+Finally. “Finally”. [Finally]!

It appears that after years of providing a clunky and unintuitive keyword segmentation experience, that the Google AdWords Keyword Tab is, yes, finally getting a much needed usability facelift.

We spotted a different layout this week in a new client account that streamlines access to the different keyword reports that most PPC managers use on a daily basis:

As a comparison, here is an example of the one that’s been around for a while. You can see that the original has the Negative Keywords on the same page as the Keywords you are targeting, and the Search Term report is accessible through the “Details” dropdown menu option.

 

What’s New?

Keyword Navigation Update

The biggest navigation change came with the addition of 3 buttons at the top that now segments the different keyword types onto different pages: Keywords, Negative Keywords, and Search Terms.

The second “Search Terms” button next to the old “Details” dropdown menu is a little redundant as it leads to the same place as the button with the same name at the top does. My guess is this is to assist pay per click marketing professionals who’ve been dealing with the old layout find the Search Term report easier without getting lost.

Negative Keywords Page

After the nav update, the best part of the change came from giving the Negative Keywords their own page. Gone are the days of scrolling down to the bottom of a large keyword list just to access your negative keywords. The is a much better user experience IMHO.

Search Terms Page

Creating the simpler navigation that takes you straight to the Search Term report page is a great update since we spend a lot for time in these reports. The page itself has a couple of minor UX updates done to it including:

• Adding a total number of keywords that were selected for this report (2 keywords were selected) and a link to “show all”.
• Moving the “Download” button from the right side of the “Add as Keyword” and “Add as Negative Keyword” buttons, up to the right of the “Segment”, “Filter” and “Columns” dropdown menus where it’s commonly found throughout the rest of AdWords.

Here is the original Search Term report page for a comparison.

 

Summary

As a self proclaimed power-user of Negative Keywords and Search Term reports, this update is greatly welcome. It’s more intuitive and will help PPC advertisers navigate their accounts easier, saving time and frustration.