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Maxed Out

Maximum Number of Keywords in An Account

         

Qui Gon Jinn

5:17 am on Jan 22, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



"The keywords in your account are nearing an unmanageable size.

Please consider refining your keyword lists and/or reducing the number of keywords within your account. This will ensure that your account includes the most targeted and relevant keywords possible. Click here to learn more about managing your keyword list. "

Came across this when doing an account for a client.

Never seen this before & it has less keywords than other clients accounts.

We can't even get the clients whole product database on the account. Only difference is we are using more negative keywords than before.

Is this something to do with recent changes?

eWhisper

6:22 am on Jan 22, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



It's come up twice in the past month (and don't remember any instances before that time frame):
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]

I've yet to see this message before. I don't know if it's based on number of groups, KWs, or what. I run a few accounts with 350k+ KWs in them, and that message hasn't shown.

How many KWs are you guys using to see this message?

Hoping AWA takes a peak into this issue.

Qui Gon Jinn

6:32 am on Jan 22, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



We are easily under 80k keywords. For the client we need to upload between 300 - 400k.

So far we have 5 Campaigns with a total of 190 AdGroups

The account is only a couple of months old.

Thanks for your feedback.

[edited by: Qui_Gon_Jinn at 6:48 am (utc) on Jan. 22, 2005]

MarkHutch

6:39 am on Jan 22, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



For us, the max has been somewhere between 20,000 - 25,000 keyword lines. By lines I mean, any kind of keyword or phrase on a line. So if we have 20 campaigns with 1000 keyword lines per campaign we are nearing the max. I'm sure most folks don't use as many keywords as we do and will never experience this problem.

Import Export

8:38 am on Jan 22, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member




I'm pretty up there, near the numbers you listed and I haven't reached that limitation. Hrm.. Could it be linked to spend? ;)

Create a test campaign / ad group with generic data and pause it. Ensure that you have show all campaigns selected. Use your favorite automation or macro program to begin building a list of kw's and continually saving the data it has entered. It will eventually get the error and at that point, if your logging correctly, you will have the answers you are looking for. *I think...

eWhisper

2:07 pm on Jan 22, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



* Suggested Max of 100 Ad Groups per campaign.
* Suggested Max of 750 keywords in a single Ad Group.
* Suggested Max of 2000 keywords per campaign.
* Suggested Max of 50,000 keywords per account.

AWA from This Thread [webmasterworld.com]

The numbers from one campaign I just checked:
KWs: 242k
AdGroups: 612
Campaigns: 25
Average KWs/Group: 395
Average AdGroups/Campaign: 24.5

When I run your numbers, your average KW/group are similar to mine. However, your average groups per campaign are much higher (38 vs 24.5).

That's the only difference I can see. The account above (and this might make the difference) is linked to another account that's running another 270 AdGroups. Maybe the linking of multiple accounts allows for a higher range of data (or it's because the account has been around for a while and there are different restrictions on new vs old accounts).

Hoping to see something from G as to why this is happening to people.

PPCMgr

7:57 am on Jan 23, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I've come across this while managing for a client.

It seems to come up when the last 30 days of average daily spend is $100 per day on more than 30,000 keywords. I needed to reduce to 10,000 keywords. Then, add the 20,000 extra keywords 30 days later when the 30 day average was $300 per day.

When the spend averages to $300 per day on 30,000 keywords over 30 days it seems to be ok.

$100 per day/10,000 keywords over a 30 day average? Just a guess IMHO.

Never a problem at $1000 per day.

MarkHutch

5:38 am on Jan 25, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I hope mods don't mind, but I'm bumping this back up in the hope that AWA will have something to say about this topic.

P.S. How was Tahoe? I love that place!

eWhisper

5:57 am on Jan 25, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I hope mods don't mind, but I'm bumping this back up in the hope that AWA will have something to say about this topic.

Don't mind at all, I want to see the answer :)

The next Link Thread [webmasterworld.com] might be: AWA - So what's the answer..

AdWordsAdvisor

1:09 am on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Hoping AWA takes a peak into this issue.

I hope mods don't mind, but I'm bumping this back up in the hope that AWA will have something to say about this topic.

Heheh. No rest for me, eh, even though I'm working at home while dizzy with a temp of 102 plus?

I'd like to confirm my information with a colleague, and then I'll get back to you to this. This confirmation has been sort of tough to acquire, working remotely, as I can't go stand menacingly in his doorway. ;)

More later.

AWA

MarkHutch

1:53 am on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Thanks, AWA. Sorry you're sick. Hope you feel better, soon!

eWhisper

5:52 am on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



as I can't go stand menacingly in his doorway

Is that the secret to dealing with Google engineers? ;)

Feel better and get some sleep. The posts will always be here...

AdWordsAdvisor

6:12 pm on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



...as I can't go stand menacingly in his doorway

Is that the secret to dealing with Google engineers? ;)

Nah, the real secret is to bring the right snack!

OK, I've had my info confirmed, and here's the scoop:

As is well known on this Forum, there has always been a 'suggested' limit to the number of keywords per account, going back as long as I've been with the AdWords program. And, while AdWords has always preferred that advertisers worked within the limit, it has not been strictly applied.

However, as those who've noticed my occasional 'soap box' posts on the subject of massive keyword lists will already know, there has been a trend towards really huge (and what one might call undisciplined) keyword lists. In too many cases, these massive lists have been created simply because they could be created - and not because the extra tens (or even hundreds) of thousands of keywords contributed anything to the success of the account, or to the delivery of relevant ads to users.

Long story short: millions upon millions of dead-in-the-water keywords clogging the system are not good for anyone; not least of all because they have the potential to, at some point, slow things down for everyone. This is to be avoided, no?

At the bottom line, accounts are now subject to a keyword limit. And when the limit is near to being reached the message quoted by Qui Gon Jinn is sent, so that advertisers have time to streamline their keyword lists. There is no single limit that is applicable for all accounts - and as eWhisper pointed out some accounts (notably those that have used keywords effectively in the past) have higher limits than others.

On a limited basis, exceptions to the limits may be requested by emailing from within the account in question. We evaluate each request against a number of factors such as past account performance and, in particular, effective keyword selection. So, it's worth saying that an 'exception' request is not likely to be seriously considered if the reviewer goes to the account and finds, as an example, 15,000 randomly chosen keywords which are unrelated to the ads they bring up, or which have had no impressions for months.

So, if an advertiser receives the "...keywords in your account are nearing an unmanageable size..." message, the first plan of attack, before simply requesting an exception, would be to carefully review the account, and do away with all low-performing and non-performing keywords first. I've seen lots of accounts where truly vast numbers of keywords could be deleted, and never missed at all. This practice can create a ton of space for new keywords, within the account limits.

(While streamlining keyword lists, it is worth knowing that each column in the keyword stats is 'sortable' by clicking on the column header. So, for example, you could sort your stats to see all keywords that have never had an impression, or never had a click, or which are really expensive, or which are putting you on the fourth or fifth page, and so forth.)

BTW, deleted keywords and paused campaigns/ad groups are not counted towards the keyword limits. However if these paused campaigns or Ad Groups are resumed at some point, then they will be counted.

AWA

Qui Gon Jinn

6:27 pm on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



In our case it's a necessity to get limit extended otherwise we could be running several accounts for one client.

Therefore can we request an a exception and asked for this to be extended to 400-500k

eWhisper

8:02 pm on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



AWA,

That makes sense.

Any idea what the max KW number is for a new account, and if it's algorithmically increased if the campaign shows success, or if exceptions will always need to be asked for to get an increase in total KW for an account?

AdWordsAdvisor

11:09 pm on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



In our case it's a necessity to get limit extended otherwise we could be running several accounts for one client.

Therefore can we request an a exception and asked for this to be extended to 400-500k

Qui Gon Jinn, I'd recommend contacting AdWords support, and detailing your situation. Since the account in question is new, and you evidently have other client accounts with higher numbers of keywords, you might want to include info to allow the support folks to look at one of those keyword laden accounts, as an example of what you need to do.

Any idea what the max KW number is for a new account, and if it's algorithmically increased if the campaign shows success, or if exceptions will always need to be asked for to get an increase in total KW for an account?

eWhisper, I'm sorry to say that I can't be more specific as to numbers and algo. Part of the reason for this is that the numbers may well change as we evaluate whether the limits are having the desired affect.

That said, I feel pretty safe in guessing that the Max KW number for new accounts is not lower than the 'suggested max' we have so often talked about in this Forum.

...$100 per day/10,000 keywords over a 30 day average? Just a guess IMHO...

PPCMgr, I missed your post earlier. So far as I'm aware, there is no correlation to spend - except, perhaps, in the sense that those who advertise on a large scale are often more practiced, and have a hard-won knowledge that has made them expert in their keyword choices.

Thanks, AWA. Sorry you're sick. Hope you feel better, soon!

Thanks MarkHutch - much appreciated. BTW, I went back and read a few of my posts from yesterday. Do I always have that many typos, or is it just the fever?! ;)

AWA

MarkHutch

11:20 pm on Jan 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Blame it on the fever and move on. :)

P.S. I just got the too many keywords message on a new account of mine. (less than three months old) and my upper limit of KW is 40,000 and my daily spend on this new account is only $25 per day. So that's not too bad in my view.