Posted:
(Cross-posted from the Inside AdWords Blog)

This is the final stretch. At the end of August, regular Product Listing Ad (PLA) campaigns will retire and be replaced by Shopping campaigns. A majority of you have started upgrading to Shopping campaigns, but if you’re one of the few who haven’t yet, we’re introducing a new upgrade tool that’ll help you upgrade in a matter of clicks.

This tool creates a Shopping campaign from your regular PLA campaign, with a campaign structure and bids based on your regular PLA campaign and historical performance data.
If you haven’t started your upgrade, we encourage you to use this tool as a jumping off point for your Shopping campaigns. Be sure to check your campaign budgets, settings and bids so they’re customized to your business needs.

Note that not all campaigns are compatible with this upgrade tool. If, for example, you use AdWords labels or groupings in your product targeting or inventory filters, you must update your data feed with custom labels before you use the upgrade tool, unless you’re happy to use another attribute to subdivide your inventory in AdWords directly.

You can access the upgrade tool, and check which of your campaigns are eligible, in the Settings tab of your existing Product Listing Ads campaigns. Learn more in the help center.

We’re here to help
We want to make sure you’ve thoughtfully upgraded and are ready for the holidays. Join us for a Learn With Google Hangout on Air on August 12 at 10:00am PST to walk through the new upgrade tool. If you have any questions, reach out to the AdWords Community Forum or contact us.

Posted by Eric Tholomé, Director of Product Management, Google Shopping
5 comments | Labels: , , , ,

Posted:
(Cross-posted from the Inside AdWords Blog)

With less than eight weeks left until regular Product Listing Ad (PLA) campaigns retire, we're excited that the majority of PLA advertisers have already started taking advantage of Shopping campaigns, and 85% of these have already fully upgraded. Advertisers who’ve upgraded like Farfetch, US Mattress, LiBoutique and ValuePetSupplies are seeing great success thanks to the retail-centric interface, item-level reporting and competitive benchmark data.

For those of you who’ve upgraded, we’re excited to introduce two new tools to make campaign management, specifically bid optimization, easier.
  • Bulk Uploads: You now have the ability to download a product group report, edit your bids and destination URLs, and import your changes using bulk uploads. 
  • AdWords Editor: We’ve heard your feedback, and with the latest version of AdWords Editor, you can edit your bids and destination URLs for individual product groups at scale. At this time, AdWords Editor doesn’t support the creation of Shopping campaigns or product groups, so please plan time to create your campaigns and subdivide your product groups directly in AdWords.

If you haven’t upgraded to Shopping campaigns, we strongly encourage you to start as all regular Product Listing Ad campaigns will retire at the end of August.

Many third-party agencies and platforms are upgrading advertisers to Shopping campaigns, so if you work with one, reach out and see how they can help. Here are a few resources to answer questions and get you started:
Posted by Eric Tholomé, Director of Product Management, Google Shopping
4 comments | Labels: , ,

Posted:
Since its launch in mid-February 2012, the (still-new) AdWords Community, has been a place for advertisers from different parts of the world to come together and exchange ideas, advice and stories with other AdWords advertisers. It's really inspiring to see people sharing their best practices, pointing each other to resources, and enthusiastically helping those who need it.


I’d like to share with you a few comments from our members on their experiences with the AdWords Community:

NehaGupta: “I am happy to be part of Google AdWords Community. I love to discuss about Google AdWords as much as I can as I believe discussions always bring something knowledgeable. Perfect platform for me. I am really excited spending more and more time here instead of Facebook. Everyday I’m learning new things and also trying to take part in conversation by replying answers asked in the forum.”

PPCBossman: “Hundreds of advertisers flow in and out of this Community on a daily/weekly basis and we all roll on as if it's just another day. ...There are great days where lots of problems get worked out, new advertisers are learning and members are achieving personal goals here within the Community. Just as any real life situations, we also have some down times too. ...I have had the most amazing experience here in the last few months, made some great friends, learned a ton and helped a few people along the way as well. But I keep coming back because I know that this Community, Visitors and Members alike, are here for me and guess what, they're here for YOU too! (for the full post click here)

David-nationalp: “I'm here because I'd like the ability to have some input into the direction that Google AdWords goes, understand what's going on in the PPC world, and be able to learn/share knowledge of Google AdWords.”

But the AdWords Community is more than just user discussions; you can find insightful articles (so called “AdWords Wikis”) written by expert users. You can learn more about the some of the community members, such as the Top Contributors, and what it takes to become one. And you can get some reassurance that the Google AdWords Community team is not just a bunch of robots. But instead of taking our word for it, why don't you go and find out for yourself! If you'd like, go ahead and leave us a comment by clicking on the "new message" button directly on the forum.

We are looking forward to see you in the Community!

Note: Currently, the AdWords Community is also available in the following languages: French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Italian.

Posted by Zuzana S. Moran, AdWords Community Team
4 comments | Labels: ,