Google’s AdWords API is now up to Version 13. The latest update comes with a whole host of updates which people can be excited for.
Here is a short list of updates that I feel are worth highlighting.
- New geotargeting options
- Quality-based bid and quality score support
- Mobile Image Ad support
- Search volume data returned in KeywordToolService
- Minimum bids no longer supported
The last update catches my eye, even if I’m not an AdWords user.
Here is their explanation for it,
Based on advertiser feedback, we’ve introduced a change to Quality Score that affects your AdWords account in several ways. The primary change is that we’ve replaced static per-keyword Quality Scores with a system that evaluates an ad’s quality each time it matches a search query. This way, AdWords is using the most accurate, specific, and up-to-date performance information when determining whether an ad should be displayed. Your ads will be more likely to show when they’re relevant and less likely to show when they’re not, meaning end users will see better ads and you should get more qualified leads.
So in short, instead of having a minimum for each keyword or phrase, they’re moving to a score-based system for the API.
Something else that was introduced was the “first page bid estimates.” As you would expect, this metric will give you a value of what it will cost you to get on the first page for a keyword or phrase.
I believe Google is doing this so that advertisers have to make a more stable position on where their ads are actually going rather than just setting the minimum to get some traffic.
I really think this will be a revenue booster for them because it will influence people to bid more to get to the front page, making competition even fiercer for those top keywords.
