As of late September, Google AdWords advertisers will not be able to use the Exact and Phrase matching options.
The “close variants” (an option at
this point) will be applied to all match types and a “pure” exact match will be
a thing of the past. Some believe this
will limit the control advertisers will have over specifying the key phrases
that trigger your ad to show in specific searches.
Good news: less complicated matching selections for key
word bidding. Bad news: potential losses
in performance which may necessitate an increase in spend. Some analysts
believe advertisers may need to ante up a 10% budget increase to get the same
results pre-exact/phrase kill announcement of 8/15. Others see it as an
opportunity for advertisers to let go of the efforts and $$ put out for
possibly lower performing keywords and focus more on strategy.
But, since I'm a glass totally
filled kinda gal, I see this as a good opportunity to refresh campaigns
(usually a much needed action) - AND - that this is probably a Google move that
will benefit the "little guy". By all analyses I've reviewed, this
change will have more of an impact on those spending $100K+ per month: the top
5% tier of elite Google advertisers. But, no matter the budget you may have for
your campaign, you will need to change up some of the keyword strategies to
make sure your Google AdWords campaign is as efficient as possible.
We recommend that you declutter
your campaign’s keyword lists but definitely create much more focused landing
pages. By having well-optimized landing page you can experience 3-5 times gains.
So... Awareness Creation is
starting to strategically modify all of its AdWords clients' campaigns to
counteract Google's most recent decision (nothing new for us!). We will
continue to strongly encourage improved optimization of landing pages.
Bottom line: Never get comfortable (read "static") with your Google strategies.
Speaking of modifications: Awareness Creation has begun its amplified
Google+ strategy. Please follow!
