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:
HOW TO REMOVE/UNLINK LOCATION EXTENSIONS
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:
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.
Notes
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:
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:
IMPORTANT NOTES
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:
HOW TO APPLY FOR CREATIVE EXEMPTION THROUGH OUR PLATFORM
Option 1: Steps for single creative policy exemption request:
Option 2: Steps of using multi-edit for multiple policy exemption request (filtering for disapproved or sync error creatives under the Creatives tab):
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:
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
BEST PRACTICES
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.
IMPORTANT NOTES
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:
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:
Managing Dynamic Search Targets in bulk
To bulk add/edit Dynamic Targets, follow these steps:
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.
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
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
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.
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:
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)
Phase 2 (by early Q2 2013)
Phase 3 (by late Q2 2013)
Phase 4 (by early Q3 2013)
Phase 5 (by late Q3 2013)
Pending API availability
The following features will not be available until Google enables Enhanced Campaign management via their API.
TIMELINE OF CHANGES
USEFUL LINKS
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:
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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:
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
Part 2
Google – A Guide to Enhanced Campaign URL Changes by Revenue Integration Type
SUMMARY
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:
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
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:
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
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.
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.
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:
Note:
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:
To navigate to the sitelinks settings page for a campaign in the platform:
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:
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:
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.
Note: Max. CPC and Destination URL are applicable for display groups only.
Retargeting List Exclusions
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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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