Google Adwords Mastery » Announcements http://googleadwordsmastery.com Gaining competitive advantage through Google Adwords Mon, 06 Feb 2012 22:33:02 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Upgrade to AdWords Editor 9.7.1 for more efficient campaign management http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/ZD0eozbWztY/upgrade-to-adwords-editor-971-for-more.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/ZD0eozbWztY/upgrade-to-adwords-editor-971-for-more.html#comments Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:01:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander AdWords Editor version 9.7.1 is now available for Windows and Mac. This new version includes performance improvements and several new options for editing and targeting your campaigns. A few highlights:
  • Faster downloading for large accounts, and faster cut, copy, and paste (including drag-and-drop).
  • A new tool for changing the capitalization of selected text in one step.
  • More AdWords settings available within AdWords Editor, including advanced location settings, user interest category targeting, and Wifi traffic targeting.
For a complete list of changes and instructions, visit our release notes.

If you're already using AdWords Editor, you'll be prompted to upgrade automatically. If you're not already using AdWords Editor, you can visit our website and click "Download AdWords Editor." To learn more about AdWords Editor, visit our Help Center.

Posted by Katie Miller, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/11/upgrade-to-adwords-editor-9-7-1-for-more-efficient-campaign-management/feed/ 0 June 8 is World IPv6 Day http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/23y1GujTHsY/june-8-is-world-ipv6-day_07.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/23y1GujTHsY/june-8-is-world-ipv6-day_07.html#comments Tue, 07 Jun 2011 20:27:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
Editor’s Note: We published a version of this post yesterday with a couple inaccuracies. We took down the post temporarily while we made corrections.

On June 8, together with major web companies such as Facebook and Yahoo!, we will enable IPv6 on our main websites for 24 hours. We do not anticipate any significant impact on AdWords, AdSense and DoubleClick users or their campaigns. Google supports IPv6 because it’s critical to the future of the open web. With limited address space, the Internet is bursting at the seams, and IPv6 is the best solution.

The good news is that most users don’t need to do anything special to prepare for World IPv6 Day. Our current measurements suggest that the vast majority (99.95%) will be unaffected. However, in rare cases, people may experience connectivity problems, often due to misconfigured or misbehaving home network devices.

Want to check to see if your connection is IPv6 ready?
Visit our IPv6 test website. It will verify IPv6 compatibility, and provide tips for troubleshooting if needed.

Learn more about IPv6, or read about World IPv6 Day.

Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/06/june-8-is-world-ipv6-day-2/feed/ 0 Add +1 to help your ads stand out http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/gTP49HhFsOM/add-1-to-help-your-ads-stand-out_01.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/gTP49HhFsOM/add-1-to-help-your-ads-stand-out_01.html#comments Wed, 01 Jun 2011 17:11:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
That’s why we introduced the +1 button on Google search in March. +1 annotations show your customers which pages people they trust have found and enjoyed first, making it easier to find content they’re likely to care about.

Since we announced +1, we’ve gotten requests from Google search users and advertisers alike for +1 buttons in more places than just search results. That’s why today we’re making the +1 button available to sites across the web. Sometimes you want to recommend a web page after you’ve visited it. After all, how do you know you want to suggest that great hotel deal in Madrid if you haven’t checked it out yet?

We’ve partnered with a few sites where you'll see +1 buttons over the coming days:
Partner LogosAddThisMashableHuffington PostRotten TomatoesNordstromO'ReillyReutersWashington PostBest BuyTechCrunchBloomberg
You'll also start to see +1 buttons on other Google properties such as Android Market, Blogger, Product Search and YouTube.

Adding +1 buttons to your pages is a great way to help your ads stand out on Google. By giving your visitors more chances to +1 your pages, your search ads and organic results might appear with +1 annotations more often. This could lead to more--and better qualified--traffic to your site.


To get started, visit the +1 button tool on Google Webmaster Central, where you’ll configure small snippets of JavaScript to add to the pages where you want +1 buttons to appear. You can pick from a few different button sizes and styles, so choose the +1 button that best matches your site’s layout.

When a user clicks +1, that +1 applies to the URL of the page they’re on. There are some easy ways to ensure your +1s apply as often as possible to the pages appearing in Google search results.

To stay current on updates to the +1 button large and small, please subscribe to the Google Publisher Button Announce Group. For advanced tips and tricks, check our Google Code site. For information about how the +1 button affects your search ads, check out the AdWords Help Center.

If your site primarily caters to users outside of the US and Canada, you can install the +1 button code now; the +1 button is already supported in 44 languages. However, keep in mind that +1 annotations currently only appear for English search results on Google.com. We’re working on releasing +1 to other domains in the future.

If you have customers who love your content (and we bet you do), encourage them to spread the word! Add the +1 button to help your ads stand out with a personal recommendation right at the moment of decision, on Google search.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/06/add-1-to-help-your-ads-stand-out/feed/ 0 Location targeting updates in AdWords http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/nJ8wrjIwELo/location-targeting-updates-in-adwords.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/nJ8wrjIwELo/location-targeting-updates-in-adwords.html#comments Tue, 24 May 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander specific locations, such as cities, regions, or countries. For example, to reach users looking for rental cars in San Francisco, a car rental company could target a campaign to San Francisco and include only San Francisco-specific discounts in the ads.

In February, we launched city targeting in an additional 17 countries, and our goal is to make location targeting more accurate, easier to use, and more flexible. As part of planning for future improvements, we’re making several changes to our AdWords location targeting capabilities. These changes will start occurring after July 8, 2011, and include:

Changes to existing available locations: Due to changes in real-world geography or the existence of duplicate or overlapping location targets, we’re removing certain location targets in countries such as Japan, Denmark, Spain, and the Netherlands, among others. For example, in 2010, six provinces were abolished in Finland, and while you’ll no longer be able to target these provinces, you can continue targeting cities in Finland. You won’t be able to target these provinces in AdWords, but you’ll be able to continue targeting cities in Finland. After the changes take effect, you won't be able to add the locations that are listed here to new campaigns. If you're currently targeting any of these locations in your existing campaigns, you should migrate them to the recommended targets in the list. Otherwise, we'll migrate them automatically. Please review the list carefully since some of these changes will result in migration to larger locations.

Sunset of custom shapes (multi-point or polygon targets): You’ll no longer be able to add multi-point targets in AdWords. You’ll still be able to view and delete existing shapes in your current campaigns, and we’ll continue to use them until the end of 2011. After that, all polygon targets that are still present in your AdWords campaigns will be migrated to available locations such as a nearby city or a map point with a radius. We encourage you to replace your polygon targets with these alternatives or we’ll migrate them automatically at end of 2011.

Removal of ‘Show address in the ad’ feature: In some countries, you currently have the option to show an address with your ads by checking the “Allow address to show in my ad” option for campaigns that target an area around a map point. This option will no longer be available. If you want to display your business address or phone number, you’ll need to use AdWords location extensions.

If you’re using these features with the AdWords API, check out the AdWords API Blog for more information on the changes being made.

These changes will take place after July 8, 2011. We recommend that you adjust the location targeting settings of your campaigns immediately with the available alternatives.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/05/location-targeting-updates-in-adwords/feed/ 0 Introducing new ways to reach your customers on tablets http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/0lEt4AE699w/introducing-new-ways-to-reach-your.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/0lEt4AE699w/introducing-new-ways-to-reach-your.html#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 17:08:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander 165 million tablets expected to ship over the next two years, tablets are becoming a popular device with engaged, tech-savvy consumers. So we’re pleased to announce that we’re developing new targeting options to help you better connect with this audience. To give you greater control over your AdWords ads, we’re changing the way you can target tablet devices.

In the next couple of weeks, the “Networks and Devices” section of your Settings tab within your AdWords account will include a new targeting option titled “Tablets with full browsers.” While you’ve been able to specifically target Apple iPad devices in the past, the new capability will enable you to easily target your ads to the entire tablet device category. In addition, you'll be able to select more precisely the types of devices and operating systems on which your AdWords ads will show. For example, to display your ads on the Apple iPad, you’ll be able to choose “Tablets with full browsers” as your device targeting setting and “iOS” as your operating system setting. Tablet targeting will be available initially for Apple devices only, but we'll expand ad serving to other specific devices in the near future.

Once this capability is available in your account, your ads will automatically start running on tablet devices and no further action will be necessary on your part. If your campaigns were specifically targeting Apple iPad devices, you may notice an increase in impressions and costs as we include more tablets in our ad serving options. If you don't want your ads to appear on tablet devices, you’ll be able to specify this preference in your device targeting settings by following these step-by-step instructions.

For now, only standard text and image ads can be shown on tablet devices. So please make sure your landing page renders properly on tablet devices, as our system will automatically limit your ads from running on tablet devices if we detect that users will be led to a landing page containing a significant amount of Flash or other content that will not render properly. To learn more, please visit this Help Center article.

We’re constantly working to provide our advertisers with new targeting capabilities for their AdWords campaigns. We hope that these targeting options will enable you to successfully connect with your customers across a variety of devices and platforms.



Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/05/introducing-new-ways-to-reach-your-customers-on-tablets/feed/ 0 AdWords Editor Version 9.0 released today http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/q92uTlNbh0Q/adwords-editor-version-90-released.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/q92uTlNbh0Q/adwords-editor-version-90-released.html#comments Thu, 05 May 2011 22:00:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander AdWords Editor Version 9.0 release notes.

AdWords Editor Version 9.0 highlights:

Scalably manage Ad Sitelinks
Version 9.0 provides full support for Ad Sitelinks, including downloading and uploading to your account, making edits, checking changes, and importing and exporting.

Improved Add/Update Multiple and Import CSV tools
When entering new data using the Add/Update Multiple tool, you can now enter your data with the columns in any order, assign the appropriate headers to each column, select the option to remember the order of your columns for your next import, and approve or cancel the changes in the account in one click. In addition, Import CSV now includes the option to Paste Text as well as to import From File.

Set high-end mobile targeting options
AdWords Editor now supports the ability to set campaigns to target high-end mobile devices (including Android, iPhone, iPad, and Palm) and carriers in Campaign Settings.

Better manage multiple accounts and MCCs
To help you better manage multiple accounts, AdWords Editor now offers sort and search for accounts, select and remove multiple accounts, and a new dropdown menu above the Account tree in AdWords Editor that displays recently accessed accounts, so you can quickly switch to any one of them.

In addition, when adding an MCC account to the Add New AdWords Account dialog, you can search within the list of available child accounts, display extra columns, and move up to a different level in the MCC account hierarchy.

More easily find and make bulk changes to negative keywords, placements, or audiences
To more easily locate and manage negative keywords, placements, or audiences in your account, we’ve changed the way we display Negatives in AdWords Editor. The Negatives tab has been removed, and you can instead toggle between displaying negative or positive keywords, placements, or audiences by clicking the Positives or Negatives switch on each item’s respective tab.

The Select Duplicates button is now available for negative keywords when in the Duplicate keywords view mode.

The next time you log into your AdWords Editor account, you'll be prompted to upgrade. You may also download Version 9.0 from the AdWords Editor website. After you install the new version of AdWords Editor, your accounts will need to be downloaded again. To preserve your comments and unposted changes, select the Backup then Upgrade option in the automatic upgrade prompt and save the backup file to your computer. Then, re-download your account and import the backup file to AdWords Editor.

For more information, check out the release notes and visit the AdWords Editor Help Center.



Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/05/adwords-editor-version-9-0-released-today/feed/ 0 Introducing free phone support for AdWords advertisers http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/0_tEVZgLLqw/introducing-free-phone-support-for.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/0_tEVZgLLqw/introducing-free-phone-support-for.html#comments Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:00:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
We’re adding phone support for a simple reason: you asked for it! You told us that while you appreciate online resources like our AdWords Help Center, you also want the option to get live, expert support when you need it. We heard you, and got to work assembling a team of AdWords experts to answer your calls.

The new phone option is one of many tools that can help you succeed with AdWords—and (most importantly!) find even more customers. You can also email us, or learn from other advertisers in the AdWords Help Forum. Our AdWords Online Classroom offers free online courses on a wide variety of AdWords topics, from the basics to great tips to take your account to the next level.

To speak to one of our specialists, give us a call at 1-866-2-Google between Monday-Friday, 9am-8pm Eastern Time. This number is for current AdWords advertisers only, so please make sure you have your customer ID ready. We look forward to speaking to you and learning more about your business.

We will roll phone support out to international advertisers in the coming months.


Posted by Francoise Brougher, VP, Global Advertising and Product Operations
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/04/introducing-free-phone-support-for-adwords-advertisers/feed/ 0 Take your ads to new heights with Blimp Ads http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/hqoqp5l4_jg/take-your-ads-to-new-heights-with-blimp.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/hqoqp5l4_jg/take-your-ads-to-new-heights-with-blimp.html#comments Fri, 01 Apr 2011 13:00:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
Imagine this: a baseball stadium, packed with thousands of fans. A home run flies through the air, and as the crowd looks up, they see your ad, bigger than ever, hand-painted on the side of a majestic blimp. Blimp Ads can make this a reality.


With your text ads on our brand new fleet of gBlimps, you can reach an even wider audience and capitalize on many new targeting options, including blimp height and location. You can even target special events like football games, outdoor concerts, meteor showers, and more. The possibilities are endless!

Over the past few months, we’ve privately tested Blimp Ads and found that they performed even better than expected. Now you have the opportunity to boost your ad performance by participating in our free public beta testing program.

Check out our product site to learn more and sign up now. Join us as we continue to push the boundaries of advertising.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/04/take-your-ads-to-new-heights-with-blimp-ads/feed/ 0 Simplifying bidding on the Google Display Network http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/t9Ur17ESxd4/simplifying-bidding-on-google-display.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/t9Ur17ESxd4/simplifying-bidding-on-google-display.html#comments Sat, 19 Feb 2011 00:50:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
If you use managed placements to manage bidding or targeting on the Google Display Network, you might have at one point questioned why you saw three separate default bids in your ad groups: a regular default bid, a managed placements bid, and a Display Network bid.

We’ve heard feedback from advertisers that it’s confusing to work with these three default bids (and most of you don’t even use default bids for your managed placements--preferring to set bids individually). In an effort to simplify things, we’ll be removing the managed placements default bid starting on March 15, 2011.

After this change, you’ll be able to continue managing default values for both managed and automatic placements by using a single Display Network default bid. Individual bids for managed placements will allow you to maintain the flexibility you have today.

Here’s how this change will affect you:
  • Starting today, we're no longer allowing managed placement bids to be set for new ad groups containing placements. You won’t be required to enter a new bid when you add managed placements for the first time (we’re launching this change gradually, so it may take about a week to reach your account).
  • Starting on March 15, we’ll automatically update existing managed placement bids. There are several changes we’ll make in order to make sure your ads will continue to serve as normal with the bids you intended. Learn more about the changes that apply to your account in our Help Center.
  • If you’re eager to say goodbye to the managed placements bid today, you can do that too! You can change your managed placements bid to 0, which will cause it to disappear from your account (this change is also launching over the next week).
One important note: AdWords Editor 7.6 is not compatible with this change. Any changes to managed placements bids in this version of Editor will result in an error. Please make sure to download the latest version of AdWords Editor to manage your bids.

If these changes apply to your account, you’ll be receiving an email from us with additional details and will also see an announcement in your AdWords account. There’s no need to take any action in your account, but you can always feel free to adjust your bids at any time.

Posted by Lisa Shieh, Inside AdWords crew
]]> http://googleadwordsmastery.com/index.php/2011/02/simplifying-bidding-on-the-google-display-network/feed/ 0 More control and flexibility with the new Billing tab (UK only) http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/onUuZgXuZLg/more-control-and-flexibility-with-new.html http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/ATHs/~3/onUuZgXuZLg/more-control-and-flexibility-with-new.html#comments Tue, 08 Feb 2011 19:22:00 +0000 Geoff Alexander
Now, on to the improvements. What can you expect from your updated Billing tab?

  • Get more control. Choose to initiate a payment to your account at any time and use any form of payment available with your country and currency settings.
  • Make payments directly from your billing summary page. You can do this by clicking the "Make a payment" button.
  • Switch between automatic and manual payments. You now have the option to use either one.
  • Add multiple forms of payments and switch between them. Add as many forms of payment as you want to your account and switch between using them at any time.
  • Use different business and billing addresses. Your business address doesn't have to match your billing address. Plus, each form of payment can have a different billing address.
  • Access improved help content. There will be improved help content in the new Billing tab and Help Centre.

In addition, the below changes in terminology will be reflected in your upgraded Billing tab. But keep in mind that despite the name changes, these billing methods will function the same as they did previously.

  • Postpay is now called "automatic payments." We'll automatically charge you only after your ads accrue costs.
  • Prepay is now called "manual payments." You can make payments to your account whenever and in whatever amount you like. Your ad costs draw from those funds.
  • Direct debit is now called "bank account." Your funds will be debited from your bank account.
  • Bank transfer is now called "funds transfer." You can make payments by transferring funds to Google's bank account.

For more information on the new Billing tab, please visit the FAQ in the AdWords Help Centre.


Posted by Nathania Lozada, Inside AdWords crew
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