Anyone still managing bids manually?

at what point does it become impossible?

[fom2001uk]

I'm considering doing an Overture campaign for a client but I've only ever done Google Ads before, so I'm not sure about the bid management.

I'd rather avoid having to get bid management software for now because this is a very small campaign (less than 100 keywords).

Is this manageable without having to go down the software route?

[redzone]

It depends on a few factors:

1. How competitive is the client's vertical market.
2. Depending also on #1, if #1 is very competitive, will the client's budget allow them to be in the top 3 positions (Requiring more management)..
3. If #1 & #2 are both true, then how much time do you want to spend manually moniting bid positions?
4. Is the campaign a branding campaign, or eCommerce/Lead generation? If it's a branding campaign, then OverSpend is not such an issue.

Most subscription based bid management software is reasonably priced for small sets of keywords. Maybe you only need to track 50% of the keywords using automated bid management? It comes down to time versus money. What will automated bid management save in both time and money. Address that, and you have your answer.

[keywordguru]

Much agreed. Bid managers can help save both time and money, yet are not always necessary. For instance, if you have a small set of keywords and they are low spending, or you have a low budget, I would not spend the extra on a bid manager.

If you are bidding in a high end ppc arena and the ppc prices per click are outrageous, then a bid manager may be something to consider.

Overture has upgraded their system and they now allow a daily budget to be set. So they will spread your daily budget across the day, and in return will help divide your dollars throughout the day.

I would say go without and then consider if you see the benefit.

KG

[Dorian]

I wouldn't bother with bid management software for 100 keywords or less. Apart from anything else, its a good idea to get a feel for the movement and other players before you automate the process.

[redzone]

Dorian,

The number of keywords should not be the deciding factor in evaluating the need for bid management.

My definition of bid management includes both the monitoring of position and amount of keywords, but also tracking the (ROAS) Return On AdSpend of each keyword, and automatically adjusting bids based on the return at the keyword level.

An advertiser may only have 20 keywords, but if the spend per day is in the thousands, each of those keywords may be automatically adjusted up or down several times a day, based on how the keyword performed during specific segments of the day.

Also, tracking conversions/ROAS by time period, allows bid management technology to maximize adspend during time periods where conversions are good, and minimize adspend during periods where historically conversions are poor.

These types of bid adjustments would be almost impossible to calculate by hand, even with a limited set of 20 keywords. (Not to mention, that a human has to sleep some time? :)

[shorebreak]

I agree with Redzone; the size of the spend and therefore $$$ at stake is the main determinant, not # keywords. However, I think bid mgmt solution costs are material and can eat into some of the benefits below a certain monthly spend.

Generally speaking, though, automated keyword management is the way things are going, and people doing it manually will lose out more and more over time.