If you run paid adverts on Google, known as Pay Per Click or PPC, you may have received an email from the search giant about changes to their advertising systems. AdWords is becoming Google Ads, with a new dashboard, tools and insights for customers to make the most of their PPC advertising budget.
In this blog post we’re rounding up our favourite new features, and the aspects of the migration that you may need to make adjustments for.
So what is happening?
Google will be moving everyone to the new experience, so you don’t need to set up your campaigns or adverts again. They have also written a large amount of supporting literature, which you can find in the Google Ads Help Centre: https://support.google.com/google-ads/
What are the best features of Google Ads?
The Overview
We love the overview page you see when you log into Google Ads. It is very similar to the reports in Google Analytics in that line graphs and tables are used to clearly display key information. Seeing a quick summary of which keywords are leading to your Ads being shown and the cost of each campaign is really useful.
Better Navigation
We like the easy navigation that Google Ads offers. A hamburger menu leads to the main features you’ll use, and you can toggle between enabled and paused campaigns easily.
Version History
You’ll be able to see different versions of your Ads and how they performed, enabling you to make better decisions about how you design and target your Ads going forward.
Showcase Shopping Ads
Showcase Shopping ads show up in Google when people search for generic terms, such as living room furniture. You can design an advert that will show selected products available on your website in a group, helping the searcher choose which website to visit.
Promotion Extensions
Now along with your search adverts you can create ads to highlight special offers and sales, encouraging users to click on your ads and visit your website.
What are some of the negatives?
Whilst we are enjoying using the new Google Ads dashboard, there are a couple of issues with transferring filters and custom information from the old AdWords to the new experience.
For example, some of the reports you had setup may not be available, and they include:
- Destination URL performance report
- Managed placement performance report
- Automatic placement performance report
- Placement report
Columns, segments and filters are also affected by the migration from AdWords to Google Ads, and if you haven’t already, you may need to modify reports that have been transferred, or create new filters.
Use the quick reference map to quickly find the most popular features of Google Ads.
Date published: 28/10/2018