Why This Firefox Addon Rocks!

This toolbar will display today’s basic key performance indicators at the bottom of your browser.

Double Click this toolbar for your stats to update - it may take 60 seconds to update depending on the size of your account. The data you see will be for today only.

Right click to see the tool menu and drill down into your account level statistics.

Clicks: Total number of clicks accrued today

aCPC: average Cost Per Click today

Cost: Total spent today

Conv: Total number of conversions accrued today

C/C: Cost per Conversion today

Requirements

-FF 2+ preferred while we’re confident this works from 1.5-3.0.*

-AdWords Client Center

-AdWords API Tokens

Tip: Your statistics might take 60 seconds or more to load depending on the size of your account. If you still do not see data, you may need to restart FF and test your credentials again.

How to Install This Firefox Addon

Upon download, Firefox should automatically recognize the extension and install it.

If you get any errors:

Right click the logo, click ’save link as…’, after saving you can scan it with any Anti-Virus program, then open Firefox. In FF, click file -> Open File -> Find the file and open it -> Install

How To Use PPC Management for Firefox

Credentials

Login Email: Your Client Center login email address

Password: Your Client Center login password

Developer Token: AdWords API Token found in your Client Center (My Account->AdWords API Center)

Application Token: AdWords API Token found in your Client Center (My Account->AdWords API Center)

Client Email: The email address of the account in your Client Center that you want to see stats for

Save your credentials, then test! Load is kind of a pseudo button for now…

Tip: You might need to restart FF after saving your credentials for the tool to work properly!

Keyword Estimates Tool

This tool is very similar to the Estimates tool you find in AdWords.

You don’t have to enter a Max CPC if you want to see the absolute maximum you can expect to pay with the highest possible bid ($100).

Keyword Tool (AKA Kewyord Suggestion Tool)

Search Volume and Competition are on the old scale…1 to 5 where 5 is very competitive or very high search volume and 1 is limited competition with a very low search volume relative to other keywords in that space.

In the future we will incorporate the new real number estimates currently available at Google.

Site Keywords Tool

Enter your landing page in the Site URL field and click Generate Suggestions to see what keywords Google thinks the page is targeted towards.

Account Statistics Tool

You can drill down to the keyword level statistics to find out how your account is doing for the day!

Double click your way through and new windows will open displaying the next level of statistics. For example, double click on a campaign to see the ad groups of that campaign in a new stats window. Then, double click an ad group to see the keyword stats!

Privacy and Security

We are confident that this tool is secure and your privacy is protected. semvironment will not and will never ask for or gather the information you enter into this tool. All of your credentials are stored on your local machine, not our servers. All AdWords API calls are made via https. This project is in beta right now so there aren’t any guarantees that a site you visit might have malicious material that could crack this…or one of your buddies could borrow your computer and get your credentials, etc. Please send any privacy concerns back to us asap so we can add it to our development time line as a priority!

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Seriously…I’m seconding Shane’s post about getting an AdWords API Token set…it’s so easy!

Simply log into your Client Center (yes, you need one even if you have one advertiser account!)…then click on ‘My Account’, then click ‘AdWords API Center’ and follow the instructions from there to apply!

Here are the instructions in super simplified form:

1. Get a Client Center account if you don’t already have one!

2. Log into your Client Center -> My Account -> AdWords API Center -> Sign up!

Do it…you won’t regret it!

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A little while ago, we posted instructions on how to sign up for the AdWords API and get a developer token. Again, the AdWords API is a way for you to tap into your AdWords account data from external programs. It comes in handy with nifty tools that are coming out all the time to help you manage your pay per click accounts more effectively and efficiently.

A couple of good resources for learning about the AdWords API are the AdWords API Blog, the Google Groups AdWords API Forum, and Google AdWords API Introduction & Help.

We recommend you sign up for this API now. You may be kicking yourself in the next couple of weeks if you don’t! That’s all I’m trying to say…

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The semvironment PPC Management series will cover a variety of regular management activities in depth. This series will be posted every month or two. We chose Keyword List Expansion and Negative keywords as our first topic because of the recent quality score changes in Google. Refining and managing your keyword lists is going to be even more vital to your success than it has been previously.

We hope you like it, comment on it, link to it, point fingers at it, poke it, and help us grow this guide - it will be dynamic. We will strive to keep it updated with the best comments and input while giving credit where credit is due!

Enjoy!

Table Of Contents

• 1. How To Use This Guide
• 2. Definitions
  +Keyword List Expansion
  +Negative Keywords
• 3. Theory
  +Negative Keywords and Your Quality Score
  +Keyword List Expansion
  +Keyword List Expansion and Your Quality Score
• 4. Your First Keyword List (3 Tips/Hints)
• 5. Negative Keywords
  +What makes a keyword negative?
  +How to Add Negative Keywords in Google (5 minute Step by Step Guide)
  +How to Add Negative Keywords in Yahoo! (5 minute Step by Step Guide)
  +How to Add Negative Keywords in MSN (5 minute Step by Step Guide)
• 6. Keyword List Expansion
  +What keywords should you add to your compaigns/ad groups?
  +How do you find the right keywords?
• 7. Filters and Settings
  +How these Filters/Settings apply to negative keywords and keyword list expansion
  +Google Analytics Filters (30 minute Step by Step Guide)
  +AdWords Data in Google Analytics (2 minute Step by Step Guide)
  +Conversion Data in Google Analytics (20 minute Step by Step Guide)
  +Tagging URLS in Google Analytics for Google, Yahoo! and MSN
• 8. Automating Reports
  +Automating Google Analytics Reports (2 minute Step by Step Guide)
  +Analytics Keyword Reports – Paid/Organic (10 minute Step by Step Guide)
  +Analytics Conversion Reports
  +AdWords Search Query Report (5 minute Step by Step Guide)
• 9. Other Discovery Methods
  +Search Suggest
  +Review the Results
  +Keyword Research Tools
• Appendix A: Huge Lists of Negative Keywords (Download .txt file)

Read the rest of this entry »

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As we recently reported, Google AdWords has announced three big changes in its pay per click advertising program concerning quality score and bidding. The AdWords Team said today that Google is now ready to roll out the changes to all advertisers across Google’s entire network.

So buckle up, and watch your accounts for the changes this week.

On the Inside Adwords blog, Google explained that quality scores will still be calculated using the same factors, only now several of those factors will be calculated instantaneously at the time of the search query. Google explains:

“We will still consider your account’s history, which consists of the clickthrough rate (CTR) of all the ads and keywords in your account. We will also consider your landing page quality. Although your overall Quality Score is evaluated at the time of each query, landing page quality is evaluated less frequently.”

The AdWords Team also explained that the new ‘first page bid’ metric that is replacing the old ‘minimum bid’ does not mean that it will now cost more than it used to to have your ad appear on the first page of search results. The only difference is now AdWords gives you a reference point regarding what it will cost you to get on that first page, whereas before it only told you how much you’d need to pay to have your ad show at all. Of course, now that everyone will know how much to pay to get on the first page, those costs may go up as the competition for the first page gets fiercer.

These quality score changes, increases in paid search advertising competition, and the constant innovations in the pay per click advertising industry make it necessary to lean how to maintain the top quality scores for your keywords. It may even be important for seasoned PPC managers to brush up on their skills.

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Google AdWords has announced the introduction of three quality score improvements in its pay per click platform. The changes include dynamic, real-time quality scores for keywords, a removal of the “inactive for search” label on low-bid keywords, and the replacement of minimum bids with “first page bids.”

The following are some screenshots of the new quality score changes, photo credits belong to The PPC Book:

Quality scores will now be calculated at the time of the search query, which means that different queries that would normally trigger the same keyword will now have distinctly calculated quality scores based on the location of the searcher and other variables. All this is done in an effort to increase relevancy for both searcher and advertiser.

This dynamic calculation of quality score allows Google to rescind the “inactive for search” keyword tag, so even keywords with very low bids (when compared to quality) can be shown, albeit in less competitive locations.

Additionally, in an effort to help advertisers know with more certainty where their ads will be showing, AdWords is removing the minimum bid metric and adding a first page bid metric. Now advertisers will be shown what bid is required to show up on the first page of search results, giving them a more accurate picture of their ad placement with their current budget/bid.

AdWords is rolling out these updates slowly, but all AdWords advertisers are expected to see them in place shortly.

James: I hypothesized about quality scores being dynamic back in January 2008…I haven’t noticed and I don’t expect to see any abnormal changes with our client accounts as they relate to their quality scores in the coming month or two because I am confident this has been going on for quite some time. I believe AdWords is simply becoming more transparent but I have no way of confirming that. I was simply noticing a ‘test’ or some sort of long tail abnormality given the unique query.

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A new geographic report is now available in Google AdWords, according to the AdWords blog this morning. By reporting the geographic distribution of where clicks are coming from, the report allows advertisers to hone in on profitable locations in which to target ads.

To access the report, log into your account (or client account) and click the reports tab:

Create a new report, selecting the geographic report radio button:

Add advanced filtering settings if you like, and view the report. Here is an example of what it will look like:

At present, the geographic report only shows daily statistics “to ensure that impression counts and clickthrough rates (CTR) for your geographic data are aggregated accurately,” according to AdWords help.

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Search giant, Google Inc., recently rolled out its search enhancing “Google Suggest,” a drop-down box that recommends search queries as users type. While Yahoo! has had this feature for some time, the addition of search suggestions in Google has caused a special stir among pay per click managers.

As Google users search, a drop-down box appears with 10 suggested queries, along with the number of results. For example, if users type in “UFO” Google suggests “UFOs (8,370,000 results)”, “UFO Sightings (1,430,000 results), and “UFO News (830,000)”, among others.

PPC Discussions calls Google Suggest “the death of the long tail.” With search made easier for users (searchers don’t have to type a full query - they can just type a word and choose a suggestion), many long-tail keywords will likely be less searched or even un-searched. Major increases in search volume for the most popular queries will not only result in more advertiser competition for those keywords, but also much more revenue for Google as bids increase.

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Holy crap! I’ve been out of the loop for a couple of weeks and I just found out that PPC Whiz has broken the record for best click thru rate ever!  At a rate of 92,233,720,369,547,776.00%, he has challenged anyone to beat his CTR, and he says he’s got $50 to give if it gets beat.

Unluckily for PPC Whiz, while I was moving everything I own to Honolulu (although it’s not actually that much!), ads on my business printing website were running, and one of my ads got the following CTR:

Coincidentally, this CTR is .01% greater than PPC Whiz’s, meaning that I now have set the record! I can’t wait to spend my $50! You can pay me via paypal or personal check…

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Google recently implemented several useful updates to its AdWords Website Optimizer, making it possible to refine tests, validate previously inaccessible pages, and draw more accurate conclusions from data.

Website Optimizer is a free content testing tool which allows Google AdWords users to test different variations of their websites in order to maximize their return on investment and improve user experience for their visitors.

The three main items updated are Experiment Pruning, A/B Offline Validation, and more intuitive reporting.

Experiment Pruning allows advertisers to disable selected combinations from taking part in the website optimizer experimentation process. This proves useful to advertisers in allowing them to disable poorly performing or illogical experiment combinations.

A/B Offline Validation allows advertisers to upload pages to be validated so Website Optimizer can check if they are tagged properly. Previously, pages in sections of the site where Website Optimizer can’t go simply couldn’t be validated. The new feature offers a solution to this dilemma.

Finally, the reporting features for Website Optimizer have been made more intuitive, allowing less room for data interpretation error or false conclusions on the part of advertisers reviewing data.

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