and view-through conversions."
On Google's official blog, the hype goes further:
"When we purchased DoubleClick, we talked about how we would empower agencies, advertisers and publishers to collaborate more efficiently and effectively, and provide a better experience for our users. We are happy that we have been able to deliver on this promise already..."
So what's it all about?
The four main enhancements are:
Frequency capping - allows advertisers to limit how many times a user sees an ad. Good for advertisers, good for users.
Frequency reporting - gives advertisers "an insight" (aka some information but not all) into how many people have seen an ad campaign and an ad. Good for advertisers, but there are potential privacy issues for users.
Improved ads quality - not sure what this means yet.
View-through conversions - allows advertisers to see how many users visit their sites after seeing an ad. Not sure how this will work.
The whole thing is being applied through use of a DoubleClick cookie. And users will be able to opt-out of this with a single click.
The bottom line is that there will probably be greater transparency. My guess is that this is in response to a decline in confidence in the content network. Time will tell.
New features coming to the Google content network
More Sponsored Links - August 1, 2008
When I search a term in Google, then click More Sponsored Links at the bottom of the ads, I'm now seeing a new layout for the "other" ads.
What's odd is that I can't work out a correlation between the ads shown in a regular search, and the ads shown in the More Sponsored Links?
On the other hand it's Friday and I haven't had a coffee yet.
(Ad)Word of the Day: Keyword Insertion - July 31, 2008
There's an interesting post on the Inside AdWords blog on the issue of keyword insertion, often referred to as dynamic keyword insertion:
"Keyword insertion is a powerful feature that can save you time and also help make your ad text more relevant. This feature will automatically customize your ad to a user's query, which means your ad is more likely to attract a user's attention."
It's interesting that they're drawing attention to what used to be an unofficial technique. And it's even more interesting that they don't mention the main drawback of using keyword insertion.
Namely that it can take away control of your ads, and can even result in some odd looking ads.
A simple example:
You're bidding on the keywords raw conversion software and raw files.
Your ad is setup as follows:
Convert RAW Files
Download {KeyWord:RAW File Converter}
for your PC. Free trial.
www.domain.com
This may result in the following:
Convert RAW Files
Download raw files
for your PC. Free trial.
www.domain.com
And that's before getting into the issues of expanded matching.
Dynamic insertions can be very useful, but use with caution!
(Ad)Word of the Day: Keyword Insertion
New Format for Main Ad Group Page - July 24, 2008
Some slight changes have been made to the look and format of the AdWords Web interface.
The main ad group page now breaks down ad group performance into Search (sub-divided into "Google" and "Search partners") and Content (sub-divided into "Placements you've targeted" and "Other placements on the content network").
There is also now a "Placements" tab in the interface which allows advertisers to select placements to go along with their keyword targeted content campaigns.
New AdWords Editor Release - 6.0.1 - July 24, 2008
The new version of AdWords Editor makes it possible to download performance statistics for selected campaigns and ad groups, instead of having to download statistics for the entire account.
A very sensible change that should save advertisers a lot of wasted time waiting for statistics to download.
Now if only I could still work on AdWords Editor in the background while it downloads data. One can always dream!
Use Keywords and Placements together on the Content Network - July 23, 2008
Google now allows advertisers to combine the use of keywords and site placements in contextually targeted campaigns.
This is a nice feature because instead of creating two separate campaigns, one for keywords and another for placements, you can now add both to any campaign running on the content network.
I'm hopeful this new addition will improve the targeting for content network campaigns.
Keyword research with figures - July 10, 2008
Google's Keyword Tool is now displaying actual figures for the approximate search volume, instead of the old-style "little green frustration bars".
This is long overdue, and makes their free tool a serious contender to the likes of WordTracker and KeywordDiscovery.
A very welcome move.
Slow Speed Costs! - June 19, 2008
It's now official. As of today, landing page load time will be factored into your keywords' quality scores.
Meaning? Slower-loading landing pages may get lower quality scores, possibly resulting in higher minimum bids.
One more factor to keep an eye on.
Landing page load time now affects keywords' Quality Scores
AdWords Editor Bugs - June 6, 2008
Eesh. I'm running into some bugs with the latest version.
Mainly:
- The cursor keys sometimes stop working when editing text. Oops.
- Very slow performance when uploading alterations.
- Some ad modifications wouldn't upload for me. I had to copy and paste the problem ads.
Based on what I've seen so far, I'd recommending waiting for version 6.0.1.
New version of AdWords Editor - June 6, 2008
Version 6.0.0 of AdWords Editor has just been released.
A lot of minor changes, but nothing revolutionary.
Useful:
Spell checking - basic but effective.
Drag and drop for ad groups.
Formula words in the Replace Text tool.
A better duplicate keyword finder.
Better advanced searching.
Backups automatically created when re-downloading an account.
Not so useful:
A new tab structure. Mainly resulting in less space. Great.
Appending text before or after existing text. For the life of me I can't work out why this would be useful.
Notably absent:
Full access to campaign settings. You still need to log in via your browser to change (for example) ad display settings.
AdWords Editor 6.0.0 Release Notes
New feature - monthly budget - May 26, 2008
"New! You can now use both daily and monthly budget options for your campaigns.
We are currently testing a monthly budget option with a limited number of advertisers. When you edit an existing campaign or create a new campaign, both 'daily' and 'monthly' will appear as budget options for your campaign settings."
This one struck me as a little odd. Why would time and effort be spent on this?
Do Google think that advertisers are incapable of converting a monthly budget to a daily one?
One possible cynical interpretation:
Google are dipping their toes in. If enough people use it and like it, I suspect this would become the standard option, and Google might even replace the existing daily option.
Why is this a bad thing? Because it would be one more example of Google taking away control from their advertisers.
Bear in mind that Google already make it quite clear that a daily budget doesn't actually mean a daily budget:
"On any single day, the AdWords system may deliver up to 20% more ads than your daily budget calls for. This helps make up for other days in which your daily budget is not reached."
What is a monthly budget and how does it work?
My Change History REALLY changes - May 22, 2008
The My Change History is often overlooked, but is an extremely useful tool. The problem is that many users feel a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of data presented.
Google have now added graphical data to the top of the details.
You can choose to display a graph of impressions, clicks, clickthrough rate, cost and conversions, and different points of the chart are graphically linked to the changes that took place.
It's actually quite a nice idea, although I'm concerned that this much information may still overwhelm many users.
At the very least though, it's a good reminder that making too many changes at the same time can result in drowning in data.
Ultimately, however, I still prefer AdwordsReporter to get to grips with what's going on in an account.
Note: You may sometimes see an error when trying to generate the charts. I assume that this is an early glitch in the system.
My Change History Changes - April 30, 2008
Nothing overly dramatic here, but useful nonetheless.
If you go to My Change History in Tools, you may (or may not) notice that the going back drop-down has more options than before:
1 week
2 weeks
1 month
3 months
6 months
2 years
The change log can sometimes be very useful, yet most people don't even know it exists.
It's well worth a few minutes getting to know this tool.
Google Leaks Quality Score Variables - April 30, 2008
Fascinating.
From the Search Engine Journal:
"Earlier this morning a colleague of mine was conducting a search and called me over to show me something interesting. Immediately below each of the sponsored search results (AdWords) were three separate variable names and values."
Google Leaks Quality Score Variables (Pscore, mCPC and thresh) in Search Results
New conversion tracking features - April 14, 2008
From the horse's mouth:
"We've recently redesigned our conversion tracking feature in order to allow you to manage your ads more easily in a variety of different ways.
As part of this redesign, you'll notice that you can now name and describe the types of conversions that you wish to have tracked by defining actions. You can classify each action as one of 5 separate types: Purchase, Lead, Sign-up, Page View and Other."
I'm yet to experiment with the new features, but suspect that my fundamental issues with the system have not been addressed.
(1) Why only a 30 day cookie? Not ideal if you're selling a 30 day trial of software.
But more importantly:
(2) Google knowing more about your business and industry is not to your advantage.
Andrew Goodman, in his excellent "Winning results with Google AdWords" book puts it nicely:
"... using Google's tracking tool is like handing over your sales receipts to your office building landlord. This is information they don't need to know."
Sigh.
Too many people just don't get this.
And don't get me started on Google Analytics!
Not ideal.
Conversion tracking looks different. What changed and why?
AdWords Trademark Policy Revision (UK and Ireland) - April 7, 2008
Straight from (one of) the horse's mouth:
"What's changing in AdWords Trademark Policy? When?
Google has made a policy revision that applies to complaints we receive regarding trademarks in the UK and Ireland. For complaints received on or after Friday, April 4, 2008, we will no longer review a term corresponding to the trademarked term as a keyword trigger. However, we will continue to perform a limited courtesy investigation of complaints regarding ad text purported to be in violation of a trademark.
Beginning May 5, 2008, keywords that were disabled as a result of a trademark investigation will no longer be restricted in the UK and Ireland."
Now you know.
AdWords Trademark Policy Revision (UK and Ireland)
An update to display URL policy - March 28, 2008
Don't forget that the new display URL policy is set to be applied on Tuesday April 1st. I suspect it's not a joke.
"In response to advertiser and user feedback, and in an effort to provide more relevant advertising results and a higher quality experience for our users, we have made the decision to no longer allow certain exceptions with regards to our display URL policy. This includes, but is not limited to redirects and vanity URLs. This policy will be strictly enforced regardless of past approvals and will apply to all advertisers, beginning on April 1st."
More details on the Inside AdWords blog:
An update to display URL policy
You were warned (AKA I told you so) - March 17, 2008
The PPC Super Affiliate Blog has an interesting article on the Google AdWords & Analytics "data sharing" program:
"So Adwords wants you to OK them accessing your Analytics data…. Time to put on your Big-G tin foil hats."
And the guys behind the blog hit the nail squarely on the head:
"Google must laugh out loud when they hear Yahoo and Microsoft talk about "Behavioral Targeting" in advertising. There is no cookie-trail in existence that could possibly give you the amount of 'behavioral' data Google now has.
The 'do not share data' link may be the only way affiliates can put a stake in the ground and keep a fair amount of separation given the value of all of this data.
Then again, what's the point of opting out? They're clearly already collecting it all anyway:"
"Will my historical data be included?
When you opt in to data sharing, we will include data from up to a month before your opt-in date to enable features such as benchmarking. When you opt out, data sharing stops on that day."
Ah.
Anyone who feels that Google don't or won't use the data collected in their analytics may want to drink some water and lie down. Fast.
And anyone who thinks that Google have the same goals as their advertisers may wish to do the same too.
Worlds Are Colliding- Google Adwords & Analytics 'Data Sharing' Program
Time really is money - March 11, 2008
There's a new metric that is now supposed to affect quality score; the amount of time it takes for your landing page to load.
The main points appear to be:
(1) There's little idea of a good load time. I assume that common sense applies. Five seconds is fine. Thirty might not be. Two minutes definitely won't be.
(2) You won't gain by having a fast loading page, but you can lose with a slow page.
An update to display URL policy - February 21, 2008
Inside AdWords have posted that they're updating their display URL policy:
"In response to advertiser and user feedback, and in an effort to provide more relevant advertising results and a higher quality experience for our users, we have made the decision to no longer allow certain exceptions with regards to our display URL policy. This includes, but is not limited to redirects and vanity URLs. This policy will be strictly enforced regardless of past approvals and will apply to all advertisers, beginning on April 1st."
This seems to have created a certain amount of confusion.
The bottom line is that the policy is the same. But in the past they sometimes made exceptions. Now they won't do so.
This won't affect most AdWords account holders, but if Google made an exception for you in the past, you have until April 1st to conform to the rules.
An update to display URL policy
AdWords Phishing Email - January 14, 2008
Apparently there's a fairly sophisticated phishing email doing the rounds. It looks like the real thing but of course isn't.
There are only a handful of reports so far, but you don't want one to be one of the unlucky few.
The email appears to be a standard "disapproved ads" email, with a link to log in to your account.
Be extra vigilant about clicking links from any such emails.
The best approach, as always, is to log directly into your account.
Better still have SharewarePromotions handle your AdWords account, then you don't have to do anything!
Let's be careful out there!
Keyword Tool redesign - December 17, 2007
The Google AdWords Keyword Tool has been updated.
It appears to be mainly a cosmetic redesign, but is still quite useful. Nothing to get too excited about though.
Template Centre - December 4, 2007
What is the Template Centre?
"The AdWords Template Centre is a free tool that allows My Client Centre (MCC) account managers to create AdWords templates for pre-defined campaigns and share them with their directly-linked accounts. The advertisers with access to these templates can use them create their own campaigns."
More to the point - Where is the Template Centre?
So far it's not showing up in my account. Why do they do this?