I remember so vividly the time when Google announced their new keyword tool last year. I was screwed: it did not provide data for small chunks of the market (city-level, metro-level, state-level) like it did in the past. It was in fact so much worse, I could not help it but use the old tool instead (Thanks, Google, for having this option; otherwise, I’d be screwed even worse).
Now, to be fair, the beta version of the new Keyword Tool did have some new functionality – and now Google has released the new tool out of the beta. We, the advertisers, have the Keyword Tool and the Search-based Keyword Tool combined together in their updated Keyword Tool. Yay? Hopefully.
Google New Keyword Tool Screenshot
I am relieved to know that both of these tools will be available separately in their original form through the end of August. Comes September, they will be redirecting to the new keyword tool. Per Google’s announcement, there are a number of great things about the new keyword tool, such as:
- Flexible search options: Search by any combination of keyword, website/URL, and category (where available) and receive a single set of results
- Easy keyword refinement: Filter results by word or keyword match type
- Advanced options: View statistics for mobile search and use data filters based on local searches, search and ad share, and more
- Removing Duplicate Keywords: When you accessed within an ad group, keywords that are already in that ad group will appear with an “Already in ad group” message next to them
- Adding Negative keywords: Easily add keyword ideas as negatives right from your keyword idea list. Just click on a keyword and use the drop down menu to select and save your negative keyword
All sounds good to me and if you are curious to try it, please do so – and if you are not using AdWords, you can access the tool without signing in to AdWords. Of course, as Google always says, access directly from your AdWords account for best results.
Now, here are some tips on the different options to reach the Keyword Tool:
To reach the keyword tool from an ad group:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at: http://adwords.google.com
- Click the Add keywords button above the keyword statistics table.
- Click the Keyword Tool link above the list of keyword ideas.
To reach the keyword tool from the Opportunities tab:
- Sign in to your AdWords account at: http://adwords.google.com
- Click the Opportunities tab.
- Click the Keyword tool link in the Tools menu to the left.
And please see this article in Google’s Help Center for additional tips on using the new Keyword Tool effectively: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=160320
