Enhanced Campaigns? Love Em Or Loathe Em, Kiss Your Sweet $$ Goodbye

There’s been a lot of chatter and angst amongst marketers since February, when big G announced the Enhanced Campaign Rollout. What’s the bottom line here, the ONE thing marketers need to know about Enhanced Campaigns? Regardless of your personal experience migrating to Enhanced Campaigns, Google’s stock is going up and you’re paying for it. Effectually, Google raised the price of mobile CPCs and forced desktop and tablet spend if you even want to buy mobile ads. Cheap mobile-only campaigns are thing of the past.

This post curates news, a whole slew of blog posts, and is a comprehensive resource citing Google’s corporate financials, projections, opinions, case studies, best practices, and industry data. We’ve divided these resources up into the following categories:

• Google Enhanced Campaigns Push Up Analysts’ Stock Target
• Enhanced Campaigns: The Cons
• A Word About Rising CPCs…
• Get Your Wallet Out For Mobile Ads
• Enhanced Campaigns: The Pros
• A Mixed Bag: What People Love & Hate All At Once
• Big Brother, Straight From The Source: Google’s Rhetoric
• More Or Less Neutral Rundowns + Tips & Best Practices

Google’s Stock Is Going Up
Barron’s reported that “J.P. Morgan’s Doug Anmuth reiterates an Overweight rating, and raises his price target to $1,025 from $860, writing that the recently introduced advertising system, ‘Enhanced Campaigns’ will have a positive impact on pricing and ultimately overall search spend.”

BusinessInsider.com said, “A whole bunch of advertisers have come out to say that they regard the move as unhelpful at best and a cynical back-door price increase at worst.” ZDNet.com reported that “Google launched enhanced AdWords campaigns that should boost mobile cost per click rates—at the expense of advertiser visibility, say search marketing pros.”

(The yellow line indicates when Google announced Enhanced Campaigns.)

ValueWalk.com cited mounting buzz from the financial community, saying: “More than one analyst has issued reports on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s new Enhanced Campaigns advertising platform. JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSEJPM) analyst Doug Anmuth said that after their recent call, they believe the new ad platform will positively impact the search giant’s pricing and the overall search spending of its customers. They also see the risk of near-term revenue dislocation being reduced.”

Enhanced Campaigns: The Cons

Petitioning Google Adwords – Google Adwords: Provide more advertiser options in Enhanced Campaigns. | Change.org | Neil Sorenson
Listen up, Google: Here Are My Demands | Fathom Blog | Brittany Amato | 3/19/13
Why Enhanced Campaigns Aren’t Really An Upgrade Or Improvement | Search Engine Land | Neil Sorenson | 2/7/13
FURY AT GOOGLE: Advertisers Say New Search Rules Are ‘Stealing’ From Them | Business Insider | Jim Edwards | 2/7/13

A Word About Rising CPCs…

Using Mobile Keyword URL’s in Enhanced Campaigns | PPC Epiphany | Martin Roettgerding | 2/13/13
Google To Force You To Go Movile With Enhanced Campaigns | PPC Hero | Sam Owen | 2/7/13
In Big Shift, Google Aims To Boost Mobile Ad Campaigns – And Its Own Revenues | Forbes | Robert Hof | 2/6/13
Google revamps AdWords in nob to movile device explosion | Gigaom | Barb Darrow | 2/6/13
Google Just Blasted Away The Wall Between Desktop And Mobile Ads | Business Insider | Owen Thomas | 2/6/13
The Big AdWords Update: Enhanced Campaigns Puts The Focus On Mobile | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 2/6/13
Are Tablets Mobile Devies? How Will Google’s Changes in AdWords Impact Advertisers? | Digital Marketing Blog | Bill Mungovan | 2/6/13

Get Your Wallet Out For Mobile Ads

Using Mobile Keyword URL’s in Enhanced Campaigns | PPC Epiphany | Martin Roettgerding | 2/13/13
Google To Force You To Go Mobile With Enhanced Campaigns | PPC Hero | Sam Owen | 2/7/13
ENHANCED CAMPAIGNS FOR MOBILES: Why the AdWords world as we know it is going to End | Passion Digital | Tom Katté | 2/7/13
In Big Shift, Google Aims To Boost Mobile Ad Campaigns – And Its Own Revenues | Forbes | Robert Hof | 2/6/13
Google revamps AdWords in nob to movile device explosion | Gigaom | Barb Darrow | 2/6/13
Google Just Blasted Away The Wall Between Desktop And Mobile Ads | Business Insider | Owen Thomas | 2/6/13
The Big AdWords Update: Enhanced Campaigns Puts The Focus On Mobile | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 2/6/13
Are Tablets Mobile Devies? How Will Google’s Changes in AdWords Impact Advertisers? | Digital Marketing Blog | Bill Mungovan | 2/6/13

Enhanced Campaigns: The Pros

the7stars Migrate to Enhanced Campaigns: A Success Story | Marin Software – Marketing Insights | Rebecca Momberg | 6/17/13
Analysts: Google’s  Enhanced Campaigns Is a Plus and 3 More Research Notes to Check Out | Wall St. Cheat Sheet | Justin Lloyd-Miller | 6/3/13
A Successful Enhanced campaigns Transition Case Study | Your Search Advisor | Andrew Miller | 5/28/13
2 Big Wins With Enhanced AdWords Campaigns | ClickZ | Andrew Goodman | 3/22/13
It’s Change And It’s For The Better With Google AdWords Enhanced Campaigns | Spyder Trap | Nate Knox | 2/18/13
Enhanced Campaign Silver Linings: Geo Targeting | PPC Hero | Amanda West-Bookwalt | 2/14/13

A Mixed Bag: What People Love & Hate All At Once

AdWords Flexible Bid Strategies: Two Steps Forward, One Step Back | Search Engine Watch | John Lee | 6/21/13
July 22, 2013: AdWords Apocalypse or Simple Technology Upgrade? | Search Engine Watch | Lisa Raehsler | 5/28/13
How Will Enhanced Campaigns Affect AdWords’ Conversion Optimizer? | Search Engine Watch | John Lee | 5/23/13
What One Million Dollars In Spend Has Taught Us About Enhanced Campaigns | PPC Hero | Jeff Allen | 5/22/13
Google: Nearly 2 Million AdWords Campaigns Are Now Enhanced, Early Results Are In | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 5/15/13
Google Enhanced Campaigns and Bid Vectors: Switch Now or Later?  | ClickZ | Kevin Lee | 2/15/13
Enhanced Pay Per Click Campaigns – PPC Chat Streamcap | PPC Chat | Matt Umbro + Crowdsource | 2/12/13
Google Upgrade Is a Tidal wave for Advertisers | Wired | Ryan Tate | 2/8/13
AdWords Enhanced Campaigns: How Can I Protest Something I Haven’t Yet Used? | Traffik | Andrew Goodman | 2/7/13
Google’s Enhanced Campaigns Inspire Love, Hate And Hope For The Next Version | Search Engine Land | Pamela Parker | 2/7/13
Google Enhanced Campaigns: A Flawed Step In The Right Direction | The RKG Blog | Mark Ballard | 2/7/13
Google’s “Enhanced” Campaigns? | Data Pop | Alex Dao | 2/7/13
First Reaction to AdWords Enhanced Campaigns | Seer Interactive | Aaron Levy | 2/6/13
The scoop on Enhanced Campaigns (good and bad) | PPC Associates | Susan Waldes | 2/6/13
Google AdWords Enhanced Campaigns: The Good, Bad & Uncool | Search Engine Watch | Alistair Dent | 2/6/13
Enhanced AdWords Campaigns | Storify | Crowdsourced | 2/6/13

Big Brother, Straight From The Source: Google’s Rhetoric

Upgrade To Enhanced Campaigns | Google
Best Practices Whitepaper – Tips & Advanced Techniques For Setting Big Adjustments & Using Automation Tools | Google
Google Webinars – Learn More About Enhanced Campaigns | Google
AdWords Help Center | Google
Enhanced campaigns: What happens on July 22, 2013 | Google: Inside AdWords | Sridhar Ramaswamy | 6/12/13
Get a Head Start with Enhanced Campaigns: Why to Upgrade Now | Google: Inside AdWords | Andy Miller | 6/10/13 Bidding Best Practices (Part 5): Implement Bid Automation for Better Performance and Time Saving | Google: Inside AdWords | Andrea Cohan | 5/30/13
AdWords Editor updates: More enhanced campaigns features and improved performance reporting | Google: Inside AdWords | Darcy Lima | 5/21/13
Enhanced Campaigns for Display: Powerful Bidding Tools for a Multi-Device World | Google: Inside AdWords | Christian Oestlien | 3/19/13
Enhancing AdWords for a constantly connected world | Google: Inside AdWords | Sridhar Ramaswamy | 2/6/13

More Or Less Neutral Rundowns + Tips & Best Practices

AdWords Advertisers Can Now Control Sitelink Details In Enhanced Campaigns | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 6/19/13
Best Practices For Google Enhanced PPC Campaigns | Search Engine Land | Christine Churchill | 6/19/13
How Google knows what we’re thinking: enhanced campaigns and session-based search | eConsultancy | Alistair Dent | 6/10/13
Should You Create Ad Group Sitelinks in Enhanced Campaigns? | Search Engine Land | Brad Geddes | 6/10/13
AdWords Image Extensions: Early Reactions & In-The-Wild Examples | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 6/7/13
Optimizing Google Enhanced Campaigns: Success Starts At Migration | Search Engine Land | Matt Ackley | 6/6/13
The Search Marketer’s Guide for Migrating to Enhanced Campaigns | Marin Software – Marketing Insights | Kye Mou | 5/28/13
Upgraded Extensions | Search Engine Journal | Jason Bruggemann | 4/1/13
AdWords Launches New Keyword Bulk Upload Feature | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 4/1/13
Workarounds To Make Enhanced Campaigns More Flexible | Search Engine Land | Frederick Vallaeys | 3/21/13
Geographic Targeting In An Enhanced Campaign World | Search Engine Land | Brad Geddes | 3/18/13
How Enhanced Campaigns May Affect Your Analytics | Search Engine Land | Benny Blum | 3/15/13
Enhanced Campaigns: Product Listing Ads Now On Smartphones | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 3/13/13
Context Is Kind… Or At Least Duke | The RKG Blog | George Michie | 3/7/13
Enhanced Campaigns: Offer Extensions & Location Targeting Explained | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 3/6/13
Fine-Tuning Bid Modifiers with Enhanced Campaigns | PPC Hero | Kayla Kurtz | 2/26/13
AdWords Enhanced Campaigns: New Bidding Tools Announced | Search Engine Land | Ginny Marvin | 2/21/13
Google AdWords Enhanced Campaigns: What You Need To Know | Righteous Marketing | Nathan Sansby | 2/21/13
Enhanced Campaigns: The New Bidding Challenges And Opportunities | The RKG Blog | George Michie | 2/20/13
Google AdWords Enhanced Campaigns Roll Out – How Does This Affect Your Ad Spend? | Three Deep | Jeff Sauer | 2/14/13
Key Takeaways You Need to Know About AdWords Enhanced Campaigns | Exclusive Concepts | Matt Umbro | 2/14/13
Enhanced Campaigns and The Need For A Proper Landing Page Structure | Dac Group | Amy Bishop | 2/14/13
Google Revamps AdWords In Bidto Boost Mobile Ad revenue: Changes Could Mean Higher Prices for Mobile Keywords | AdAge | Cotton Delo | 2/6/13
AdWords Enhanced Campaigns: Google Announces Big Changes to Mobile Ad Campaign Management | WordStream | Larry Kim | 2/6/13

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