Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Never Drink While Doing Google Adwords
After 80+ blog posts it becomes difficult to find new content that is interesting to talk about. So, with that said, here's a post that is a little "off the rocker" or shall I way "off the wagon". If you have ever had a few glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon or a couple bottles of beer while working over the weekend at home, it could be pretty easy to get a little side tracked, especially if you have many diverse clients with similar keyword segments listed under your client center.
#10: You start freaking out about how your CPCs are too low, then you realize the Default Max Bid CPCs are set differently than at the keyword level. (geeky)
#9 When you can't figure out why at the adgroup summary level you see all sorts of traffic data and then nothing at the keyword level. You then realize this campaign is within the Content Network
#8 Getting confused between CPA, CPC, CPM, CPO and eventually need CPR to get a hold of yourself. (over dramatic I know)
#7 Wondering why only 1 of your 4 ads is getting impressions, you realize that your Ads are set to optimize and not rotate.
#6 After 30 minutes trying to figure out why your Ad/Creative is being rejected, you realize that the Trademark penalty is your client's own trademark. (That has actually happened a few times)
#5 You continue to confuse yourself with Google Conversion Tracking vs. Google Analytics Tracking.
#4 You go back and forth between the Adwords Editor and Google Interface to see the latest changes and you forget "get recent changes" in the Editor.
#3 When performing Bid Management, you "fat-finger" the default CPCs to $100.00 when the should actually be $1.00
#2 You spent an hour creating a full adwords campaign with 5 adgroups, 500 keywords and 25 Ads for a set of Ladies Tanks (women's clothing client) under your other client who sells Diecast Military Vehicles and wonder why there are no conversions.
#1 Ran a keyword report which states that the keyword "ASS" is the highest clicked keyword for your clothing client. You then realize that you accidentally added the broad keyword "ass" when it was supposed to be a "-ass" negative keyword at the adgroup level.
In conclusion:
Some of this is made up or can easily happen even without drinking. Actually, after spending 8+ straight hours within the Google Adwords, you can sometimes forget what the hell is going on. The funny thing about #1 is I actually have the fortune to have a client who was actually bidding on the keyword "ass" when they were trying to use "ass" as a negative. Of course, I found the error and fixed it, but again this stuff happens to everyone.
Disclaimer: These are NOT actual events while under the influence. (some are similar, though) They are just to poke fun at the "day-to-day" weariness of managing many PPC accounts 24/7.
TrackBack
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/1100261/28824596
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Never Drink While Doing Google Adwords:
» SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 7, 2008 from
Search Engine Land: News About Search Engines & Search Marketing
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web... [Read More]
Good post. I think everyone has done at least one of these things at one time or the other :)
Posted by: David Vogelpohl | Wednesday, May 07, 2008 at 09:00 AM
I had the misfortune of looking at a Budget Total in Adwords that was $100,000+ after only three days into the second year of a campaign.
Five frantic minutes later, I realized I had the date range set as Campaign to Date. Yikes.
Posted by: Tom Buchok | Wednesday, May 07, 2008 at 10:17 PM
Thats just classic. Right up there with the time a client told me I should never send out client emails at 4AM in the morning, apparently being overly tired is right up there with intoxication :)
Posted by: Daryl Quenet | Friday, May 09, 2008 at 04:15 PM
Let's not forget bidding on the word "keyword" after importing a list directly from your favorite keyword tool into AdWords. :)
I notice the the History Channel is doing that right now. :) Being the good guy that I am I've of course contacted them to let them know.
Awesome post !!!
Posted by: Dave Davies | Friday, May 09, 2008 at 06:20 PM
Great post - I have done all of these things, and never under the influence of anything other than PPC Overload! (OK, I've never bid on "ass,", but I have bid on "keyword.") Just yesterday, I tried to upload an ad group in Yahoo for one client to another client's account..... luckily, Yahoo gave me errors until I realized what I was trying to do! I think we're all so busy and we try to do too much multi-tasking sometimes.
Posted by: Mel66 | Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 12:02 PM