Google has done it again. The biggest buzz at the much smaller and saner Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo 2009, held this week in New York, was the new Google AdWords interface.
The demonstration of the beta version of the interface for Google’s flagship pay-per-click program brought a crowd to the cavernous second floor of the New York Hilton and Towers on March 25, where Google was exhibiting. And most attendees seemed thrilled with it.
Here’s the skinny. The new interface allows users to do the following:
- navigate their accounts more easily via an account tree;
- make changes with fewer clicks and pages to load thanks to easy in-line editing of keywords, bids, ads and placements;
- have easier access to their data, including integrated reports that are available on campaign management pages;
- have access to custom, roll-up views of all of their keyword ads, placements and campaigns in an effort to see their performances at a glance; and
- have access to performance summary graphs for quick trend-spotting.
Current Google AdWords’ users need not worry, according to Google. Quality score, bidding, budgeting and other aspects of ad serving don’t change with the new interface. Users can sign up for the new interface by entering their AdWords customer IDs here.
Before launching the new interface, Google said it took a close look at how advertisers manage their campaigns with Google AdWords and then looked at where it could make improvements. The new interface is a result of the research.
According to the enthusiastic crowd gathered at SES, Google seems to have done something right.
The new AdWords interface is a complete disaster. It’s slow, more difficult to navigate, and more difficult to read.
The new interface is so “unGoogle”…and in my opinion is a big step backwards. Google has been sucked into the prettier is better mentality. Too bad.
Experienced professionals who work in Google hours a day are unlikely to enjoy the new interface.
In my opinion Googles new interface has very few checks and balance and is prone to user error. I think it lacks re-confirmations and detail controls.