The Hardest AdWords Quiz You’ll Ever Take

If you’re using Google AdWords on a somewhat regular basis, you probably think you know a lot about the platform and service. But how well do you really know AdWords?

I promise this will be the hardest AdWords quiz you’ll ever take!  I’m timing you… just kidding, but challenge yourself not to go Googling the answers as you work your way through this. See what you really know.

And… GO!

1. What Are The Phone Number And Hours For The Official AdWords Support Line?

All right, this is a bit of a trick question.

Answer: Google AdWords offers phone support in over 80 countries, so if you got the hours and phone number for your country, you’re right! But how would you ever know? Check the World Phone Support page and toggle to your country in the dropdown list. If your country isn’t listed, you’ll need to use their Contact Us web form for help.

(In the USA, the phone number is 1-866-2GOOGLE, and support is available in English or Spanish from 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday.)

2. Name The Two Songs That Play In The Background While You’re On Hold With AdWords Support

What an earworm. If you’ve ever sat on hold waiting for Google AdWords support, you probably know the songs I’m talking about.

If you’ve lucked out and have never been on hold with AdWords, have a listen here:

Now name those two songs!

No, it won’t help you with your AdWords strategy, but the next time that piano starts pounding away in your head, you’ll know what it is and won’t have to run to Shazam.

Answer: The two songs AdWords uses for hold music are: Child’s Garden by Dax Johnson and The Lotus Flower by ISISIP. (duh!)

3. Which Intrepid Reporter Covers AdWords News For Search Engine Land? (Bonus Point: Who Covers AdWords News When The Aforementioned Reporter Is On Holidays?)

We appreciate her in-depth coverage and ability to bring the most important information from each update to the forefront for readers.

Who is it?

Answer: Ginny Marvin, of course — and when she’s out, Greg Finn and Barry Schwartz (among others) bring us the latest AdWords news.

4. What Does This AdWords Script Do?

[CLICK TO ENLARGE]

AdWords scripts are super important — they allow you to make automated changes in your account and programmatically control your data. But what is this one for?

Answer: This script computes a keyword performance report and outputs it to a Google spreadsheet, like this:

The spreadsheet URL is then logged and emailed.

AdWords scripts provide a way to programmatically automate common PPC management procedures or interact with external data, for one or many AdWords accounts, using simple JavaScript code. To learn more about AdWords Scripts, check out Ginny Marvin’s recent 4-part series on the subject: AdWords Scripts For Every Level: Part 1, Learning How To Read Scripts.

5. Who Is The Host Of PPC Rockstars?

PPC Rockstars is hands-down, the best PPC marketing podcast out there.

Alright, I’ll give you a hint. This well-connected, brilliant and influential search marketer is known for bringing his guitar and mini-amp to industry events and is an associate of a real-world rock star.

Answer: It’s the inimitable David Szetela!

6. Name All Of The Shared Objects In The AdWords UI Dumping Ground Known As The AdWords Shared Library

This is so mean of me, but no half-points here. I’ll give you an A for effort if you get 5 or 6 right, but only take a point if you get all seven!

Answer:

• Ads: Create an ad that can be used with several ad groups.
• Audiences: Remarket to people who visited your site before.
• Bid Strategies: Create bid strategies that can be used to manage bids for specific keywords, ad groups, and campaigns.
• Budgets: Share the same budget across different campaigns.
• Business Data: Upload or link to business data and feeds for your ads, extensions, and targeting.
• Campaign Negative Keywords: Create a list of negative keywords for use with several campaigns.
• Campaign Placement Exclusions: Create a list of placement exclusions for use with several campaigns.

I bet you forgot Business Data and Campaign Placement Exclusions! :)

7. List Out All The Ad Targeting Group Options For TrueView Video Ads.

People watch hundreds of millions of hours on YouTube and generate billions of views every day, with half of the views coming from mobile.

YouTube TrueView ads provide a powerful way to reach these people by allowing businesses to insert skippable video ads that run immediately before a video is played. You only pay if someone watches your ad!

TrueView ad targeting lets you define groups, then mix and match targeting settings that can then be applied to one or more video ads. With AdWords for video, “ad groups” don’t exist like they do with other ad campaigns outside this campaign tool.

Can you name all of the ad targeting options for this ad format?

Answer:

A single targeting group can contain the following types of targets:

• Demographics: Age, gender, and parental status. (Only in the U.S., UK, and Canada.)
• Topics: YouTube video or Google Display Network content targeted by category or sub-category.
• Interests: There are two types of interest groups to pick from. Affinity audiences let you reach people who have a strong interest in a particular product, brand or service. In-Market audiences let you target the people with a strong interest in a particular product, brand or service, and who are also deemed to have a strong likelihood of making a purchase.
• Placements: Placements include specific YouTube Channels, specific YouTube videos, and any website in the Google Display Network that hosts video ads.
• Remarketing Lists: Reach viewers based on their past interactions with your videos or YouTube channel.
• Keywords: Keywords for the YouTube Search Network will serve ads based on YouTube viewers’ search queries. Keywords for YouTube Videos and the Google Display Network (GDN) will serve ads that are contextually related to YouTube channels and videos as well as websites on the GDN.

Pretty powerful stuff huh?

8.Describe The Way The Google Ad Auction Worked Prior To The Introduction Of The AdWords Self-Service, CPC-Based Platform In 2002

Tricky, right? I know, we’re all aging ourselves here — and it’s hard to believe it was that long ago! — but see if you can remember the “old” Ad Auction. Give yourself a point if you remember how it worked.

Answer: You would call an ad sales rep on the phone or contact them by email to negotiate an ad buy. You’d send over a list of keywords and countries, they would send you an initial CPM-based price quotation and estimated volumes for keywords you were interested in.

The actual CPC was based on your negotiation skills vs. the AdWords sales representative. After confirming the order, you would then email them a spreadsheet containing your ad copy. The process took a week or two to get up and running. Crazy, huh?

9. What Is The Single Most Important AdWords Metric That Impacts AdRank, CPC, Impression Share And Even Cost-Per-Conversion?

Man, I hope I don’t have to give any hints on this one!

Answer: Despite what Google says, I happen to believe Quality Score is very important, though I’ve discussed it enough that I know reasonable people can disagree! Go on and take a point for any answer you gave here – it’s the client goals that matter most.

Are You an AdWords Ninja?

You totally sweated your way through that, right? I hope you weren’t up all night swilling coffee and cramming for the big exam.

Now let’s see how you did:

All 9 correct (Or More With Bonus Points) = AdWords Ninja!

You’re kicking butt and taking names in AdWords. You probably also have a photographic memory and are the PPC equivalent of Sheldon Cooper. You’re actually a little scary.

7 or 8 correct = Excellent Work, Padawan

Your PPC force is strong. You know the platform, but are also interested and involved in the industry as a whole. You have an insatiable curiosity for PPC – fellow AdWords geeks look to you for advice when new features and functions roll out, because you’ve probably already read everything available and even tried it out.

3 to 6 correct = AdWords Expert In Training

You know the basics and then some, but haven’t gotten your full AdWords geek on yet. The effort is there – you just need to expand your depth and breadth of PPC knowledge. Spend more time in your AdWords account this year and get more involved in the industry. Check out PPC University, #ppcchat on Twitter, read the SEL paid search columns, and other reputable news sources daily and hit your boss up for a search marketing conference ticket.

1 to 2 correct = Study Harder!

Alright, so you need a lot of training – but there’s hope for you yet! Get involved, get reading, get testing and make a plan to up your AdWords game in 2015. PPC should be fun and interesting, not a chore. Challenge yourself to learn something new about AdWords every day and you’ll be amazed how knowledgeable you are even six months from now.

0 correct = Mom?

If you didn’t get any right, I can only conclude that you’re probably one of my relatives who has zero interest in AdWords but thinks it’s cool I write stuff on the Internet. In that case, kudos for making it all the way through to the bottom! (But how did you not get that last question, seriously?)