The Google AdWords Blog announced a new and very useful feature for AdWords advertisers on how to manage their accounts without them actually having to login and make changes on a daily basis. The new feature is named AdWords Automated Rules and is currently available to some advertisers, specifically within the US.
The feature lets advertisers schedule automatic changes to specific parts of their account based on the criteria that they specify. For example, you can change your daily budget on peak shopping days or modify your Max CPC bids based on CTR or conversion rates or even enable ad text directing users to a promotional landing pages late on a Sunday night.
Google said this will gradually roll out to all US advertisers in the coming weeks. I suspect this will become a very powerful and popular feature amongst advertisers.
For more information on how to use this feature, see the help section. Here are screen shots on how to access the feature, followed by a video demo:
Related Topics: Google: AdWords | Top News
Nice, I think this opens the doors up to a lot of different bidding strategies.
I see enormous potential with this ad innovation as well, but my initial look in AdWords reveals the crucial parameter Cost/Conversion missing as an option to change bids!
It’s possible to use a combined rule of Cost >X and Conversions >=Y for a particular campaign, but that is much less effective than tracking Cost/Conversion directly.
It looks like Google wants to make it easier for advertisers to automate certain revenue-increasing tasks (such increasing bids when keywords fall below a given average position), but is less willing to facilitate advertiser cost-saving measures such as containing cost/conversion.
Does anyone else see a way to create an Automated Rule using Cost/Conversion?
I can’t wait until they want to hit the algorithms. Wonder who they will buy for that. I think it’s coming since they got duped by Groupon. :)
Katie A.: “Does anyone else see a way to create an Automated Rule using Cost/Conversion?”
Average CPA is one of the supported metrics. But, use it at your own risk.
Katie, you are dead on. I got access to the automated last week and tweeted about it then.
They could easily provide boundaries for cost/conv. , but have designed this with little regard for controlling the bidding from climbing out of control.
I wound up simply creating avg CPA rules using rolling 30 day avgs for both upper and lower CPA’s. Decrease if avg CPA hits x/ increase if < y. Not perfect but I'm thinking it will keep it in a decent window.
It makes me wonder if it is designed for those less proactive and want to set & forget.
Well this could be good if implemented properly, but it could also become troublesome for affiliate marketers. CPA may also be affected severely if they get this wrong.
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