Google AdWords Archives

Yesterday, we reported on the Google keyword tool outage, where the reports were missing search volume data.

The problems actually persisted throughout the day, causing major headaches for advertisers looking to research possible keywords. In any event, a Google representative posted in the WebmasterWorld thread that it would be fixed very soon. The Google rep said at about 2pm (EST):

This is very much a known issue, and while I have learned to never say definitely when something will be resolved, I hope that things will be back to normal by the end of today. If not then, well, very soon. ;)

As of about 5:30pm (EST), we have been receiving reports that the bug is resolved. I have confirmed it works for me, so you can now give it a try over here.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

At Search Engine Land, Barry talks about a brand new tool -- Google Insights for Search. The tool is intended to give advertisers and marketers some metrics of user behavior. In the screenshot below, you can see these metrics, which include geographic distribution, time trending, and news headlines. What you don't see (but is also included) are related search terms and rising trends. (Click for larger image)

Interestingly enough, the map is interactive and is quite similar to the display on Google Analytics. You can click on the regions and zoom in to cities to get an exact idea of where people are searching, like so:

At the same time, the table on the left hand side also gives you specifics (which cities are performing the search.

All in all, this tool like really fascinating and should definitely become a useful aid.

Forum discussion continues at Sphinn.

Google AdWords will be unavailable on August 9th between 10AM and 2PM PDT on Saturday, August 9th, we've learned, while system maintenance is performed.

Ads will continue to run, but you won't be able to access the AdWords interface to make any changes. The API will also be unavailable.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

About a month ago, Google's external keyword tool began to show search volume numbers. Last night, there were reports via WebmasterWorld that the tool stopped showing these estimated search volume numbers, all together.

The reports were sending back error messages that read, "Insufficient Data." This happened for any and all keywords searches between the times of about 5pm (EST) and 10pm (EST) last night, August 5th.

I personally tested the tool this morning and most popular keyword phrases are showing search volume data. I suspect it might have something to do with the launch of Google Insights for Search, which Tamar will have a post on later and which I wrote about at Search Engine Land just about 8 hours ago.

All seems to be good now with the Google Keyword Tool.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

AdWordsAdvisor, the official Google AdWords representative at WebmasterWorld, posted a thread at WebmasterWorld announced that he/she will be taking a two month break from Google starting on October 1, 2008 and ending on December 1, 2008.

AdWordsAdvisor has been an important member and contributor to WebmasterWorld. AdWordsAdvisor (AWA) has 4,230 posts and started posting over five years ago, on July 9, 2003.

But AdWordsAdvisor does have backup now. AWA is seeking a AWA2 to come in and respond to questions and make announcements during the absence. Here is what he/she said:

I'll do my very best to find the perfect AWA2 to step-in during that period, but darned if I haven't discovered that my colleagues are really busy with their own core tasks! Who knew? ;)

I have someone in mind, to be sure. Now I simply need to talk to her manager, make a compelling case, and pry loose some time.

AWA, thanks for the early announcement and being so devoted to the industry. You deserve the break and enjoy it!

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Does Google have a tool for suggesting misspellings for your AdWords campaign? Nope! Instead, a Google rep, AdWordsPro Sarah, recommends someone else.

Can you guess who?

Well, in case you didn't read the subject of this blog post, it's Microsoft! A Google Groups thread suggests that you try the Keyword Mutation Detection tool from Microsoft!

However, you also can try to use Google's keyword tool; it just needs to have sufficient search volume to be recorded:

If the misspelling or typo of a keyword has a consistent amount of traffic, you will see these results in the AdWords Keyword Tool. All you would need to do is type in the correct keyword and then sort through the results.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Last week, there were reports of the Google AdWords API not functioning properly. In particular, the "quota units used" counter was not changing, nor were usage counters retrieved via API.

When this was reported (7/21), Jeff Posnick (AdWords API Advisor) acknowledged that there was a database issue on Google's end and reported this to the engineering team.

Yesterday, Jeff updated us to say that the Google engineering team has fixed the problem. Missing data from July 17th and onwards was backfilled and Google believes the problem to be fully resolved at this time.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

WebmasterWorld's founder, Brett Tabke, noticed Google changed the design for the AdWords ad search feature and posted a thread about it at WebmasterWorld.

Before, when you used google.com/sponsoredlinks to find ads, Google will list out the ads in one long column, left aligned. You can see pictures of the old layout over here or here.

Now, Google lists out the ads in three columns and four rows, with a total of 12 ads per page. Here is a screen capture:

People do like the new look and layout, I do also. But there is confusion over how the rankings of the ads work. Do the highest ranking ads go left to right or top, down and then right? Some even say that the ads in this search do not rank in correlation to how they actually show up in the Google web search results. I suspect that is right, so the ad layout really doesn't matter in this case?

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

Many people who use Google AdWords will opt out of the content network because they feel that since people are not actively searching when they find ads in the content network, they conversion rates will be lower. But in a recent WebmasterWorld thread, Roger Montti explains that the content network isn't as bad as it's hyped up to be. The important thing is that it's really different from the search network.

Roger points out that there are different types of ads in the content network. Some blend in and can resemble navigation. Even contextual ads are different, he notes. But it's similar to the search network too, because some pages have more quality conversions than others:

Some sites convert better than others, sometimes sites you never thought would convert. That's why I am bidding on a wide assortment of sites, then removing those that refuse to convert regardless of the different approaches. In this regard, it's similar to the search network

Better yet, cost per conversion is lower than on the search network. This is probably because advertisers who currently use the content network aren't really acknowledging the differences between the content network and the search network as Roger has done.

The issue is really that a lot of advertisers are a lot lazier -- some may "set it and forget" -- and this is a tactic that won't yield the conversions they're looking for.

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

An interesting thread at WebmasterWorld has discussion on the topic of less small businesses using Google AdWords. The thread create, senior member, annej, said:

I have a hobby related site and use AdSense. Ads from small online businesses were especially interesting to my visitors as they sell the hobby supplies. These small business ads have decreased.

I'm wondering if there is a reason. Have recent changes in AdWords affected small businesses? Or is the sinking economy the cause?

Have you also noticed a drop in small business competition in your AdWords sector? Let us know by taking this quick poll:

Many of the responses agree, but do you? As to why, many suspect it has to do with all the advanced features bundled into AdWords. Now, these are all features we have been asking for over the course of the years. But these advanced features simply make it hard for new advertisers to get started.

Senior member netmeg added that Google does have a starter edition but the issue with the starter edition is it is a form of "Budget Optimizer, and that lumps Search in with Content, no geo targeting, and sets an absurd maximum CPC amount." So small business allegedly are stuck paying a premium for not having the time to become an expert. I guess that is the price you pay - you either learn it yourself, pay someone to do it for you or pay the cost of competing against more seasoned advertisers.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

If you have been advertising with Google AdWords for over six-years, you may have received a little present in the mail, from Google. The present is the Google Cookbook.

In the box, you should be able to find:

• Google Cookbook
• Google Apron
• Advanced Tips from Adwords Experts Book
• Google Thank You Letter

Here is a picture of it, I found on Flickr in AuthenticEccentric's photostream:

We have discussion on the Google Cookbook at WebmasterWorld and ABestWeb Forums. One member said:

Did anyone else get the package of goodies from Google on their account's 6 year anniversary?

I got a Google Cookbook with gourmet recipes created by Google Chefs, a Google Chefs Apron (black with colorful logo) and a book entitled Advanced Tips from Adwords Experts ... plus a nice cover letter.

I don't cook but it's a nice gesture and over the years they have sent out some nice gifts.

If anyone photocopies the cookbook, please do let me know, so I can share with everyone (if that is legal).

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld and ABestWeb Forums.

Google announced an exciting feature for AdWords advertisers yesterday. Google explained the feature as, "instead of creating separate campaigns for keywords and placements, you can now include both in any campaign. All ad groups now have tabs for both keywords and placements, and the two can work together to target your ads on the content network."

So, if you want to target an ad on my personal blog, which runs AdSense, but only want to show your ad when I talk about SEO or search topics, you can do that now. By combing your placement targeted ads with specific keywords you want your ads to show up for, you can say, only show my ad on cartoonbarry.com when the content matches the keyword [search], for example.

Advertisers are really happy with this feature. A WebmasterWorld thread shares some of the advertiser's delight over this feature:

This is huge news. Using the content network, you can now target specific keywords on specific sites.

I'm hoping this will help get our content campaigns working better. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

This "idea" - the ability to target ads by site - was discussed in the Adsense Forum probably 3 years ago. I guess it has taken all that time to work out the technology because clearly this "solution" made sense a long time ago (in WWW time). Bravo. You're gettin' there Google. Bravo.

A Search Engine Watch Forums thread does complain about the feature being a bit too hard to understand. Moderator Discovery said:

Did you have lawyers write this stuff?

AdWordsAPI Advisor also chimed in at a Google Groups thread. The advisor explained that they were beta testing this feature on a select number of advertisers accounts. The advisor added that there are ramifications to this feature and you should read this thread if you are concerned. If you use the API, the ability to control this feature is in the "production version of the CampaignService WSDLs since v12 was released, and it's the contentTargeting attribute of the Campaign object. It can be set to one of two values:
AllPlacements or SelectedPlacements, corresponding to the values in the web UI." For more information, see here.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, Search Engine Watch Forums and Google Groups.

InformationWeek reports that there's a class action suit against Google about having AdSense on parked domains when they aren't likely to yield conversions. In the specific case, a legal services provider had his ads running for about 6 weeks on parked pages. He received over 200,000 impressions, 668 clicks, and zero conversions. The plaintiff spent $136.11 and is disappointed that he had nothing to show for it. By forming a class action suit, he and his lawyers are hoping that this affects other Google advertisers.

Barry writes about the lawsuit at Search Engine Land and makes sure to point out that the ads were running when Google announced that advertisers can opt out of AdSense for Domains.

Meanwhile, forum members say that this can put a damper on the domaining industry. It also makes the lawyer (specifically the one behind the lawsuit) look silly for suing Google when he isn't seemingly reading the fine print and learning how to use Google AdWords effectively. They feel that the plaintiff, an individual named Hal K. Levitte, is just looking for a big fat check from Google but that he's wasting his time. Other people think that Google's "AdSense for Domains," specifically for domains that lack content, is a bad strategy.

This sentiment is echoed by others as well. Why would you want to spend your money on parked domains? And why would visitors actually hang around?

Forum discussion continues at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

This may be an obvious fact for many Google AdWords professionals, but I am sure many people do not know this. According to a Google AdWords representative, Google only uses exact match data for quality score analysis data.

AdWordsPro Sarah said in a Google Groups thread,

Match types does not affect Quality Score (we only collect Quality Score data when the query matches the keyword exactly. The exact match Quality Score is then shared with broad and phrase match).

So, if you are bidding on [blue shoes] and you get a click from a search on [red shoes], due to broad match - then Google won't use that click for quality score purposes. Google will only use the exact match of a click, i.e. [blue shoes] search to [blue shoes] keyword ad. It doesn't mean Google won't rank your broad or phrase match ads based on your overall quality score. It does mean that your overall quality score is made up of only exact matches.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

CNet reports that the search advertising agreement between Google and Yahoo can seriously impact advertisers -- in a bad way. CNet's report states that "A Yahoo-Google deal could drive up Yahoo keyword prices by an average of 22 percent." The end result: Google and Yahoo win, but the smaller people (read: the advertisers) may not necessarily fare well.

Advertisers are starting to feel the heat of the potential "monopoly" as one forum member puts it. One forum member on WebmasterWorld wonders who will be paying the 22%. I'm going to assume it's coming from the advertisers.

Maybe this is a partnership that people should hope doesn't go through!

Forum discussion continues at WebmasterWorld.

Do you frequent Google Groups for help on your Google AdWords account? AdWordsPro.Sarah says in a forum post that the AdWords team is looking for feedback to improve the forum user experience.

If you want to offer your feedback, respond to the Google Groups thread and the AdWords team will contact you via email (your Google Groups email account) when they're ready.

The deadline to participate is July 25th.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Diacritics are those letters that have a small sign added to a letter to alter pronunciation. For example, Mexico is often spelled México, with the special é.

So when you want to tailor your ads to a specific region and what to show them you know what you are 'talking' about, some advertisers use diacritical marks to accent that point.

However, if you use the Google AdWords API's Sandbox, you cannot properly test those ads.

AdWordsAPIAdvisor at a Google Groups thread has confirmed reports that "the Sandbox is rejecting those Cyrillic characters in Campaign names." But this does not mean it does not work on the main Google AdWords server. AdWordsAPIAdvisor said, "if you send the same request to the Production servers it should go through without issue."

This has been a bug in the Sandbox environment for a while and there is currently no estimate time for it to be fixed. AdWordsAPIAdvisor said that it is on the engineers list but it is not as important as fixing bugs in the production environment.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

I am hearing major reports of a major "smack down" on Google AdWords advertisers who have been hit with major spikes in their minimum bids at AdWords. The increase in minimum bids seem to branch off the landing page quality score component, for virtually all advertisers who are complaining.

The landing page component was introduced back in December 2005. The first major smack down was the AdWords Landing Page Epidemic of July in 2006, but not everyone was impacted - many were but not everyone. Since then, we have seen thread after thread with individual advertisers getting hit with spikes (overnight) in their minimum bids due to "quality" reasons.

This is the first time, in a long time, that I have seen such a wide spread of reports on a quality score "slap" from AdWords.

We have two threads at WebmasterWorld, a few at Google Groups thread with a comment from an AdWords representative.

All the reports, like I said, seem to stem from the landing page component of the quality score. Here is what AdWordsPro Sarah had to say at the Google Groups thread:

From what you are describing it sounds like it may be a problem with your Landing Page Quality. The quality of your landing page is a component of your overall Quality Score, and, as you probably know, Quality Score is what determines your minimum bids.

A sudden jump in minimum bids often indicates that your page was recently crawled and marked for poor quality. You can read the complete landing page and site quality guidelines at http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=46675. In addition, we recently started taking page load time into account when determining quality. If your page is slow to fully load, this could also be responsible for the bid jump.

Finally, there are several threads on Landing Page Quality on this forum that you may want to check out.

Best of luck,
AdWordsPro Sarah

Yes, Google did launch the Page Load Time factor, but it doesn't appear that this is the issue for this group. They all say that the landing page quality and relevancy isn't being reported as quality.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, Google Groups.

The iCrossing blog captured screen shots of Google testing flipping the standard blue background line to the AdWords yellow background color. Typically, the line that contains "X results of ..." contains a blue background and typically, the AdWords ads at the top, above the organic listings has a yellow background. Here is what the Google user interface typically looks like:

But as iCrossing found, Google flipped them and it looks like this:

iCrossing must be one of the few IP ranges Google tests user interfaces on. iCrossing was also the first to notice green backgrounds on AdWords when Google was testing that.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums.

Last month, Google released AdWords Editor 6.0 and now people are starting to encounter technical glitches with the software. In particular, the length of download for statistics has increased and "render[s] the tool useless" for many. In fact, you can't download individual columns or data -- everything must be downloaded, which might contribute to the delay. Unfortunately, you cannot revert to version 5 once you upgrade to v6.

AdWordsPro has contributed to the post and says that version 6 has the following changes over version 5:

• When you select the stats interval, v6.0 of the editor downloads fresh statistics for the entire account.
• A progress bar now shows up while statistics are being downloaded.
• The stats download occurs in the foreground so you cannot use the editor for any other processes during that time. You can cancel the activity though and resume it if you need to do other tasks with AdWords Editor.

In a way, by reading these reports and reading Google's response, it feels like Google AdWords Editor 6.0 is a step backwards.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Google has added a new feature to the external keyword tool, they have added approximate search volume numbers. For example, I conducted a search for SEO and the results returned showed columns for "Approx Search Volume: June" and "Approx Avg Search Volume." Here is a screen capture:

By definition, the "Previous Month's Search Volume" column "shows the previous month's search volume on Google for each keyword, specific to your targeted country and language. The shaded bar represents a general low-to-high quantitative guide to help you determine how competitive ad placement is for a particular keyword." The "Avg. Search Volume" column "shows the average monthly search volume on Google for each keyword over a recent 12-month period, specific to your targeted country and language. The shaded bar represents a general low-to-high quantitative guide to help you determine how competitive ad placement is for a particular keyword."

There is a Google help page on these numbers that adds:

• Search volume fluctuation: Web traffic is influenced by seasonality, current events, and a number of other factors. The level of search volume on your keywords, therefore, is constantly fluctuating.
• Location and language targeting: If you access the Keyword Tool from within an ad group, the search traffic statistics will factor in your campaign's country and language targeting (if you target a region or city, only the country will be reflected). If you use the standalone or external Keyword Tools, your country and language selections will influence these statistics. Learn about the different variations of the Keyword Tool.
• Match type: The Keyword Tool's statistics vary depending on your selection from the Match Type drop-down menu. If you select Broad or Phrase, the tool will factor in certain variations of your keywords that could potentially trigger your ads. Learn about keyword match types.

These figures come to no one's surprise because Google did release Google Trends with numbers and Google Ad Planner, which hides nothing.

I guess this is pretty good timing, being that Yahoo just killed the Overture keyword suggestion tool.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums and WebmasterWorld.

Update: Jeremy actually posted about this several hours ago.

Update 2: This is now official, the Inside AdWords blog has posted the official announcement.

The Google AdWords API is now supporting the Traffic Estimator Service, which provides traffic estimates (CPC, clicks per day, etc.) for new and existing keywords, according to a recent blog post. The blog post states:

AdWords API users can access our trove of historical keyword and bid data via the Traffic Estimator Service, which gives detailed estimates of how much traffic a keyword may generate at various CPC values. The service is not only useful for new products or campaigns, but it can also estimate the impact of changing the Max CPC of existing keywords as well.

Pretty cool stuff. There may be some very fun applications for this API function.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

I have really never heard complains about Google AdWords having a limit on the characters allowed in the display URL. Today, I found out that the max number of characters you can have in your AdWords display URL is 35. An advertiser ran into this issue and posted the details at Google Groups.

I suspect this wasn't much of an issue before Google began enforcing the display URL policy. Back then, I assume you can use shorter versions of a domain name and get away with it easily.

So, what do you do if you really need more characters in your display URL?

(1) Drop off the www, preceding the host name. I.e. you don't always need www.seroundtable.com/pagename/, you can drop off the www in many cases (especially for the display URL).

(2) AdWordsPro suggests that if those three extra characters don't help, then you should contact an AdWords representative. It seems that maybe Google can either aid you with your issue or bend the rules a bit.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

Some major news hit the presses last night, where Google announced on the AdWords Blog and AdSense Blog that they are retiring the pay-per-action program, putting an end to Google AdSense's referral program. I cannot say I am surprised, we reported that the future of Google's PPA program was uncertain and that they were "having second thoughts of the product." So this comes as no surprise.

The news is that Google is launching a new affiliate network named Google Affiliate Network to replace Google's PPA/Referral program. The Google PPA/Referrals program is folding the last week of August. Google recommends that all AdSense publishers who use the referrals product to (1) remove the referral code from your site and (2) to run and save all referrals reports on your desktop.

There are many blog entries and news reports on this announcement. You can find much of it summarized at Techmeme.

There is a ton of forum discussion around this announcement. I am going to list out all the threads and you can scan what you find to be more appropriate:

• AdSense Referrals Program to End in August 2008, WebmasterWorld
• Adsense Referrals to be cancelled by August 2008, DigitalPoint Forums
• Announcing Google Affiliate Network, DigitalPoint Forums
• Doubleclick Performics is now Google Affiliate Network!, WebmasterWorld
• Google Retires AdSense Referrals, Sphinn
• Google Stops Adsense Referrals Program, HighRankings Forums
• The end of adsense referrals!, Search Engine Roundtable Forums

The other day we reported on how you can Get Google.com in Your AdWords Display URL via a Search Engine Watch Forums thread. The results were tremendous according to abbottsys, who summarized the success of the ads as having a "conversion rate at about 3X that of a regular ad."

But Google just removed all of his ads. They cited trademark compliance issues as the reason, according to abbottsys. Why is it a trademark issue? Well, since the ad displays Google.com in the display URL, Google is a trademark of Google and thus Google doesn't like it. So his test is over.

A Google representative has not yet replied to the thread. I know they are watching, but they remain silent.

But hold your horses. abbottsys said he "discovered a variation on this ad test technique that seems to satisfy all Google trademark concerns." We don't know the actual ad test technique yet, but he said he will share soon. I will keep you posted.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums.

Google launched Ad Planner yesterday and I just received my invite into the program. All I have to say is WOW! You thought Google Trends for Websites was revealing, wait until you see some of these screen captures. I will show you data that shows sites unique visitors, their income, their gender, behavior and much more. And guess what, this is all for free on almost every site out there (except Google).

I'll take you through screen by screen, so here we go.

(1) Login and you will be given the option to "create media plan" or "begin research." You should start by creating a media plan, I started with research - which was a bit of a mistake:

(2) On the research screen, it defaults by showing you all sites in the system. Here is the overview:

(3) Most advertisers don't want all publishers, so this is where you can begin filtering down to specific sites. Here is the demographic filter which gives you the ability to filter based on gender, age, education and household income.

(4) You can also filter based on online behavior. In this case, you specify a site and Google will show you sites that those people also visited:

(5) I picked Search Engine Land and I received this list of sites. The list looks pretty accurate to me and it goes on and on:

(6) Clicking on the little graph next to the domain name will bring up a world of information about that site. Here is information from this site, the Search Engine Roundtable:

(7) You can then add sites to your media plan. You select the sites from the left hand side by checking them off and click "add to media plan." This is where you need to make sure you set up a media plan (just give it a name). Here is a screen cap of my first media plan:

(8) Let's zoom in on the graph and you will see icons that symbolize the ad placements available via Google AdSense on some of these sites. Notice only one that I have in my list has Google AdSense available. The first icon represents the text ads, the next is the image ad unit and the final one is the gadget ad unit:

Notice, you also get impression data directly from Google AdSense!

(9) Zooming in on some of the other columns:

Here is what they mean:

• Comp index: Score showing how concentrated your audience is on a site relative to users in your defined country (example)
• Unique visitors: Estimated number of visitors from your defined audience you can reach on a specific site
• Country reach: Estimated percent of total internet users within your defined country
• Page views: Number of times pages on a specific site have been accessed by your defined audience
• Content network: Websites, news pages, and blogs that partner with Google to display AdWords ads (more)

So there are many of the screens in Google Ad Planner. Seriously, look how much information Google has on sites. This is just the information they are providing to us for free. I wonder what they are holding back!

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld, DigitalPoint Forums, Search Engine Watch Forums, and Sphinn.

Google has announced the launch of Google Ad Planner. Ad Planner is Google Trends for Web Sites on steroids. Basically, it gives you site data for publisher sites you might want to place your ads on. You "enter demographics and sites associated with your target audience, and the tool will return information about sites that your audience is likely to visit." This works both on Google's content network and off the content network. Here is a screen capture of a report from the system, a full size is available over here.

How do you gain access to this tool? You need to be invited, and you can request an invite over here.

What is a bit important to understand, and Brett Tabke says it best in a comment at our older post:

The single biggest issue that the new website trends should drive home, is that we should all now have a good understanding and insight into the bulk of data that Google knows about our websites. There are so many people that are naive about this issue. Google knows so much more than is generally acknowledged.

This plays on many areas, including AdWords and organic results.

Forum discussion at DigitalPoint Forums.

Update: I have just gained access to Ad Planner and posted detailed screen captures of the tool. I am in awe.

Google has a policy that your display url must match your destination URL.

As most advertiser's know, having google.com show up in your ad, can drive a huge click-through rate. So what can you do to get google.com to show up in your display URL without breaking this rule?

Search Engine Watch Forums moderator, abbottsys, tested out a theory that actually worked for him. abbottsys created an ad for a search on ivf, the ad's destination URL goes to a search at Google for site:www.integramed.com/inmdweb/ ivf. So, as you can see, the ad's destination URL is google.com, but the search results are limited to a client's site. So, his ad was approved and looks like this:

abbottsys has noticed crazy improvements over his other ads. abbottsys said, "the new ad is blowing away my regular ad both in terms of CTR and conversions. Testing really does pay." Just as we thought. Great job and awesome test.

I wonder how much longer Google will allow such a test. If this sticks, maybe other advertisers will try it out. Very innovative and creative abbottsys.

Forum discussion at Search Engine Watch Forums.

A WebmasterWorld thread argues that Google's AdWords search is too inclusive. Why? Well, if you search on keywords, Google will return keywords that match not just the ad title or description, but also the display URL.

The advertiser in the WebmasterWorld thread is upset because one of his affiliates have threatened to drop him and not pay him for the revenue he brought in. Why? Because they are using this search feature and finding that the trademarked term of the company is coming up. But the trademarked term is only displayed in the display URL, not in the title or description of the ad.

For example, a search on .net returns ads that have [.net] in the title, description or display URL.

Rehan said this is not necessarily a bug in the search but rather a "feature." Rehan said:

I found some info at http://adwords.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=53502 ... Apparently sometime in May, Google changed the Sponsored Links results behavior to be an "Ad Search feature" that searches ad text. In other words, before it was essentially "Show ads for the keyword _____" and now it is "Show ads that contain the keyword ______". That's why when you search for brand keywords like "Myspace" or "Yahoo" you see a bunch of ads that contain those words but are not running as ads for those keywords.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

So, you want to keep a great Google AdWords quality score. What do you need to consider in your ads? AdWordsPro.Sarah tells us in a Google Groups thread.

There are six things to consider.

1. CTR: The higher, the better.
2. Account structure: Your keywords should be in "tightly themed ad groups."
3. Landing Page Quality: More information here.
4. Account history: Your average CTR.
5. Historical CTR of the display URLs in the ad group
6. Other Factors: There are hundreds, but the aforementioned 5 are good enough.

If you work on improving the top 5, your score should be fine. If you have questions, you can always ask your Google AdWords account rep or speak with someone at Google Groups.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.

Conversion tracking is one of the key metrics many advertisers use when determining if they will run a PPC ad and how much they are willing to spend on an ad. So when it goes missing, advertisers become really concerned.

A Google Groups thread has confirmed reports that for some Google AdWords advertisers, the screen that displays conversion tracking, is not displaying the data as it normally does. Don't worry, the data is not lost, it is just not visible in that current location, at this present time.

To see your conversion data, you must click on the "Customize Columns" link in your data table and show your relevant conversion columns. You should then see the conversion data. Keep in mind that you have to do this every time because these columns will not stay visible if you refresh the page or navigate to a different part of your account.

Google's AdWordsPro.Jordan said the team is aware of this bug and is working to address it. For the time being, you need to use the method above to get to your conversion data, each and every time.

For now, I’d suggest using the manual workaround I just described or using your reports to determine your conversion performance for now. Sorry for the trouble.

Forum discussion at Google Groups.

On Google Groups, the AdWords API Advisor shares some videos and useful documentation on how to get the most out of the Google AdWords API. The documentation as provided by Google is at the AdWords API tutorial page, and there are 9 videos that can be viewed at your convenience to get more. They are:

1. An introduction to the API and how you can use it
2. An intro to web material within the API
3. How to log into the API sandbox development environment
4. How to capture debugging behavior
5. Creating campaigns around the API
6. Creating ad groups around the API
7. Creating ads around the API
8. Creating keyword criteria with the API
9. A discussion about the AdWords API

Very cool stuff. The videos are very informative.

Forum discussion continues at Google Groups.