Significant Google AdWords Changes -- Did You Know There Was a Change? Did You Miss Something?

We Give!
Google changes AdWords so frequently now, we give up on reporting the changes. 

If a change is significant enough, we will report it, but's likely not to be anytime soon.

Complete Advertiser Control of Google Network Ad Placements!
(Nov 2005 -- Google got this one in with no announcement or fanfare -- why? Advertisers "should" like it)
Now the advertiser can totally control what network his/her ads are to be served on: Google Search, Google Partner Network Search (like AOL); and Content Match -- any combination is possible.

And Content Match can have separate bids from Search!

Personally, we really like this one, because we had found a way to produce Content Only campaigns and separate them from Search, BUT it was a pain. Now, it's simple.

Kill "In Trial, On Hold, Disabled" -- Bring in Active/Inactive with Minimum Bids!
(Aug 2005 -- Google actually made the announcement on this)
Implemented to fix the "disabled disaster"? Yes, but there was much more to it -- included a long term plan to help make sure bid prices could be controlled by Google as well as by the automated competition analyzer. Although Google's announcement claimed that you could actually bid as little as $0.01, in reality, the minimum bids were no less than before. And, in some cases, MUCH higher than before.

But, the Active/Inactive feature did have benefits -- as long as an advertiser is willing to pay the minimum bid, he gets to keep the keyword in his campaign. There are many cases where this was a critical issue.

In Trial, On Hold, Disabled!
(Forgot the date, but a disaster)
Advertiser basically lost all control over keywords he/she wanted to use. If Google decided they were not performing properly (based on information on Google had) the keywords were put on the patch to destruction and removal -- DISABLED and never to come back!

AdWords Algorithm Change 
(Around Jul 2005 -- NO FANFARE on this change either, nor official announcements)
Google adds something new to the algorithm called (for lack of an official name) a LOCALIZATION FACTOR. Now the ranking formula depends on "who is doing the searching and from where they are doing it from". Meaning a particular ad will rank differently for the exact same search if the search is performed from different locations!

AdWords Algorithm Change 
(Around Feb 2005 -- NO FANFARE on this change either, not even official announcements)
The algorithm gets a LOT more complicated. Raising bids no longer has the same affect on ad positioning. Why?
Answer: The algorithm changed from simple [CTR * MAX BID] = Rank Score to something like the following (only Google engineers know the real formula): 
[MAX BID * KEYWORD CTR * (AD GROUP CTR or AD COPY AVERAGE CTRS or something to this effect) * POSSIBLE A CAMPAIGN WIDE CTR * POSSIBLY SOME CAMPAIGN or ACCOUNT AGE FACTOR] = RANK SCORE
YES, it was AT LEAST this complicated.

AdWords Algorithm Change 
(Between Oct 2004 and Jan 2005 -- NO FANFARE on this change, not even official announcements)
The algorithm gets a bit more complicated. Adding regional term to keyword no longer made the keyword cheap -- Even if you were the only bidder! You were forced to compete with broader, more generic terms and bidders. Cheap keywords all but disappeared.

Originally
(The Beginning)
Your positioning was determined by a simple formula:
[CTR * MAX BID]=Rank Score
We thought the initial AdWords product was great! And for advertisers it was! But, The algorithm had a VERY LARGE revenue generating hole in it: Carefully selection of keywords with proper use of exact and phrase match made it possible to generate decent traffic using CHEAP keywords!

So, Given this Information, What are the Obvious Recommendations

• Get Professional Help: If you can't keep up -- DON'T DO IT YOURSELF... FIND A REPUTABLE PPC PROFESSIONAL AND GET HELP.

• You WILL Need an Adequate Budget: Cheap keywords are a thing of the past and competition is growing.

• Give it Your Efforts, but Monitor Your ROI: PPC can perform admirably, but you must make sure the ROI (or sometimes referred to as return on advertising ROA) is PROFITABLE. 

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