Now over 15 years old, Google has decided it's time to give AdWords a design update. Last week, they announced plans for a major project launch to redesign and revitalise the AdWords interface; a platform that was last updated back in 2008.
Jerry Dischler, Vice President of Product Management at AdWords released a statement citing "The days of predictable web sessions have been replaced by numerous short bursts of digital activity throughout the day, primarily on mobile." And he's right, as a society, we use our smartphones and tablets move than ever as, electronic devices devices evolve to the point where mobile use has overtaken desktop for everything including simple tasks; such as searching online, watching videos, even shopping.
In recent years the AdWords platform has seen an increase in demand from businesses and digital marketers alike; with services now offered for shopping, search, display, mobile and video, it is now under more strain than ever to deliver performance metrics and data to customers. With this in mind, Google has decided that the interface has to be updated in order to continue to work well for advertisers and the increased workload.
What's going to change?
Ultimately the functionality of AdWords is not changing – the way campaigns are run or structured will stay as they currently are – the main focus will be on when and how the data is collected and then displayed. Google have supplied an early look into the new AdWords interface (seen below) using Material Design language – the coding behind other Google products like Maps, Search and Gmail – just like these customer focused products they plan to integrate simple yet powerful tools that'll help marketers do even more, in even less time.
Overviews of campaigns will now be available at ad group levels to show a fast snapshot of how the campaign is performing. Similar to the current account-level Home screen, the information is more focused and easier to read with quick-views on device performance, clicks and conversions and, the top performing ad groups.
As shown in the above screenshot of the Keywords view, the navigation has been simplified at this level to display only Keywords, Negative Keywords and Search Term reports. This means that all non-keyword related navigation has been removed – comparing this with the current view in today's AdWords, you can really see the difference it makes…
How will the new AdWords interface help your business?
Accessing the data you need to optimise and manage your campaign will be simpler and easier; from identifying the most successful campaigns to understanding poor performing Keywords; AdWords is set to provide you with more visual and relevant data to help you meet your marketing objectives.
What are the timescales?
Google has said they will start building the new design immediately, with Jerry Dischler ending his statement with "…Through 2016 and into 2017, we'll continue to build out this new AdWords experience, and invite advertisers along the way to try it out and provide feedback."
We're hoping to start seeing changes over the next 18 months. With help with testing and feedback from advertisers, Google will be able to release an updated, modern, ergonomic platform to run paid ads & shopping campaigns that work with today's market and digitally-focused client base. We can't wait!
If your AdWords campaigns aren't meeting your marketing objectives, get in touch with us today. We'll work with you to identify how to optimise your campaigns for maximum return on marketing investment.
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