New Google Adwords Interface

By Troy Blanchard, Search Manager

Google recently introduced an updated version of the Google Adwords web interface. While the new interface is still technically in Beta, it will soon become standard and represents the biggest update to the Adwords interface in at least four years. Although many search marketing professionals may spend more time building and uploading campaigns via Google Adwords Editor, DART Search or third party software, most day-to-day reporting and analysis probably still takes place in the Adwords interface.

Instead of taking an in-depth look at all the shiny new features and gadgets, here are five new features that should make the day of a search marketing professional more efficient and a little easier.

1. Interactive graph

The most noticeable change to the interface is the new adjustable metrics graph beneath the tabs on the campaign page. The graph can be adjusted for any time period of the campaign and can be viewed with one or two different metrics. If you want a quick idea of how clicks, impressions or any other metric has been trending on Google, the graph takes a lot less time than running a report.

2. Quick budget edit

Adjusting the daily budget for each campaign used to mean clicking through to each campaigns' settings and updating the bid one at a time. Now, the daily budgets can be adjusted right from the campaign tab. Just drag the cursor over the budget amount and a pencil icon will appear. Double click the budget amount and you can now edit quickly and easily.

3. View all ad texts

Previously, a holistic view of the campaign ads required an ad report. But if you are in a rush, or just enjoy not downloading and sorting through reports, you can now view all of the campaign ads on one page, for all ad groups. This is particularly useful if a client is seeking immediate changes to ad copy, and you need a one-stop shop to update all of them in one place.

4. Settings summary tab

The settings tab allows you to see a dashboard summary view of the settings for all of your campaigns. From here, you can quickly review location and language settings, campaign end dates, and ad scheduling. If you manage an account that has different settings for each campaign, this is a great feature to run sanity checks to make sure your settings are in order, as opposed to scanning through each campaign’s setting page.

5. Improved search function

A common complaint amongst search marketers is that for a search engine company, the Adwords search functionality always seemed to fall short. With the new interface, search functionality significantly improved. Click on the filter and views button on the right side of the page below the dates, and go to search by keyword text. Now, you can return search results within the actual workable interface. You can search not just by keyword text, but by number of impressions, clicks, the average cost per click, quality score, position and more. Want to see all the keywords in your account below 3rd position and then increase the bids? That will take just a couple clicks in the new interface.

These are just five new features of the new Google Adwords interface, and there are a lot more. Take some time to look around the new interface and get a feel for the new functions. If you miss the old interface, you can always press ‘Previous Interface’ on the top right hand corner of the page. However, if you want a faster more efficient process while working with Adwords, the new interface has a lot to offer.