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Google Adwords Features I'd Like to See, #5

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cline

2:45 am on Jun 21, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Continued from [webmasterworld.com...]

I wish the new interface for adding an ad group had a wider window for inputting keywords. Lots of what I put in is wider than that window. It's a real hassle to deal with. A taller window would help a bit, too.

vitaplease

6:03 am on Oct 25, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



More Campaigns or Geo/Language/Content network targetting on Ad Group level.

Imagine a multilingual site:

Adwords targetted for 10 languages + UK and US English Ad-language/spelling

+ differentiation in:

- Search network
- Content network
- Site targetting

(and that is not counting differentiation between Spanish for Spain and Spanish for other countries, German for Germany and other countries..etc)

Matt Ermatix

6:27 am on Oct 25, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



As per Rischen above.

Please add a new column Inactive Keywords against each adgroup, so that when looking at a campaign you can see the problems without having to go EVERY adgroup to check if something is inactive.

The new column should contain the total number of inactive keywords for the group.

If you could also add this column to the campaign summary, that would be great.

wrgvt

3:35 pm on Oct 25, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I have a request for the new keyword tool. If I type in a keyword and it shows a lot of the searches that contain that keyword, with the option to add any of those new keywords to my list. What I'd like to have is the option to add some of those as negative keywords.

Let's say my site is selling new widgets. That's it. One of my keywords is "widgets" and the keyword tool comes up with my ad going active for people searching "used widgets," "widget training," "widget manuals", and "widget repair." I don't offer any of those products or services, so I want them to be negative keywords. I may already have a negative keyword list, but this tool could show my many I've missed.

Rischen

6:39 pm on Oct 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I don't know what anyone else will think of this but I think it would be nice if the Google AdWords interface was available as a software download then those of us who are on dial-up could do our work offline and upload the work or changes. Sometimes you can spend hours online creating new adgroups, etc. Even if you've done everything in a text editor you still have to copy and paste everything in, going from page to page online.

Also, (even for people who are on broadband) it would be nice because you wouldn't have to worry about browser hangs and server errors wiping out half an hour of intensive tweaking to an existing campaign. You can go online, synchronise your local AdWords program with your online account and then disconnect, do all your changes without tripping about how long you've been online and then upload everything. One minute online.

Rischen

Robsp

6:44 pm on Oct 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

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We need more scheduled reports. The current maximum of 5 is way to low for large organisations and we need at least 25

netmeg

8:18 pm on Oct 26, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



I'd like the new keyword tool to actually WORK; it keeps giving me xmlRequest errors.

JKelly

2:31 am on Oct 28, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



If enforcing Google's ad policies is really important to Google, why not tap into the power of AdWords advertisers and add a way for advertisers to efficiently check and report ads that they beleive to be in violation of one or more of Google's ad policies.

For example, add a tool similar to the ad diagnostic one but that returns all the ads and underneath them show:

1) Their current review status. If not yet reviewed, add an estimated date as to when it is expected to be reviewed. If already reviewed, show approved date.

2) If it has already been reported and for what violation so duplicate reports are not made. Also the date and status of any previous reports.

3) A link to report it that leads to a page where one could select from a variety of violations they believe it to be breaking and a comment fields for details.

I report ads all the time that violate policies and the process is time consuming for all involved with no feedback on what was ever done if anything. For those that think why do this as all ads will get reviewed eventually I have a few responses.

1) For whatever reason many ads have and continue to pass the review process despite violations. For example, I just got notified of one of my own ads that was rightfully declined and I submitted it and it has been runnnig since many months ago. It should have been declined days after I submitted it.

2) Policies change and an ad that was approved years or months ago may not be compliant with a new policy.

3) Even for those ads that do eventually get caught through the automated review process, it can cost competitors $100s in increased CPC and or lower positions while they wait for an ad to be reviewed/declined through the normal automated review process. Unfortunately, some advertisers take advantage of this process by submitting ads they know are in violation and will get declined but in the mean time they make money off of them. If other advertisers catch it early and report it right away the ad could be reviewed faster than it might otherwise be and damage to other advertisers could be minimized.

Such a tool could also help track internally for Google how good a job reviewers or their software is doing during the automated reviews. For example if advertisers keep reporting different ads with violations and they were all approved by the same person or software, that person is probably not aware of the policy or the software is malfunctioing.

Appreciate any feedback on this idea.

AdWordsAdvisor

5:30 am on Oct 28, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I've just added the latest ideas to the Advertiser Feedback Report. Thanks to one and all for keeping this thread alive!

AWA

idolw

7:36 pm on Oct 28, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I am new to Adwords and am experimenting a lot. Each product I advertise is a bit different and it requeires different ad texts, etc.
I would love to be able to save some notes regarding each ad I create.
I would be able to leave myself a note what I tried and what one day I wanted to try tomorrow but, of course, forgot

kaylowe

4:18 pm on Oct 29, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I had asked for notification or something when google is about to bill. I see that hasn't gone over well.

OK, so could we get a cumulative report of charges since last billing? So we could see how close we're getting to our credit limit?

eWhisper

9:56 pm on Oct 29, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



It appears that the new keyword tool is built on an AJAX like system (not sure what it is built with) where you're in a single page the entire time you're working on the tool.

This means that if you spend more than 20-30 minutes in the tool, you'll automatically be timed out of your AdWords account as AdWords doesn't see any noticeable activity in your account.

If you get timed out, you don't go back to the keyword tool area when you're logged back in - you start from the home page all over - meaning all work is lost.

Obviously, this needs some adjustment as it's too easy to lose all of your work.

netmeg

4:37 pm on Oct 31, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



One of my largest clients is pretty much ready to cancel their AdWords account entirely, because of the way the billing system works. A gazillion charges for $500 doesn't really mesh with their own accounting system. What's more, for the past two months, we've gotten notices that the credit card was declined and traffic stopped (both times on the weekend when I couldn't get ahold of the bank) when there WAS no problem with the credit card, the bank reported there wasn't even an attempt and no refusal on their part. I have emailed and called Google about this, and been told there's nothing they can do. I asked to escalate the issue, and was told that I could talk to a supervisor, but they wouldn't be able to help either. The overwhelming impression I was given this morning was that my client (who has spent tens of thousands per month since the program first started) is some kind of deadbeat who should get their credit in order before calling. He's ready to chuck the whole thing, and frankly, I'm ready as well.

ipohopper

6:18 pm on Oct 31, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I've added in this thread and another thread that they should have an option to add additional credit cards. That way if one declines they can try the backup card. I've also had to deal with credit card declines and for some reason they occur in the middle of the night while I'm sleeping!

iPo

AdWordsAdvisor

7:58 pm on Oct 31, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



A few quick notes:

eWhisper, I've passed your feedback on to the right folks already, since it comes so quickly after the launch of the new features. Thanks.

Netmeg - I'm very sorry to hear both you and your client are frustrated to the point of throwing in the towel! I'd suggest contacting AdWords again, and specifically asking if there are any other payment options available to your client.

Thanks to all who have left suggestions - I'll certainly pass them on, as I do each Thursday evening. ;)

AWR

cline

6:22 pm on Nov 1, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I've encountered billing problems similar to those netmeg describes. They seem more common among my UK clients rather than my US, Australian, and NZ clients.

mangotude

7:59 pm on Nov 1, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I'd echo the comments by Netmeg also - it's virtually identical to my experience.

AdWordsAdvisor

2:40 am on Nov 2, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



At the risk of diverting this thread from additional 'Wish List' ideas, I wanted to follow up on your most recent post here, eWhisper, in which you said:

It appears that the new keyword tool is built on an AJAX like system (not sure what it is built with) where you're in a single page the entire time you're working on the tool.

This means that if you spend more than 20-30 minutes in the tool, you'll automatically be timed out of your AdWords account as AdWords doesn't see any noticeable activity in your account...

I've consulted with the tech folks on this point, and have had it confirmed that such a time out should not occur. Specifically, any time an advertisers adds a new keyword to the box on the right hand side of the page, the session will be kept alive. Similarly, any request to get results for a new keyword will refresh the session.

If you find that this doesn't reflect what you're experiencing, then please, by all means, let AdWords support know the details. Thanks!

OK, now, back to those feature requests... ;)

AWA

AlexMiles

3:45 am on Nov 2, 2005 (gmt 0)



I make many adgroups that are similar and I often copy and paste some keywords direct from one adgroup to another.

What I would like to do is be able to take their custom urls too.

I can do that if what I wanted was the default sort order - alphabetical, but it is rarely what I want. I might want to choose them by CPC or CTR.

netmeg

3:57 pm on Nov 2, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



(We're still hashing out the billing problems. I am finding the support people more than willing to call me up and talk to me about the problem - but it always ends up the same way - there's nothing they can do, it's all in the hands of the transaction processor. My clients don't CARE about the credit card transaction processor; they are not contracting to do business with the transaction processor, but with *Google*, and feel it is incumbent upon *Google* to take some responsibility for getting these matters cleared up.)

This has probably been mentioned before, but it came up recently for me - it would be great, once I create a new ad, to have an option to copy it automatically to different Campaigns and Ad Groups.

Oh yea - I was recently asked to participate (again) in the beta for longer ads, which was nice and I was happy to do it - but I have no idea if my ads were approved, are running, get clicks, etc. I can understand if for testing reasons once the ads are created, Google wouldn't want the ads deleted or changed, but it would be nice to at least see some stats in our Client Centers for these ads - they're as much beta tests for us as they are for Google and for the users.

Clark

3:17 am on Nov 3, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



In order to combat banner blindness in the google Search Result pages, how about alternating those little ads with one big CPM-style (or actual CPM) ad on the right side?

AdWordsAdvisor

6:13 am on Nov 4, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



The latest posts have just been incorporated into the Advertiser Feedback Report. As always, thanks a ton!

AWA

cline

12:59 am on Nov 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I'd like a "click-to-sale delay" report. For each conversion I'd like a datestamp of when the click was recorded and when the conversion was recorded.

A lot of clients think conversions should come immediately. It would be great to present them with reports showing the actual, often long delays between click and conversion.

cline

7:31 pm on Nov 5, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



An idea about the billing problem: For customers that have been around X amount of time or spent X amount relative to the outstanding bill and there's a credit card transaction issue, how about just extending a bit more credit, upon request? A business day or two of credit would help a lot in getting such issues cleared up.

cline

6:18 pm on Nov 8, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



Whatever "feature" (I would call it a bug) that's in Adwords that enables ads to be delivered on keywords that are not included in the targeting, at Adwords' discretion, I'd like the ability to turn it OFF.

beren

7:14 pm on Nov 8, 2005 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member Top Contributors Of The Month



One of my largest clients is pretty much ready to cancel their AdWords account entirely, because of the way the billing system works. A gazillion charges for $500 doesn't really mesh with their own accounting system. What's more, for the past two months, we've gotten notices that the credit card was declined and traffic stopped (both times on the weekend when I couldn't get ahold of the bank) when there WAS no problem with the credit card, the bank reported there wasn't even an attempt and no refusal on their part. I have emailed and called Google about this, and been told there's nothing they can do. I asked to escalate the issue, and was told that I could talk to a supervisor, but they wouldn't be able to help either. The overwhelming impression I was given this morning was that my client (who has spent tens of thousands per month since the program first started) is some kind of deadbeat who should get their credit in order before calling.

Wow, same here. I understand Google taking precautions against credit card fraud, but they overdo it and question good customers.

Also, the multiple charges for $500 every day - more an inconvenience than anything. Why not one charge per day?

AdWordsAdvisor

10:35 pm on Nov 8, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I usually don't comment much in this thread for fear of derailing it, and getting off topic - but I've got two brief comments:

Whatever "feature" (I would call it a bug) that's in Adwords that enables ads to be delivered on keywords that are not included in the targeting, at Adwords' discretion, I'd like the ability to turn it OFF.

Thanks for the many comments cline! I am 99% sure you know this already, but just wanted to mention for the benefit of others that if one uses "phrase match" or [exact match] options, the keywords will not be "expanded".

Wow, same here. I understand Google taking precautions against credit card fraud, but they overdo it and question good customers.

Also, the multiple charges for $500 every day - more an inconvenience than anything. Why not one charge per day?

Just wanted to say to netmeg and others that if you or a client are unhappy with the frequency of billing, etc., then it is absolutely worth contacting AdWords Support and asking what options are available to make things work more smoothly for you.

AWA

HitProf

8:46 am on Nov 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I miss the option to get a list of user account data in a MCC account, especially payments and refusals.

Example: show account data for all payments and refusals made today, or in any given period.

Or: show all accounts with creditcard number xyz.

HitProf

8:50 am on Nov 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



if one uses "phrase match" or [exact match] options, the keywords will not be "expanded".

This is not the same as using broadmatch.

widget place shows on: widget in place, widget for place, widget at place etc
"widget place" does not

Why should widget place also show un somethingelse otherplace?

Is this really so hard to get for Google engineers that these are two completely different kinds of matching?

HitProf

9:58 am on Nov 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



A would also like the option of automatic bank transfer.

cline

2:11 pm on Nov 9, 2005 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



AWA, what I want is the ability to broad match without also having to expanded match. I've been sending my rep samples of the type of matching that I want to stop. Find her and ask for the copies, or just have another rep email me and ask for copies.
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