10 Visual Google Ads PPC Reports You Should Use
As data analysts, we often overlook the value of visualizing our PPC data. Lucky for us, the Google Ads Report Editor has made data visualization easier than ever. This handy tool allows your average PPC analyst to become an everyday Bob Ross of data visualization. Custom graphs and charts are an extremely useful problem-solving tool and continue to guide our Google Ads optimization efforts at Clearlink.
If you’re not using the Report Editor, we highly recommend taking it for a spin. We’ve provided our top 10 most useful graphs and charts to get you started. Visualizing your data with these reports will help you focus on the best optimization opportunities in your account.
1) Campaign Volume Over Time
This report is a must-have. We frequently see account performance fluctuate based on the traffic mix of campaigns, ad groups, and keywords. Getting all campaigns on one trended graph allows you to quickly spot your top-performing campaigns alongside any recent performance changes.
Once you’ve identified a questionable campaign, continue to dig in by running a similar report to analyze that campaign’s ad groups or keywords. Use this tactic to get ahead of any performance changes before they get out of hand.
2) Search Term Volume Over Time – Account Breakdown
Overlapping phrase and broad match keywords can complicate your account. This report brings any account back to the basics, regardless of structure or keyword match types. Aggregating like search terms from different ad groups provides a clean performance trend over time for your top queries. This report is a great way to monitor the health of your biggest search terms while promoting new ideas around account structure, ad copy, and keywords.
Tip: Search term graphs can get messy. Stay focused on top volume producers and significant volume fluctuations.
3) Search Term Volume Over Time – Broad And Phrase
Search term analysis on broad and phrase match types can be one of your best means of keyword research. Trend these terms overtime to ensure that you are aware of any search terms that are on the rise. Quickly identify poor performing search terms to be negative-matched, or start speaking to up-and-coming search terms before your competition. We have found this report particularly effective in identifying customer service keywords that pop up due to service outages or long-tail terms related to news stories. This will be especially helpful for those who have yet to analyze the impact of Google’s close variant update. If you haven’t done this yet, do it now.
4) Impression Share By Device Over Time
If your ads play in the top three positions, you should be looking at your impression share by device. Google is constantly bringing ads in and out of the auction as it optimizes for the best possible search experience. As a result, the impression share fluctuates. With more than half of impressions coming from mobile nowadays, advertisers can’t afford to overlook low impression share on any device.
5) Cost And Performance By Region
Search volume, competition, and user intent vary by region. Google Ads’ geographic segments allow you to understand how each region performs. Use these reports to set geo bid modifiers where appropriate.
6) Click Type Breakdown
What type of clicks are you buying? If you’re not using or optimizing ad extensions, it will be apparent in this chart. Remember to schedule regular testing for ad extensions, just like you would for ad copy.
7) Analytics Metrics Reporting
Analytics data can be a good leading indicator when Google Ads conversions are unavailable. Comparing session duration and pages-per-visit provides context about a specific traffic source’s intent.
8) Impressions By Match Type
Are your ads as relevant to your searcher as possible? More impressions captured through exact-match types means more control when matching ad copy with search intent. If a large percentage of your clicks are coming through broad and phrase match, dig into your search term reports to see if any queries would benefit from more specific ad copy.
9) Click Type By Device
Mobile users want information as soon as possible, and ad extensions provide a helpful alternative to navigating on a tiny screen. Comparing click type by device illustrates this point. If you’re not seeing a variety of click types on mobile, double-check the status of your ad extensions. If they are approved, but underperforming, try including sitelinks with a mobile device preference. This separate mobile extension will allow you to speak specifically to searchers on-the-go and improve your ads’ relevance.
10) Performance By Hour Of Day And Day Of Week
User intent and competition vary at different times throughout the week. CPC and position can indicate at which times competition fluctuates. Conversion rate or session duration can show intent. Based on your results, adjust your ad schedules or set bid multipliers where applicable throughout the week.
Tip: Buying habits often differ on weekends. Use the handy day of week filters to analyze hourly trends on weekends, separately from weekdays.
Final Thoughts
The Google Ads Report Editor is one of the most useful improvements to the interface in recent years. Data visualization using the Report Editor is an extremely effective way to identify opportunities in your account. The range of metrics, dimensions, and filters provide a ton of ways to visualize the data that matters.
This is only a sample of The Report Editor’s potential. What data matters to your account? If you’re struggling with where to get started, here’s a post from one of Hanapin’s own analysts about how to create actionable PPC reports.
This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update
Here’s what happened in the world of Google and search engines this week:
1. Google’s June 2024 Spam Update
Google finished rolling out its June 2024 spam update over a period of seven days. This update aims to reduce spammy content in search results.
2. Changes to Google Search Interface
Google has removed the continuous scroll feature for search results. Instead, it’s back to the old system of pages.
3. New Features and Tests
- Link Cards: Google is testing link cards at the top of AI-generated overviews.
- Health Overviews: There are more AI-generated health overviews showing up in search results.
- Local Panels: Google is testing AI overviews in local information panels.
4. Search Rankings and Quality
- Improving Rankings: Google said it can improve its search ranking system but will only do so on a large scale.
- Measuring Quality: Google’s Elizabeth Tucker shared how they measure search quality.
5. Advice for Content Creators
- Brand Names in Reviews: Google advises not to avoid mentioning brand names in review content.
- Fixing 404 Pages: Google explained when it’s important to fix 404 error pages.
6. New Search Features in Google Chrome
Google Chrome for mobile devices has added several new search features to enhance user experience.
7. New Tests and Features in Google Search
- Credit Card Widget: Google is testing a new widget for credit card information in search results.
- Sliding Search Results: When making a new search query, the results might slide to the right.
8. Bing’s New Feature
Bing is now using AI to write “People Also Ask” questions in search results.
9. Local Search Ranking Factors
Menu items and popular times might be factors that influence local search rankings on Google.
10. Google Ads Updates
- Query Matching and Brand Controls: Google Ads updated its query matching and brand controls, and advertisers are happy with these changes.
- Lead Credits: Google will automate lead credits for Local Service Ads. Google says this is a good change, but some advertisers are worried.
- tROAS Insights Box: Google Ads is testing a new insights box for tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend) in Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns.
- WordPress Tag Code: There is a new conversion code for Google Ads on WordPress sites.
These updates highlight how Google and other search engines are continuously evolving to improve user experience and provide better advertising tools.
AI
Exploring the Evolution of Language Translation: A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate
According to an article on PCMag, while Google Translate makes translating sentences into over 100 languages easy, regular users acknowledge that there’s still room for improvement.
In theory, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are expected to bring about a new era in language translation. These models consume vast amounts of text-based training data and real-time feedback from users worldwide, enabling them to quickly learn to generate coherent, human-like sentences in a wide range of languages.
However, despite the anticipation that ChatGPT would revolutionize translation, previous experiences have shown that such expectations are often inaccurate, posing challenges for translation accuracy. To put these claims to the test, PCMag conducted a blind test, asking fluent speakers of eight non-English languages to evaluate the translation results from various AI services.
The test compared ChatGPT (both the free and paid versions) to Google Translate, as well as to other competing chatbots such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. The evaluation involved comparing the translation quality for two test paragraphs across different languages, including Polish, French, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Amharic.
In the first test conducted in June 2023, participants consistently favored AI chatbots over Google Translate. ChatGPT, Google Bard (now Gemini), and Microsoft Bing outperformed Google Translate, with ChatGPT receiving the highest praise. ChatGPT demonstrated superior performance in converting colloquialisms, while Google Translate often provided literal translations that lacked cultural nuance.
For instance, ChatGPT accurately translated colloquial expressions like “blow off steam,” whereas Google Translate produced more literal translations that failed to resonate across cultures. Participants appreciated ChatGPT’s ability to maintain consistent levels of formality and its consideration of gender options in translations.
The success of AI chatbots like ChatGPT can be attributed to reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF), which allows these models to learn from human preferences and produce culturally appropriate translations, particularly for non-native speakers. However, it’s essential to note that while AI chatbots outperformed Google Translate, they still had limitations and occasional inaccuracies.
In a subsequent test, PCMag evaluated different versions of ChatGPT, including the free and paid versions, as well as language-specific AI agents from OpenAI’s GPTStore. The paid version of ChatGPT, known as ChatGPT Plus, consistently delivered the best translations across various languages. However, Google Translate also showed improvement, performing surprisingly well compared to previous tests.
Overall, while ChatGPT Plus emerged as the preferred choice for translation, Google Translate demonstrated notable improvement, challenging the notion that AI chatbots are always superior to traditional translation tools.
Source: https://www.pcmag.com/articles/google-translate-vs-chatgpt-which-is-the-best-language-translator
Google Implements Stricter Guidelines for Mass Email Senders to Gmail Users
Beginning in April, Gmail senders bombarding users with unwanted mass emails will encounter a surge in message rejections unless they comply with the freshly minted Gmail email sender protocols, Google cautions.
Fresh Guidelines for Dispatching Mass Emails to Gmail Inboxes In an elucidative piece featured on Forbes, it was highlighted that novel regulations are being ushered in to shield Gmail users from the deluge of unsolicited mass emails. Initially, there were reports surfacing about certain marketers receiving error notifications pertaining to messages dispatched to Gmail accounts. Nonetheless, a Google representative clarified that these specific errors, denoted as 550-5.7.56, weren’t novel but rather stemmed from existing authentication prerequisites.
Moreover, Google has verified that commencing from April, they will initiate “the rejection of a portion of non-compliant email traffic, progressively escalating the rejection rate over time.” Google elaborates that, for instance, if 75% of the traffic adheres to the new email sender authentication criteria, then a portion of the remaining non-conforming 25% will face rejection. The exact proportion remains undisclosed. Google does assert that the implementation of the new regulations will be executed in a “step-by-step fashion.”
This cautious and methodical strategy seems to have already kicked off, with transient errors affecting a “fraction of their non-compliant email traffic” coming into play this month. Additionally, Google stipulates that bulk senders will be granted until June 1 to integrate “one-click unsubscribe” in all commercial or promotional correspondence.
Exclusively Personal Gmail Accounts Subject to Rejection These alterations exclusively affect bulk emails dispatched to personal Gmail accounts. Entities sending out mass emails, specifically those transmitting a minimum of 5,000 messages daily to Gmail accounts, will be mandated to authenticate outgoing emails and “refrain from dispatching unsolicited emails.” The 5,000 message threshold is tabulated based on emails transmitted from the same principal domain, irrespective of the employment of subdomains. Once the threshold is met, the domain is categorized as a permanent bulk sender.
These guidelines do not extend to communications directed at Google Workspace accounts, although all senders, including those utilizing Google Workspace, are required to adhere to the updated criteria.
Augmented Security and Enhanced Oversight for Gmail Users A Google spokesperson emphasized that these requisites are being rolled out to “fortify sender-side security and augment user control over inbox contents even further.” For the recipient, this translates to heightened trust in the authenticity of the email sender, thus mitigating the risk of falling prey to phishing attempts, a tactic frequently exploited by malevolent entities capitalizing on authentication vulnerabilities. “If anything,” the spokesperson concludes, “meeting these stipulations should facilitate senders in reaching their intended recipients more efficiently, with reduced risks of spoofing and hijacking by malicious actors.”
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