Does deleting a keyword erase its history?

What if I decide to add it back?

[limitup]

I'm still in the testing phase and have a ton of keywords in a ton of different campaigns and groups. Now I want to get rid of some of the terms that aren't doing so well. But if I delete a keyword, do I lose its "history" forever, meaning that if I decide to later add that term back I have to start over with it? Is this a big deal? Why is there no ability to "pause" a keyword within an ad group?

[gopi]

In my past expirence it seems adding a deleted keyword again restores the CTR history, atleast that used to be the case!.

[jtara]

Old keywords never die - they just fade from view.

[xor0]

So what's the difference between pausing and deleting (adgroups and campaigns rather than kws I guess)?

[vphoner]

It would be nice if you could MOVE a keyword with all its history to a new ad group. This is especially important if you want to make smaller ad groups or even a special ad group just for that word with its own customized ad.

[limitup]

You can, look in the Tools section. The only problem is that it requires "manual review" so it's not a quick process. It would be so much better if it transferred instantly so you could quickly and easily tidy up your campaigns and ad groups whenver you wanted.

[trannack]

Is there not any way to completely empty out all deleted campaigns in ones account. Like a lot of people, over the last few months I have tried numerous "test" campaigns to try to establish the problem with inactive keywords etc. I now have the problem resolved, but my account is at capacity. I would really like to "empty" all deleted items from my account. Anyone got any ideas other than getting it done manually which could be a lengthy process as my account is huge.

[magicdan]

I think I spoke to my Google rep about this sometime back and I think he said that if the keyword falls under exactly the same ad in the same account then it will apply the history under that combination. Worth checking this though...

[jtara]

over the last few months I have tried numerous "test" campaigns to try to establish the problem with inactive keywords etc. I now have the problem resolved, but my account is at capacity.

Deleted items do NOT count toward your account limits.

And, no, you cannot "empty" anything. It sticks around - forever. By design.

[trannack]

Thanks for that. As long as it doesn't cause adwords any problems, it looks like it is bulging at the seams if you view all deleted items!

[bruceh]

You could "recycle" the deleted listings by editing everything.

[jtara]

You could "recycle" the deleted listings by editing everything

Nope.

There's no such thing as an edit in Adwords. When you "edit", you are creating a modified copy of the original.