Tuesday we wrote about The Exchange Rate Google Uses for International AdWords Advertisers Unfair? where advertisers wanted to know the source Google uses to derive the exchange rate figures. AdWords Representative said that he/she will try to get an answer for the members, but he/she came back with the following non-response.
The currency calculation itself is nothing that special, but the way the billing system works and how it is integrated with the ad delivery platform is. I understand that you're not trying to get at the latter, but the product managers are not willing to discuss the former at this time as part of protecting the whole. As one of the two AdWords posters here on WebmasterWorld, I have access to the individuals responsible for this decision, and it's going to stick.
So, sorry, you won't be able to know how your rates are figured out. For a large advertiser, with a big budget, that can hurt. But the AdWords Representative doesn't leave them out in the cold, he/she suggests the following solution.
An easy way out of this situation, for you, would be to simply open a second account in your local currency. Replicate an Ad Group from your existing account in the new account, and pause it in the USD account. Once a billing cycle or two hits, you should have a good idea whether the currency exchange will be in your favor and if your bank really is charging your an exorbitant rate.
The only issue I see with this is that any historical quality factors the ad had, will be lost with this solution. And today, with the quality score being so critical on the bottom line, that is an issue. Would the exchange rate difference be a bigger lose in dollars as opposed to a drop in any quality score factor the advertiser achieved over the years.
Continued forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
