Google Adwords Guides

Google – A Guide to Location Extensions

WHAT ARE GOOGLE LOCATION EXTENSIONS?

Location Extensions are an easy way to display an address along with your Google creative.  You can add one or more addresses to any of your campaigns, then Google will display the closest address based on the user’s location. You can either link an address from your Google Places account, or you can enter an address manually. Using the platform, you can create, edit and delete manually entered addresses, and link or unlink any Google Places account.

Please note: You can only manually add addresses in the USA through the platform. International addresses should be linked from Google Places.

HOW TO ADD LOCATION EXTENSIONS

You can add new Location Extensions to any of your Google campaigns in just a few clicks. To get started, go to the Campaigns tab and click on the campaign you’d like to add an extension to. Next, click on the Ad Extensions tab, then just use either of the following methods.

ADDING A LOCATION EXTENSION FROM A GOOGLE PLACES ACCOUNT

From the Viewing drop-down menu, select Location Extensions. In the Google Places Account section that appears, simply use the drop-down menu to select the appropriate Google Places account, then click Save. If you don’t have a Google Places account, you can create one from the Google Adwords interface.

Once you’ve linked a Google Places account, we’d recommend that you check it’s assigned to the correct campaign within the Google Adwords interface.

ADDING A LOCATION EXTENSION MANUALLY

To enter an address manually, follow these steps:

  1. From the Viewing drop-down menu, select Location Extensions.
  2. In the Manually Entered Addresses section, click the Create  Then just type in your address and click Save.
  3. Any address that you enter here will be linked to the campaign you’re currently editing. Then, if you go into a different campaign in the same PCA (Publisher Client Account), you can use the Link button to import any address that you’ve added elsewhere in the system. This will save you from entering the same address in multiple campaigns.

HOW TO REMOVE/UNLINK LOCATION EXTENSIONS

  • To unlink your Google Places account, simply go to the Location Extensions screen and choose Nonefrom the Google Places Account drop-down menu.
  • To unlink manually entered addresses, simply check the box on the left of the grid for each address, then click the Unlink 

Remember, unlinking addresses works on a per-campaign basis, so you’ll need to unlink Location Extensions for each campaign individually.

 

Google – A Guide to Google Live Ads

INTRODUCTION

Live Ad Parameters allow you to dynamically change numeric values like prices, inventory numbers, and percentages within your ad text. These numeric values are saved at the keyword level, which can then be used in creatives in a similar way to keyword insertion. However, rather than Google inserting the keyword text in the ad, the specific value related to the searched keyword will be inserted.

EXAMPLE OF LIVE AD PARAMETERS

Imagine you are bidding on the keyword ‘antique cups’ and have set the price ($80) and number of varieties (18) as Live Param values:

Keyword          Live Ads Param 1       Live Ads Param 2       
antique cups $80 18

The creative would reference the Live Param values, and include default text, in much the same way that keyword insertion does:

When a customer searches for ‘antique cups’, Google will serve the creative containing the Live Param values:

 

WHY USE LIVE AD PARAMETERS?

Much like keyword insertion, Live Params can make ads more relevant to customers, and help to increase your Click Through Rate (CTR) and creative performance. Changes to creatives using Live Params are implemented faster because they do not require Google’s editorial review. Additionally, Live Param updates will not affect Quality Score.

ACCEPTABLE VALUES FOR LIVE AD PARAMETERS

When choosing a numeric value to insert into the ad text, the following restrictions apply:

  • Can use , or . as a separator, with an optional . or , (respectively) for fractional values. For example 1,000,000.00 and 2.000.000,10 are valid.
  • Can be prepended or appended with a currency symbol. For example, $99.99 and 200£ are valid.
  • Can be prepended or appended with a currency code. For example, 99.99USD and EUR200 are valid.
  • Can use %. For example, 1.0% and 1,0% are valid.
  • Can use + or -. For example, -10.99 and 25+ are valid.
  • Can use / between two numbers. For example 4/1 and 0.95/0.45 are valid.

Find out more about Google’s accepted values for Live Ad parameters.

HOW TO SET UP LIVE AD PARAMS IN THE PLATFORM

You are not able to see the Live Param values in the Google AdWords interface. You can, however, see them in the platform. Just go to the keyword settings page or use the View Builder in the main Keywords grid and add the columns Live Ads Param 1 and Live Ads Param 2 which can be found in the Advanced section of the View Builder.

  1. Edit a creative to include the Live Param(s) in the format {param1: default text}shown in the example above. These can be used in the Headline orDescription Line 1 or Line 2.
  2. Update the keywords in the group using a bulk upload and the column headers Live Ads Param 1and Live Ads Param 2 in the bulk sheets.

Notes

  • Note that Google accepts only numeric values in their Live Ad parameters, but these can be included along with the following characters: %,.,+,-,/,£,$,€,¥,USD,GBP,EUR,JPY, etc.
  • Please also note that spaces cannot be used in Live Ad parameters. The platform will accept parameters with spaces, but the operation will fail when posted to the publisher. 

HOW TO REMOVE KEYWORD-LEVEL LIVE AD PARAMETER VALUES

The following suggestions are current ways to remove keyword-level live ad parameter values so that the creative-level default live ad parameter values are used:

  • Individual Edit: Click into a specific keyword, and remove the Live Ad parameter values here
  • Update Live Ad values: Update the keyword-level Live Ad parameters to the default values seen at the creative-level
  • Remove Live Ads for Creatives: Edit the creative so it does not leverage the dynamic live ad parameter

Our product team is working on a bulk-upload method that would clear out keyword-level live ad parameters, so that the default value are used. In the meantime, please use one of the above methods to accomplish this.

 

Google – A Guide to Google Account Limits

INTRODUCTION

Google has certain account limits which apply to the number of objects (campaigns, groups, keywords, etc.) that can exist in a single account. We’ll list each of these limits in the section below.

GOOGLE ACCOUNT LIMITS

The limits are as follows:

  • 10,000 campaigns (includes active and paused campaigns)
  • 20,000 ad groups per campaign
  • 20,000 keywords per ad group
  • 300 display ads per ad group (includes image ads)
  • 50 text ads per ad group
  • 4 million keywords per account
  • 500 location targets per campaign
  • 500 excluded location targets per campaign

IMPORTANT NOTES

  • There are no longer standard and expanded accounts.
  • Currently, auto-rollover will create a new campaign when the original campaign contains 10,000 groups.

 

Google – A Guide to Creative Rejections and Exemption Requests

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

You may encounter either of the following error messages when adding creatives to the platform:

*Error: GOOGLE, pharma* Comment:  Your creative references a pharmaceutical.  Google has rejected your creative because of this reference.

 

*Error: GOOGLE, alcohol*  Comment:  Your creative references alcohol.  Google has rejected your creative because of this reference.
You can refer to the Adwords Policy Center for more information on rejections and policies. This center describes which products/services fall under each policy (Trademark, Pharma, Editorial, Copyright, Restricted/Unacceptable Products etc).  Jump to the Adwords Policy Center through the links below.

ADDITIONAL ERRORS

Your creative may also be rejected because there are too many characters in it. In this case, you’ll see the following error:
Google Error: Error: GOOGLE, line_overflow, operations[xxx].operand.ad.headline,, en_US
Your creative will also be rejected if it contains words that are in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS:

Google Error: Error: GOOGLE, capitalization, operations[xxx].operand.ad.description2,, en_US
Note that the solution below does not apply to these two error messages. To resolve these, you simply need to address whatever the issue is. For example, shortening the creative’s length or changing the case.

WHEN DO THESE ERRORS APPEAR?

When Google’s editorial team finds a possible policy violation with your ad text they will reject your creative. This rejection generates an error file that can be found in the Activity Log and contains results similar to the examples above. If you believe your creatives are not in violation of AdWords policy, you can seek an exemption or fix the error in question and re-upload.

You can ask for an exemption through your Google representative or you can submit an exemption request through our platform.

This can appear if:

  1. Adding new creatives
    You are trying to create new creatives in the platform and posting them to Google using this correct policy exemption process. The reason this can occur is because this policy exemption request process does not work for newly added creatives in the platform. You must first load and approve these ads on Google’s end, and then sync them down to the platform. If you try to create new creatives in the platform and post to Google, you will encounter this Google error message.
  2. Editing existing creatives
    You are trying to edit existing creatives that have already been approved on Google’s end. Once the ads have been loaded and approved on Google’s end, any edits made to these same creatives in the platform must go through the policy exemption process in the upload file. If you edit these creatives without going through this policy exemption process, you will encounter this Google error message.

HOW TO APPLY FOR CREATIVE EXEMPTION THROUGH OUR PLATFORM

Option 1: Steps for single creative policy exemption request:

  1. Navigate to the Creatives tab.
  2. Click the “Google” logo under the “Filters” tab in the left hand side navigation bar.
  3. Click “Creative Status” in the left hand side navigation bar and select “Disapproved.” If Google does not return a Disapproved status, then filtering for “Sync Error” will instead reveal the creatives.
  4. Click on the creative that gave you an error for possibly violating Google’s Advertising Policy. If you are unsure whether the displayed creative was disapproved for policy violation, click the red triangle next to the disapproved creative.  Clicking the red triangle will take you to an Activity Log page that describes the reason for disapproval.
  5. Returning to the Creatives Tab.  As you scroll down the “Edit Creative” screen, two free-form text fields, “Policy Name” and “Violating Text” are available for submitting the policy name and potential violating text.  Enter the policy you have  violated (available through the Google Adwords Policy Center) and the text that violated the policy.
  6. Click “Save.” After saving, a notification is shown in the  Creatives tab just above the reporting grid.
  7. Click the link in the notification to see the new activity cart operation created for editing the creative.
  8. Push the change to Google by selecting the checkbox next to the ID and clicking “Post Now”

Option 2: Steps of using multi-edit for multiple policy exemption request (filtering for disapproved or sync error creatives under the Creatives tab):

  1. Navigate to the Creatives tab.
  2. Click the “Google” logo under the “Filters” tab in the left hand side navigation bar.
  3. Click “Creative Status” in the left hand side navigation bar and select “Disapproved.” If Google does not return a Disapproved status, then filtering for “Sync Error” will instead reveal the creatives. If you are unsure whether any of the displayed creatives were disapproved for policy violation, click the red triangle next to one of the disapproved creatives.  Clicking the red triangle will take you to an Activity Log page that describes the reason for disapproval.
  4. Returning to the Creatives Tab.  Click Edit  ( represented as a pencil icon) in the top bar above the main grid.
  5. Select “Creative Exemptions” from the dropdown in the multi-edit bubble
  6. Enter the Policy Name and Violating Text of your creatives.  Enter the policy you have  violated (available through the Google Adwords Policy Center) and the text that violated the policy in the same case as the text in the ads.
  7. Click “Save.” After saving, a notification is shown in the Creatives tab just above the reporting grid.
  8. Click the link in the notification to see the new activity cart operation created for editing the creative.
  9. Push the change to Google by selecting the checkbox next to the ID and clicking “Post Now”

Option 3: Steps of correcting an existing bulksheet for multiple policy exemption request:

If you’ve uploaded a bulksheet or a bulksheet was created within the Activity Log, you can use it for the following steps:

  1. Apply a filter to the Resultcolumn in the bulksheet
  2. Looking at the error, filter for the term of the bolded part below (In this example case, you will filter for description1. If the bolded text says headline, filter forheadline).Example: Google:Error:Error:GOOGLE,pharma,operations[1].operand.ad.description1,, en_US
  3. In the Policy Namein the bulksheet, copy and paste the term of the bolded part below (In this example case, the bolded part is pharma).Example: Google:Error:Error:GOOGLE,pharma,operations[1].operand.ad.description1,, en_US
  4. Look at the Description Line 1rows to find the violating text.
    1. For example, with the pharma policy, it may be “Medicine” and you may see that “Medicine” is in several of the rows but “Medical” is in the others.
    2. Apply a filter for “Medicine” and copy and paste it from the description column into the Violating Textcolumn for each row where the Description Line 1 has “Medicine”.
    3. In the case where the other rows have “Medical”, apply a filter for “Medical” and copy and paste it from the description column into the Violating Textcolumn for each row where the Description Line 1has “Medical”.
  5. Go back and do this for every error for all rows that have a policy name and violating text.
  6. Remove the Resultcolumn and upload the creatives.

SOMETHING TO REMEMBER WHEN FILING EXEMPTIONS

If the ad or keyword is flagged for Trademark policy, the policy name entered should just be ‘trademark’ and the violating text should not contain the entire line or phrase but only the word that’s being rejected. The API will not accept any other variations such as trademark term, trademark policy, trademark text etc.

Here are some examples to illustrate the above point:

Policy Codes (enter in Policy Name field) Violating Text examples
trademark Inspiron, Dell, Apple, Nike
pharma medical, medicine, meds
prescription_drug_terms pill, capsule, tab, tablet
weapons mus, gun, pistol
drugs_paraphernalia crystal, meth, speed, manna
inappropriate_phrase click (in the context of mouse clicks), swear words

Notes

  • TheResults error message seen in the error file will identify what the Policy Name and Violating Text is for that creative/keyword. For example, if the following error message is seen for a creative: Google Error: Error: GOOGLE,pharma, operations[315].operand.ad.description1,, en_US,this means that the Policy Name is pharma, and the Violating Text is a term within Description Line 1 for that creative.

BEST PRACTICES

  1. You can create these creatives in the publisher and perform a manual sync into the platform

If you create any creatives in the publisher including the trademark symbols such as ® or ™ then you sync them into the platform, the trademark symbol will not change to the symbol that resembles a triangle with a question mark.

  1. You can perform a bulk upload for the ads directly in the platform
    When uploading in the platform, please be sure to upload the creatives in Unicodetext format. Unicode text format supports such special UTF-8 characters as ® or ™. CSV format does not support special characters such as the trademark, copyright, or restricted symbols.

IMPORTANT NOTES

  • Please bear in mind that if you edit any of your Google creatives, they will be considered new creatives. As such, this creative will need to go through editorial review again and may therefore require a new exemption request.
  • If you use URL Autocorrect, you may find that having applied for exemptions successfully and syncing your creatives back into the platform, the URLs are once again rejected by Google after Autocorrect runs. The solution to this problem is to take the URLs directly from the error file (in the Activity Log) once the rejection occurs, then request exemption for these within AdWords.
  • If creative exemptions are approved directly via AdWords or the AdWords Editor, please be sure to perform a manual sync within the platform so those changes are reflected within the platform; otherwise those creatives will still show a Sync Errorwithin the platform.

 

Google – A Guide to Call Extensions

INTRODUCTION

Call Extensions are handy add-ons to your ads that allow you to display a phone number beneath your creative. They’re particularly useful if you’re targeting mobile search because users can simply tap the number to call your business directly.

You can view and sync Google Call Extensions from within the platform, but not create or edit them at this time.

HOW TO VIEW YOUR CALL EXTENSIONS

Once you have synced your Call Extensions from Google to the platform, you can view them by following these steps: Start by going to the Campaigns tab and clicking on the campaign you’d like to add the extension to. Then click on the Ad Extensions tab and follow these easy steps:

  1. Go to the Campaigns tab, then click the campaign that contains the extension.
  2. Click on the Ad Extensions sub-tab.
  3. From the Viewing drop-down menu, select Call Extensions.

 

Google – A Guide to Using Dynamic Search Ads

INTRODUCTION

Google Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) automatically show ads based on the content of client website.  They are text-based ads with a dynamically generated Headline and Destination URL.  Rather than using keywords, dynamic ads are triggered by a Dynamic Target, which consists of a website attribute or group of website attributes (e.g. url, category, etc).

HOW DYNAMIC SEARCH ADS WORK

The advertiser supplies Google with a website URL which Google then analyzes. It then displays the advertiser’s creative for searches that relate to the website content – much like natural search does. The advertiser provides Desc 1 and Desc 2 elements of the creative, but the headline is auto-generated to match the user’s search query. Bids for Dynamic Search Ads are set at the ad group level.

PLATFORM SUPPORT FOR DYNAMIC SEARCH ADS

The following table outlines current and upcoming Platform support for DSAs:

Feature  Availability
Dynamic Search Creative Management Now
Dynamic Search Creative Level Reporting Now
Dynamic Target Management Now
Creation of Dynamic Search Campaigns Now
Dynamic Target Level Reporting TBD
Bidding Support for Dynamic Targets TBD

HOW TO VIEW DYNAMIC SEARCH ADS IN THE GRID

You can view your Dynamic Search Targets in the SmartGrid under the new Dynamic Targets sub-tab.

You can also view Dynamic Search Ads in either the main Creatives tab or on a per-group basis in the Creatives sub tab within a group. DSA’s have the Creative Type column header value of: Dynamic. From both of these views, you can create, edit, and delete a Dynamic Search Ad in the same manner as any other ad type.

HOW TO MANAGE DYNAMIC SEARCH CAMPAIGN SETTINGS

You can manage your Dynamic Search campaign settings in the Platform. These settings can be managed in the Advanced Settings section of the campaign settings. From here, you can set a campaign as a Dynamic Campaign as well as specify the domain for dynamic targeting and language preference.

To create a dynamic campaign from scratch, you’ll first need to create a regular search campaign in the Platform, then enable the Dynamic Search Ads setting in the campaign’s Advanced Settings section.

HOW TO BULK ADD/EDIT

Dynamic Search Ads are supported by the Platform’s URL Builder. Note that the only tracking parameters needed are unique ID, device, and creative. Remember also to leave out the keyword and match type parameters on the URLs. Note: The reason for this is that keywords in DSA URLs are resolving to the ‘Webpage’, which is defined in the dynamic target. As such, we advise against leaving {keyword} in these URLs.

For example, if you are using: {unescapedlpurl} as the Dynamic Search Ad URL, the following can be loaded under the Destination URL column (assuming these tracking parameters match URL Builder):

{unescapedlpurl}?mkwid=abc123_d{device}&pcrid&[creative_id]


Managing Dynamic Search Ads in bulk

To bulk add or bulk edit Dynamic Search Ads:

  1. Click the Creativestab, then go to Bulk add/edit creatives in the left-hand menu.
  2. Bulk upload the Dynamic Search Ads using the following headers:
    1. Account:Can be specified in the file or in the dropdown in the bulk page
    2. Campaign:Can be specified in the file or in the dropdown in the bulk page
    3. Group:Can be specified in the file or in the dropdown in the bulk page
    4. Description 1
    5. Description 2
    6. Creative Type: Upload the value Dynamic
    7. Destination URL:Exclude keyword and match type
    8. Display URL
    9. Creative ID(for edit only)
  3. You can upload either as a bulk file or directly in the bulk window.

Managing Dynamic Search Targets in bulk

To bulk add/edit Dynamic Targets, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Dynamic Targets Bulk Add/Edit pagefrom either the Bulk Upload menu page in Admin, or directly from the Dynamic Targets SmartGrid via the Upload
  2. Bulk upload Dynamic Target using the following headers:
    1. Account :Can be specified in the file or in the dropdown in the bulk page
    2. Campaign:Can be specified in the file or in the dropdown in the bulk page
    3. Group:Can be specified in the file or in the dropdown in the bulk page
    4. Dynamic Target ID: Required for for edit
    5. [Condition1]:Options are: CATEGORY, URL, PAGE_TITLE, PAGE_CONTENT
    6. [Value1]
    7. [Condition2]
    8. [Value2]
    9. [Condition3]
    10. [Value3]
    11. [Status]
    12. [Destination URL]
    13. [Search Bid]
    14. [Unique ID]

MULTI-EDIT SUPPORT

In addition to single and bulk edit support, the platform supports multi edit of DSAs.

 

Google – A Guide to Flexible Reach

WHAT IS FLEXIBLE REACH FOR DISPLAY NETWORK CAMPAIGNS?

In mid-2012, Google added a new targeting method for campaigns on the display network, known as Flexible Reach. Unlike the existing two options, Broad Reach and Specific Reach, the latest option allows advertisers to alter their targeting settings on the ad group level, rather than the campaign level alone. This offers more fine-grain control over targeting settings within the display network.

Google has phased out Broad and Specific reach options for new campaigns in favor of the new Flexible reach method.

HOW TO ACTIVATE FLEXIBLE REACH IN GOOGLE ADWORDS

Google now sets all new campaigns to the Flexible Reach option by default.

You can edit an existing campaign within Google Adwords to utilize Flexible Reach. Just navigate to the Networks section of the Campaign Settings tab. From here, you should be able to select Flexible Reach within the Google Display Network section. Bear in mind that once you have done this, it cannot be undone.

USING FLEXIBLE REACH WITH THE PLATFORM

At present, you cannot activate Flexible Reach within the platform. However, if you activate the feature within Google Adwords, the platform will always honor this setting and will not make any changes. For this reason, we recommend activating Flexible Reach within Google Adwords as described above. Your changes will be synced to the platform automatically.

USEFUL LINKS ABOUT FLEXIBLE REACH

Google – A Guide to Ad Serving Options

WHAT ARE AD SERVING OPTIONS?

Advertisers can use Ad Serving options within Google Adwords (and the platform) to decide how they would like their ads to show. Having this kind of control over ad rotation can help in optimizing campaign performance for the best return on investment. Our platform supports all of the available ad serving options: Rotate evenly, Optimize for clicks, Optimize for conversions, and Rotate indefinitely.

WHICH AD SERVING OPTIONS ARE SUPPORTED BY THE PLATFORM?

Let’s look at each of the ad serving options in more detail.

  • Optimize for clicks: This option will show those ads that are expected to result in more clicks.
  • Optimize for conversions: This option will show ads that are expected to result in more conversions. This is available only when using publisher conversion tracking.
  • Rotate evenly: This option will show your ads evenly across the day for at least 90 days. After this time it will revert to the Optimize for clicks
  • Rotate indefinitely:This option will show both low and high performing ads evenly, and will not revert to the Optimize for clicks option after 90 days.

HOW TO CHANGE AD SERVING OPTIONS IN THE PLATFORM

To make changes to your ad serving, click on the Campaigns tab, then click on the appropriate campaign. Next click the Settings tab below the campaign name, then finally click the Advanced Settings button mid-way down the page.

In the Ad Serving section of this page, you will be able to select one of the options described above.

Note: This is currently the only way to update a campaign’s Ad Serving options. There is no support for changing these options via bulk or multi-edit.

 

Google – A Guide to Keyword Rejections & Exemption Requests

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?

You may encounter a variation of the following error messages after adding new keywords to the platform:

*Error: GOOGLE, pharma*

 

*Error: GOOGLE, alcohol*
You can refer to the Adwords Policy Center for more information on rejections and policies. This center describes which products/services fall under each policy (Trademark, Pharma, Editorial, Copyright, Restricted/Unacceptable Products etc).  Jump to the Adwords Policy Center through the links below.

WHEN DO THESE ERRORS APPEAR?

When Google’s editorial team finds a possible policy violation with your keyword text they will reject your keyword(s). This rejection generates an error similar to the examples above. If you believe your keywords are not in violation of AdWords policy, you can seek an exemption. You can ask for an exemption through your Google representative, or you can submit an exemption request through our platform.

HOW TO APPLY FOR EXEMPTION THROUGH OUR PLATFORM

  1. Navigate to theKeywords
  2. Click the Google filter on the left-hand side.
  3. Click on the keyword that gave you an error for possibly violating Google’s Advertising Policy.
  4. As you scroll down the Edit Keyword Settingsscreen, you’ll notice two free-form text fields: Policy Name and Violating Text. These can be used to submit the policy name and potential violating text. Find out more about what to type here at the links listed above.
  5. Click Save. You’ll then be directed back to the Keywordsgrid and see a confirmation message.
  6. Go to theActivity Log to see the new task created for editing the keyword.
  7. Pushthe Activity Log job to Google and your request will be submitted.

If your keywords are in the Sync Error status and do not exist within the platform, you will need to delete these keywords from the platform, add them within Google Adwords, then perform a manual sync within the app. To do a manual sync, please follow the steps outlined in Synchronizing Data with the Publishers.

USEFUL LINKS

  • You can also read our guide on How to Submit Policy Exemption Requests in Bulk.

 

Google – A Guide to Call and Location Extensions Reporting

WHAT IS CALL AND LOCATION EXTENSION REPORTING?

Marin already supports the management of both Location Extensions and Call Extensions. Now users can report on these extensions from within Marin as well. Clients can report on both ‘call’ clicks and ‘directions’ clicks.

Call Extensions:

Location Extensions:

HOW TO VIEW CALL AND LOCATION CLICK TOTALS IN THE GRID

The clicks for each of these extensions have always been included in the click totals, but users can now also use the View Builder to show clicks for each type of extension individually. Here’s how to do it.

  1. Make sure that Call and Location Extension reporting is enabled for your client account.Please reach out to your Client Services representative in order to enable it.
  2. From the grid view, click the View Builderlink in the upper-right of the grid. Note that the columns we’ll add are available to view in the keyword, creative, group, campaign, account and history 
  3. Look for the Ad Extensions section of the Columns  Note that in order to see this option, you must have this feature activated. Please contact your platform representative for more info.
  4. You’ll see a few different options for extension reporting which you can add to the grid. If you wanted to see call click data and driving directions click data, for example, you could choose Clicks-to-Call Clicks and Driving Dir. Clicks.

Google – A Guide to AdWords Enhanced Campaigns

INTRODUCTION

In February 2013, Google announced its Enhanced Campaigns feature. In an effort to make campaign management easier for advertisers in an increasingly multi-device world, Google has developed this new type of campaign for roll-out throughout 2013.

For more information about our support for Enhanced Campaigns, please read Platform Support for Enhanced Campaigns.

WHAT ARE ENHANCED CAMPAIGNS?

Enhanced Campaigns alter the way that Google campaigns are structured in several different ways, as follows:

  • Device targetingat the campaign level has been removed.
  • Users will be able to create mobile preferred ads in the same groups as regular ads. Google will display the relevant ad depending on the device being used.
  • Users will have access to a mobile bid adjustmentat the campaign level. A default bid will apply to desktop and tablet ads, and this adjustment will increase or decrease bids for mobile as required.
    • The bid adjustment can be any value from -100% to 300%. For example, if you chose -100%, mobile bids would be zero, whereas if you chose 0%, the mobile bids would be the same as desktop and tablet. This means that by choosing a -100% adjustment, you can effectively create a desktop/tablet-only campaign. You cannotcreate a mobile-only campaign.
  • Users will be able to make bid adjustmentsat the campaign level.
    • This feature helps you manage bids for your ads across devices, locations, times of day and more – all from a single campaign.
  • Users will be able to use device-specificad extensions.
  • Users will benefit from advanced reportsto measure new conversion types (such as calls and app downloads).
  • Google has added a {device}ValueTrack parameter that will resolve in C (computer), T (tablet), or M (mobile). This allows for device-level reporting.

IMPACT ON OUR PLATFORM

General

There will be no immediate impact on existing campaigns with the announcement of Enhanced Campaigns. If you choose not to migrate existing campaigns, they will operate just as before.

Any new campaigns created will automatically be Enhanced Campaigns, however you will have the option to switch back to a Legacy campaign. Once you migrate an older campaign, it cannot be switched back. Over the course of 2013, Google will automatically upgrade existing campaigns to the new Enhancedstructure. Google will recommend bid adjustment changes for Enhanced Campaigns, but you can overwrite these as required.

Bidding

There will be no impact on keyword-level calculated bids. Bids will continue to be calculated based on the conversion data available across devices (similar to how they are calculated for mixed device campaigns). Moving forward, we will make mobile bid adjustment requirements at the campaign level.

Reporting

There will be no immediate impact. Cost and revenue data will be an aggregate across all device types. Moving forward, we will provide segmented data.

URLs

If you would like to report by device, then URLs will need to be re-tagged to add the {device} ValueTrack parameter. Otherwise, there will be no impact on URLs.

In order to report on device before the platform has full reporting support, you need to add the device parameter to your URLs (device={device}). Doing so will be compatible with the platform, but please note that once official support is added, the platform will likely use a different approach to re-tagging URLs that may require another round of re-tagging.

UPCOMING PLATFORM SUPPORT FOR ENHANCED CAMPAIGNS

We will begin development on full support of Enhanced Campaigns as soon as the Google API is updated. We plan to support campaign-level bid adjustmentsand ad-level mobile preference setting.

As with all Google API changes, there will be a short period whereby the platform does not support these features. You can alter these settings through the AdWords publisher interface without affecting any functionality in the platform.

We will provide our users with guidelines on how to migrate existing campaigns, how to create new Enhanced Campaigns, and offer guidance on how to migrate campaigns in bulk.

As of February 2013, our planned support will take place in the following phases:

Phase 1 (March 2013)

  • Ability to view migration status for campaigns and choose to migrate them toEnhanced
  • Ability to set campaign-level bid adjustment
  • Ability to create mobile-preferred ads
  • Ability to view campaign type, device preference and bid adjustment settings in the grid

Phase 2 (by early Q2 2013)

  • The platform will begin to provide basic raw data by device. Based on mobile device data, you will have the ability to analyze and choose a bid adjustment at the campaign level. Note that bidding will continue to calculate keyword-level bids as normal.
  • Multi-edit and bulk-edit functionality for the device preference and mobile bid adjustment

Phase 3 (by late Q2 2013)

  • Cost and revenue reporting by device using the {device}parameter for revenue reporting at the campaign level
  • URL Builder support for the {device} ValueTrack parameter
  • Mobile bid adjustment will be incorporated into automated bidding

Phase 4 (by early Q3 2013)

  • Support the group level bid adjustment
  • Group level reporting
  • Group level mobile bid adjustment will be incorporated into automated bidding
  • Keyword level report by device

Phase 5 (by late Q3 2013)

  • Upgraded Ad extensions
  • Enhancements to keyword level report by device

Pending API availability

The following features will not be available until Google enables Enhanced Campaign management via their API.

  • Support for location-based bid adjustments
    • Google bid % adjustments are applied after/on top of the platform bid calculations. If the platform calculates a $1 bid to achieve a target CPA and there is a 20% location boost, the bid at Google would end up being $1.2.
    • Please note that using these settings may impact the ability to hit the target CPA via the Platform Bidding.

TIMELINE OF CHANGES

  1. February 2013: Google announces Enhanced Campaigns.
  2. By end of February 2013: Google enables API functionality for Enhanced Campaigns.
  3. June/July 2013: Google will be begin automatically upgrading existing campaigns.

USEFUL LINKS

  • We have put together a comprehensive guide to help you begin migrating campaigns from Legacy to Enhanced. You can download this PDF from theAttachments section below.
  • Google has also put together a guide for Upgrading to Enhanced Campaigns(PDF).
  • Read the original Google announcement or Enhanced Campaigns.

 

Google – A Guide to Google AdWords Campaign Experiments (ACE)

WHAT IS GOOGLE ADWORDS CAMPAIGN EXPERIMENTS?

Google AdWords Campaign Experiments, or ACE, is a tool that allows you to test the impact of planned changes to your campaigns without applying them to all eligible impressions. With ACE, you can run your test campaign alongside a live campaign in real-time and gain valuable insight into your campaign strategy.

This feature is currently in Beta in Google AdWords.

PLATFORM SUPPORT FOR GOOGLE ACE

At present, our platform does not officially support Google ACE:

  • You can sync the campaign you’re experimenting on down to the platform, however only the original metrics will be synced and not the experimental changes.
  • You cannot make any changes to Google ACE via the platform.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

  1. Do I get duplicate reporting if I use ACE? 
    Your new settings will be applied to a percentage of the eligible impressions and the rest will be the previous settings. Therefore, when ad groups and keywords are copied they arenot actually duplicated, they are running partly with old settings and partly with new.
  2. How much of the traffic will go to my original and how much to the experimental campaign? 
    Once the keywords have been duplicated, the ads will be served depending on the experimental split you choose, for example: you’re running an ACE campaign with a 2x bid on some keywords to test impact on conversions. Now you can choose to have the new bid applied for 30% of times an ad is eligible to show, and choose to deliver the balance 70% time at original x bid.
  3. How would cost be split across the two campaigns? 
    Cost will depend on the split you choose, it could be 50-50, 40-60, 70-30. However, during bid experiments if you choose a 50-50 split, there are chances that impressions are not split equally, as the higher bids may win you more auctions.
  4. How will the experimental and original metrics be reported?
    The ACE campaign will show you a summarized impact and compare results with the original campaign. There will be rows labelled Experiment and Controlto show the difference in impact.
  5. How do I set it up in Google?
    The screenshots on the help page are helpful, but you can set this up in the original campaign’s setting page under

 

 

Can you clarify how this impacts bidding folders?  Should the adgroups involved in an experiment be opted out of Marin bidding?

If you are using experimental bids (meaning that the bid for the same keyword in the experimental group is different from the bid in the control group), we recommend turning off the affected Folders for the duration of the test. This is because the platform bid changes will be pushed to the keyword in the control group; while the bid for the keyword in the experimental group will be changed by a certain percentage that you previously set.

If (1) bids are the same in the control and experimental groups (for example, you’re testing the addition of new placements), or (2) keywords are only active in either the experimental or control group – it would not be necessary to turn off Folders.

More information from Google: http://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2385204?hl=en&from=168…

 

Google – A Guide to the Enhanced Campaigns URL Migration Process

INTRODUCTION

How do I know if I need to update my URLs for Enhanced Campaign support?

First and foremost your platform representative will suggest a recommended path for migration. However, we do encourage you to read through the Enhanced Campaigns FAQ page which covers various scenarios surrounding migration specifics.

What needs to happen to my URLs so I can use Enhanced Campaigns?

In some cases, nothing. In other cases we will need to add a new Google Adwords ValueTrack parameter – in this case, the {device} parameter – to your URLs. In upcoming versions of the platform, this parameter will enable us to attribute revenue to the device that delivered it. You can read more about this parameter from Google by visiting their page on the {device} Value Track Parameter.

The process outlined in this article is explicitly around how we will go about updating your URLs so you can take advantage of Adwords Enhanced Campaigns.

What will my new URLs look like?

There are two approaches that can be recommended by your platform representative at the time of URL migration:

  1. The first approach is being referred to as the Combined To use the Combinedapproach the platform will append the {device} parameter to the existing tracking parameter value in the URL.e.g. example.com/page?mkwid=abc123_d{device}
  2. The second approach is being referred to as the Separate  In this approach the platform will append the {device} parameter as a new parameter to your existing URLs.e.g. example.com/page?mkwid=abc123&pdv={device}

We will provide you with a recommendation for one of these approaches based on a variety of technical considerations. To learn more about URL structures for some of our standard and advanced integration types, please review the URL Changes by Revenue Integration Type help article.

THE URL MIGRATION PROCESS

We have slotted your account with a pre-determined migration date based on your account configuration. Your platform representative will be reaching out to youprior to the 31st May product update with the date range for your expected migration. In many cases a migration will take several days to complete. All URL migrations will be a collaborative effort between us and your internal teams. When you receive your expected migration date from your platform representative, please make sure that resources will be available on your side to work with us on the URL Migration.

The flow of the migration process is illustrated below:

Part 1

  1. Establish contact –Your platform representative will pro-actively reach out to you to share your pre-determined migration date.
  2. Discussion– The details of your account configuration will be discussed and confirmed.
  3. Ticket request for URL migration– Your platform representative will file a Support ticket on your behalf, based off of the details of your discussion. In some cases a Support ticket may not be necessary and you’ll be able to bypass URL migration.
  4. Execute URL configuration– Our Support team will take action on your ticket and prepare your account for URL migration by carrying out the following:
  5. Updating URL Builder tools (if applicable) to handle new {device} Value Track parameter.
  6. Updating all Keyword, Creative, and Placement URLs with the updated {device} parameter.
  7.      Running updated URLs through a 404 checker page to make sure that the update did not cause the landing page to break.
  8. Post the URLs in bulksheet form in an FTP directory for you to review.
  9. Reach out to you to request review of these URLs.

Part 2

  1. Review of reconfigured URLs– Once the above ticket has been acted on you will be notified that your URLs for Keywords, Creatives, and Placements are ready for review in the provided FTP directory. It will be your responsibility to carry out the following steps in order to get the URLs pushed to the publishers:
    • Log in to the provided FTP and spot-check keyword, creative, and placement bulksheets for any URL structure issues.
    • Pick a few instances of the URL and make sure that they are resolving as expected. Please keep in mind that any dynamic characters such as {device} will not be populated and could impact the way your page is displayed.
    • Assuming that you find no issues with your new URLs, you should let us know that you are ready to push the URLs live. If you have any concerns with the proposed URL changes, they will be addressed as needed.
  2. Posting URLs to the publisher– Once you have given your approval, we will let you know the next steps for pushing the URLs live.
  3. Monitor– URLs will take some time to push, so it’s important to monitor your account for any drastic changes in conversion counts after the migration, as this could be a sign of badly formed URLs.
  4. Confirm – When you feel that things are working as expected, you should have a final discussion with your platform representative to discuss how the migration process went and confirm that you are comfortable with the revenue data that is coming into the platform.

 

 

Google – A Guide to Enhanced Campaign URL Changes by Revenue Integration Type

SUMMARY

  • If you are using a standard revenue integration type, you can reference the below section to get an understanding of the approaches available to you for the URL Migration for Enhanced Campaigns.
  • If you feel that you can execute these changes on your own without assistance, please let your platform representative know that you would like to take this on.
  • If you have a custom integration or you don’t think your current revenue integration is within this directory, please reach out to your platform representative for an update as to when your account is migrating.

INTRODUCTION

This document provides examples of the two approaches the platform is using to integrate device tracking into client URLs. Device tracking is needed to support Google’s upcoming transition to Enhanced Campaigns. We will be recommending an approach to you based off your current revenue integration.

The URLs on your accounts can change in one of two ways:

  1. Combined Approach– Combing the device parameter within an existing query string parameter
  2. Separate Approach –Appending a new query string parameter.

Please note that we are using standard URL tagging examples below.  We will be modifying the name value parameter values based on your current URL structure naming schema.

Example – Combined Approach

In this approach, we append the device parameter to the unique id in the URL.

Original URL http://www.example.com/?mkwid=abc123&pcrid=def456&pkw={keyw…
New URL http://www.example.com/?mkwid=abc123_d{device}&pcrid=def456&pkw={keyword}&pmt={matchtype}

Compatibility

The Combined Approach is compatible with ALL revenue integration methods. It allows for customers to add a device parameter to an existing URL string without the creation of an additional name value pair. It will also allow for device level revenue reporting post the release on May 31st.

Example – Separate Approach

In this approach, we append the device parameter as a new query string parameter at the end of the URL.

Original URL http://www.example.com/?mkwid=abc123&pcrid=def456&pkw={keyw…
New URL http://www.example.com/?mkwid=abc123&pcrid=def456&pkw={keyw…&pdv={device}

Compatibility

The Separate approach is compatible with the platform tracker deployments, and Revenue Upload based integration methods. It allows for customers to add a new name value pair to an existing URL string. The drawback of this approach is that it does not allow for device level reporting until the product enhancement at the end of June. If using a revenue upload approach, you would also need to modify the file being sent to the platform to be inclusive of the new device column.

WHICH APPROACH SHOULD I USE?

We can provide you with a recommendation on which approach you should take for your given revenue integration in the coming weeks. However, if one approach appeals to you, we are happy to see if we can accommodate your request.  Please reference the below table for compatibility:

Revenue Integration Combined Approach Separate Approch Additional Notes
Adform C=1;kw=[campaign]|[group]|[keyword_text];mkwid=[distribution][uniq_id]_d{device};pcrid=[creative_id];pkw=[keyword_text];pmt=[matchtype];plid={placement};
SiteCatalyst mkwid=[distribution][uniq_id]_d{device}|pcrid|[creative_id]|pmt|{matchtype}|pkw|[keyword_text]
DFA Datafeed sv1=[distribution][uniq_id]_d{device}&sv2=[creative_id]&sv3=[Tracker_ID]&sv4=[keyword_text]&sv5=[MatchType]  &sv6={device} We may recommend against sv6
Google Analytics (auto-Tagging) Not Supported
Google Analytics (utm_content) utm_content=[distribution][uniq_id]_d{device}|pcrid|[creative_id]|pkw|[keyword_text] pmt|[matchtype] Pipe or Underscore
Jet Interactive mkwid=[distribution][uniq_id]_d{device}&pcrid=[creative_id]&pmt=[matchtype]&pkw=[keyword_text]
The platform tracker mkwid=[distribution][uniq_id]_d{device}&pcrid=[creative_id]&pmt=[matchtype]&pkw=[keyword_text]  &pdv={device} Separate approach preferred
Mongoose Metrics mkwid=[distribution][uniq_id]_d{device}|pcrid|[creative_id]&keyword=[keyword_text]&utm_source=[publisher]&utm_medium=CPC
Revenue Upload mkwid=[distribution][uniq_id]_d{device}&pcrid=[creative_id]&pmt=[matchtype]&pkw=[keyword_text]  &pdv={device} You can use any {device} identifier
Atlas Data Feed v3/{[distribution][uniq_id]|d{device}_{creative}_[tracker_id]_[keyword_text]_{matchtype} pipe delimited (|)
Flash Talking ft_custom=[distribution][uniq_id]|d{device}_pcrid_[creative_id]_match_[matchtype]_kword_[keyword_text]_plid_{placement} pipe delimited (|)
Rev Trax  &pdv={device}
Tagman Feed mkwid_[distribution][uniq_id]|d{device}_pcrid_[creative_id]_pmt_[matchtype]_pkw_[keyword_text]_plid_{placement} pipe delimited (|)
Adometry  Please Contact us for Best Approach
Adplan  Please Contact us for Best Approach
Clearsaleing  Please Contact us for Best Approach
Visual IQ  Please Contact us for Best Approach

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  • If you would like to learn more about the Enhanced Campaign URL migration process, please visit the Enhance Campaign Resource Center.
  • Note that regardless of approach that device level bidding will not be available until the product enhancement release which is slated for June 30th 2013.
  • Whichever approach is used, the keyword tracking IDs (the three values seen when you click into a specific keyword) should only consist of the tracking ID without the{device} parameter attached. If the {device} parameter is attached here, you may see unattributed conversions when you are using creative-level tracking or place holder keywords.To correct this for your keywords, simply re-save the tracking ID parsing settings. Please see this Help article for more information on unattributed conversions and how to correct the issue.

 

Google – A Guide to Setting Up Device Parameter Tracking ID

INTRODUCTION

In order to report revenue and conversion data by device, a dynamic device parameter (i.e. Google’s {device} ValueTrack parameter) must be appended to your destination URLs.

Setting up a separate device parameter name-value pair is the recommended approach used to append device type information to URLs.

You can find information on an alternative by reading about the Combined Tracking ID.

HOW TO CONFIGURE DEVICE PARAMETER TRACKING ID SETTINGS

Here is a step-by-step guide to setting up your device parameter tracking ID:

  1. Navigate to Admin > Revenuesub-tab > Tracking IDs (in left menu).
  2. Click into the{Device} parameter sub-tab.
  3. Choose theParameter name, Value separator and Stop character.  The Value Separator is typically = and the Stop Character is typically &.
  4. ClickSave.
  5. Migrate your URLs by appending the device parameter name/value pair.

AN EXAMPLE OF DEVICE PARAMETER AND MIGRATED URLS

Example 1

Example 2

Note that ‘{device}’ will be substituted with an ‘m’ for mobile clicks, ‘t’ for tablet clicks, and ‘c’ for desktop clicks when served by the publisher. To learn more about Google’s {device} ValueTrack parameter.

USEFUL LINKS

  • For more information on the URL Migration process, see the Guide to the Enhanced Campaigns URL Migration Process
  • To learn more about best practices for URL migration by revenue integration type, see the Guide to URL Migration by Revenue Integration Type

 

Google – A Guide to Image Extensions

INTRODUCTION

In June 2013, Google announced Image Extensions as a beta feature. These allow advertisers to include images to complement their text ads. In this way, marketers can show as well as tell, and potentially make their advertising more effective.

As with text ads, Image Extensions must be approved by Google prior to appearing live on the search engine.

TRACKING IMAGE EXTENSION CONVERSIONS

At present, Google does not allow third-party tracking of conversions from image extensions; however, this will be enabled once the feature is out of its beta phase.

PLATFORM SUPPORT FOR IMAGE EXTENSIONS

Because Image Extensions are not yet available via the Google API, there is currently no support for the feature via our platform. However, assuming the feature’s beta is a success, support will be added to the platform as part of a future update.

 

Google – A Guide to Upgraded Ad Extensions

INTRODUCTION

As part of enhanced campaigns, Google introduced Upgraded Ad Extensions for sitelink, call, and app extensions. With upgraded ad extensions you can:

  • Show mobile-preferred messaging and phone numbers directly in your ad by choosing mobile preference or Mobile device targeting.
  • Add description lines for individual sitelinks to provide more information on each link.
  • Use ad group-level extensions to more precisely control which extensions show for each ad.
  • Schedule extensions to run on certain days or during specific times so you can align your ad extensions to your business hours.
  • Review detailed reports, such as performance for each individual sitelink to help you optimize for ROI.

Note:

  • Sitelinks must target All devicesin order for the platform to sync them down. You can ensure the settings by going to the Ad extensions tab in Adwords, viewing Sitelinks Extensions and choosing the radio button which says Show this extension onAll devices.
  • App promotion ads (i.e. “click-to-download” ads) is currently notsupported in the platform.
  • The feature currently only supports the scheduling of sitelinks by date, and not by time of day.

CHANGES FROM LEGACY VERSION

In addition to the new functionality described above, users can now share individual sitelinks across campaigns (and groups) which was not possible with legacy sitelinks.

HOW TO UPGRADE YOUR AD EXTENSIONS

Starting September 23rd 2013, Google will auto-upgrade your sitelinks, call, and app extensions if they are not upgraded already. Prior to this date, make sure all of your sitelink link texts are at most 25 characters long and follow the unique sitelinks policy. Refer to this blog post for more information on auto-migration policies.

You may also choose to self-migrate your ad extensions.

PLATFORM SUPPORT FOR UPGRADED SITELINKS

Users are now able to view and edit existing upgraded sitelinks or create new ones in the platform in our new and enhanced sitelinks user interface.

Please note that:

  • For campaigns that have only legacy sitelinks you will be able to see these sitelinks.
  • For campaigns that have some or only upgraded sitelinks, you will only see the upgraded sitelinks.
  • Editing or creating legacy sitelinks will not be allowed by Google for campaigns that are auto-upgraded.

To navigate to the sitelinks settings page for a campaign in the platform:

  1. Go to the Campaignstab
  2. Click into that campaign
  3. Click on the Ad Extensionssub-tab
  4. Choose Upgraded Sitelinksfrom the drop-down menu
  5. Use the New Sitelinkbutton to add new sitelinks to your campaign. You can also use the Add button to link an existing sitelink from another campaign. You can also edit different fields for each individual sitelink, but clicking on the sitelink. Fields include Link Text, Destination URL, Device Preference, and Start/End Dates.

At this time we don’t support custom feeds created through the Adwords API by a 3rd party. The platform will only sync down feeds that are created by Google.

SITELINKS URL BUILDER

You can turn on Sitelinks URL Builder from the URL Builder settings tab (Admin > Revenue > URL Builder).

If you have the URL Builder enabled and set up, every time you create a new sitelink tracking parameters will be added to the sitelink automatically, before posting to Google.

 

 

 

Google – A Guide to Google Remarketing

INTRODUCTION

The platform has a feature which allows you to take advantage of Google’s remarketing (or retargeting) functionality for Search campaigns.

With this feature, you are able to do achieve the following via the platform:

  • Add, remove, or edit retargeting lists via bulk upload.
  • Optimize your search campaigns (RLSAs) at the keyword level.
  • View cost metrics at the campaign, group, keyword and creative level.

Important note

When using the platform to assign retargeting lists to Google groups, note that if the group does not have a Target setting, it will automatically be set to Target & Bid. This is mostly applicable when you are assigning a list to a group that has never had retargeting lists associated to it. This is important to know, as it can cause a drop in traffic.

HOW TO ASSIGN A REMARKETING LIST

We recommend that you copy existing campaigns or groups to a new campaign. The reason for this is you can then assign a retargeting list to the relevant groups and use a Target and Bid strategy.

To add a remarketing list for one of your Google Search campaigns, simply follow these steps:

  1. Create a copy of the campaign you’d like to use with remarketing with the platform’s Copy Tool. For more information on this, see our Help article.
  2. Using a bulk upload, assign a retargeting list to your group(s). See below for details on what to include in the bulk upload.
  3. Using a bulk upload once again, assign a retargeting list as an exclusionto your original group(s). This will ensure that you do not compete against yourself in the auction for those keywords.
  4. Create a bidding folder in the platform for your RLSA campaigns and add the new groups to this folder.
  5. Set the folder to Traffic/Previewto have the platform begin pushing bids for these keywords.
  6. The platform will now optimize bids for the new campaign at the keyword level, to ensure the best bids are found for each keyword as per the people in your retargeting list.

For more information on Google Remarketing, please read our help article.

REMARKETING LISTS FOR DISPLAY CAMPAIGNS

You can also use remarketing lists with Display campaigns. To add a remarketing list to a Display campaign, just follow the process outlined above. Again we recommend using the Target and Bid strategy.

BULK UPLOAD COLUMNS

In order to assign your remarketing lists in bulk, you will need to include the following columns in your bulk sheet. Columns shown in [brackets] are optional.

  • Account
  • Campaign
  • Group
  • Retargeting List
  • [Status]
  • [Bid Adjustment]
  • [Max. CPC]
  • [Destination URL]

Note: Max. CPC and Destination URL are applicable for display groups only.

Retargeting List Exclusions

  • Account
  • Campaign
  • [Group]
  • Retargeting List
  • [Status]

Note: if you do not include Group, the platform will assume the assignment is at the campaign level when uploading exclusions. The Status column values can be either Excluded or Deleted; if not provided, the default is Excluded. Note that groups are required when adding lists. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

  • Note that the creation of retargeting lists is carried out on the publisher’s end and synced to the application. You cannot create the lists within the platform at this time.
  • You can sync down retargeting lists and view them in the grid.
  • Lists can be bulk uploaded via FTP using the prefix groupRetargetList_
  • Negative retargeting lists can be managed in bulk only. They are visible in the Negatives 
  • Cost metrics are not available for retargeting lists.
  • Single/multi-edit is not available for retargeting lists at this time.
  • Nightly sync will not update your retargeting lists. To do so, you’ll need to perform a hard sync.
  • You need to wait overnight before you can bulk add/edit retargeting list assignments in the platform for a newly created list. If you don’t do this, the process will fail because the platform will not be able to recognize this new list.
  • The platform doesnot support bulk add/edit assignments for lists that share the same name (for example, if you have shared lists in your Google account such as All Visitors). You will need to do this within AdWords.
  • Target and Bidcauses Google to only show the ads when both the keyword and the retargeting list match. As opposed to Bid only where Google will show you ads when a keyword matches (regardless of whether the remarketing list matches). For more information on Target and Bid versus Bid only, please refer to this Google Support article.

 

Google – A Guide to the Shopping Campaigns Migration Process

INTRODUCTION

Google recently announced a new campaign type called Shopping Campaigns, which will soon replace Product Listing Ads (PLAs) and will be used to serve product ads. The new Google Shopping campaign structure is meant to simplify and optimize the creation and management of PLA. There are no changes made to the way product ads will be served or how Google’s auctions will perform.

Users can now see Shopping as an option under the campaign type in AdWords:

 

To learn how to setup a shopping campaign, please refer to this article.

TIMELINE FOR MIGRATION

Google will be retiring the regular PLA campaign type and asking all PLA advertisers to upgrade to Shopping campaigns by late August 2014. Until then, advertisers can still manage and report on regular PLA campaigns.

In its simplest form, the migration process will be pausing existing PLA campaigns and creating new Shopping campaigns. Both the traditional PLA structure as well as the new Google Shopping campaigns can run at the same time. To assist advertisers with this process, Google has published a migration guide (attached below) and a migration tool. Please also see the Migration section in this article.

KEY DIFFERENTIATORS

Although PLAs and Shopping campaigns are similar in the way product ads are served, there are a number of new features available in Shopping campaigns.

Similarities

  • Both campaign types use the same ad (creative) type. Shopping ads are still at the group level, and have an optional promotion text.
  • Ad groups under shopping campaigns are the same as search Ad groups.
  • Negative keywords can still be added at the campaign or ad group level.
  • The underlying Google Merchant Center feed is not changing. Advertisers would still need to make feed changes through Google Merchant Center.
  • The auction and ad serving rules are similar between PLA and shopping campaigns targeting the same criteria.

What’s new

Retail-centric campaign management

With a Shopping campaign, advertisers can see a list of their products within the campaign setup, and can choose which groups of products (e.g. a category, a brand, etc.) they want to bid on. These biddable criteria are very similar to Product Targets and are called Product Groups (not to be confused with Ad Groups). The rows highlighted below are biddable Product groups while the rest of the rows are just subgroups to help users slice and dice their feed:

 

To compare this with PLAs, the first Product group, Apparel & Accessories, would be represented today as a single criterion Product target: Category=Apparel & Accessories. The second product group, timbuk2 would be represented as Brand=timbuk2 in today’s product targets.

The Everything Else in … buckets are created by default to target all brands/categories/products not targeted directly.

The 10 attributes available for targeting are: Category (Google’s categorization), Brand, Product Type (Merchant’s taxonomy), Condition (New, Used, Refurbished), Item ID, Custom Label 0, Custom Label 1, Custom Label 2, Custom Label 3, Custom Label 4. 

Each Product Group can either have a bid or be Excluded from ad serving.

Additional Campaign settings for a Shopping Campaign

Each shopping campaign needs to be linked to a merchant ID and a Country of Sale in order for users to be able to setup product ads in that shopping campaign. This can be done in the campaign settings page.

 

Additionally, under Shopping settings (Advanced), users can set up Campaign Priority and Inventory Filter. A product can be included in the same product in different campaigns and Ad groups. Google will use priority first, then bids to identify which Product group to serve. A Campaign filter limits the reach of a campaign.  So if a campaign is filtered on a specific brand, that campaign can only target categories and products under that brand.

 

Custom Labels replace AdWords Labels, AdWords Grouping

Google is deprecating adwords_labels and adwords_grouping attributes in favor of 5 Custom labels (0-4). These labels are similar to the platform’s Dimensions and can contain free-form text. Custom labels can be used as a division criterion in setting up a shopping campaign. AdWords labels/grouping can no longer be used as criteria to define a product group in a shopping campaign.

Advertisers who use adwords_labels and adwords_grouping in their current PLA feeds, will need to move them over to custom labels.

Access to the Merchant center feed

The new Google Shopping campaign structure displays your product inventory directly in AdWords without having to log into Google Merchant Center account. This should help advertisers gain better insight and control into what products are being advertised in a given campaign. In order to access this information, Click on Google Merchant Center option under the Tools menu in Adwords. Products are also listed under the “Products” subtab.

Note that this is read-only. All product/feed changes have to be done directly within Google Merchant Center.

Competitive metrics

The new Shopping campaigns provide competitive benchmark metrics for CTR and Max CPC of similar products from other advertisers. The data is anonymous and displays an estimated average. Impression share also helps identify missed opportunities to reach customers. This data is available in the Product Groups grid.

Google also recently introduced a bid simulator tool which estimates the performance for a given bid, showing how bid changes impact clicks, costs and impressions for shopping campaigns.

Local Shopping Channel

Retailers can now add a Local Chanel as well as online. This setting will show products sold in local stores, in Product Listing Ads. Local products are sold in physical stores and submitted to Google Merchant Center using the Local Products feed.

New Valuetrack Params

New Shopping specific valuetrack params are introduced. The most relevant param is {product_id} which would resolve into the item ID (SKU number) of the individual product being served. Refer to this article to learn more about these valuetrack parameters.

MIGRATION

Preparation

  1. Tidy up your feed
    • Revisit ImportantAttributes in Your Feed to make sure they are accurate and help you subdivide and bid efficiently. Google uses these attributes to match your products to shoppers’ intent.
    • Organize your inventory with Useproduct _type, but also considering adding Category which is Google’s classification. By using category you can tell Google in its own language, how to classify your products.
    • UseCustom_Label for Your Own Targetable Values, for e.g. performance or seasonality. Keep in mind that adwords_labels and adwords_groupings are being replaced by custum_labels. So if you are relying on those currently in your PLA campaigns, map them to custom_labels.
    • There is no need to delete adwords_labes and adwords_groupings since legacy PLA campaigns and dynamic remarketing campaigns may still be relying on them
  2. Strategize on your campaign structure based on your catalog and marketing goals and draw a map before creating campaigns. Segment Inventory into Product Groups and keep in mind that ultimately, your campaign structure determines how youbid on your products. Create additional Product Groups only where you need to bid differently – For re.g. there are 3 different ways to think about bidding on shopping campaigns:
    • Taxonomy driven: Bid on different brands and product lines differently – Each product group can represent a product line or brand. Use product_type, category, and brand to create product groups
    • Performance driven: Bid on top/low performers differently – Subdivide your inventory by your performance goal (e.g. margin). Use custom_label and ID to create product groups
    • Hybrid: bid according to both catalog and performance – For e.g. first subdivide by brand/product line, then single out high performing products within each product line

Campaign Creation and platform setup

  1. Create Campaigns in Adwords  based on your strategy above
    • As a first step, Recreate the strongest targets from your PLA campaigns, in your new shopping campaign. Things to look for: strong conv. rates or high revenue per click, low CPA, and high CTR
    • Aim for distributed traffic across products groups. Identify product targets with very high traffic and look for ways to subdivide them
    • Limit the number of ID-level product groups except for singling out high priority product or best sellers. But in general ID level product groups tend towards low traffic as Google cannot match them to queries effectively
  2. New settings in shopping campaigns:
    • Merchant ID and country of sale (required) – refers to ID and country of the merchant center feed that you want to link to the shopping campaign
    • Campaign priority – can be used to prioritize bids in sales/promotional campaigns
    • Inventory filter – you can limit each campaign to a portion of your feed
  3. Try to minimize the number of shopping campaigns and adgroups. These are some reasons you may need multiple:
    • If you have more than 20,000 product groups
    • If you use bid modifiers that need to be different across different campaigns/adgroups
    • You need to allocate specific budgets to different campaigns
    • More granular negatives
  4. Once you have created your shopping campaigns and product groups, and enabled the shopping campaigns feature, you need to link your shopping campaigns.
    • Please note that If your shopping campaigns have been already linked before the flag is enabled, you will need to hard sync these campaigns for your product groups
  5. Make sure URL Builder is enabled and setup correctly. This way we will automatically tag URLs once they are synced down to ensure accurate tracking. If you are currently using PLAs, this should already be done. Please refer tothis article for more information.
  6. In order to take advantage of automated bidding, new shopping campaigns and adgroups need to be mapped to the relevant folders. The same folders that were used for PLA campaigns can be used here and historical data will be shared among the two for better results. Please refer tothis article for more information.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

 

 

Google – A Guide to ‘Search with Display Select’ Campaigns

INTRODUCTION

Last year, Google released a new campaign type called Search Network with Display Select (SNDS) that is set to replace the old Search and Display campaigns in the next few months.

Google are reporting that ‘advertisers, on average, see a 35% higher click-through-rate and a 35% lower cost-per-customer purchase on the Display portion of their Search Network with Display Select campaigns’. With this in mind, we are keen to help you take full advantage of this performance improvement.

WHAT ARE SEARCH NETWORK WITH DISPLAY SELECT CAMPAIGNS?

These campaign types no longer have a separate group content bid associated to them. Instead, Google automatically bids on your behalf. This change only impacts these campaign types. Search only and Display only campaigns are not impacted, and bidding continues to work as it always has.

  • Search Network with Display Select shows your ads selectively on the Display Network and bidding is automated. That helps you reach people who are most likely to be interested in the products and services you’re advertising.
  • Currently you can opt to upgrade your existing campaigns to this new campaign type. When you do upgrade, your keywords, placements, and remarketing lists targets for search are kept. Other types of targeting are removed such as topics and interests.
  • This campaign type is now the default option (instead of Search and Display Network) and is the first option you see in Adwords, when you create a new campaign.

PLATFORM SUPPORT

From the July 2014 release of our platform, any legacy Search and Display campaign that is actively managed (i.e. campaign edited and the change pushed to the publisher) in the platform will be automatically upgraded to the new Search Network with Display Select format.

Remaining campaigns will be upgraded by Google starting September 16th, 2014.

BIDDING

The platform will no longer calculate group content bids, due to their deprecation by Google. Customers interested in leveraging automated bidding for the Google Display Network should instead utilize the Display Only campaign type

USEFUL LINKS

 

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