We are still seeing here the messages, that users have problem with the On Hold, On Trial mess.
Still again and again.
Google does his best to get new customers. And the first thing they experience after starting the account is the On Hold, On Trial mess.
No wonder, that there are people who ask:
How to close AdWords account?, like the boy here [webmasterworld.com...]
I will start accounts for 2 new big (for me) customers. I am not newbie (althougt my pro logo still has to show up :-), but I am worried to run into On Hold, On Trial mess.
Why? Because, somebody else did his work bad. So, I am punished.
And my question is why, why, why?
patient2all is absolutelly right ( [webmasterworld.com...] ):
I think Google should rethink this policy.
IF YOU AGREE WITH THIS, JUST REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE AND WRITE "AGREE".
Let's hope that THE RIGHT FOLKS WILL HEAR OUR VOICE.
Less than 150 keywords, no account history, no 'in trial' keywords, and already 10 'on hold' keywords.
Can't I have a chance to make these 'historically poor CTR keywords' work?
The most of my words have Normal status now.
Starting new account is a pain.
The status in the first days is a total nonsese, but my fresh experience is, that it will be better in few days after starting the campaign (unless your CTR is under 0.5)
I do not know if it is general behaviour.
I woder:
TrumanTiger how is your campaign (described in msg #28 in this thread) now?
I HATE the fact that poor performance of others is taken into account. We NEVER have poor CTR's
Google it is time to start listening to your customers...
My 2cts
[edited by: Robsp at 9:06 pm (utc) on Mar. 14, 2005]
I have to agree with Robsp, there are a ton of Adwords advertisers that stink at writing copy and getting decent CTR % rates, and that is negatively affecting the stronger marketers.
One issue might be that if the SERP has a very high CTR than they CTR expectations of the AdWords are higher. (Is that true, AwA?)
Another fact is, Google may simply be running out of room. The inventory is hitting its limit and they need to find ways to increase CTR.
One issue might be that if the SERP has a very high CTR than they CTR expectations of the AdWords are higher.
No. The problem we have here is this caused mainly by this:
When you submit a keyword, we predict its CTR based on data such as the performance of your account and other accounts with the same or similar keywords
Other accounts! The good advertisers are punished for mistakes of weak advertisers. It is sad :-(
Another fact is, Google may simply be running out of room. The inventory is hitting its limit and they need to find ways to increase CTR.
I do not read this theory for the first time here. But do not forget that the term space, that is used here:
On hold - The ad(s) for this keyword are not being shown and don't meet our quality threshold. They will be shown in trial when more space becomes available.
I guess one question which really needs to be answered, is 0.5% the minimum CTR or does it change depending on the keyword (and it's surround factors, such as SERP CTR and other ads for that keyword CTR)
I HATE the fact that poor performance of others is taken into account
Well, things do not just end there. Sometimes if you move new keywords with zero clicks (labeled "Normal" in the old ad group) to another ad group, campaign or even account just trying to get the account organized, you will most probably get some of these keywords in trial or on hold. The system is so clever that it believes the purpose of my moving keywords is because of their poor performance!
Funniest thing is, for several times I used the estimator and I saw keywords labeled "On Hold". I couldn't help laughing about this everytime I saw this happened. It's like Google saying, hey, don't bother to play that word around here, we will get it on hold anyway!
Well, they probably have a lot of keywords you can't bid on.
But we are not talking about brand names or any kind of sesitive (sex, gambling atc.) words. We talk about regular words.
So there is no reason, you cannot bid on them - unless poor CTR or On HOLD status.
For example, if you were bidding on "Yahoo" but 99% of the people who came to the SERP clicked on the first link (Yahoo), then perhaps Google doesn't want to clutter up the page with a lot of ads for stuff that no one ever clicks on.
In conversations with Google, they kept telling me to just start the campaign (I had it paused) and everything would be o.k. They wouldn't tell me why the words were "on hold" in the first place, they just said "trust me" and activate the campaign.
I did start it, and shortly thereafter most words came off of "on hold." As others have reported, I even got some impressions for "on hold" words. Each time I modify a word or add a new one, however, it goes immediately to "on hold" status. Eventually, most words do become "normal."
Where is the most recent thread from AWA or some other official AdWords type on the topic?
If "On Holds" and "Trials" are often automatic and then move to "Normal" the FAQ sure does a poor job of explaining the -space- -quota- -timeline- involving keyword status.
It may turn out to be a needed feature to protect relavancy, that was poorly (or intentionally) rolled out with sketchy explanation.
-T
Where is the most recent thread from AWA or some other official AdWords type on the topic?
AWA has never answered in this thread. And I thing this is also some kind of a message.
But I am sure she is watching the problem closely...
Although I search for some reason; I am after all a Google advocate, most of the time.
I still think it is a major pain in the ass ;-)
and a poorly explained one at that.
-TCH
im sorry but this is a total farce of a feature, color me disgusted.
I have been very happy with G's tools, and I'm only looking for an answer. Is this new method of approval in response to the annoying bogus ads complaints? or are you trying to be more 'content effective' like Overture...
HEEEEEEEEEEELP!
SOMEONE can answer
So, we have a real problem here and even the AWA has nothing to say. I am not surprised - there is still no solution for this silly behaviour of the system.
The best advice I can give you is written in msg #52 of this thread:
TrumanTiger wrote
In conversations with Google, they kept telling me to just start the campaign (I had it paused) and everything would be o.k. They wouldn't tell me why the words were "on hold" in the first place, they just said "trust me" and activate the campaign.I did start it, and shortly thereafter most words came off of "on hold." As others have reported, I even got some impressions for "on hold" words. Each time I modify a word or add a new one, however, it goes immediately to "on hold" status. Eventually, most words do become "normal."
I cried in the msg #33 and 34, I did not contacted the AdWords support, but I can confirm, that after several days, the "on hold" status disappeard and the campaign works well.
I wonder - does this work for you Elizabeth or the "On Hold" status remains, even after several days?
I'm not so sure Google has some nefarious hand in this, even though I'm suspect of a lot of Google actions of late. BTW, I'm not being critical of you for suspecting such motives since my own anger has taken me in the same direction recently too. (My own beef is that Google is trying to get rid of the little people).
However, since we now know they're going right into "Hold", "Trial" based on performance of other advertisers on this specific keyword, or related keywords, it's possible that an evil competitor can use this crummy policy to their advantage by "ruining" your keywords using them in a spurious campaign destined for doom. I dare not go into more specifics.
I've been lucky not to experience much of this, since my particular needs require "brand new" keywords for most campaigns. Still, I've run into the brick wall too when I've tried to use a keyword with a dual meaning. The darn keyword must have failed in an earlier context and the computer don't know I'm talking about something totally different now!
The policy must be scrapped, each of us should be judged on our own merits.
The recent broadmatch changes should be tossed out at the same time!
Why is Google throwing these stumbling blocks in the way of profitable campaigns? Are we trying to hold down inflation or something?
These policies are no good for anyone, advertiser who can't sell, Google losing revenue, searcher who can't find any results.
patient2all
*sigh*
Sigh, I guess we're abandoned on this topic. Quite sad considering how helpful Google has been!
AWA loud and clearly stated to be out of the office for a couple of days, returning on Wednesday.
But this thread started a month ago :-)
So the message is clear: this is AdWords, take it or leave it! Of course, AWA could never say this formally, yet his/her silence says more, since it's impossible not to see this thread...
Unfortunately, the keyword is: not enough competition. So we must fight and survive in this AdWords jungle.
Of course, it could be worse... so smile and be glad for how it is...
Imho, more than half 2005's changes in Adwords are for the worst.
Looking forward to seeing new PPC engines that respect their clients.
...we have some kind of a record here - do you rememeber any other thread that has over 60 posts and none of it is from AWA? :-)
So, we have a real problem here and even the AWA has nothing to say...
...Sigh, I guess we're abandoned on this topic. Quite sad considering how helpful Google has been!...
...The fact that AWA had nothing to say in this thread (67 posts in a month!) says even more.....
So the message is clear: this is AdWords, take it or leave it! Of course, AWA could never say this formally, yet his/her silence says more, since it's impossible not to see this thread...
Oh my.
So - A few words on the subject of my not having posted in this thread:
I'd like to start by mentioning briefly how my role here on WebmasterWorld has been defined, since the very beginning. Excerpting from GoogleGuy's introduction of me, way back in July 03, just before my first post:
...and don't expect them to post on really controversial or strategic or technical threads....they're not an engineer and not a techie, so I would mostly look for answers to basic questions to help newer folks with AdWords.
As mentioned in that introduction, and in several of my own post since, I am here to assist wherever I'm able, with a particular focus on assisting newer advertisers. And I am also very pleased to pass on feedback, regardless of it's tone - as I have done, weekly, with posts from this thread.
However, as also mentioned in that introduction, you'll find me disinclined to actively participate in threads which aim towards controversy, or which have overt calls to action - as for example, those with titles like "On Trial - On Hold MESS - Vote against this feature (they are still caling this feature, not a bug)"
Clearly my non-participation in this thread has been noted. I hope, however, that it has also been noted that I have answered related questions in a number of other threads on the same topic. ;)
This may also be a good time to repeat something that I've posted several times already: my role within AdWords is changing, and until I'm up to speed with my new responsibilities, I'll most likely be posting later in the day, and fewer times overall, than previously.
And with that in mind, please know that I am mostly scanning these days. And, while I'm sure I am missing details, I tend to scan right past extremely long posts, and long numbered lists of questions - in the hopes that I may get back to them when I have more time.
An example? I recently printed out a single post, in hopes of reading it before a meeting. When printed, it was 1 1/2 pages long, in 10 point type!
Anyway, bottom line, please know this:
* I fully understand that there are many on this Forum who are upset with the "On Trial - On Hold MESS". It has certainly not escaped my attention.
* And, weekly, I have represented your concerns to the right folks here within AdWords. So, while I have not been an active participant in this thread, your voices have been heard - in many cases verbatim.
AWA
PS - Yes, I was supposed to be out till Wednesday. I just missed all y'all too much, and came back a day early. Heheh. ;)
I also think that this "feature" costs G millions of $$ per day in lost revenue.
