AdWords Editor

Introduction to AdWords Editor

Overview of AdWords Editor

AdWords Editor is a free, downloadable desktop application for managing your AdWords campaigns. If you have a large number of campaigns or keywords, or if you manage multiple accounts, AdWords Editor can save you time and help streamline your workflow.

The basic process is simple: download your account or specific campaigns, make your changes, then upload your revised campaigns.

You'll learn more details about these steps in subsequent lessons.

AdWords Editor Features

With AdWords Editor, you can:

• Work offline on your Mac or PC.
• Upload changes to AdWords any time.
• Store and navigate one or more accounts.
• Add, edit, and delete campaigns, ad groups, ads, keywords, and placements.
• Make large-scale changes quickly.
• Perform advanced searches and edits.
• Add comments for your changes.
• Sort and view performance statistics.
• Copy or move items between campaigns, ad groups, and accounts.
• Export a snapshot of your account for archiving or sharing.
• Import a backup or shared file and review the proposed changes.

You'll learn more details about these and other features later in this lesson.

Installing AdWords Editor

To download and install AdWords Editor, visit the AdWords Editor website at http://www.google.com/adwordseditor. Select Windows or Mac, then click Download AdWords Editor. You'll need Windows 2000, XP, or Vista, or Mac OS X (10.4 or later).

The first time you run AdWords Editor, you'll be prompted automatically to download your account. To download additional accounts, go to the File menu > Open Account.

You may only edit one account at a time. To switch accounts, go to the File menu > Open Account, select the account you want to view, and click Open Selected Account.

Navigating AdWords Editor

You can navigate through your account in AdWords Editor using the tree view of your account on the side of the screen, along with the tabs for the different items in your account.

Tree view: The tree view displays the account name, followed by the campaign names and the ad groups within them. Click the plus and minus signs to expand and collapse the tree view and see the campaigns and ad groups in the account.

Tabs: Once you've selected the account name or a particular campaign or ad group in the tree view, use the tabs to choose what you want to view or edit. Each tab shows a part of your account, such as keywords, ad groups, or campaigns. For example, to view the ad groups in Campaign #1, select Campaign #1 in the tree view and click the Ad Groups tab.

Columns: You can customize the columns that appear on a particular tab. Click the small square that appears after the last column header, then select or deselect the columns you wish to show. Note that performance statistics columns only appear after you've downloaded statistics. Double-click a column header to fit the width to its contents, or right-click the column header and select 'Auto-size Column.' To auto-size all columns at once, click the column chooser and select 'Auto-size All Columns.'

Tool bars: The tool bar contains buttons for account-level actions, such as Post Changes and View Statistics. In addition, each tab has a tool bar with buttons for functions within the tab. For example, the Keywords tab has buttons for adding and deleting keywords, making multiple changes, and reverting changes. The adding and editing options are also available in the Data menu.

Data view and edit panel: The data view is the large part of the screen below the tabs that displays the details of the selected tab. When you select a row in the data view, you can edit it directly in the row or in the edit panel below the data view.

AdWords Editor Settings

You can specify the following settings under the Tools menu > Settings:

• Enable usage tracking and send anonymous data to Google to help improve AdWords Editor.
• Choose whether to hide deleted items in your account, and whether to include deleted and ended items when you download your account.
• Enable diagnostic logging. When diagnostic logging is enabled, AdWords Editor automatically saves reports containing messages sent between AdWords Editor and the AdWords server. If you encounter technical problems, AdWords Specialists may request that you send us the logs to help our engineers troubleshoot the issue.
• Choose your locale, which determines the currency and interface language in AdWords Editor.
• Choose your default campaign targeting. When you create new campaigns in AdWords Editor, they'll automatically use the default language and location targeting you choose here.