My Wish List of the New Google AdWords Interface
I have lost track of time because we have been so busy (awesome problem) at Netvantage, but about 2 months ago I began using the new interface in Google AdWords within our Client Center. I really have taken to it, and while there has been push back from many in our industry, I think does very well.
If you are unfamiliar with it, I recommend you check it out here,
However, within this new overhaul there some Christmas in July presents that I wish Google would put under the Netvantage tree. Here they are:
1. Copying. The new interface makes it very easy to copy ads and keywords across ad groups and campaigns. This very ideal. However, copying is not an option when creating a new ad group or campaign that may have similar characteristics. You must have established ads or keywords in an ad group or campaign before having the ability to select and copy within the drop down. Enabling this would make life a lot easier when creating similiar ad groups in a campaign that may have just slight tweaks in ad text or keyword variations.
2. Keyword and Ad Exporting. The new download feature is nice, but why, painfully, does it include all elements of an into one column. This is essentially useless for me to use. I know there are some excel tricks I can use with it, but it seems to me that the brillant people at Google could engineer a cleaner export of this data for usage. Especially since it is difficult to export data on keywords and ads to easily share with others, and in Reports the campaign must be active to generate relevant views.
3. Speed. Will this improve. I don’t know. As tweeted by one of the many AdWords gurus that I follow Rehan Z “I *want* to like the new AdWords interface, but it just isn’t happening. It’s the new Windows Vista.” I am assuming he is discussing the frequent error bugs, and speed. I am hoping this, unlike Vista, will get corrected over time. And to be fair, there is a lot of data to load. But speed to continues to be an issue when working intensely with campaign.
4. Placements. A few refinements within placements. First, a sort by exclusion category would be very helpful. If one has engaged the content network in a test, and wants to exclude some sites, it is hard to do a sort on those placements that have been excluded. Ditto for the ability to download and create a formal report on these, as the List URL function is too cumbersome.
Along these lines, being able to add previously excluded placements back into my active list is cumbersome and has poor usability. Simply, this should be listed as a check box column within the placements interface.
There will be more on this topic, but after two months of working with the new interface, this is my usability wishlist to improve the overall functionality of the program. Again, great job by Google, but it needs some minor tweaks to get to perfection.
Back to the exciting task of maximizing our clients’ advertising dollars….
