Insiders Guide to AdWords

Whats Inside
Section 1 Using this guide
Section 2 AdWords basics
How it works
Account structure
Account navigation
How to organize your account
Section 3 Keywords
Creating effective keywords
Section 4 Ads
Writing relevant ads
Targeting ads
Getting ads closer to the top
Section 5 Tracking results
Online results
Ofine results
Section 6 Troubleshooting
Making sense of your bills
Reasons for ad unseen
Section 7 Additional help
Getting online help
Glossary
Have you ever read one of those books that let you pick different ways
to get to the ending? Well, think of this Insiders Guide to AdWords
the same way. You can take the traditional route and read it straight
through. Or you can skip between sections, using the section
headings, the table of contents, and the glossary as your guide.
Whichever way you choose, you cant go wrong. Both paths lead to
the same objective a stronger command of AdWords and targeted
customers for your business.
One thing to remember: This is a constant learning process, espe-
cially in the beginning. Youre going to get better at this once you gain
more understanding. We suggest you log in to your AdWords account
while perusing this guide. Turn some of the examples you read into
practical applications of your own. Everything takes practice, so dont
be afraid to make mistakes.
Ready to get started? Flip to section 2.
Using this guide | Section 1
Section 1
How do I use this guide?
How do these little ads actually work?
When a user enters a search query on Google.com, Google displays
webpages and ads that most relate to the word or phrase entered.
With webpages, Google scans keywords on each webpage in its index
to see if that page matches the users query. With ads, however, you
get to pick the keywords that relate to your website. When a user
searches for keywords youve selected, your ads have the opportunity
to appear next to the search results.
Ads that best match the users search query typically garner more
clicks. The more relevant the ad is to the users query, the higher the
ad will appear on a results page. Some other calculations are associ-
ated with this process, but well leave that discussion for later.
Ads on Google search results pages are available on a cost-per-click
(CPC) basis. This means that youre charged only when somebody
clicks on your ad and visits your website. Google also offers pricing
on a cost-per-1000 impressions (CPM) basis for site-targeted cam-
paigns. Learn more about other pricing options here:
http://www.google.com/adwords/pricing.

Section 2
AdWords Basics
AdWords Basics | Section 2
How is my account structured?
While it might seem a little daunting at rst, your AdWords account is
organized so that you can run one ad on a few keywords, or hundreds
of ads on thousands of keywords for tons of products
1
.
Account
At the account level, you set your email address (such as yourname@
gmail.com), password (make it tough to guess), billing information,
and user preferences. These settings remain the same for everything
in your AdWords account.
Campaigns
Under the account level, you have one or more different campaigns.
For each campaign, you set your daily budget, language and geographic
targeting, the types of sites you want to show on (i.e. your distribution
preferences), and start and end dates. You can organize your campaigns
in any way you wish. Some of the more effective ways include by
geography (New York, Chicago, and London), language (English,
Spanish, German), and distribution preference (search engines only,
content sites only, or both search and content). Dont worry well
explain all these options later in the section.
Ad Groups
In each campaign, you can have a number of Ad Groups. At the Ad Group
level, you write your ads, pick your keywords (coffee beans, fair-trade
coffee, coffee drinks), and determine the cost per click you want to pay.
Keep reading, and well start explaining all of this in more detail.
Section 2 | AdWords Basics AdWords Basics | Section 2
Accounts
Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group Ad Group
Campaign Campaign
1
Well, to be exact, you can have up to 2,000 keywords per Ad Group, up to 2,000 Ad
Groups per campaign, and up to 25 campaigns per account.
How do I navigate my account?
Everything you need to get around is in your AdWords account, which
holds different compartments (called tabs).
Campaign Management tab
This tab is where you control all your costs, as well as your account,
campaign, Ad Group, and keyword activity. The top level shows your
performance data for different campaigns. Clicking on a campaign
shows Ad Group performance information, while clicking on an Ad
Group shows keyword performance information.
Reports tab
This tab allows you to create customized and detailed reports by
keyword, ad text, account, and other variables. Experiment by running
different reports. Well store up to ve reports at once in your Download
Center. Or you can have them automatically emailed to you.
Analytics tab
This tab provides you with advanced tools to track your campaign
results and other data. Well cover this more later (see section 5).
My Account tab
Use this tab to control all your personal information, such as your
login information and user preferences. Youll also nd all your billing
information here.
Billing Summary page
The Billing Summary page will show only the high-level items, such
as charges, credits, and end-of-month balances. For each month, you
can see how frequently you were charged, and for how much. To see
your overall charges in more detail such as itemized charges - click on
the link for Advertising costs for a complete invoice (see section 6).
For more information about your how to navigate your account, visit
https://adwords.google.com/select/navigation.html.
Section 2 | AdWords Basics AdWords Basics | Section 2
Whats the best way to organize my account?
Google gives you a basic structure to work within. From here, its
essentially up to you to organize your own campaigns, Ad Groups,
and keywords in a way that makes the most sense. With a logical
organization, you can determine what works and what doesnt.
Organization is a key component to starting off strong.
Step 1: Stick to one goal per campaign.
Every account starts with a single campaign. (If you havent set up a
campaign yet, visit https://adwords.google.com/select/steps.html to
learn how.) Structure each campaign based on a simple, overarching
goal. Ask yourself, What do I want to achieve with this campaign?
Your answer might be to sell more coffee beans or gift baskets, for
example.
We suggest you separate campaigns by theme or product line (such
as coffee beans, coffee gifts, teas). Or use the same structure for
your campaigns as you do for your website. If your website is already
grouped into categories, your job is almost done. Map your structure
on paper rst. This step produces an easy-to-use template.
Step 2: Make Ad Groups out of your keywords.
Just like your campaigns, your Ad Groups should be organized by
common theme or product. Think about which keywords you want
to use. Then group similar keywords together. You should be able to
come up with at least three groups per campaign. Finally, make a
distinct Ad Group for each group of keywords.
For example, if your goal for one campaign is to sell coffee beans,
keyword groupings for each Ad Group might be:
Section 2 | AdWords Basics AdWords Basics | Section 2
Gourmet
coffee beans
Keywords:
Specialty coffee
Full-avored
coffee beans
Gourmet coffee
Gourmet coffee
beans
Shade-grown and
organic coffee beans
Keywords:
Organic
coffee beans
Shade-grown coffee
Shade-grown
coffee beans
Organic coffee
Natural coffee
French roast
Keywords:
Decaf French
roast coffee
French coffee beans
French coffee
Decaf French coffee
French roast
Step 3: Review, test, and rene.
Take a look at one campaign at a time. Are your keywords logically
grouped into Ad Groups? Does the campaign help you achieve a goal?
Does your budget match your goals? If you have a low budget, scale
down the number of keywords.
Remember to check your progress and continually rene your key-
words and your ad text in your account. This step is where the rest
of the book will pay off big time. Keep reading to learn how to create
effective keywords.
DO
Create multiple Ad Groups per campaign
Group campaigns and Ad Groups by theme, price, geography,
or product line
Make it easy to maintain
Continue rening your keywords and ad text
DONT
Create just one Ad Group and one big keyword list
Mismatch keywords in the same Ad Group
Run dozens and dozens of keywords for a low budget
Stop checking your stats
Section 2 | AdWords Basics AdWords Basics | Section 2
How to select the most effective keywords
Selecting keywords might be one of the most important parts of creating
a successful campaign. The trick to picking the best keywords is to use
this ve-step process: expand, match, scrub, group, and rene.
Expand
Your rst step is to come up with as many relevant keywords as possible. Go
to the Keyword Tool (http://www.google.com/adwords/keywordtool) and enter
words such as gourmet coffee, French roast, and coffee beans. Or, better
still, enter keywords relevant to your own business. Dont worry about
capitalization our system is not case-sensitive. Sort the results so you
can work with them. Many advertisers put them into a spreadsheet.
Match
Now its time to choose your keywords match type: broad match, phrase
match, exact match, and negative match.
Broad match is the default setting for all keywords. This term means
that all searches using that word (in any order or combination) will
display your ad. For example, coffee beans will show your ad for all
searches with the words coffee and beans. This could, but wont
Section 3
Keywords
Keywords | Section 3
necessarily, include searches for coffee made from green beans and
beans for espresso coffee.
Phrase match narrows your reach by requiring the words to appear in
that exact order. So coffee beans (entered with quotation marks)
shows your ad for searches with coffee and beans in that order, as in
chocolate-covered coffee beans. Your ad wont appear, however, for
searches with any words between coffee and beans.
Exact match further narrows your reach by showing your ad when the
exact phrase is used in the search without any other words before,
between, or after. So [coffee beans] (with brackets) shows your ad for
searches with just the words coffee beans, not coffee green beans or
shade-grown coffee beans.
Negative match eliminates searched phrases you dont want your ad
to appear on, such as cheap or free. To choose the negative match
option, you enter the negative keywords with a minus sign, such as
-free. This option prevents your ad from showing to people searching
for free coffee (something wed all love to nd).
Scrub
After creating, expanding, and targeting your keyword list, its time
to rene it. Start by cutting all the irrelevant keywords from your list.
Which words dont really relate to your business? Delete them. Two- to
three-word phrases are usually best.
Group
As we mentioned before, you should organize keywords into similar
themes, products, or types so you can write ads targeted to each
group. Remember to structure your account in a way that makes
sense and is easy to track. For example, place keywords relating
to whole-bean coffee in one Ad Group. Group keywords relating to
ground coffee in another Ad Group.
Test and Rene
Search advertising is dynamic advertisers are constantly revising
their ad campaigns and searchers are constantly searching for dif-
ferent things. To keep up with this ever-changing environment, you
should continue to test and rene your keywords. Build on keywords
that work, and delete others that dont. Track your results using your
performance stats in your account (such as clickthrough rate and our
conversion tracking tools - see section 5). Flip to the next section to
learn how to write targeted ads.
Section 3 | Keywords Keywords | Section 3
How to write ads that will get people clicking
Writing ads may well be the hardest part of AdWords to master. On
the other hand, with AdWords, youll know what works and what
doesnt right away, because your clicks will tell you. The best way to
see which ads bring you the best results is to write three or four at
one time. Then check your clicks. Ads with the highest clickthrough
rate are top performers.
Here are some tried-and-true tricks from seasoned AdWords veterans:

Include keywords in your ad headline, since thats what people are
looking for. It makes your ad seem more relevant.
Relate your ad to offers you make on your landing page to help
people complete the sales cycle.
Get to the point fast. Include the most relevant information about
your business rst. Make it concise, and encourage the user to
take action.
Section 4
Ads
Ads | Section 4
Writing relevant ads
Your ad consists of three parts:



Lets take a look at two ads that might appear for a site called
Frothing Latte Bean.
The problem with this ad is that it doesnt tell the reader what you
have to offer or why they should care (two criteria all ads should
meet). Also, theres no call to action, so people dont know what to
expect when they click through. Not to mention luv isnt really a
word, so we wont approve your ad.
This ad, on the other hand, tells people what you offer and why they
should order. It also tells them what to do when they click through.
Handling headlines
The best headlines are directly related to the keywords being
searched. That makes your ad seem especially relevant to the search-
ers interests. And, if a word or a phrase in your ad text is identical to
the keyword searched for, it will appear in bold font in your ad.
Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4
Just What You Want
Frothing Latte Bean has many
different types of coffee you luv!
www.frothing-latte-bean.com
Gourmet Coffee Beans
Order fair-trade, French roast,
decaf coffee beans. Free shipping.
www.frothing-latte-bean.com
A 25-character headline
You get 2 lines of 35 characters to
describe what you have to offer.
www.Your-35-Character-URL.com
Developing descriptions
The description has to convey both the benets of your product or
service and the call to action. Keep everything as short and simple
as you can. To start, list your products (coffee beans, gourmet coffee,
decaf coffee) and benets (shipped overnight, easy to order). Then put
it all together with a call to action, such as Order now or Join now.
Designating Display and Destination URLs
Your Display URL (or web address) doesnt have to be the same as
your Destination URL (where hungry clickers go). But it should be an
actual URL for your site. Choose a Destination URL that promotes the
exact product or service your audience is searching for, rather than
your usual homepage. Dont get us wrong were sure your homepage
is lovely. But its usually most effective to direct your searchers to a
landing page that theyre most interested in, as soon as you can.
Targeting your ads
Youve just created a really well-written ad. Now its time to target it
(by language and location) to reach the people who are most likely
to click on it. Targeting your ad helps eliminate unwanted clicks and
gets your ad to the right audience.
When you rst set up your AdWords campaign, you chose from vari-
ous targeting options. You can check to see what you chose on the
Edit Campaign Settings page within your AdWords account.
Language targeting
You can reach people in over 40 languages . But you must write
your ads and keywords in the language of your choice (Google wont
translate for you). If youre targeting multiple languages, we strongly
suggest setting up a new campaign for each one, although you can
choose to run ads in all or any number of these languages.
Location targeting
You can set each campaign to target searchers at a country/territory,
regional, city or customized level. If you chose regional, city, or
customized targeting, you might want to add a counterpart country
Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4
or territory-targeted campaign to your account. Even if you can offer
products or services only to people within a very specic geographic
area, a broader campaign can help you get more qualied clicks from
your prospective customers on Google and our partner sites (which
well explain in a couple of paragraphs). Your locally targeted campaign
should have general keywords such as coffee beans or shade-grown
coffee, while your country-targeted campaign should be full of location-
specic keywords such as Seattle coffee or New York coffee basket.
The Google Network
In addition to placing your ads on Google, you get to decide what
other kinds of websites your ads will appear on. You have two basic
choices: the Google search network and the Google content network.
The search network: If you choose to show your ads on the search
network, your ads can appear alongside relevant search results on other
search engine websites (other than Google.com). This list includes:
Google Local
Froogle
Ask Jeeves
AOL
Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4
Example of ads on the Google search network.
The content network: If you opt in to the content network via the
contextual targeting program, your ads could appear alongside con-
tent (or text) thats relevant to your keywords on any web page within
the Google content network. These partner sites include:
The New York Times
About.com
MarthaStewart.com
Many smaller niche sites covering thousands of topics
In many cases, only Google can offer access to the ad inventory of
these sites. For example, an ad for the keywords shade-grown coffee
could appear alongside an article in The New York Times about the
cultivation of coffee beans, or at the top of the www.we-love-coffee.com
website.
While content targeting is mostly an automated process, we can also
provide you with control over where your ads appear and dont appear
across content sites through Site Targeting. Site Targeting provides you
with the tools to search easily through the thousands of sites in our
network and select the ones on which you would like to place your ads.
Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4
Example of ads on the Google content network.
For example, luxury car makers could place their ad on all of the wine
sites in our network because they believe that drinkers of ne wine
also like to drive ne cars. Learn more about Site Targeting at
http://adwords.google.com/select/AFC/sites.html.
The Google Network is one of the largest online advertising networks
available, reaching more than 80 percent of Internet users
2
. To take
full advantage of that reach, make sure your campaigns are opted in
to both the search and content networks.
Want more info? Try these lessons:
Ad Distribution:
http://www.google.com/adwords/network
Writing Targeted Ad Text:
http://www.google.com/adwords/adtext
Language and Location Targeting:
http://www.google.com/adwords/targeting
How to get your ad closer to the top
The best way to get your ad closer to the top of the search results is
to be more relevant than everybody else. Relevance works like this:
The more relevant your ad is to searchers on Google, the more likely
users will click it. (For example, caffeine addicts searching for coffee
will click on ads for coffee more often than ads for SUVs.)
How we assess keyword relevance
We use something called a Quality Score to assess the relevance
of your keyword. The Quality Score is determined by the keywords
clickthrough rate (CTR), relevance of your ad text, historical keyword
performance, and other factors specic to your account. Then, based
on this Quality Score, we assign your ad a minimum bid. This bid is the
minimum amount you must pay in order to keep your ad running for
the matched keyword. If your keyword is not running, you can either
(1) increase your keywords maximum cost-per-click (CPC) above
the minimum bid, or (2) optimize your keywords and ad text to be
more relevant.
For more information about keyword performance, visit
https://adwords.google.com/select/performance.html.
Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4
2
Unduplicated reach of Google and Partner sites, according to Google analysis of
comScore Media Metrix, May 2005
How to improve your ad position
Technically, your ad position is determined by multiplying the
matched keywords Quality Score by its maximum cost-per-click (we
call this formula Ad Rank). Well reward more relevant keywords and
ads by lowering the minimum cost-per-click you need to bid. The best
way to improve your ad position without raising your cost is to have
the most relevant ad text and keywords possible.
Heres a summary of different ways (which weve covered in previous
sections) to increase your keyword relevance and to improve your
ads position:
Use two- to three-keyword phrases.
Create both locally-targeted campaigns (with general keywords,
such as coffee beans) and nationally targeted campaigns (with
geo-specic keywords, such as Seattle coffee beans).
Use keyword matching options.
Make sure your keywords relate to your product.
Use keyword variations (such as synonyms or alternate spellings).
Create similar keyword groupings per Ad Group.
Write clear, compelling ad text.
Include keywords in your ad text and title.
Include a call to action in your ad text.
Take users to the best landing page.
Test multiple ads per Ad Group.
For more information, see sections 3 and 4 on creating keywords and
writing ad text. Or visit our Optimization Tips page at
https://adwords.google.com/select/tips.html.
Section 4 | Ads Ads | Section 4
Tracking online results
Measuring online results is the best way to know whether or not
youre spending your money wisely. If you measure your results well,
youll be able to tell which keywords bring you the most customers,
which ads bring in the most business, and ultimately how much re-
turn youre getting on your AdWords investment (ROI). Then you can
adjust your campaign settings based on those results.
What conversion tracking means
You spend money on AdWords in order to get people to do something
buy your product, sign up for your mailing list, join your club, or
whatever. Every time someone comes from an AdWords ad to your
site, and then does whatever you want them to do, its called a
conversion. If you can track your conversions, youll have information
about which campaigns, Ad Groups, and keywords work best.
How AdWords conversion tracking works
Whenever anyone clicks on your AdWords ads, we give them a cookie
(not a chocolate chip cookie, but a delicious electronic one), so you
can see if they actually go to one of your conversion pages. Think of
this cookie as an I clicked on your ad! sign that your website visitor
Section 5
Tracking Results
Tracking Results | Section 5

wears for 30 days after clicking on your ad. (Note that we cant
accurately track conversions from visitors who erase their cookies.)
When you set up AdWords conversion tracking, we give you a little
snippet of code to post on your website wherever any conversion
happens. For example, you might post the code on the Thank you
page that visitors see after placing an order on your website, or on the
Contact us page that will drive visitors to call you up on the phone.
Then, every time a visitor with your cookie visits your conversion page,
your tally of conversions in your AdWords account increases by one.
More info:
Visit the Conversion Tracking section of your Campaign
Management page for everything youll need to know about
AdWords conversion tracking.
See a comprehensive section in our Learning Center about
analyzing your account:
http://www.google.com/adwords/accounts.
Section 5 | Tracking Results Tracking Results | Section 5
AdWords conversion tracking tool
Your conversion tracking options
We recommend two ways to measure online results. The simplest
way is through the free AdWords conversion tracking tool that we just
discussed. It should take you or your webmaster just a few minutes
to set up. Once its live, youll be able to tell how many of the clicks
from your AdWords ads produced conversions.
A more sophisticated way to measure online results is through Google
Analytics. While Google Analytics helps you track conversions to your
website, it also provides you with tools to better understand where
your users come from and what they do on your site. The information
you receive helps you improve your web design content, optimize your
AdWords campaigns, identify visitor preferences, and track referral
sources. Visit https://www.google.com/analytics for more information.
Section 5 | Tracking Results Tracking Results | Section 5
Google Analytics
Tracking ofine results
Even though many purchases or signups happen ofine (such as by
phone or at your place of business), it might have been your website
and AdWords ad that drove the result. The best way to measure your
ofine results is by tracking customers to a conversion, such as with a
coupon or an order form.
If you dont ask, youll never know.
Sometimes the most obvious solution is the best one. Simply ask your
customers how they found you. Theres the traditional, direct way
over the phone or in person (So howd you nd us?). And there
are the not-so-traditional, indirect ways through a web survey or a
form (the question still applies).
When posting a survey or a form on your site, make it simple and
concise. In general, you dont want to ask more than four questions.
Add a sweet incentive to get a customer to ll it out, such as Get a
free, 5 oz. coffee x by lling this out! Finally, the golden rule for
everything online is to kill the pop-ups, pop-unders, pop-anythings.
Everyone abhors a popup, unless its an edible one.
Section 5 | Tracking Results Tracking Results | Section 5
Give a little back with coupons.
Posting a coupon on your website is a great way to track your results
not to mention bring in business. Make sure the coupon is different
from others you use elsewhere, such as in a yer or a newspaper. Its
a good idea to make the coupon good for both online and ofine usage.
Include an expiration date. Perform a Google search on coupons to
see some examples.
Quick tips for converting even more clicks to sales:
Make your ads sell: Make sure that your ads tell people what you
expect them to do when they click through. If you want them to
buy, encourage them to do that.
Take users to the best landing page: Point people to the page
that relates to your ad. Dont leave them guessing.
Keep signups simple: Ask for only the bare minimum of what
you need to complete a signup. Make sure that you give them
something of equal or greater value for the information they
give you.
Deliver on your promises: Stick to the price or promise you
specify in your ad. The number one source of dissatisfaction
with purchases comes from expectations that are not met.
Be creative: Find fun and entertaining ways to make your offer.
A creative offer will attract and hold your visitors attention.
Section 5 | Tracking Results Tracking Results | Section 5
How do I make sense of my bills?
The rst thing to understand about your Billing Summary (in your My
Account tab) is that youre billed based on your credit history with
Google as well as your activity. That means we automatically bill your
credit card every month, or when you reach your credit limit
whichever comes rst.
Credit limits
The initial credit limit of US$50 is incrementally raised each time an
account hits its credit limit before 30 days have ended. The credit
limit is rst raised to US$200, then to US$350, and then to US$500.
The amount invoiced and/or billed might be slightly in excess of the
credit limit if an account accrues clicks very quickly. But dont worry,
youre charged only for clicks to your ads that weve registered.
Section 6
Troubleshooting your Account
Troubleshooting your Account | Section 6
Credit limits (continued)

On Oct. 5, Alan reached his rst credit limit of $50, and was
charged for the amount accrued in clicks ($51.25). At this time,
his credit limit was raised to $200.
On Oct. 21, Alan reached the next credit limit of $200, triggering
AdWords to charge him for clicks ($202.75). His credit limit was
then raised to $350.
On Nov. 18, Alan accrued more than $350 in charges and was
automatically billed. When charged, Alans credit limit was then
raised to $500.
Alans next bill will be processed on Dec. 18 or when he exceeds
the nal $500 credit limit, whichever comes rst.
Troubleshooting your Account | Section 6 Section 6 | Troubleshooting your Account
Example of billing activity for Alan for the months of October and November
Unexplainable line items
From time to time, you might notice adjustments in your Billing
Summary. Adjustments usually reect any promotions or credits
applied to your account. In addition, theres something called an
Overdelivery credit that might appear in your invoice.
Overdelivery is our way to help you receive the most clicks possible.
Your ad trafc is never constant from day to day sometimes its
high and sometimes its low. To adjust for low-trafc days, we may
allow more clicks (up to 20 percent each day) than your daily budget
species. This overdelivery amount helps you reach your customers
when theyre searching for you. At the end of your billing period, well
multiply the number of days in the cycle times your daily budget. If
the clicks you received exceed the amount you owe, well credit the
difference to your account. You never pay for any additional clicks you
might receive.
For example, if you receive US$32 worth of clicks over a 30-day
period at a daily budget of US$1 per day, youll be credited US$2.
For more billing information, such as how to switch credit cards and
how to print out your bill, visit http://www.google.com/adwords/billing.
Quick tips for controlling your spending:
Set your limits: Dont bid more than you can afford. If you nd that
youre not getting the results you expected, scale back your cam-
paign instead of raising your costs. Figure out which ads and key-
words are bringing you results, and delete the others. This will give you
more bang for your buck.

Focus on relevance: Build your campaigns slowly. Spend a lot of time
hand-picking your keywords and writing your ads (see sections 3
and 4). When your keywords and ad text are more relevant, youre
likely to pay less than the amount you bid. So creating highly relevant
campaigns is the most cost-effective way to manage your budget.
Grow from what works: Once you know what works, you can start
to build more campaigns and Ad Groups to attract your potential
customers. Keep regular tabs on your account statistics. Is your
clickthrough rate high and your minimum bid low? If so, this usually
means youre doing well. Tweak your targeting settings, keyword list,
and ad text to test different results. Use tracking methods, such as
conversion tracking or Google Analytics, to nd your top performers
(see section 5).
Troubleshooting your Account | Section 6 Section 6 | Troubleshooting your Account
Why cant I see my ad?
This is the number one question we receive from advertisers, so
youre not alone. Here are the most common reasons:
Daily budget
If your daily budget is lower than the systems recommended amount,
Google will show your ad when it has the highest demand, depending
on trafc patterns. For example, we might show 70 percent of your
daily budget in the morning if the demand is higher at this time,
and 30 percent in the afternoon if demand is lower at this time.
This way, youll have a better chance of reaching advertisers when
theyre searching for you. To make sure your ad shows for all relevant
searches, you can increase your daily budget to the recommended
amount.
Maximum CPC exceeds daily budget
If youre running a keyword-targeted campaign, your ad wont show if
your maximum CPC for an Ad Group is higher than your campaigns
daily budget. Because your daily budget could be exceeded in one click,
we recommend that you lower your maximum CPC or raise your daily
budget, so that your daily budget is more than your maximum CPC.
Ad Rank
Your ad might not appear on the rst page if your Ad Rank isnt high
enough to place it in one of the top slots. We dont show the same
ads on each page, so your ad might be appearing on one of the next
pages. If youd like your ad to appear on the rst page, you can
increase your CPC and/or rene your ad text and keywords to help
increase your Quality Score.
No ad
Make sure there is an active ad in your Ad Group. If all ads within
your Ad Group are currently paused or deleted, this means there are
no ads running for your keywords.
Ad disapproved
If an ad doesnt meet our Editorial Guidelines, well stop your ad from
running, and youll see the word Disapproved listed below that ad
in your account. Once youve made the appropriate edits, simply save
your changes to automatically resubmit your ad for review.
For a complete list of reasons why you cant see your ad, visit
http://www.google.com/adwords/seeing-ads.
Troubleshooting your Account | Section 6 Section 6 | Troubleshooting your Account
Where do I nd helpful answers?
So you want a quick, helpful answer to a problem? The rst step is to
click Help from any page in your AdWords account. Clicking one of
the topics listed in the Help Center will open up a series of frequently
asked questions and support materials. Here are some additional
resources, all available through the AdWords homepage that weve
created to solve most of the problems youre likely to encounter:
Help Center: Frequently asked questions and help documents.
https://adwords.google.com/support
Learning Center: Text or multimedia lessons and quizzes on
everything AdWords.
http://www.google.com/adwords/learningcenter
Demos and Guides: Step-by-step demos about your account,
local targeting, conversion tracking, and more concepts.
https://adwords.google.com/select/library
Inside AdWords Blog: Frequent updates about AdWords, straight
from our product team.
http://adwords.blogspot.com
Section 7
Additional Help
Additional Help | Section 7
Where can I nd a glossary of terms?
Some of the terms used in this kind of online advertising can be a
bit confusing. So heres a quick translation guide, in case you come
across something that doesnt quite make sense.

Ad Group
A collection of ads within a campaign that correspond to a group of
similar keywords.
Campaign
Ad Groups are organized into campaigns. Campaigns can be created
for different product lines, promotions, geographic regions, and so on.
Click through
The action of clicking a link that takes the user to another web page.
Clickthrough rate (CTR)
CTR measures the number of clicks your ad generates in proportion
to the number of times its shown for each keyword. For example,
your CTR is 5 percent if 100 people are shown your ad and ve
people click through to your site. CTR is used to help assess your
Quality Score. The CTR is also known as the ad impression ratio or yield.
Content targeting
The ability to run relevant ads on content websites, rather than on
search results pages; also known as contextual advertising. Content-
targeted advertising is dynamic: The ad system examines words on
the page (the content), and delivers up a related ad (the context).
Conversion
A dened action in response to your ad. A conversion may be a sale, a
registration, a download, or a signup, depending on your campaign goals.
Conversion rate
The number of visitors who respond to your ad divided by the number
of clicks on the ad, multiplied by 100, and expressed as a percentage.
For example, your conversion rate is 25 percent if four people click
through to your site, and one person makes a purchase.
Cost-per-click (CPC)
The amount you pay each time a user clicks on your ad. A typical
range is 5 cents to US$1 per click. The CPC is the most youre
Additional Help | Section 7 Section 7 | Additional Help
willing to pay each time a user clicks on your ad for a particular
keyword. Also called pay per click.
Destination URL
The webpage to which a user will land after clicking on your ad. Its
not necessarily your homepage. Also known as a landing page or a
clickthrough URL.
Display URL
The URL displayed in your ad to identify your site to users. It doesnt
need to be the same as your destination URL.
Google Network
Places other than Google where your ad can appear. These places
include both search and content sites. Search sites offer web search
capability. Content sites include online publications, community
sites, and other information services running AdWords ads on
targeted content pages.
Image ad
A graphical AdWords ad that appears on select content sites in the
Google Network.
Impression
The single display of an ad on a search or content page. Also known
as exposure.
Keyword
A specic word, or combination of words, entered into a search
engine that results in a list of pages related to the keyword. A
keyword is the content of a search engine query.
Local targeting
The distribution of ads to a particular geographical area.
Quality Score
How we measure the quality of your keyword and determine your
minimum bid. Your Quality Score is determined by your keywords
clickthrough rate (CTR), relevance of ad text, historical keyword
performance, and other relevancy factors.
Return on investment (ROI)
The benet gained in return for the cost of your ad campaign.
Although exact measurement is nearly impossible, your clickthrough
rate and your conversion rate, combined with your advertising costs,
can help you assess the ROI of your campaign.
Additional Help | Section 7 Section 7 | Additional Help
Text ad
An ad designed for text delivery, with concise, action-oriented copy
and a link to your website. Because they are not accompanied by
graphics, text links are easy to create and improve page download
time. Also known as a sponsored link.
Section 7 | Additional Help