Google says it’s tired of squeezing display advertising into an interface made for search, so it’s giving display its own tab within the AdWords interface.

Given that display was launched almost as an afterthought to AdWords’ core search ads business, it makes sense to start from scratch and give display its due. The new interface is built to run display campaigns and enable advertisers to bid, target and optimize display campaigns in one place. The new interface also features visual displays that show how reach is impacted by combining multiple targeting types.

An important part of the launch will be what Google calls Next-Gen Keyword Contextual Targeting, which will allow marketers to optimize campaigns down to the individual keyword level. This means it will be easier to extend search campaigns to display, because learnings from search about profitable keywords can then be tried in display. Google has been beta testing this targeting with agencies and advertisers for the last several months.

The new display tab, which features the new targeting options, will be rolled out to AdWords users over the next few weeks.

Related Topics: Channel: SEM | Google: AdWords

About The Author: Pamela Parker is a contributing editor for Search Engine Land and Executive Features Editor at Marketing Land. She’s a well-respected authority on digital marketing, having reported and written on the subject since 1998, including a stint as managing editor of ClickZ. She’s also worked to help monetize independent publishers’ sites at Federated Media Publishing. She blogs about media and marketing at The River and about cooking, gardening and parenthood at Free Range. She can be found on Twitter as @pamelaparker. See more articles by Pamela Parker

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