2. AdWords API Features Update
What’s new, out of beta, and noteworthy
Marc Wandschneider, Google Inc.
<SPEAKER>, Google, Inc.
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3. Latest Release Highlights
● Some new features
○ Offline conversions import & tracking
○ New reporting types and fields
○ Shared budget changes
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4. Latest Release Highlights (cont’d)
● Other noteworthy changes:
○ Names mandatory on Campaigns and AdGroups
○ Can no longer toggle search network for NetworkSetting
○ Stats objects are no longer available via services
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5. Latest Release Highlights (cont’d)
● Five features graduated from beta
○ Display criteria bid modifiers
○ Dynamic Search Ads
○ AdGroup level feeds (site links)
○ Flexible bidding strategies
○ Location bid modifiers
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7. Offline Conversion Import
● Allows you to register conversions by hand
● Might have been manual conversion
● Maybe your conversion tracker works differently
● Can register conversions up to 90 days after the click
● Exact value is configurable
● Conversions can be used for
● Flexible bidding
● Conversion reporting (aka search funnels)
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8. Offline Conversion Import (cont’d)
● Basic procedure
a. Register to receive GCLID with auto-tagging
b. Store incoming click ID as lead in your database
c. When conversion occurs, mark as converted in DB
d. Periodically run code to upload these conversions to API
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9. Offline Conversion Import (cont’d)
● To Upload a conversion, two steps:
a. Create Import conversion type
■ via UI or ConversionTrackerService
b. Report (upload) the conversion
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10. Create Import Conversion Type (Code)
UploadConversion uc = new UploadConversion();
uc.setCategory(ConversionTrackerCategory.SIGNUP);
uc.setName("Freemium signup");
uc.setViewthroughLookbackWindow(30);
uc.setCtcLookbackWindow(90);
ConversionTrackerService.mutate(ADD, uc);
// NOTE: wait 6 hours after creating before uploading.
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11. Report Offline Conversion
OfflineConversionFeed feed = new OfflineConversionFeed();
feed.setConversionName("Freemium signup");
feed.setConversionTime(conversionTime);
feed.setGoogleClickId(gClid);
feed.setConversionValue(3.50);
// optional, > 0
OfflineConversionFeedService.mutate(ADD, feed);
// conversion can take up to 3 hours to be processed fully
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13. Campaign and AdGroup Names
● Now mandatory field
● It’s up to you to guarantee unique
among your campaigns
● Not adding will cause an error
● (that’s it)
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14. NetworkSetting and Search
● Display only campaigns have evolved over time
● Can now no longer toggle search for NetworkSetting
● Will throw TargetError.TARGET_ERROR
● Can still toggle display network
● Only affects you if you’re changing NetworkSetting for
existing campaigns
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15. Stats Objects Going Away
● Many services (7) used to contain Stats objects
● i.e. AdGroupService ,CampaignService, MutateJobService
● No longer there, will return an error
● Use reporting instead to get statistics
● Reporting API is extremely easy to use
● You should already be using it!
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16. Individual Campaign Budgets Are Back...
● As of v201309, it is now possible to create ‘individual’
(non-shared) budgets
● As of v201302, a boolean field was added to the
Budget object to support this: isExplicitlyShared
● The isExplicitlyShared value is now honoured
● Set isExplicitlyShared = false to create an
individual budget
● Default value: isExplicitlyShared = true
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17. Why Create Individual Campaign Budgets?
● Individual budgets will not appear in the AdWords UI
‘Shared Library’
● They cannot be shared unless converted to a shared
budget by setting isExplicitlyShared = true
● Shared budgets cannot be converted to Individual
budgets
● Individual Budgets are automatically deleted when the
Campaign is deleted
○ BudgetService.mutate(REMOVE op) not required
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18. Why Create Individual Campaign Budgets?
● Campaigns using Budget Optimizer or Campaign
Experiments cannot share budgets
● Individual budgets enforce this
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20. 1. Display Criteria Bid Modifiers
●
BiddableAdGroupCriterion.bidModifier
!!
● For modifying bids for certain Display Network segments
● Can modify bids for specific placements / audiences
● RLSAs too!
● Won’t work for keywords or other criterion types
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21. 2. Dynamic Search Ads
● Ads that serve based on your sites’ content
● Don’t need to add headline, destination URL, or keywords
● You provide only descriptions, display URL
● Same ranking — performs same as other search ads
● Work within keyword-based campaigns
● Can provide DSAs as “catch-all” for non-matched keywords
● Can still use negative keywords, reporting, extensions
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22. Dynamic Search Ads (cont’d)
● Create Campaigns and AdGroups as before
● Feel free to add keyword criteria
● For DSAs, you need three things:
● DomainInfoExtension
● One or more Webpage Criteria
● DynamicSearchAds
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23. Dynamic Search Ads (cont’d)
● Create Ad of type DynamicSearchAd
● Provide description1, description2, displayUrl
● One trick: If you provide url must use parameterised
value
● Can update, change status, etc
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24. Dynamic Search Ads (cont’d)
● url parameter, if provided, needs a parameter
● One of the following values:
● {unescapedlpurl} — Used at beginning, replaces entire URL
● {unescapedlpurl}?lang=en
● {escapedlpurl} — UR- encoded version, i.e. for trackers
● http://www.3rdpartytracker.com/?lp={escapedlpurl}
● {lpurlpath} — Only path and query part of landing page URL
● http://www.mygoodbusiness.com/tracking/{lpurlpath}
●
If you don’t provide url, {unescapedlpurl} used
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25. Dynamic Search Ads (cont’d)
DynamicSearchAd dsa = new DynamicSearchAd();
dsa.url = "{unescapedlpurl}?source=dsa";
dsa.displayUrl = "amazingcarrepairs.com";
dsa.description1 = "We'll take good care of your car";
dsa.description2 = "Wash and wax service included.";
AdGroupAd aga = new AdGroupAd(_adgroupid);
aga.ad = dsa;
AdGroupService.mutate(ADD, aga);
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26. Dynamic Search Ads (cont’d)
● Add criteria of type Webpage
● Can target by title, content, URL, etc.
● Can also add negative Webpage criteria
● Don’t serve against these pages, etc.
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27. Dynamic Search Ads (cont’d)
WebpageCondition cond = new WebpageCondition();
cond.operand = URL; // filter on URLs, equal to "CONTAINS"
cond.argument = "/grandcherokee";
WebpageParameter param = new WebpageParameter();
param.criterionName = "Jeep Grand Cherokee";
param.conditions = [ cond ];
Webpage wp = new Webpage(); // the criterion
wp.parameter = param;
// can now put in AdGroupCriterion object and ADD!
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28. Dynamic Search Ads (cont’d)
● Caveat:
● DSAs depend on a DomainInfoExtension
●
These are Campaign Ad Extensions
● These are NOT creatable via API
●
Must use UI
● Can create DSAs against existing DomainInfoExtension
● Can get stats & update fields on existing DSAs
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29. 3. AdGroup Level Feeds
● Can now use AdGroupFeedService
● Add site links to individual AdGroups
● (that’s about it, really)
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30. 4. Flexible Bidding Strategies
● Currently bidding strategies are per campaign
● You create a new object and pass that to new campaign
● Would be nice if we could create a pool of them
● Be able to use same configuration across campaigns
● Try out different strategies in different situations
● Flexible Bidding Strategies to the rescue
● Think “shared”
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33. Flexible Bidding Strategies (cont’d)
● BiddingStrategyService is the pool
● Create a SharedBiddingStrategy object
● Contains biddingScheme as you’re used to
●
I.e. TargetSpendBiddingScheme
● For Campaign.biddingStrategyConfiguration
● You just use bidding strategy ID from the shared object
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34. Flexible Bidding Strategies (cont’d)
// 1. create the shared bidding
TargetSpendBiddingScheme tsbs =
tsbs.spendTarget = 250000000;
tsbs.bidCeiling = 2500000;
strategy.
new TargetSpendBiddingScheme();
// $250 a month
// max 2.50$ bid
SharedBiddingStrategy sbs = new SharedBiddingStrategy();
sbs.name = "Monthly targeted spend";
sbs.type = TARGET_SPEND;
sbs.biddingScheme = tsbs;
BiddingStrategyService.mutate(ADD, sbs); // extract result
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35. Flexible Bidding Strategies (cont’d)
// 2. add it to the campaign.
Campaign c = new Campaign();
// set up stuff on c
BiddingStrategyConfiguration bsc = new
BiddingStrategyConfiguration();
bsc.biddingStrategyId = sbs.id;
c.biddingStrategyConfiguration = bsc;
CampaignService.mutate(ADD, c);
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36. 5. Location Bid Modifiers
● Set different bids for
different locations
● All within the comfort of one
campaign
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37. Location Bid Modifiers (cont’d)
// 1. normal location criterion.
LocationCriterion lc = new Location();
lc.id = 1002451; // Toronto, Ontario, Canada
lc.bidModifier = 1.0;
CampaignCriterion cc = new CampaignCriterion();
cc.campaignId = _campaignId;
cc.criterion = lc;
CampaignCriterionService.mutate(ADD, cc);
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38. Location Bid Modifiers (cont’d)
// 2. let's bid more for successful suburb
LocationCriterion lc = new Location();
lc.id = 1002350;
// Mississauga, Ont, Can
CampaignCriterion cc = new CampaignCriterion();
cc.campaignId = _campaignId;
cc.criterion = lc;
cc.bidModifier = 1.5;
// bid 50% more for here
CampaignCriterionService.mutate(ADD, cc);
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40. A Couple of Frequently Unused Features
● Negative Keywords
● Site Links (now via Feed Services)
● Implementing these will help with QS, CTR, relevance
● A simple way to help you serve more effectively
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41. Negative Keywords
// Create keyword. We're creating ads for “Westminster dentist”.
Keyword keyword = new Keyword();
keyword.setText("reviews");
keyword.setMatchType(KeywordMatchType.BROAD);
// Create negative campaign criterion.
NegativeCampaignCriterion ncc = new NegativeCampaignCriterion();
ncc.setCampaignId(_campaignId);
ncc.setCriterion(keyword);
CampaignCriterionService.mutate(ADD, ncc);
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42. Site Links
● Now part of Feed Services
● Separate talk later today
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43. Helpful Links
Google Ads v201309 Blog Post - http://goo.gl/TvNQDx
v201309 Migration Guide - http://goo.gl/e4O7YZ
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