Google AdWords Campaign Optimizer Optimizes Something
…but not Campaigns

Considering Google’s track record in releasing quality products, I’m a little bit disappointed with their recent release of Campaign Optimizer. Wanting to test this new tool, I set up a nationally targeted test campaign for “Tampa Plumbers”. I was careful to make sure the campaign was about as poorly optimized as the average campaign generally is.

The results might surprise you. Not only did Google AdWords Campaign Optimizer fail to offer any helpful optimization, its recommendations made the campaign less optimized. In addition, one can’t help but notice that all suggestions the tool made would help increase Google’s revenue from this campaign (generic keyword additions, increase bid prices, and copy changes that increase click-through rates). It also ignored optimization tactics that would benefit the advertiser in terms of driving qualified traffic and eliminating budget waste.

The Setup

Even though my keywords targeted Tampa and one of its surrounding communities, I packaged all of my keywords under one ad group.In addition, I did the following:

• Wrote debatable poor ad copy that mad no mention of the service area
• Included broad generic keywords that would drive hundreds of poor quality visitors, like “tampa”, “plumber”, “plumbers” (the last two would be fine if the campaign were geo-targeted)
• Set all keywords to Broad Match
• Set initial bid at $0.10
• Included no negative keywords

What I expected the keyword optimizer to do was:

• Suggest multiple Ad Groups targeting each niche market
• Suggest better ad copy
• Suggest I either geo-target the campaign, remove generic keywords, or both
• Suggest Phrase Match for some of my keywords.
• Suggest negative keywords for unrelated searches

Keywords Selected:

brandon plumber
brandon plumbers
plumber
plumber in brandon
plumber in tampa
plumbers
plumbing
tampa
tampa plumber
tampa plumbers

Ad Copy:

Paul’s Plumbing
Professional Plumbing Services
No Obligation Quote!
pauledersen.com

The Results

I’d love to say that Google came back with some great suggestions, but Google came in at 0 for 5 for the most important optimization needs. Here’s what Google suggested:

Keyword Suggestions:

In terms of keywords, Google met none of my expectations. Instead Google suggested that I add even more generic keywords and increase my bid prices.

Ad Copy Suggestions:

Again, Google falls short. The only suggestion in terms of ad copy was to change my URL from paulpedersen.com to www.PaulEderSen.com (I just realized I spelled my own name wrong. Dooh!)

Summary

In my opinion, this tool falls way short of helpful and actually moves into the realm of harmful. I definitely would not recommend the use of this tool. In fact, I personally think Google should pull this tool until more work can be put into it. It’s definitely not ready for prime-time …it’s not even ready for beta.

Categories: Google AdWords, Search Engine Marketing, Pay-Per-Click ~ ~ Trackback