Last week, Google pushed out the latest installment of the AdWords Editor, version 11.1.1. Many people were quick to jump to twitter and the blogs to discuss how exciting the release was because of some of the awesome new features. However, some were still reluctant because of how buggy the previous update was for some users. I’ve downloaded and began using the new version, and here are the top 5 reasons you should follow suite!
Labels!!!!
This is really the top reason, and likely the biggest thing you’ve heard people talk about when they discuss the Editor update. It’s really quite the big deal, so it makes sense. We were begging for this feature back in January of 2014.
The ability to create and copy/paste labels in the Editor is a huge deal because they let us identify ads, campaigns, ad groups, and keywords by whatever we want. For example, I use ad labels to mark their cycle in my ad testing efforts, so reporting later is a total breeze. I also use them at the keyword level so that even if I segment campaigns by match type or geographical targeting, etc. I can easily pull a report for all keywords pertaining to a certain product or service.
Upgraded URLs
You probably have heard about these new URLs called “upgraded URLs.” With these new URLs, anyone using complicated tracking that changes frequently will have the new benefit of being able to keep ad history when they make tracking changes, as long as the core URL stays the same.
I touted this change as one actually made for the power users, and it’s great that AdWords has decided to give the Editor functionality here before the forced migration to these updated URLs. The forced migration will be July 1st, so this is just another great reason to download the new Editor ASAP.
Call-Only Ads
Are you sick of hearing about how important mobile is? Too bad! It’s super important! Call-Only campaigns are a powerful new tool that allows you to show ads that only serve as a click-to-call ad for mobile users. It was a huge pain to make and manage these campaigns manually through the interface, so with added support in the new update, you can make as many as you want with ease.
Ads in Mobile Apps
This is the one new feature that I thought “oh, I’ll probably never use that.” However, it’s still great to have! I personally don’t have any clients that would let me use mobile app ads, but maybe one day…
So, you can now create these ads in the Editor. You just choose to show your ads for different categories of apps or specific placements for specific apps. This can actually be a really cool way to target competitors if they have an app.
Custom Affinity
Custom Affinity campaigns can be super-powerful in terms of reaching qualified audiences on the GDN. If you haven’t tested these yet, this is the perfect excuse to start playing with them. Now that the new Editor supports them, you can create, manage, and edit them easily.
In Conclusion
The new Editor is chock-full of sweet new features. Version 11 came out strong with the ability to have multiple windows open at once, which was my favorite Editor update, ever. However, now that they’ve updated it even further to FINALLY allow me to use labels, I’m even more psyched.
What about you? What’s been your favorite update?
