It’s time again to compare and contrast AdWords vs. adCenter. There are a number of differences between how AdWords and adCenter function, and account managers often have to alter their strategy to adjust for these differences. In this post I’m going to take a look at how to split up match types in each search engine, a practice often considered only feasible in AdWords due to their negative keyword match types. During a call with my adCenter rep, I found out that it also possible to implement this strategy in adCenter and wanted to share the process.
It’s a common strategy in AdWords to break out match types in order to manage and optimize them separately. To do so, you need to create separate ad groups for each match type and then add in negatives of the other match types. Below is an example of how your ad groups would be structured.
So why can’t you do use this strategy in adCenter? Currently all negative keywords are treated as phrase match keywords, although I’ve heard rumblings that exact match negatives will be available at the beginning of November. Even though adCenter doesn’t offer negative keyword match types, there is still a way to separate match types into different ad groups: forced minimum bidding. In forced minimum bidding, you use the keyword bids to direct search query traffic in adCenter.
How does it work? First you’ll create 3 ad groups, one for each match type. In the exact match ad group you’ll only have exact match keywords. In the phrase match ad group you’ll have exact and phrase match keywords. In the broad match ad group you’ll have exact, phrase, and broad match keywords. Then you assign a minimum bid of $0.05 to each keyword match type that is not in the appropriate ad group and reduce bids for phrase and broad match. It’s a little easier to visualize than it is to explain, so here’s what it would look like:
- In the Exact Match ad group, set the bid at the level you want for the exact keyword.
- In the Phrase Match ad group, set the bid for exact match at $0.05 and set the phrase match bid below keyword bid in the Exact Match ad group.
- In the Broad Match ad group, set the bid for phrase and exact match at $0.05 and set the broad match bid below the bid in the Phrase Match ad group.
By reducing the bids in this way adCenter should filter the instances of each keyword to the appropriate ad group. This process is much more complicated than it is in AdWords, and once the exact match type in adCenter is introduced will be unnecessary. I haven’t given this method a try yet, but if you were wishing for a way to split up match types in adCenter, this is the best strategy available.
We always appreciate feedback, so let us know your thoughts and experiences with this process.
