Google Analytics Features I'd Like To See #1

[netmeg]

- In some cases it only seems to be reporting around 60% of the actual traffic. Not sure how or why that is happening, but we host 250 sites here, and have all the actual logfiles and several analyzers running, and we remove all the bots and our own traffic, and it STILL shows as way low in some cases. Examples available upon request.

- How about a general repository for us to share filters? I'm thinking of something along the lines of the way Google offers widgets and gadgets and whatnot for iGoogle and Desktop. I've created some and gone out and found some out there that did things I didn't even realize were possible; why re-invent the wheel?

- I find the breadcrumb navigation somewhat lacking. There's a lot of times where I'm digging down deep to the keyword level, and I want to go back just one step, and I end up back about four levels, or worse yet, where I started.

- Much more help on setting up to track other types of campaigns (MSN and Yahoo PPC, online campaigns, offline campaigns)

- For those of us who are working with clients (as opposed to just our own accounts) it would be really great to be able to set up some kind of a demo account with some demo stats (or have one available) to show to clients. To be honest, they'd rather have me show them the benefits step by step with an account that looks like their traffic and their sample products than sit through your presentation. I can't show one client another's data, and they just don't seem to get how useful and important this information is unless they can see it and click on it and I can explain it in terms of their business.

Ok, that's for starters. I have more.

[cline]

On the Run Clean Sweep tool for campaign-level negatives, add a check box that will on/off check all of the keywords. Right now they all default to checked.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Thanks for this feedback - all of which has just been copy/pasted into the Advertiser Feedback Report.

The report goes out in about 30 hours from the time I write this - so tons o' time for more feedback - all of which will be quoted verbatim.

Many thanks,

AWA

[AdWordsAdvisor]

I thought I'd bring this thread back to the top of the page one more time - and mention that additional feedback will happily be added to the Advertiser Feedback Report.

With luck, it'll go out in roughly five hours - by about 10:00 PM PDT.

AWA

[Brecon]

When using the new 'search query' keyword tool it only allows you to add match types manually. Could we get that so all match types or some can be automatically set?

At present you have to add keywords as broad, go back, add as phrase, go back, add as exact. It makes it far more time-consuming (unless I have missed something).

[RhinoFish]

On the spreadsheet editing (new interface), i've bumped into memory limits. Please add limits or better feedback to the interface regarding max capacity, for example, max number of rows that can be pasted (or some other such guideline) so we can make the very best use of this great tool.

[netmeg]

In the new UI, where you are looking at keywords, and there's a dropdown above the keywords and the options are Copy / Download / Spreadsheet Edit - how about adding MOVE to another ad group or campaign and ad group? That would save me a lot of time. If you can COPY it, you should be able to MOVE it.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Well, here it is: my all-but-inevitable post saying I'll pass this feedback along later this evening. Verbatim.

Everything new since last (so far) will be sent directly the 'new UI' team and it will also appear in regular Advertiser Feedback Report with a wider readership.

About seven hours till the report is sent. Additions to this thread before then will be happily included.

Thanks, as always.

AWA

[netmeg]

'kay I've mentioned this before, but this is now *really* annoying. I need to be able to see which campaigns are in Conversion Optimizer on Campaigns tab when I'm looking at all campaigns in an account. This was there in the old interface, and NEEDS to be added to the new UI. Don't waste my time making me add more clicks to get what I need, and then have to translate the new language to the old.

(Obviously the UI team never read "Don't Make Me Think")

[bazza9]

When I try to create a new Ad Group within a Campaign, I'd like the ad text to default to be the same as the last ad that I created.

This used to be the case in the old interface.

In the new interface, it makes the default ad one that it selects at random. Made a mistake in the creation of that ad? Hard luck...you'll be seeing it again and again and again. Worse still, you'll find yourself correcting that same mistake again and again and again....

[Rehan]

The selection of which ad to use to pre-fill when creating a new text ad made a lot of sense in the old interface, but the choice in the new interface is often not helpful -- especially when you're testing multiple variations of ads.

So here's a suggestion/request: In the Enabled/Paused drop-down list (couldn't think of a better place for it), add an option to "Make Similar Ad". This would then show the same form as the "New Ad" option, but with OUR choice of pre-filled text.

[netmeg]

As long as we have this flashy new interface, how about adding the capability to create PDF screenshot reports (instead of just spreadsheets) a la Analytics?

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Many thanks for the latest, all of which will be quoted, verbatim, in this week's Advertiser Feedback Report.

It'll be sent roughly about 30 hours from now - so, plenty of time for more. ;)

AWA

[cline]

The new interface is giving errors on negative keywords that it thinks are pharmacy related. This makes no sense. Use of a pharmacy-related negative keyword is to prevent ads from showing on pharmacy-related terms!

[netmeg]

Adding low search volume keyword notification to the AdWords Editor would be a *huge* help.

[netmeg]

I have some accounts I've worked since 2004 or 2005. There have been a lot of changes and reorganizations over the years. Thus, when I go into Reports to run reports, and it shows every single campaign and ad group I've ever created and deleted, in addition to all my current active ones (close to a hundred *currently* active) it's pretty unruly.

I understand the reasoning behind being able to run reports on deleted campaigns, but I question how often it's needed. Would much rather somehow push those out of the way and only have them load the box if I ask for them. Or even just have a check box to ONLY show the current campaigns. Something. Please.

[netmeg]

Here's another one - the third client in a row just asked me where the negative sites and keywords were in the new UI. I don't think they're very intuitively placed (and renamed "exclusions" ?)

[AdWordsAdvisor]

Got them all, Cline and netmeg. Many thanks. ;)

Seven hours to go (shooting for 10:00 PM Pacific) - and I'll check back just before sending the report.

Anyone?

AWA

[RhinoFish]

in the new interface, when creating a new campaign that copies the features loaded from an existing campaign, the dayparting settings don't copy over.

[RhinoFish]

announcements indicator still says i have some days after i dismissed them. clicking on bold red announcements indicator (top right near sign out) takes me to the page and there's no announcements there. happening in many accounts i manage.

[RhinoFish]

in graph area, when you have alerts, it could use some bold or an icon to draw attention to it, it gets somewhat lost in the clutter of the graph details. make it stand out more please.

[RhinoFish]

when creating a new campaign, it doesn't let you choose "ad rotation" on the settings screen because no ads exist for the new campaign yet... which gets done on the next page in the campaign creation process.

either don't ask for this input (since there will never be any ads at this stage) or better still, allow us to chose a setting even though no ads exist yet.

[RhinoFish]

when creating ads, there's too much wasted space in the green work area, so you end up scrolling up and down way too much, or forgetting to pick the ad group (because you've scrolled down and can no longer the ad group prompt box).

[RhinoFish]

when uploading videos under the rich media / click to play ads, there's a clear waiting for upload indicator, then, when the upload is done, the video processing note posts - but it isn't clear then to the user if they should wait there for processing (does it takes hours or days) or if they're clear to finish the ad creation process knowing the video processing will occur post-submit automagically.

[eWhisper]

Please update the learning center with current and correct information. There is some info in the learning center that is incorrect (it use to be correct; but with all the changes over the past year or two, the learning center has not been updated).

Please proofread and update the GAP test. There are some questions that have been incorrect, ambiguous, or do not utilize proper grammar/sentience structure so it makes it hard to discern the question.

Both the test and the learning center are based off of the old interface. Therefore, questions such as 'in what tab can you find both your billing and account access information' are outdated.

Thank you for updating the PRO center. Please pass my thanks onto the GAP team. The new GAP website is a nice step in the correct direction for supporting GAPs. Hopefully, some of the sections will continue to be built out with additional information and support options.

AWA - I sent you a few examples if you wish to attach to the feedback report

[netmeg]

Please proofread and update the GAP test. There are some questions that have been incorrect, ambiguous, or do not utilize proper grammar/sentience structure so it makes it hard to discern the question.

Amen to that. I just recently took the GAP test again, and I noticed the same.

[AdWordsAdvisor]

It's been a week in which I have not been able to get to this forum very often to either read or post. My apology for that.

It's really nice to see the many posts here, which I am now copy/pasting into the Advertiser Feedback. Thank you.

The report will go out in an estimated 14 hour from the time I write this - so plenty of time (and room in the report) for additional suggestions/requests.

Thanks for your suggestions regarding the Learning Center and test, eWhisper. I will pass your post along, of course, but my understanding (as someone who is not formally involved in any way) is that what you suggest is well underway. As you can well imagine, it is a large-scale task. ;)

Thanks for being so prolific RhinoFish!

My best to you all,

AWA

[RhinoFish]

"announcements indicator still says i have some days after i dismissed them. clicking on bold red announcements indicator (top right near sign out) takes me to the page and there's no announcements there. happening in many accounts i manage."

still not working, and i'm developing blindness to the bold, upper right notice that i have announcements (cuz i check and i don't have any). :-)

[RhinoFish]

i have image ads that are being falsely disapproved as "Inaccurate Display URL". i've tried different combinations to no avail, with the correct subfolder with and without a trailing slash, w/o the folder (plain jane url) and nothing is working to get these approved.

it's a major client of mine running a national co-promotion for a movie that's coming out - so immediate approval is very important to them, but i can't get the ads past the screening process.

here's the kicker, one of the image ads got approved, the others didn't. the text adds that use the EXACT same destination url got approved with this same display urls. but most of the image ads are somehow getting false triggers as bad display urls.

very frustrating as it's making me look suddenly inept to a very important long-term client of mine.

[moderngamer]

Impression Share Reporting at Ad Group level would be great.

[RhinoFish]

For my previously reported problem where ads are being disapproved for Inaccurate Display URL...

For the first banner that you add, it works fine. For the second banner, it assumes you'll use the same url and autofills it - but it replaces some characters, like "&" for "&" - which breaks the url. If you click on them to visit the target site, they generally load, because people's servers will reinterpret the url properly - but the ad checking algorithm apparently doesn't!

Please stop the url from changing at all if it's being autofilled!

[edited by: RhinoFish at 6:55 pm (utc) on Sep. 7, 2009]