Google announced several changes in AdWords this month that will help PPC advertisers optimize campaign performance. On September 1st, AdWords rolled out “top of page bid estimates”, followed the next day by their announcement that AdWords will be “reviewing paused ads in AdWords” (starting today, September 6th), and finally, “3-line Sitelinks have debuted! More detail on each of these updates below:
Google Introduces Top of Page Bid Estimates in AdWords
Last week, Google announced that they are now displaying “top of page estimates” in AdWords. This new metric is similar to the “first page bid estimate” and will estimate what your CPC bid needs to be in order to show up above the search results in the first few positions. This metric also pairs nicely with the recently released “top vs. side report segment”, that shows which ad positions (top or side) are generating clicks and conversions, so that the advertiser can optimize their bidding accordingly.
Here’s how you can view your top of page bid estimates (from AdWords):
- Go to the Keywords tab.
- Click the Columns button.
- Select Customize columns from the drop-down menu.
- Check the Est. top of page bid box and click Save.
AdWords “top of page estimate”
Note from AdWords: “While the top of page bid estimates can help guide your bid planning, bidding higher than the top of page bid estimate will not guarantee a top ad position. Ad position will still depend on Quality Score, your CPC bid, your budget and account settings, and user and competing advertiser behavior.”
Google To Begin Reviewing Paused Ads In AdWords
Starting today, September 6th, AdWords advertisers can have paused ads reviewed through the Google approval process immediately. AdWords announced that they are launching a new AdWords process that will not just review active ads, but paused ones as well.
- Newly created (paused) ads will be given priority for review.
- Existing (paused) ads will be reviewed next.
This update has rolled out ahead of the busy holiday season, and is good news for advertisers who typically switch out creative during busier review periods during the holidays or other seasonal events, and want to ensure their creative is approved ahead of time (eliminating last minute ad “disapprovals”).
Google Now Showing Three-Line Ad Sitelinks
As reported by Search Engine Land, AdWords ads are now displaying with three lines of sitelinks, And if it’s any indication, Google has updated its help documents to include “three-line” Ad Sitelinks. Previously, Ad Sitelinks were only displayed in one-line, two-line and embedded formats.
AdWords Three-line Sitelinks
The following best practices will help increase your chances of showing Sitelinks (from AdWords):
- Your ad should have one of the top positions above the search results.
- Your ad should have a very high Quality Score.
- Your Sitelinks URLs must direct users to pages that are part of your main website.
So, what do you think of AdWords recent updates? Comment and let us know.
