Monday, October 01, 2012

An update on ad rotation options

Back in June, we responded to feedback about changes to how ad rotation works in AdWords. First, we increased the time period in which campaigns set to “Rotate evenly” would shift to optimizing ads for clicks. The new period is 90 days instead of 30 days. Second, we provided a form to opt-out of the changes. Third, we said that if opt-out demand was significant, then we’d provide the option to rotate ads indefinitely directly in the AdWords interface.

Rotate indefinitely option
To date, fewer than 1% of accounts have opted out of the ad rotation changes. But we’ve decided to provide the option for ads to “Rotate indefinitely” in the AdWords web interface anyway.

If you select “Rotate indefinitely” option for your campaign, we will show lower-performing ads about as often as higher-performing ads. For most advertisers, this may result in fewer, more expensive clicks and your ad appearing in a lower position. So we generally don't recommend "Rotate indefinitely." But the choice is yours.

To view or adjust ad rotation in the AdWords interface, click on the Settings tab of the desired campaign. Then, in the "Advanced settings" section, click “Ad delivery: Ad rotation, frequency capping.”


Form discontinued
With every option now available directly in the AdWords interface, today we’re discontinuing the ad rotation change opt-out request form. If you previously requested to opt-out of the ad rotation changes, we will change campaigns in your account that are set to “Rotate evenly” to “Rotate indefinitely” near the end of October. For all new campaigns where you want ads to rotate indefinitely, you should select the option directly in AdWords and not rely on the opt-out submitted earlier via the form.

Feedback
We do a lot of testing to gauge the potential impact of AdWords changes on both users and advertisers. But we also rely on your direct feedback and suggestions to continue to make AdWords more effective and useful. We’re always listening through our Google client services teams, our AdWords Community, social media channels (including our Google+ page), and commentary on other sites across the web.