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Google Announces AdWords Keywords Changes

Google just announced that in the coming weeks they will simplify their AdWords keyword status system and introduce "Quality-Based Minimum Bids."

So what does this mean for you, if you have Google AdWords campaigns?

Currently, the keywords for your Adwords campaigns could be in one of the following states:  normal, in trial, on hold, or disabled.  Once the changes are introduced, Google AdWords keywords can only be either active or inactive.

Also, AdWords accounts are currently slowed when they don't meet Google's performance requirements, causing ads to appear rarely for keywords.  Once Google introduces the AdWords changes, accounts will no longer be slowed.

Google will introduce a Quality Score and Quality-Based Minimum Bids.

Google says that the Quality Score will be determined by your keyword's clickthrough rate (CTR), the relevance of your ad text, the historical keyword performance, and "other relevancy factors" that Google is not specifying.

Quality-Based Minimum Bids:  Google says that each AdWords keyword will be assigned a minimum bid based on its Quality Score. Keywords with a higher Quality Score will be given lower minimum bids to stay active and trigger ads. Keywords with a lower Quality Score (including those that are currently on hold) will have the opportunity to run if your keyword or Ad Group's maximum cost-per-click (CPC) meets the minimum bid.

Google says that the Ad Rank, the position of your AdWords ad, will continue to be based on the maximum CPC (cost per click) and the quality (which will now be called the Quality Score).

Here is what Google recommends you should do before and after they implement the Adwords changes:

"Before implementation: If you're happy with your current keyword list, there's no need to make any changes. However, if you have any on hold keywords that you don't want to trigger ads, we suggest you delete them from your account. This is because any keywords with a high enough Quality Score and maximum CPC could be activated and accrue ad clicks. You can use our Find and Edit Keywords tool, available in your account's Tools page, to quickly search for and delete any keywords in your account.

"After implementation: We'll email you after we implement these changes. You should then log in to your account and monitor your keyword performance under these new guidelines. Any disabled keywords at the time of implementation will remain labeled as disabled in your account. Several weeks later, we'll delete them. This period of time is meant to give you an opportunity to review your disabled keywords and activate them.

"Finally, to ensure your ads are optimized for performance, we suggest you continue to improve your keywords and ad text for relevancy."

Here are some Google AdWords resources that may help:

How to create a targeted keyword list for Google AdWords...

Google AdWords Optimization Tips page...

For more information, visit Google's AdWords Performance Changes page...

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