Microsoft adCenter Desktop Tool
As an avid user of the Adwords Editor, I was delighted when Microsoft launched their adCenter desktop tool. Sure, I knew it wouldn’t be as robust or user friendly, but at least it was something! Over the past year I’ve stumbled upon a few things that I hope will help streamline the use of the desktop tool, and make it a little more effective for editing and optimizing your campaigns.

When using the desktop tool, there are a few things that I think are important to keep in mind:

• Your entire account will be downloaded when exporting. Unlike the Editor, you are not able to choose specific campaigns, ad groups, ads, or views to download. You get the whole enchilada every time. However, when uploading, it is not necessary to have every row of your account in your spreadsheet, nor do you have to have every column accounted for. You do however, need to have enough information included so the level you are editing can be identified. For example, if you are editing your keyword status and bids, you need to include the campaign and ad group columns along with the keyword columns that contain your changes. When in doubt, more information is better.
• Your CSV import file can’t be more than 10,000 rows. Though a rep gave me this threshold, I haven’t seen an official limit documented. I have, however, had more success uploading when I kept my file between 5,000-8,000 rows. I also prefer to break up my account by campaigns, and upload them separately when possible, but that’s just a personal preference.
• You can edit multiple rows at once. Like the editor, you can select multiple selections at once within the tool. This is helpful, because you can quickly change things like the CPC, status, or match type for multiple rows in one step (assuming you want them all to the same).
• There are multiple account views. When viewing the various sections of your account, you have multiple choices about the data you are looking at. You can see the entire account, pending changes, errors, etc. However, as you change between the levels of your account (campaign, ad group, ads, keywords) the view doesn’t hold. This isn’t a big deal, but it’s something to keep in mind so you ensure that you are always looking at an accurate view.
• Your CSV Import file layout matters. When importing, I’ve found that I have fewer errors when I start with an export file instead of the template you can get online. As I mentioned above, you do not have to have all of the columns or rows from the export file, but you do need to make sure that headers you are using are in the same order, and are called the same thing in order for your import to be successful.

In addition to editing your campaigns offline, the desktop tool can help you with your keyword research, and you can automatically add the relevant results to your ad groups, or add them as campaign or ad group negatives. There are four tools that you can use, but it’s important to keep in mind that the data in these tools is based on US Traffic Only, and the only metric you will see is last month’s impressions.

1. Similar keywords: enter a word or phrase, and it will come up with (you guessed it!) similar keywords.
2. Extracted keywords: enter a website, and it will give you a list of keywords that are the most prominent and/or relevant from that site. This tool can be very helpful for competitive reviews.
3. Frequent keywords: this tool gives you keywords that have a lot of impressions, but they are EXTREMELY broad (think Google and Yahoo), so they probably won’t be very relevant to your business.
4. Category Keywords: This tool gives you keywords that generate impressions within categories created by MSN. For example, in the Animals category, the term “dogs” was returned. Again, the results from this tool are more than likely too broad to be of any real use to you.

Microsoft Advertising Intelligence
We all understand that quality keyword research is what helps not only get our campaigns off to a great start, but that it is vital for their ongoing success as search evolves. I’ve been able to use this Excel plug-in to create new keyword lists, have more insight into the Bing content network, and identify search trends. It’s very easy to use, and it’s incredibly fast considering the amount of information that is returned. As with the desktop tool, there are a few things that I’ve found while using the tool that you might want to keep in mind:

• Make sure that Excel 2007 is installed on your computer.
• The data that is returned comes from Live.com index and adCenter. It’s important to keep in mind that Bing accounts for less than 10% of the traffic share right now, so you can’t assume the data is applicable to your Google or Yahoo! accounts. Instead, use the information as a guideline to understand the relative search volume, relevance, and pricing for one keyword over another, and combine it with other research efforts.
• If you’re all of a sudden unable to access the toolbar after using it for a while, change the time on your computer/server. We found that by changing the time by about five minutes we were able to once again verify our account, and regain access.
• Once the plug-in is installed you can access the three tool sections through your Excel toolbar.

The Keyword Research section gives you access to a variety of tools that allow you to perform the following tasks:

• Identify keyword categories to help your campaigns and ad groups stay organized.
• Recognize trends by spotting traffic spikes. This tool can help you analyze seasonal trends, and help you prepare for upcoming shifts in traffic.
• Find high volume keywords across different business verticals to help with competitive research.
• Gather demographic and location information on searchers.
• Forecast keyword volume for the month to help you manage your spend.
• Analyze content network statistics so you can identify high volume keywords and potential relevant domains.

The Pricing section contains tools that help you:

• Access pricing estimates for the search and content networks.
• Create benchmarks based on key performance indicators (KPIs) for various verticals that have been pre-determined within the tool.

The Content section, while currently only for the US, gives you tools to:

• Identify most frequently seen keywords within various verticals.
• Analyze pricing estimates by vertical for both the search and content networks.
• Gather content network pricing and impression estimates.

Effectively Using adCenter PPC Tools
Overall I think Microsoft has come a long way in helping advertisers better manage their campaigns, and I look forward to seeing how the merger will further enhance these tools. At the end of the day it is our responsibility as advertisers to understand what our data represents, and know how to use it to effectively grow and optimize our campaigns. No matter what tools you use to streamline your account changes, or conduct keyword research, take a few extra minutes to try and understand what you are looking at, and what, if any, shortcomings the data might have. Combining data from multiple reliable sources will always help ensure that you are making the best decision possible.

Typically, I will get clients that like to type in their keywords into Google, Yahoo and MSN almost every day just to see how their ad looks in the SERPS. Unfortunately, this can cause problems for your account. If you type in a keyword and variations of that keyword too many times, but you’re not clicking on any ads, the search engines will serve up different ads and sometimes not showing your ad at all. They do this because they’re assuming since you haven’t clicked on any ads that what they’re displaying for you aren’t relevant, so they begin to display other ads in hopes that you’ll click on one of those.  This typically will cause much confusion on the clients end since their ad doesn’t come up in the SERPS anymore and they want to know why.

Another thing that can happen is if you’re typing in keywords daily just to check your ads, this can drive up your impressions and can lower your click-through rates. A lower click-through rate typically means a lower Quality Score which can drive up your costs.

Of course, Google has the same ad preview tool and what’s nice about that tool is you can provide a link to the tool to your clients so they can check on their ads all day long if they’d like without affecting your click-through rates.

To access the ad preview tool within the MSN interface click on any campaign, and in the upper right hand corner there will be a link for the ‘ad preview tool’.

Once you click on that link, you’ll get to a page that has a large empty white box and a field where you can enter your keyword.

Once you enter your keyword and hit the ‘preview ads’ button your results will be shown as if they would be in bing.com.

The Bing preview tool simply shows you where your position is and what the ad looks like within Bing. This way, you don’t have to type in your keyword in the directly into Bing to get the same information which can cause your click-through rates to decrease.

Microsoft-Yahoo partnership resources:

• You can learn more about the partnership at the  newly launched site: www.choicevalueinnovation.com
• You can follow the discussion on Twitter and keep up-to-date as news develops: Microsoft-Yahoo topic trend
• You can read a summary of the conference call held this morning: Search Engine Land summary
• Here is the official press release:

Microsoft, Yahoo! Change Search Landscape
Global Deal Creates Better Choice for Consumers and Advertisers

SUNNYVALE, CA and REDMOND, WA — 29 July, 2009 — Yahoo! and Microsoft announced an agreement that will improve the Web search experience for users and advertisers, and deliver sustained innovation to the industry. In simple terms, Microsoft will now power Yahoo! search while Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

For Web users and advertisers, this deal will accelerate the pace and breadth of innovation by combining both companies’ complementary strengths and search platforms into a market competitor with the scale to fuel sustained development in search and search advertising. Users will find what they care about faster and with more personal relevance. Microsoft’s competitive search platforms will lead to more value for advertisers, better results for web publishers, and increased innovation and efficiency across the Internet.

Under this agreement, Yahoo! will focus on its core business of providing consumers with great experiences with the world’s favorite online destinations and Web products.

“This agreement comes with boatloads of value for Yahoo!, our users, and the industry. And I believe it establishes the foundation for a new era of Internet innovation and development,” said Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz. “Users will continue to experience search as a vital part of their Yahoo! experiences and will enjoy increased innovation thanks to the scale and resources this deal provides. Advertisers will also benefit from scale and enjoy greater ease of use and efficiencies working with a single platform and sales team for premium advertisers. Finally, this deal will help us increase our investments in priority areas in winning audience properties, display advertising capabilities, and mobile experiences.”

Providing a viable alternative to advertisers, this deal will combine Yahoo! and Microsoft search marketplaces so that advertisers no longer have to rely on one company that dominates more than 70 percent of all search. With the addition of Yahoo!’s search volume, Microsoft will achieve the size and scale required to unleash competition and innovation in the market, for consumers as well as advertisers.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the agreement will provide Microsoft’s search engine, Bing, the scale necessary to more effectively compete, attracting more users and advertisers, which in turn will lead to more relevant ads and search results.

“Through this agreement with Yahoo!, we will create more innovation in search, better value for advertisers, and real consumer choice in a market currently dominated by a single company,” said Ballmer. “Success in search requires both innovation and scale. With our new Bing search platform, we’ve created breakthrough innovation and features. This agreement with Yahoo! will provide the scale we need to deliver even more rapid advances in relevancy and usefulness. Microsoft and Yahoo! know there’s so much more that search could be. This agreement gives us the scale and resources to create the future of search.”

“This deal fits the long-term strategic direction of Yahoo! to remain the world’s leading online media company and Carol Bartz has the full and unanimous support of the Yahoo! Board behind this deal,” said Roy Bostock, chairman, Yahoo! Inc. “This is a significant opportunity for us. Microsoft is an industry innovator in search, and it is a great opportunity for us to focus our investments in other areas critical to our future.”

The key terms of the agreement are as follows:

- The term of the agreement is 10 years;

- Microsoft will acquire an exclusive 10 year license to Yahoo!’s core search technologies, and Microsoft will have the ability to integrate Yahoo! search technologies into its existing web search platforms;
Microsoft’s Bing will be the exclusive algorithmic search and paid search platform for Yahoo! sites. Yahoo! will continue to use its technology and data in other areas of its business such as enhancing display advertising technology.

- Yahoo! will become the exclusive worldwide relationship sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers. Self-serve advertising for both companies will be fulfilled by Microsoft’s AdCenter platform, and prices for all search ads will continue to be set by AdCenter’s automated auction process.

- Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business and sales force.

- Yahoo! will innovate and “own” the user experience on Yahoo! properties, including the user experience for search, even though it will be powered by Microsoft technology.

- Microsoft will compensate Yahoo! through a revenue sharing agreement on traffic generated on Yahoo!’s network of both owned and operated (O&O) and affiliate sites.

- Microsoft will pay traffic acquisition costs (TAC) to Yahoo! at an initial rate of 88% of search revenue generated on Yahoo!’s O&O sites during the first 5 years of the agreement.

- Yahoo! will continue to syndicate its existing search affiliate partnerships.

- Microsoft will guarantee Yahoo!’s O&O revenue per search (RPS) in each country for the first 18 months following initial implementation in that country.

- At full implementation (expected to occur within 24 months following regulatory approval), Yahoo! estimates, based on current levels of revenue and current operating expenses, that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual GAAP operating income of approximately $500 million and capital expenditure savings of approximately $200 million. Yahoo! also estimates that this agreement will provide a benefit to annual operating cash flow of approximately $275 million.

The agreement protects consumer privacy by limiting the data shared between the companies to the minimum necessary to operate and improve the combined search platform, and restricts the use of search data shared between the companies. The agreement maintains the industry-leading privacy practices that each company follows today.

The agreement does not cover each company’s web properties and products, email, instant messaging, display advertising, or any other aspect of the companies’ businesses. In those areas, the companies will continue to compete vigorously.

The transaction will be subject to regulatory review. The agreement entered into today anticipates that the parties will enter into more detailed definitive agreements prior to closing. Microsoft and Yahoo! expect the agreement to be closely reviewed by the industry and government regulators, and welcome questions. The companies are hopeful that closing can occur in early 2010.

The companies have established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement.

Conference Call – 5:30 a.m. PDT, Wednesday, July 29
Yahoo! and Microsoft will host a conference call with Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to discuss the agreement at 5:30 a.m. Pacific/8:30 a.m. Eastern Time today.

To listen to the call, please dial 1-866-515-2908 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-617-399-5122 international, reservation number: 47968026. A live webcast of the call can be accessed through Yahoo!’s Investor Relations website at http://yhoo.client.shareholder.com/results.cfm.

The companies have also established a website at http://www.choicevalueinnovation.com to provide consumers, advertisers and publishers with additional information about the benefits of the agreement. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be available through the same link. An audio replay of the call will be available for two weeks following the conference call by calling 1-888-286-8010 in the U.S. and Canada; +1-617-801-6888 international, reservation number: 91217610.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This release refers to operating cash flow (operating income before depreciation, amortization of intangible assets, and stock-based compensation expense, or OCF), which is a non-GAAP financial measure. The most comparable GAAP measure is income from operations. The estimated annual OCF benefit of $275 million included in this press release is the estimated annual benefit in income from operations of $500 million less approximately $225 million of estimated annual savings in depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation expense.

As a search marketer, I’m only worried about campaign impact. And, as far as I can tell, campaign impact can only happen if people are searching (or is it deciding?) with Bing.

So, Will People Use Bing?
Based on Microsoft’s ad spend, I would imagine that, yes, People will most definitely come, at least over the next few weeks. On Wednesday night, I saw a Bing advertisement on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien, and my wife (I swear, it was my wife), noticed one on So You Think You Can Dance? So it’s clear that Bing is not discriminating on the basis of gender, dancing ability, or intelligence. They’re welcoming all interested parties to Bing.

So then, What Should PPC Managers Do About Bing?
Well, the good thing is that there is no account or campaign migration necessary. Your AdCenter accounts remain your AdCenter accounts, and all of your ads and keywords that were running through Live Search will continue uninterrupted.

The bad thing is that AdCenter’s clumsy, difficult-to-navigate and prone-to-shutdowns user interface hasn’t changed either. Expect no great leaps forward in terms of ease of use as a marketer. Bing’s assistance in decision-making is strictly for the searcher, it would appear.

Well then, What Does Bing Mean in the Short Term?
If you have AdCenter accounts, expect to see more traffic to them. Expect to see impressions increase.

Bing’s impact might be more direct if you are an advertiser in the broad categories of travel, shopping, health, or local search. These four categories are the initial elements of Microsoft and Bing’s “decision” focus and, as such, you might find a more competitive advertising landscape than you did on Live Search. Additionally, because Bing is promoting itself as a place for answers related to these topics, expect the natural results to provide stiffer “competition” than they did previously. Click-through rates in these categories may see a decline, but you might also find searchers that are closer to a decision and, therefore, more likely to buy.

So then, really, What Does Bing Mean for Me?
Pay a bit more attention to AdCenter.

If you’re at all like me, at some point you exported your Google campaigns from AdWords Editor, you made the necessary tweaks to ads, you cut bids in half, you failed in six or eight or 22 upload efforts into AdCenter, you eventually completed the import (mostly manually, of course) and you’ve let the campaigns sit there.

So, really, pay just a bit more attention to your AdCenter accounts, and be prepared to be more dynamic in your management than you were forced to be previously.

As always, the marketer who makes the effort, and who makes the effort intelligently, will be the marketer who reaps the benefits.

Campaign Management

• Targeting Options:  This is probably the best change (IMHO).  Microsoft has made it possible for advertisers to apply customer targeting at the campaign level.  Customer targeting includes demographic, time/day and geographic settings.  Previously, these targeting options were only available at the ad group level.  Those ad group settings will override any changes made at the campaign level.
• Improved Keyword Research Tools:  While I’ll freely admit that I’m typically a Google Keyword Tool guy, the adCenter research tools are pretty nice.  In this upgrade, Microsoft has added new functionality such as filters, keyword level performance and demographic data and the ability to bid on a keyword to review its estimated performance.

Account Management

• Homepage & Alerts:  My reaction?  Meh.  Imagine the AdWords Account Summary page and *whalah!* you’ve got the new adCenter homepage.
• Account Settings:  Double meh.  I suppose this is vital information, but it didn’t really necessitate a separate announcement post.  Now you can choose which alerts you can receive, and more settings can be accessed in the same place with this upgrade.

adCenter Desktop

• Performance: Microsoft has graciously increased the amount of data you can manage in Desktop to more than 100,000 keywords per account.  Additionally, you can download specific accounts individually (previously, if you had 5 sub-accounts under 1 login, you had to download them all at once).  And most importantly, Microsoft has increased upload/download speeds to the point that you can now work on one account while another uploads or downloads.  I like increased productivity!
• Import Preview:  Not life-changing, but this is a nice touch.  Before you upload anything to adCenter, you know have the option to preview those changes.
• City/State Targeting:  Previously, if you wanted to update City or State targeting options you had to be logged into adCenter online.  Now, you can update City and State options directly from Desktop.

Content Ads

• Reporting:  Microsoft has added a “site performance” report for a “deeper understanding” of your ads’ performance on their content network.
• Site Exclusion: To go with the new reporting, you can now exclude under performing sites at the campaign and ad group level.
• Placements: And on the flip-side of that coin, you can also target content sites as placements.  You can choose up to 1000 websites or individual pages to target in this fashion.

Not to bash Microsoft too much, but the majority of these upgrades simply bring adCenter up-to-date with Google AdWords (i.e. Account Summary page, placements/site exclusion/content reporting, etc.).  Regardless, it’s good to see Microsoft listening to customer feedback and taking the initiative to advance their PPC product.

I had added keywords into MSN for a client of mine a while back using only broad match. When the MSN rep called me, they recommended I use additional match types. Okay, I do this in Google, why not try it in MSN? The cool thing about utilizing MSN match types is that once I add phrase and exact match into an ad group with my broad match keyword, it automatically breaks out traffic from the broad match keyword into what would have been phrase match or exact match.

For example, the keyword, ‘endoscopy’, broad match shows that during a 7 day span it generated: 1000 impressions and 200 clicks.

But once I added phrase and exact match of the keyword ‘endoscopy’ into the ad group, this is how MSN broke out my metrics:

Broad match: 700 impressions and 75 clicks
Phrase match: 200 impressions and 20 clicks
Exact match: 100 impressions and 5 clicks

So I could see that a majority of my traffic was coming from keywords that I didn’t have in my ad group. Why is this important? Instead of having to add the additional match types to the ad group and waiting a couple of weeks if not months to begin seeing how the traffic is attributed, you can get that information as soon as you add in the match types and hit save. This allows you to quickly determine which keywords should have their bids adjusted or if they should be paused. But it also tells you how users are finding your site and how qualified they are depending on which match type they came through. Rather than having to wait around for weeks or even months at a time to give your new match types a chance to generate clicks and leads, you now have this information immediately and can act on it as soon as you add them into your account.

So, it may not be a mind-blowing advancement for MSN but it is a cool feature that neither Google or Yahoo have.

To add additional match types to your MSN keywords, take the following steps:

1. Login to your MSN Adcenter account.
2. Click on the campaign, then ad group of the keywords you want to add additional match types to.
3. Make sure you’re on the keywords tab, then click on the link that says ‘edit keywords’ (see screen shot)

4. Next you want to cick on the check box that says ‘show match types’ (see screen shot)

5. Once you click on ‘show match types’, MSN will automatically check all match types for each keyword in your ad group. If you want all match types hit ‘save’ at the bottom of the page and viola, your new match types have been added and it will show you right then the breakdown in key metrics for each match type. (see screen shot)

This is just one step MSN has made in the recent past to help improve your PPC campaigns. Has anyone else benefited from this feature?

Language before Location

When you create a campaign and ad group in adCenter, you will be asked a series of questions under the “Target your customers” section. The first (and only required) setting is “Distribute your ads by language and market.” This setting is based on the language your ads will be written in and the market your ads will be distributed through. For most of you – this will be English – United States. In other words, the ads will be written in English and distributed throughout the US.

MSN is very clear that this setting “does not prevent people outside the market from seeing your ad.” By default, a new campaign is set to “display my ads to all customers.” Meaning your language and market decision will guide your ads – but technically anyone can see your ads. This is important to note if you have a US-only PPC campaign. If your products can only be sold in the US, you must move onto the “Target your customers by location” section and choose the US accordingly.

The most important note about the language and market settings is that this is a one-time decision! You choose the language and market when you create an ad group – and it is permanent. If you want/need to target other languages/markets, you have to create a new ad group to do so.

Maximize International Exposure

Because this language and geo-targeting process is such a mess, you have to adopt a specific approach to ad group creation with international PPC campaigns. The first thing to realize is that MSN adCenter only recognizes English and French when writing ad texts. After that, you will need to figure out what combinations of language/market and geographic location will work best for you.

One client that I work with targets the entire world – but they do this in English (not the best, I know). So, to maximize this client’s exposure in adCenter, for every ad group I create – there are actually 4 ad groups needed.

1. Language/Market – English-United States, Location – all countries
2. Language/Market – English-Canada, Location – all countries
3. Language/Market – English-UK, Location – all countries
4. Language/Market – English-Singapore, Location – all countries

Now this is just one example where I am trying to maximize my ads’ reach through the 4 English language options in adCenter. You can of course go much more granular by choosing any of those 4 Language/Market options and then dividing up even more ad groups with specific locations (and set an incremental bid for those locations, too)! And if you’re really feeling industrious, you could write ads and landing pages in French and open up 2 more Language/Market options.

So, if you’re looking for an international PPC boost for MSN adCenter, there you have it. I’d be interested to read how everyone else targets international markets with MSN. Leave me a comment!

The first enhancement in MSN is the ability to manage your credit cards and pay bills more efficiently. Outside of your regular monthly billing schedule, you can now pay on demand with the new ‘pay now’ button located in the billing section of your MSN account. Simply go to the “Accounts” tab and into “Billing”, then billing and click the ‘pay now’ button to pay your current balance.

Have multiple credit cards in your account? Well it’s no problem now to organize, add or delete a credit card. Just go to the accounts and billing section, then payment methods to add, delete or better organize your credit cards on file.

The second set of updates MSN recently added is a better keyword research tool built into the interface.  By going to the ‘research’ tab at the top of the page, you can perform research by keyword, or by website by adding the url of a page, in which then you will get a list of keywords that are relevant to that page.  The greatest part of this is that after you’ve done your keyword research, you can view the number of times the keyword has been search by others before adding them to your ad groups. You can also get information such as estimated click through rate and average cost per click.

Once you’ve completed all of your keyword research and know which keywords you wish to add, you can easily export your list into an Excel or CSN file, then add them to your keyword collection, or include them in your ad groups. What’s even cooler is that you can pick and choose which keywords you want out of your list and only add the ones you want to your ad group by clicking the check box next to the corresponding keyword. Sound familiar???

The third enhancement is in the reporting section.  You can now refresh your recent reports and get up to date data rather than setting up and running a brand new report. Or, if you like a recent report but need to make modifications, you can now create a new report like an existing one, but now you’re able to make modifications which saves you time from having to again set up and run a brand new report.

If companies are smart, they’ll listen to what their actual users are saying about their product and requesting as updates. Luckily, that’s one thing MSN has on their side – a good ear! Typically when I speak with a representative from any of the three major search engines, they do tell me to request features through and give feedback, because that will prioritize what needs to be updated next.

Be sure to check out the latest MSN newsletter to get more detailed information on these new features.

If you’re anything like me, you have a touch of the “ooh, shiny!” complex. By that I mean, each and every new product offering from my favorite search engines carries with it a certain appeal. I get excited at the prospect of trying something new and possibly finding my next favorite resource along the way. This month, Microsoft unleashed their adCenter Desktop Beta on us. And surprise, surprise – I like it.

At first glance, it’s almost impossible to discern this application from any of the Microsoft Office 2007 product offerings. The Desktop app uses the same blue-hued ribbon menus and clever image based menu options. The first time I stepped through the application, I kept saying to myself, “This is just a knock-off of Google’s AdWords Editor.” That may be, but the folks at Microsoft have thrown in enough ‘extras’ that it stands out on its own. And frankly, knock-off or not, the ability to manage adCenter accounts in such a simple manner is a breath of fresh air.

The Details

Here’s what the adCenter Desktop Beta looks like (click to enlarge):

• Campaigns: You can edit Campaign budgets, Campaign names, decide whether or not to track conversions and add Campaign level negative keywords.
• Ad Groups: You can edit Ad Distribution (search vs. content), Geo-Targeting and add Ad Group Level negative keywords.
• Text Ads: Edit every part of your ad (headline, body, display URL, dest. URL), cross-reference your ads against adCenter editorial guidelines, and you can even extract keywords for your ad group based on a URL or MSN’s keyword tools from this tab.
• Keywords: From this tab you can easily edit all of the unique parameters for each and every keyword (param 1, param 2, param3), insert negative keywords for each keyword and of course, you can manage bids.

As part of the ribbon menu, there are three sections: Home, Manage, and Research.

• Home: This is your primary navigation. Download/Upload your account changes. Export your changes to Excel, or Import. This is also where you can switch between accounts and copy/paste.  The Home menu can be seen in the screen shot above.
• Manage: Use this menu to create new Campaigns, Ad Groups, Ad Texts and Keywords. These functions can be carried out within each of the tabs listed above, too. This menu also contains the Campaign Wizard. This is one of those ‘bonus’ options, and will walk you through the entire process of creating a new campaign. (see below)
• Research: This menu is pretty much a page straight out of the Ad Intelligence plug-in for Excel. Here you will find all of Microsoft’s keyword, demographic and bid research tools. Very handy, indeed.  (see below)

My Thoughts

This application makes managing adCenter campaigns a snap. All of the primary components of your account are at your fingertips for quick, efficient management. The fact that Microsoft actually put their keyword research tools into the software is great. This is one of those subtle details where Microsoft gets bonus points over AdWords Editor.

All praise aside, this is still a Beta test. The application is a little slow, especially when downloading campaigns. There isn’t an auto-save feature like with AdWords Editor. Instead, there is a ‘Save’ button on each and every page of this application. ***Make sure you save before closing the software.*** Another quirk that I’ve discovered is that I can’t switch between multiple accounts. The functionality is present, but when I insert the new login/password for a different account, the application does nothing. In other words, I can only manage the account that was accepted into the Beta at this time. I’ve reached out to adCenter’s support team, but have not yet received a response.

I’ve given my 2 cents. Now it’s time for you to share yours! Let me know your opinion in this quick survey:

Currently, this Beta is by initiation only, so if you want on board you’ll need to contact your Customer Representative. And if you don’t have a dedicated rep, just call the general customer support line and ask to be signed up for the adCenter Desktop Beta (here is the number (800) 518-5689).

Now, here are the details on the new adCenter Desktop:

• Quickly navigate through multiple accounts.
• Bulk edit multiple items at once-within or across groups of items.
• Scan campaigns for editorial issues before uploading to adCenter.
• Receive alerts about performance changes.
• Copy and paste keywords, negative keywords, match types, and bid amounts from adCenter Add-in (Beta) for Excel 2007.
• Expand keywords and optimize bids with built-in keyword intelligence tools.
• Upload changes to the adCenter user interface instantly, with one click.

I already have mine download and I’ll let you know what I think once I’ve used it for a while. Word of caution, registering for the software is a BIG hassle. Enjoy!