I have run into a few accounts recently that displayed search query data for keywords that had no clicks.

This is not the ‘norm’ as far a search query reports are concerned.   Until recently the only data that has ever been shared on a search query report is data that resulted in a click.  Sadly advertisers who use broad or phrase match keywords were left guessing as to what actual keywords caused the impressions that did not result in a click-through to their website.  This lack of information hinders account optimizations because we are left guessing at what negative keywords need to be included or what new keywords we could be adding to improve CTR.

In reviewing a new account today I see strong evidence that Google is making some changes or perhaps testing something in a limited number of accounts.

As you can see below, there are a good number of keywords that did not result in clicks but Google has provided the keyword data anyway.  This report was a quick search query report from within the User Interface vs. the Reporting Section.  However the formal search query report includes tons of data on keywords with Zero (yes, I said Zero) clicks!

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Search Query Data Provided for Keywords that did not result in a click

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What is extra interesting is the additional bit of data highlighted in yellow above {more:}.  I am not sure if this is additional data from expanded or session based search queries.

What does this mean to people who manage adwords accounts?  This much needed transparency allows us better control over the account which ultimately increases quality score and reduces costs.

I hope this is something we can expect to see in all AdWords accounts soon.

I have requested a comment from Google and will report back when/if I get a reply.

Perhaps you have seen this in an account already?

Comments Welcome!

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Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP

More About Kim and her services at:  KimClink.com

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Yet another interesting AdWords Issue that I have run into…

I have been re-working an account recently brought to me and encountered an issue which has me deeply concerned.

I have come to notice that many keywords, really great, relevant, exact match keywords are not being served with the following message.

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“This particular search term is already associated with an ad from one of your other campaigns or ad groups.  Only one ad per advertiser may appear on a given page per search term.  When two or more of your ads are eligible for a single search term, we show the one with the highest ranking at the moment.”

o–

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As you can see the keywords shown in the screenshot above are “phrase” and [exact match].  The keywords DO NOT appear anywhere else in this account – no other campaigns or ad groups.

I started the troubleshooting process by adding negative keywords to ad groups.  For example in the DUI defense Attorney ad group I added negatives for -lawyer – dwi, etc.  It had no effect.   I then added many exact match negative keywords i.e. -[dui defense lawyer], etc. still no effect.  I next went with only [exact match] keywords in the two adgroups that gave me the most trouble, the problem persisted.

I contacted Google and bounced it off a couple of people and received a reply referencing this page in the help center.http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=66292

This page explains how keywords will be treated when they fall into three different types of criteria:

1. the same keywords in multiple adgroups

2. Similar keywords to the search query within the same adgroup

3. Similar keywords to the search query within multiple adgroups.

I am fine with the details on #1.  I am concerned about details on #2 and #3.

Here is a screenshot of details on #2

Within the same ad group, multiple keywords are similar to the search query.

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So now an [exact match] keyword can be trumped by another ’similar, better performing or cheaper’ keyword? According to Google, Yes.

Then it keeps gets better…..

Here is a screenshot of details on #2

Keywords within multiple ad groups are similar to the search query

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I am concerned about what I am reading.  If Google feels that the keyword is close enough, cheaper, or has a higher ad rank they will trump an exact match keyword to serve a different keyword from a different adgrop they deem better?   That takes my control away.

How can I accrue CTR data to improve the account performance if Google will not serve keywords that exactly match a query because they like a price or adrank of another keyword?  This also allows for the potential of the  wrong ad text being served.  What if I have specific landing pages set per keyword? How does that effect CTR?  Ultimately, what if Iwas OK with spending more on the keyword because it converted better?  Quality Score and CTR are not everything when it comes to PPC advertising.  Sometimes keywords that are not your best ‘quality score’ performers are your best converting keywords what provide the best ROI.

Even with adding negatives and going with exact match only in specific groups I ultimately was never able to identify the ‘other keyword’ that was trumping my exact match keyword.    I had to pause the campaign and slowly add back adgroups and keywords, watching all the time for the dreaded message.  The account is a smaller version of its previous self which is fine because I am in the process of recovering the account CTR but I do get a little nervous anytime I add a new keyword.

Is there a ‘fix’ for this?  Not that I am aware of…

Is this something that is being tested on limited accounts or is there the potential for this to happen on any account?  I am currently seeking a comment from Google and will post here if/when I get a reply.

For the record I have only seen this happen in one client account.  However I am starting to hear some talk in other places such as the AdWords Help Forum on the topic so I feel the blog post is warranted.

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Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP

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Owner of Clinks Web Service,  AdWordsPI in Chicago, Illinois

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The Google AdWords Help Center continues to develop great help content.  We have seen the addition of video, the AdWords Classroom, On Demand Webinars, more details help articles, and even a link to the new Google Advertising Professionals section.    The Help Center continues to evolve and produce incredible up to date help content.

In an effort by Google to provide help center visitors with different sources and styles of AdWords help, the AdWords Help Experts blog has been invited to provide articles that are now included in the AdWords Help Center.  The AdWords Help Expert team is immensely proud to be recognized by Google as a source of trusted AdWords Help Content.

More articles by AWHE will soon be included in the AdWords Help Center and we hope to serve AdWords users with help content that allows them to get the most from their AdWords experience while enjoying the learning process.

AdWords Help Experts Articles Included in the AdWords Help Center

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Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP
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Owner of Clinks Web Service, AdWordsPI in Chicago, Illinois
AdWords Training: AdWordsHour.com
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The process of building a quality keyword list takes a good deal of planning, research, and organization.  Below are some tips and tools to help you develop and organize your keyword lists.

Before you begin I suggest advertisers start offline, create an outline of your products and services, identify your advertising goals and consider a realistic daily budget, once you have that complete you are ready to get started with building your keyword list.

STEP ONE – Research

The free tools below will help you develop your initial keyword list.  Some of these tools will even provide data such as search volumes, competition, and approximate costs per click.

I suggest that you avoid keywords that are general, vague, or have dual meanings.  All of your keywords should be very relevant to your products or services.

1. AdWords Keyword Tool – AdWords – Located Under Opportunities - great for negatives too!

2. AdWords ‘Search Based’ – AdWords – Located Under Opportunities

3. Insights for Search – AdWords – Located Under Opportunities

4. Wordstream – Free Keyword Niche Finder

5. Search Query Report - (current AdWords advertisers only) – Under Reports Tab

6. Google WonderWheel

7. Google Ad Preview Tool View actual search results for ideas by using the AdWords Preview Tool

There are also several great paid keyword research tools.  If you are interested in paid tools I suggest that you research and evaluate each individually.

STEP TWO – Organize

Organize your keywords into groups. This process is important when it comes to your eventual account architecture because these lists are going to develop into ad groups once they are completed.

Example below:

Business Model:  Dirt Bike Retailer – Carries major brand names.

Continue this process of keyword grouping for each make/model.  These groups are going to be your ad groups.  Each ad group is designed around a keyword theme and ad text can be created that is very relevant to the keyword theme.  People looking for a Honda XR650L will be presented with ad text all about the Honda XR650L.  This ‘relevance’ will not go unnoticed by your potential customers or Google, when it comes to your click through rate (CTR). For even more information on this important process and it’s effect on your quality score read Organizing Ad Group Themes here on AWHE.

STEP 3 – Keyword Matching Options

Now you have these tightly knit themed keyword groups.  Next is to learn about keyword matching options.  There are 4 keyword match types to consider: Broad, “Phrase”, [Exact] and -negative.  Each will have a different effect on your keywords performance and are essential to a good keyword list.   Read more about AdWords Keyword Matching Options here on AWHE.

to Summarize, well built keyword lists are going to take some time and effort to build.  There are tools out there to help you get started.  The information and articles linked above will give you a better understanding of how to organize your keyword lists into ad groups.  This process is one of the first steps to achieve better organization, customer interaction, quality scores and have a profitable experience with AdWords.
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Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP

Get to know more About Kim

Owner of Clinks Web Service,  AdWordsPI in Chicago, Illinois

AdWords Training: AdWordsHour.com

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Looking for some ‘free polling software’ today and I found an ‘AdWords Blooper’.

Norton Anti Virus showing for "free polling software"

Norton (Norton Antivirus) has an ad being served for the search query “free polling software” but Norton does not offer polling software.

This is a great example of the importance of Negative Keywords.  If Norton is appearing #4 then I am sure this is not the first time they appeared in error, maybe it is some strange marketing tatic, but I doubt it.  I think it is just a simple case of a broad match keyword gone haywire.

How Could this Happen?

This happens when advertisers use broad or “phrase” match keywords because these types of keyword matching options will allow for the keyword to ‘expand’ to other relevant keywords.  For instance ‘ballet shoes’ could expand to ‘red ballet shoes’, ‘mens ballet shoes’, ‘adult ballet shoes’, ‘used ballet shoes’, ’size 13 ballet shoes’ and many others.

Why Should Norton Care?

Two reasons:

• first they are receiving impressions for search queries that are irrelevant to their product which lowers their CTR and diminishes quality.
• Second, people may actually be curious enough to click on their ads costing Norton needless expense.  When I saw the name Norton on the results page I was instantly intrigued thinking that Norton offered some kind of free polling software.  I would be more than happy to go with a trusted name like Norton…however they do not offer polling software – only virus protection on the landing page.

What Can Norton do to Prevent This from Happening Again?

Simply add a negative keyword -polling, to the campaign level and it would help prevent the ads from appearing anytime ‘polling’ is included in the search query.

How can you make sure this does not happen to you?

Run a Search Query Performance Report regularly to identify negative keywords to add to your account.  It is also a great source of identifying and adding new keywords.

Running a Search Query Performance Report

Special Note: The purpose of this article was not to pick on anyone managing Norton’s account.  This happens to the best of us, maybe the account is new, maybe they added a new keyword that they have not reviewed yet.  The point of the blog post is Negative Keywords are important and it is important to stay on-top of discovering and adding them to your account, it is a never ending process.
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Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP

Get to know more About Kim

Owner of Clinks Web Service,  AdWordsPI in Chicago, Illinois

AdWords Training: AdWordsHour.com

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Understanding AdWords Keyword Matching Options

AdWords offers several keyword matching options.  These keyword matching options allow you greater control over what search queries result in your ads appearing.  The article below explains keyword match types and what you as an advertiser can do to get the most out of your keywords, control your costs and maintain your AdWords account quality.

The Types of Keyword Matching Options are:

1.  Broad – allows other keywords to be included or relevant keywords (as deemed by Google) to be substituted.  Disneyland vacation = Disneyland park tickets

2.  “Phrase” – allows the keyword to be shown in the phrase order i.e. “red shoes” with terms before or after the phrase.  ”red shoes” can = “girls ‘red shoes’ size 3″

3.  [Exact] – allows your ads to show only on the exact keyword specified.  [banana nut bread recipe] = [banana nut bread recipe]

4.  –Negative – will restrict your ads from appearing for the –negative keyword. i.e. “red shoes” with a negative –kids prevents the ads from appearing for “kids red shoes”.  Negative Keywords can be included in Broad, Phrase and Exact Match Types.

As explained above, Broad Match keywords are extremely flexible.  ”Phrase Match” will tighten down the keywords further by keeping your phrase in-tact and [Exact Match] is the most restrictive keyword match type because it will only allow your ads to be served if the search query exactly matches the search query.  While exact match may sound ideal, many advertisers find it difficult to work specifically with exact match keywords because it is difficult to think of each and every search query that their potential customers will use.  The possibility of missing out of potential traffic makes phrase and broad match keywords valuable. While broad and phrase allow the potential to appear for search queries that are not relevant to your products or service there is a way to combat that with the use of Negative Keywords.

How do I know when my ads are appearing for irrelevant search queries and who do I identify negative keywords to add?

Run and analyze the Search Query Report from your Reports Center. This report will provide you with the search queries that resulted in your ads being clicked.  You can use this report to identify keywords that are irrelevant as well as use it to find new keywords to add to your account.

Here is an example:

Your Keyword: dance shoes

Search Query Report identifies a click for: ballroom dancing shoes

So, you have identified through your Search Query Report that you are appearing under the search query ‘ballroom dancing shoes’ but you do not sell ‘ballroom dancing’ shoes.  In this case adding a negative keyword -ballroom will prevent your ads from appearing when the word ‘ballroom’ is included. Learn more about  How Negative Keywords can have a Positive Impact and how to add negative keywords to your account.

I have identified irrelevant search queries, now what do I do to prevent my ads from appearing next time?

Add negative keywords or change your match option to a more restrictive match type.  Changing your match type is not always an option because it can often lower your traffic too much.  This is where negative keyword are so helpful.  Negative keywords will prevent your ads from appearing for irrelevant searches.

The various keyword matching options allow advertisers to create an effective keyword list.  Learn more about how “Negative Keywords can have a Positive Effect on your Bottom Line”.

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Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP

Get to know more About Kim

Owner of Clinks Web Service & AdWordsPI in Chicago, Illinois

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Negative Keywords

Negative = Positive

If your keyword list contains broad or phrase match keywords then negative keywords are most often a must. Negative keywords prevent your ads from appearing and potentially receiving clicks from search queries that are not relevant to your product or service. Suppressing impressions (and clicks) from irrelevant search queries will improve your CTR and quality score and allow your keyword list to work harder to bring qualified prospects to your website.

AdWords Offers the Following Negative Match types:

Negative Broad Matched – To create a standard negative keyword, insert a minus sign before a keyword and add it to your ad group or campaign.

Example: -free download

Adding this negative keyword to your account would prevent your ads from showing on any search queries containing the terms free and download Your ads still have the potential to appear for variations of these terms. Your ads will also still show on search queries that only contain one of the terms.

For example, the search queries software download and free software could trigger your ads, while free software download will not.

Negative “Phrase” Matched - To create a negative phrase matched keyword surround the term with quotation marks.

Example: -”free download“

Adding this keyword the system wouldn’t let any search query containing the phrase free download trigger your ads. The search query free download accounting software would not trigger your ads. However, your ads could possibly show on the search query download accounting software or free accounting software.

Negative [Exact] Matched – To create a negative exact matched keyword surround the term with brackets

Example: -[free download]

This negative keyword would only prevent your ads from showing on the search query free download. Search queries such as free accounting software download and free software could still trigger your ads.

It is suggested to add relevant variations of your negative keywords, including both the singular and plural forms. Learn to add effective negative keywords to your ad group or campaign.

Now that we have some familiarity with negative keyword match types the next question is how do we identify negatives to add to the account? AdWords offers two tools to identify negative keywords.

1. search query report.

The search query report is a very helpful report to identifying negative keywords. This report will show advertisers what the actual query was that resulted in their ads being served. You can use this report to identify negative keyword to add to your account.

2. Keyword Tool.

The keyword tool can be used to identify negative keywords.

Watch this Video

UPDATE: GOOGLE PUSHED THROUGH THEIR NEW KEYWORD TOOL WHICH IS MISSING THE OPTION TO ADD NEGATIVE KEYWORDS – SEE THIS ARTICLE http://www.adwordshelpexperts.com/2010/02/adwords-keyword-looking-for-a-negative-experience/ FOR DETAILS –

See Previous Interface in the upper right corner of your keyword tool to use the old keyword tool interface as outlined below in this video..

Adding Negative keywords is easy. They can be added at the campaign level to cover all adgroups or at the ad group level if the negative keywords are specific to one category.

Research your Search Query Reports regularly to identify negative keywords. Negative keywords will improve your CTR and preserve your budget by showing your ads to only the best prospects for business.

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Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP

Get to know more About Kim

Owner of Clinks Web Service & AdWordsPI in Chicago, Illinois

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Today in the AdWords Help Forum AdWords Pro Stephen shared a great tip for advertisers who see the wrong ad groups ad text appearing for search queries.

Stephen explained that Google uses what he referred to an an “advanced form of expanded matching“, Googles documentation refers to it as an “enhancement of broad match”.  Stephen explained this feature as an ad being triggered based on a related previous search query.

Stephen explained the feature…
“[snip]…in this instance, the advertiser had a single AdWords Campaign with two different Ad Groups. Let’s say that one ad used the keyword ’spacely sprockets’ and the other ad used the keyword ‘cogswell cogs.’ When the advertiser searched on the term ‘cogs,’ the ad for ’spacely sprockets’ showed rather than the ‘cogswell cogs’ ad that they expected to see.

We knew that it wasn’t an issue of targeting or Daily Budget because both Ad Groups were in a single campaign and shared the same settings and budget. Likewise, the Ads Diagnostic tool indicated that the keyword ‘cogswell cogs’ was showing, as did the Ads Preview page. Finally, we ran a Search Query report and found that searches for ‘cogs’ were triggering the keyword ’spacely sprockets’ based on previous queries.

The AdWords system had determined that ‘cogs’ was a valid expanded match for ’spacely sprockets’, and because the keyword ’spacely sprockets’ had a higher Ad Rank than ‘cogswell cogs,’ it was eligible to show.

This seems a little backward, but its really no different than any other expanded match. Had the ‘cogswell cogs’ Ad Group contained the keyword ‘cogs,’ it would have matched the query more closely and that ad would have triggered, but from the system’s point of view an expansion is an expansion, and neither ‘cogswell cogs’ nor ’spacely sprockets’ matched the query exactly.”

What does this mean for advertisers?  it means that advertisers should closely watch their search query reports.  Set your reports to show the ad variation that appears with the query.

Show Ad Variation with Search Query

Advertisers may find that the wrong ads are appearing for search queries.

Search Query Performance Report - Check queries against ad text shown

Can advertisers do anything to prevent this?

Stephen recommends:

“[snip]… Because the advertiser had specific landing pages for each Ad Group, it was important to them that the query “cogs” trigger the “cogswell cogs” Ad Group, so I recommended that they add the specific term ‘cogs’ as a keyword. Another option would have been to add it as a negative keyword in the ’spacely sprockets’ Ad Group, but it’s not guaranteed that the keyword ‘cogswell cogs’ would have expanded to match the query ‘cogs.’ Of course, changing the matching option of the existing keyword to exact match would have kept the ad from showing for the previous query, but it would also have prevented it from showing in other circumstances.”

So, there is a ‘fix’ for this but I still see a potential problem for many advertisers who can barely keep up with the basic features of adwords.  This feature makes the search query report more important than ever to make sure advertisers are getting the best possible performance for their accounts.

A special Thanks to Stephen for sharing this info with us – Read AdWords Pro Stephen’s Full Tip Post from the AdWords Help Forum.

Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP

I’m noticing quite a few questions in Google’s AdWords Help forum where advertisers are confused that their keyword clicks don’t add up to the total clicks.  The confusion is a result of not knowing their ad campaigns are opted into the content network (by default).  Those content network clicks don’t correlate to keywords in an ad group.

Researching this problem made me realize the new AdWords interface has a poor design regarding the campaign default settings for network distribution:

Default Network Distribution Settings

Recommended for new advertisers?!  No, this is NOT recommended for new advertisers.  Most new advertisers aren’t aware that AdWords includes contextual advertising as well as search advertising.  They’re better off getting their feet wet with search advertising only.  A better recommended setting is to choose to opt out of the content network:

Better Network Distribution Choice: +Search -Content

Later, after developing a solid foundation of search advertising experience, an advertiser could come back and build a new campaign designed for the content advertising audience.  Even people at Google recommend separating search and content campaigns:

Google Employee Recommends Separating Search & Content Ads

Source: Content Network Tip Photo Album

Missing Your Keyword Max CPC column?

A member in the AdWords Help Forum brought to my attention today that the in-line bidding keyword bidding a.k.a. Max CPC column is missing from the keywords section on Adwords.  I went straight into several client accounts and sure enough, it’s gone.

Where is the MAX CPC Column?

After some looking around I found that if you visit the Filter and Views button the option to have the MAX CPC show is located there.

Customizing Columns with Filters & Views

Now I am able to see and most importantly EDIT the Max CPC for individual keywords.

I am pondering why Google would do this.  Seems like a great way to cause some confusion.

Additionally, while looking into this issue I noticed another new item, at least new to me. In investigating the issue I selected several keywords and then went to the edit button and Table Edit.

There I found must be a fairly new feature, but it is not active in my accounts.

New Feature to Prefill all Bids to First Page Bid Estimates?

Is this to alleviate the dreaded “below first page bid estimate” issue?

Update: Google’s AdWordsPro Stephen posted in the forum with the following statement: “[...] there was a technical issue with the AdWords UI this morning. We introduced a change that accidentally pushed some of the stats columns out of the right place and caused another issue with column customization. We reverted that change for now, so it shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”

Good to know and thanks Stephen for the update!

Posted by: Kim Clinkunbroomer, GAP, AdWords TC