Please Keep Cross Campaign Tools

[irish_john]

I just noticed the following Announcement.

The 'Copy or Move Keywords and Ad Text' and 'Advanced Search and Editing' tools will be removed from all AdWords accounts on August 20th, 2007. These features are still available in Adwords Editor, which you can download for free.

These are very useful tools, and the removal from the Google Adwords Web Based gui, I think will make managing Campaigns much harder and more Difficult.

From the Adwords FAQ Blurb.
"Since users have told us they find the AdWords Editor platform more flexible and useful, we have decided to migrate all Cross Campaign Tools to the AdWords Editor platform. "

Anyone else agree/disagree with this?

[RhinoFish]

looks like they're raising the pressure for us to use the adwords editor versus online interface. as things grow, seems like a reasonable move for them to make to ensure that all users have speedy and reliable access.

[irish_john]

I noticed they have already removed the % Increase and % Decrease from the Advanced Bid Management.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

irish_john, I will certainly pass on your feedback, along with any other feedback that is added to this thread - although at this stage of the game, I'm reasonably certain I won't be able to have much influence.

I am sorry for your disappointment - and I do hope that you'll give the same tools a chance within AdWords Editor.

AWA

[mike_ppc]

I can't completely understand why G. is doing this. With the bulk download feature maybe it was consuming too many resources (?!), but now...
And, I must say, I use the interface for the most of the changes. Adding new text ads is much easier in the interface. And not talking about the management of the campaigns - in Editor is very difficult to read so many tiny columns.
Yes, the editor is a great tool, with some unique features, but that doesn't mean we shoud be forced to use it for these fetures. The interface is very fast most of the time and is still better than the editor for many functions.

just my opinion

[cline]

AWA, those cross-campaign tools are tremendously valuable. Even though Adwords Editor has those functions, on certain things it's a pain to work with. For example, one hour ago I started downloading data on one account to do something I've always done with the cross campaign tool. I just checked it. It's half way done.

And since only one copy of Adwords Editor can be open at a time, it means I can't do something else with Adwords Editor while I'm waiting. With the cross campaign tools you can have multiple accounts open simultaneously if you run multiple browsers (IE, Firefox, Opera...), a handy technique I employ all day long. Even with my 3 computers on a KVM switch I have to find something else to do while the Editor downloads.

This is a great tool. It used to be even better. Yes, I know it eats CPU time, but we pay big, big bucks to Google. The savings Adwords is making in CPU time is killing my productivity. I'm going to have to pass those costs on to clients. If they have to spend more for me, it means they will spend less for Google.

Ever hear of "penny wise and pound foolish"?

[AdWordsAdvisor]

cline, I can always count on you to call it like you see it - and I trust that you'll take that as the compliment it was meant to be.

I'll make sure that the right folks see your feedback - just as they have seen the other posts here - by the end of the day.

AWA

[cline]

AWA, thank you. Yes, I understand the compliment well. One big thing I've learned for sure in my career is that that if you're a consultant and you deliver messages that are unpleasant but true you get to be respected and well-compensated. But doing the same thing as an employee gets you into big trouble.

There's a lot more to it than calling it like you see it. Anyone can see anything in anyway. There is no necessarily obvious difference between a visionary and a crank. It's like answering a koan.

I work with a variety of organization sizes. While small organizations lack breadth of expertise, they have clarity of purpose. Large organizations (the category Google is now in) have tremendous breadth of expertise, but their purpose gets siloed. What is good for meeting department A's objectives is bad for the organization as a whole. It can be amazingly difficult for large organizations to digest this. Just a couple of weeks ago I met with the general manager, marketing and website staff of one of my larger clients. One of thing things I tried to convince them of was that they were acquiring certain customers unprofitably. If they'd act on my advice is would actually negatively affect my earnings. But the problem is that they're organizationally rewarded for winning new customers. So, the real organizational goal of profitability gets shunted aside for the secondary goal of customer acquisition, which they're being pushed for because top management wants to grow profitability.

The bad news is, Google has started acting like the client I just described.

[ddogg]

The AdWords editor sucks IMO. It's clunky and a pain in the ass to use. I can't believe they are going to start removing the web-based tools, they are extremely useful.