Showing posts with label adgroup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label adgroup. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Figuring Out When Your Ad, AdGroup, Keyword, or Campaign Was Created

Knowing when an Ad (or entity) was created is impossible using scripts. That information is simply not tracked in AdWords. The next best thing is to find out when your Ad first started receiving impressions and assume that is when it was created (If an Ad is created but no one sees it, does it really exist?).

So in order to help me keep track of when my Ads entities were created, I put together the following script to apply labels to my Ads entities with the date of the first impression. That way, I can find out what ads entities I created and make sure I don't take action on anything that is too young. I can also make changes to all the ads entities built on a given day relatively easily in the AdWords UI by just selecting the right label.

Thanks,
Russ



/**************************************
* Track Entity Creation Date
* Version 1.4
* Changelog v1.4
*  - Removed apiVersion from reporting call
* Changelog v1.3
*  - Updated script to handle all entities
* Changelog v1.2
*  - Fixed an issue with comparing dates
* ChangeLog v1.1
*  - Updated logic to work with larger accounts
* Created By: Russ Savage
* http://www.FreeAdWordsScripts.com
**************************************/
//All my labels will start with this. For example: Created:2013-05-01
var LABEL_PREFIX = 'Created:';
var DAYS_IN_REPORT = 30;
var ENTITY = 'ad'; //or adgroup or keyword or campaign
 
function main() {
  //First we get the impression history of our entity
  var ret_map = getImpressionHistory();
  //Then we apply our labels
  applyLabels(ret_map);
}
 
//Function to apply labels to the ads in an account
function applyLabels(ret_map) {
  var iter;
  if(ENTITY === 'campaign') { iter = AdWordsApp.campaigns().get(); }
  if(ENTITY === 'adgroup') { iter = AdWordsApp.adGroups().get(); }
  if(ENTITY === 'ad') { iter = AdWordsApp.ads().get(); }
  if(ENTITY === 'keyword') { iter = AdWordsApp.keywords().get(); }
  
  while(iter.hasNext()) {
    var entity = iter.next();
    var id = entity.getId();
    if(ret_map[id]) {
      var label_name = LABEL_PREFIX+Utilities.formatDate(ret_map[id], AdWordsApp.currentAccount().getTimeZone(), "yyyy-MM-dd");
      createLabelIfNeeded(label_name);
      entity.applyLabel(label_name);
    }
  }
}
 
//This is a helper function to create the label if it does not already exist
function createLabelIfNeeded(name) {
  if(!AdWordsApp.labels().withCondition("Name = '"+name+"'").get().hasNext()) {
    AdWordsApp.createLabel(name);
  }
}
 
//A helper function to find the date days ago
function getDateDaysAgo(days) {
  var the_past = new Date();
  the_past.setDate(the_past.getDate() - days);
  return Utilities.formatDate(the_past,AdWordsApp.currentAccount().getTimeZone(),"yyyyMMdd");
}
 
//A helper function to compare dates.
//Copied from: http://goo.gl/uW48a
function diffDays(firstDate,secondDate) {
  var oneDay = 24*60*60*1000; // hours*minutes*seconds*milliseconds
  return Math.round(Math.abs((firstDate.getTime() - secondDate.getTime())/(oneDay))); 
}
 
function getImpressionHistory() {
  var API_VERSION = { includeZeroImpressions : false };
  var first_date = new Date('10/23/2000');
  var max_days_ago = diffDays(first_date,new Date());
  var cols = ['Date','Id','Impressions'];
  var report = { 
    'campaign' : 'CAMPAIGN_PERFORMANCE_REPORT',
    'adgroup' : 'ADGROUP_PERFORMANCE_REPORT',
    'ad' : 'AD_PERFORMANCE_REPORT',
    'keyword' : 'KEYWORDS_PERFORMANCE_REPORT'}[ENTITY];
  var ret_map = {};
  var prev_days_ago = 0;
  for(var i = DAYS_IN_REPORT; i < max_days_ago; i+=DAYS_IN_REPORT) {
    var start_date = getDateDaysAgo(i);
    var end_date = getDateDaysAgo(prev_days_ago);
    var date_range = start_date+','+end_date;
    Logger.log('Getting data for ' + date_range);
    var query = ['select',cols.join(','),'from',report,'during',date_range].join(' ');
    var report_iter = AdWordsApp.report(query, API_VERSION).rows();
    if(!report_iter.hasNext()) { Logger.log('No more impressions found. Breaking.'); break; } // no more entries
    while(report_iter.hasNext()) { 
      var row = report_iter.next();
      if(ret_map[row['Id']]) {
        var [year,month,day] = (row['Date']).split('-');
        var from_row = new Date(year, parseFloat(month)-1, day);
        var from_map = ret_map[row['Id']];
         
        if(from_row < from_map) {
          ret_map[row['Id']] = from_row;
        }
      } else {
        var [year,month,day] = (row['Date']).split('-');
        ret_map[row['Id']] = new Date(year, parseFloat(month)-1, day);
      }
    }
    prev_days_ago = i;
  }
  return ret_map;
}

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Set AdParams at the AdGroup Level from a Google Spreadsheet

I've had a few people ask me how to update my previous script about Setting AdParams at the Keyword Level to be able to set them at the AdGroup level. Here is an update to that script that does just that.

To use it, you will need to create a new Google Spreadsheet and load it with the adgroup name, param 1 value, and param 2 value in columns A, B, and C respectively (with column headers). Then copy that url into the script and you should be good to go.

Thanks,
Russ

/************************************************
* Update Ad Params by Ad Groups
* Version 1.1
* ChangeLog v1.1
*  - Added the ability to enable param1 or 2 individually
*  - Looks for Keywords on all sheets
*  - Runs much faster
* Created By: Russ Savage
* FreeAdWordsScripts.com
************************************************/
var SPREADSHEET_URL = "PUT YOUR SPREADSHEET URL HERE";
var SET_PARAM1 = true;
var SET_PARAM2 = false;
var DATA_RANGE = 'A:D'; // A - CampaignName, B - AdGroupName, 
                        // C - Param1, D - Param2

function main() {
  var spreadsheet = SpreadsheetApp.openByUrl(SPREADSHEET_URL);
  var allSheets = spreadsheet.getSheets();
  var allData = [];
  for(var i in allSheets) {
    var sheet = allSheets[i];
    var data = sheet.getRange(DATA_RANGE).getValues();
    data.shift(); //get rid of headers
    allData = allData.concat(data);
  }
  
  var allDataHash = {};
  for(var i in allData) {
    var row = allData[i];
    if(row[0] === '') { continue; }
    var rowKey = [row[0],row[1]].join('~~!~~');
    allDataHash[rowKey] = { param1 : row[2], param2: row[3] };
  }
  
  var kwIter = AdWordsApp.keywords()
    .withCondition('CampaignStatus = ENABLED')
    .withCondition('AdGroupStatus = ENABLED')
    .withCondition('Status = ENABLED')
    .get();
  
  while(kwIter.hasNext()) { 
    var kw = kwIter.next();
    var campName = kw.getCampaign().getName();
    var adGroupName = kw.getAdGroup().getName();
    var rowKey = [campName,adGroupName].join('~~!~~');
    if(allDataHash[rowKey]) {
      if(SET_PARAM1) { kw.setAdParam(1, allDataHash[rowKey].param1); }
      if(SET_PARAM2) { kw.setAdParam(2, allDataHash[rowKey].param2); }
    }
  }
}

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Ad Creative Test Automation Script

This is a script I've been working on for a little while and I think it's really useful. I hope you do too.

Every SEM manager worth anything is constantly running creative tests. And many of you, since you are reading this blog, probably use scripts in some way to make that easier. But how do you figure out exactly when the tests start? They could be different for every AdGroup.

I have seen some people use labels, some people use schedules, but I never really liked having to keep track of those things. So I created this script which will keep track of the start dates for creative tests automatically.

The approach I took stores a copy of your ad ids in a google spreadsheet. Then it checks the current ads in the AdGroup against the ads from the spreadsheet and figures out if something changed by looking at the ad ids. If it has, the script assumes a new test has started and notes the date in the spreadsheet accordingly. Using this method, a marketer can be sure that the script is comparing statistics from the proper time frame to determine a test winner.

But then a reader mentioned that they wanted to be able to choose the metric to measure the ads by and also use a threshold to only start measuring after a certain number of clicks in the AdGroup. So I added that ability to the script as well. You only need to adjust a few parameters at the top of the script and you have a fully functional creative testing script in place.

Whenever it takes action on an ad by pausing it, the results will be sent to you in an email so that you can create a new challenger ad for that AdGroup.

I did a few things differently with this script. I always hate making my readers go into Google Docs and create a blank spreadsheet for my scripts to use as storage. So to get around that, this script will check for the existence of a special label in the account where the spreadsheet id is stored. If it finds one, it will use it. And if it is missing (like it will be on the first run), it will create the spreadsheet and label. This way, no messy spreadsheet urls in the scripts. It is a little bit of a workaround but until Google allows us to store additional config data for scripts, I thought this was an ok way to handle this.

As always, I'm open to your feedback on if this script is useful to you. What other metrics do you judge ad performance by? What else is this script missing?

Thanks,
Russ

/************************************
* Ad Creative Test Automation Script
* Version: 1.3
* Changelog v1.3 - Data is written to the spreadsheet a little faster
* Changelog v1.2 - Added additional threshold options
* Changelog v1.1 - Fixed issue with dates in email
* Created By: Russ Savage
* FreeAdWordsScripts.com
************************************/
// You can use any of the same values here as you can for METRIC below
var THRESHOLD = { metric : 'Clicks', value : 100 };
var TO = ['example@example.com'];
  
//Try any of these values for METRIC:
//AverageCpc, AverageCpm, AveragePageviews, AveragePosition, 
//AverageTimeOnSite, BounceRate, Clicks, ConversionRate, 
//Conversions, Cost, Ctr, Impressions
var METRIC = 'Ctr';
var ASC_OR_DESC = 'ASC'; //ASC - pause ad with lowest value, DESC - pause ad with highest value
  
function main() {
  //Start by finding what has changed in the account
  var ad_map = buildCurrentAdMap();
  var prev_ad_map = readMapFromSpreadsheet();
  prev_ad_map = updatePreviousAdMap(prev_ad_map,ad_map);
  writeMapToSpreadsheet(prev_ad_map);
    
  //Now run through the adgroups to find creative tests
  var ag_iter = AdWordsApp.adGroups().get();
  var paused_ads = [];
  while(ag_iter.hasNext()) {
    var ag = ag_iter.next();
    if(!prev_ad_map[ag.getId()]) { continue; }
      
    //Here is the date range for the test metrics
    var last_touched_str = _getDateString(prev_ad_map[ag.getId()].last_touched,'yyyyMMdd');
    var get_today_str = _getDateString(new Date(),'yyyyMMdd');
      
    var ag_stats = ag.getStatsFor(last_touched_str, get_today_str);
    if(ag_stats['get'+THRESHOLD.metric]() >= THRESHOLD.value) {
      var ad_iter = ag.ads().withCondition('Status = ENABLED')
                            .forDateRange(last_touched_str, get_today_str)
                            .orderBy(METRIC+" "+ASC_OR_DESC).get();
      var ad = ad_iter.next();
      var metric = ad.getStatsFor(last_touched_str, get_today_str)['get'+METRIC]();
      ad.pause();
      paused_ads.push({a : ad, m : metric});
    }
  }
  sendEmailForPausedAds(paused_ads);
}
  
// A function to send an email with an attached report of ads it has paused
function sendEmailForPausedAds(ads) {
  if(ads.length == 0) { return; } //No ads paused, no email
  var email_body = '"' + ['CampaignName','AdGroupName','Headline','Desc1','Desc2','DisplayUrl',METRIC].join('","') + '"\n';
  for(var i in ads) {
    var ad = ads[i].a;
    var metric = ads[i].m;
    email_body += '"' + [ad.getCampaign().getName(),
                         ad.getAdGroup().getName(),
                         ad.getHeadline(),
                         ad.getDescription1(),
                         ad.getDescription2(),
                         ad.getDisplayUrl(),
                         metric
                        ].join('","') +
                  '"\n';
  }
  var date_str = _getDateString(new Date(),'yyyy-MM-dd');
  var options = { attachments: [Utilities.newBlob(email_body, 'text/csv', "FinishedTests_"+date_str+'.csv')] };
  var subject = 'Finished Tests - ' + date_str;
  for(var i in TO) {
    MailApp.sendEmail(TO[i], subject, 'See attached.', options);
  }
}
  
//Given two lists of ads, this checks to make sure they are the same.
function sameAds(ads1,ads2) {
  for(var i in ads1) {
    if(ads1[i] != ads2[i]) { return false; }
  }
  return true;
}
  
//This reads the stored data from the spreadsheet
function readMapFromSpreadsheet() {
  var ad_map = {};
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.openById(findSpreadsheetId()).getActiveSheet();
  var data = sheet.getRange('A:C').getValues();
  for(var i in data) {
    if(data[i][0] == '') { break; }
    var [ag_id,last_touched,ad_ids] = data[i];
    ad_map[ag_id] = { ad_ids : (''+ad_ids).split(','), last_touched : new Date(last_touched) };
  }
  return ad_map;
}
  
//This will search for a label containing the spreadsheet id
//If one isn't found, it will create a new one and the label as well
function findSpreadsheetId() {
  var spreadsheet_id = "";
  var label_iter = AdWordsApp.labels().withCondition("Name STARTS_WITH 'history_script:'").get();
  if(label_iter.hasNext()) {
    var label = label_iter.next();
    return label.getName().split(':')[1]; 
  } else {
    var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.create('AdGroups History');
    var sheet_id = sheet.getId();
    AdWordsApp.createLabel('history_script:'+sheet_id, 'stores sheet id for adgroup changes script.');
    return sheet_id;
  }
}
  
//This will store the data from the account into a spreadsheet
function writeMapToSpreadsheet(ad_map) {
  var toWrite = [];
  for(var ag_id in ad_map) {
    var ad_ids = ad_map[ag_id].ad_ids;
    var last_touched = ad_map[ag_id].last_touched;
    toWrite.push([ag_id,last_touched,ad_ids.join(',')]);
  }
  writeToSpreadsheet(toWrite);
}

// Write the keyword data to the spreadsheet
function writeToSpreadsheet(toWrite) {
  var sheet = SpreadsheetApp.openById(findSpreadsheetId()).getActiveSheet();
  sheet.clear();
  
  var numRows = sheet.getMaxRows();
  if(numRows < toWrite.length) {
    sheet.insertRows(1,toWrite.length-numRows); 
  }
  var range = sheet.getRange(1,1,toWrite.length,toWrite[0].length);
  range.setValues(toWrite);
}
  
//This builds a map of the ads in the account so that it is easy to compare
function buildCurrentAdMap() {
  var ad_map = {}; // { ag_id : { ad_ids : [ ad_id, ... ], last_touched : date } }
  var ad_iter = AdWordsApp.ads().withCondition('Status = ENABLED').get();
  while(ad_iter.hasNext()) {
    var ad = ad_iter.next();
    var ag_id = ad.getAdGroup().getId();
    if(ad_map[ag_id]) {
      ad_map[ag_id].ad_ids.push(ad.getId());
      ad_map[ag_id].ad_ids.sort();
    } else {
      ad_map[ag_id] = { ad_ids : [ad.getId()], last_touched : new Date() };
    }
  }
  return ad_map;
}
  
//This takes the old ad map and the current ad map and returns an
//updated map with all changes.
function updatePreviousAdMap(prev_ad_map,ad_map) {
  for(var ag_id in ad_map) {
    var current_ads = ad_map[ag_id].ad_ids;
    var previous_ads = (prev_ad_map[ag_id]) ? prev_ad_map[ag_id].ad_ids : [];
    if(!sameAds(current_ads,previous_ads)) {
      prev_ad_map[ag_id] = ad_map[ag_id];
    }
  }
  return prev_ad_map;
}
  
//Helper function to format the date
function _getDateString(date,format) {
  return Utilities.formatDate(date,AdWordsApp.currentAccount().getTimeZone(),format); 
}

Monday, June 17, 2013

Finding Anomalies In Your Keywords, Adgroups, and Ads

UPDATE 2013-07-23: Added the ability to add labels to your ads as well. This might be helpful for creative testing.

In a recent post from SearchEngineLand, Larry Kim wants PPC Managers to stop being lazy. Link baiting aside, he has some good points. I think much of the time spent pouring over client spreadsheets is really trying to answer the simple question of "Where Are The Anomalies?"

Anomalies are keywords or AdGroups that seem to be performing very differently than their brothers and sisters in the same AdGroup or Campaign. Maybe you have an AdGroup with 15 keywords and one or two keywords seem to be getting nearly all of the clicks. Or maybe you just have an AdGroup that seems to be eating up a good chunk of your budget and you want to have more control over it. In either of these cases, you need some way to quickly identify which Keywords or AdGroups you want to take action on.

So I created the following script to help me do just that. It has a little bit of statistics embedded in it to calculate the mean and standard deviation of a set of entities (AdGroups or Keywords). Then I apply a label to any entity that seems to be more than two standard deviations away from the mean, which would indicate it is performing much better or much worse than its siblings. That way, I can take action on those entities pretty easily in my account.

This script will also send you an email each day with a summary of the entities that it deems to be anomalies. Your goal is to fix these issues by moving them into their own Campaigns and AdGroups or maybe even getting rid of them altogether (possibly negatives).

Right now, the script will check every metric that is available in the AdWordsApp.stats object. It could be easily modified to check for things like cost per conversion or profit per impression. You will see in the code below where you can remove stats that don't interest you as well.

One note of warning is that I do not claim to be a statistics guy, so this may or may not be a valid way to look at things. Hopefully, it will help you locate the issues in an account quickly and fix them so that you can spend more time being lazy :)

Also, I am open to your comments and suggestions for this script. Is it useful to anyone else?

Thanks,
Russ

/**************************************
* Find the Anomalies
* Created By: Russ Savage
* Version: 1.2
* Changelog v1.2
*  - Fixed divide by 0 errors
*  - Changed SIG_FIGS to DECIMAL_PLACES
* Changelog v1.1
*  - Added ability to tag ad anomalies as well
* FreeAdWordsScripts.com
**************************************/
var DATE_RANGE = 'LAST_30_DAYS';
var DECIMAL_PLACES = 3;
var STANDARD_DEVIATIONS = 2;
var TO = ['you@your_domain.com'];
 
function main() {
  // This will add labels to and send emails about adgroups, keywords and ads. Remove any if you like.
  var levels_to_tag = ['adgroup','keyword','ad'];
  for(var x in levels_to_tag) {
    var report = getContentRows(levels_to_tag[x]);
    var entity_map = buildEntityMap(levels_to_tag[x]);
    for(var parent_id in entity_map) {
      var child_list = entity_map[parent_id];
      var stats_list = Object.keys(child_list[0].stats);
      for(var i in stats_list) {
        var mean = getMean(child_list,stats_list[i]);
        var stand_dev = getStandardDev(child_list,mean,stats_list[i]);
        var label_name = stats_list[i]+"_anomaly";
        report += addLabelToAnomalies(child_list,mean,stand_dev,stats_list[i],label_name,levels_to_tag[x]);
      }
    }
    sendResultsViaEmail(report,levels_to_tag[x]);
  }
}
  
//Takes a report and the level of reporting and sends and email
//with the report as an attachment.
function sendResultsViaEmail(report,level) {
  var rows = report.match(/\n/g).length - 1;
  if(rows == 0) { return; }
  var options = { attachments: [Utilities.newBlob(report, 'text/csv', level+"_anomalies_"+_getDateString()+'.csv')] };
  var email_body = "There are " + rows + " " + level + "s that have abnormal performance. See attachment for details.";
  var subject = 'Abnormal ' + _initCap(level) + ' Entities Report - ' + _getDateString();
  for(var i in TO) {
    MailApp.sendEmail(TO[i], subject, email_body, options);
  }
}
  
//Helper function to return a single row of the report formatted correctly
function toReportRow(entity,level,label_name) {
  var ret_val = [AdWordsApp.currentAccount().getCustomerId(),
                 entity.getCampaign().getName()];
  ret_val.push( (level == 'adgroup') ? entity.getName() : entity.getAdGroup().getName() );
  if(level == 'keyword') {
    ret_val = ret_val.concat([entity.getText(),entity.getMatchType()]); 
  } else if(level == 'ad') {
    ret_val = ret_val.concat([entity.getHeadline(),entity.getDescription1(),entity.getDescription2(),entity.getDisplayUrl()]); 
  }
  ret_val.push(label_name);
  return '"' + ret_val.join('","') + '"\n';
}
  
//Helper function to return the column headings for the report
function getContentRows(level) {
  var ret_val = ['AccountId','CampaignName','AdGroupName'];
  if(level == 'keyword') {
    ret_val = ret_val.concat(['KeywordText','MatchType']); 
  } else if(level == 'ad') {
    ret_val = ret_val.concat(['Headline','Description1','Description2','DisplayUrl']);
  }
  ret_val.push('LabelName');
  return '"' + ret_val.join('","') + '"\n';
}
  
//Function to add the labels to the entities based on the standard deviation and mean.
//It returns a csv formatted string for reporting
function addLabelToAnomalies(entites,mean,sd,stat_key,label_name,level) {
  createLabelIfNeeded(label_name);
  var report = '';
  for(var i in entites) {
    var entity = entites[i]['entity'];
    var deviation = Math.abs(entites[i]['stats'][stat_key] - mean);
    if(sd != 0 && deviation/sd >= STANDARD_DEVIATIONS) {
      entity.applyLabel(label_name);
      report += toReportRow(entity,level,label_name);
    } else {
      entity.removeLabel(label_name);
    }
  }
  return report;
}
  
//This is a helper function to create the label if it does not already exist
function createLabelIfNeeded(name) {
  if(!AdWordsApp.labels().withCondition("Name = '"+name+"'").get().hasNext()) {
    AdWordsApp.createLabel(name);
  }
}
  
//This function returns the standard deviation for a set of entities
//The stat key determines which stat to calculate it for
function getStandardDev(entites,mean,stat_key) {
  var total = 0;
  for(var i in entites) {
    total += Math.pow(entites[i]['stats'][stat_key] - mean,2);
  }
  if(Math.sqrt(entites.length-1) == 0) {
    return 0;
  }
  return round(Math.sqrt(total)/Math.sqrt(entites.length-1));
}
  
//Returns the mean (average) for the set of entities
//Again, stat key determines which stat to calculate this for
function getMean(entites,stat_key) {
  var total = 0;
  for(var i in entites) {
    total += entites[i]['stats'][stat_key];
  }
  if(entites.length == 0) {
    return 0;
  }
  return round(total/entites.length);
}
  
//This function returns a map of the entities that I am processing.
//The format for the map can be found on the first line.
//It is meant to work on AdGroups and Keywords
function buildEntityMap(entity_type) {
  var map = {}; // { parent_id : [ { entity : entity, stats : entity_stats } ], ... }
  var iter = getIterator(entity_type);
  while(iter.hasNext()) {
    var entity = iter.next();
    var stats = entity.getStatsFor(DATE_RANGE);
    var stats_map = getStatsMap(stats);
    var parent_id = getParentId(entity_type,entity);
    if(map[parent_id]) { 
      map[parent_id].push({entity : entity, stats : stats_map});
    } else {
      map[parent_id] = [{entity : entity, stats : stats_map}];
    }
  }
  return map;
}
  
//Given an entity type (adgroup or keyword) this will return the parent id
function getParentId(entity_type,entity) {
  switch(entity_type) {
    case 'adgroup' :
      return entity.getCampaign().getId();
    case 'keyword':
      return entity.getAdGroup().getId();
    case 'ad':
      return entity.getAdGroup().getId();
  }
}
  
//Given an entity type this will return the iterator for that.
function getIterator(entity_type) {
  switch(entity_type) {
    case 'adgroup' :
      return AdWordsApp.adGroups().forDateRange(DATE_RANGE).withCondition("Impressions > 0").get();
    case 'keyword' :
      return AdWordsApp.keywords().forDateRange(DATE_RANGE).withCondition("Impressions > 0").get();
    case 'ad' :
      return AdWordsApp.ads().forDateRange(DATE_RANGE).withCondition("Impressions > 0").get();
  }
}
  
//This returns a map of all the stats for a given entity.
//You can comment out the things you don't really care about.
function getStatsMap(stats) {
  return { // You can comment these out as needed.
          avg_cpc : stats.getAverageCpc(),
          avg_cpm : stats.getAverageCpm(),
          avg_pv : stats.getAveragePageviews(),
          avg_pos : stats.getAveragePosition(),
          avg_tos : stats.getAverageTimeOnSite(),
          bounce : stats.getBounceRate(),
          clicks : stats.getClicks(),
          cv : stats.getConversionRate(),
          conv : stats.getConversions(),
          cost : stats.getCost(),
          ctr : stats.getCtr(),
          imps : stats.getImpressions()
         };
}
  
//Helper function to format todays date
function _getDateString() {
  return Utilities.formatDate((new Date()), AdWordsApp.currentAccount().getTimeZone(), "yyyy-MM-dd");
}
  
//Helper function to capitalize the first letter of a string.
function _initCap(str) {
  return str.replace(/(?:^|\s)\S/g, function(a) { return a.toUpperCase(); });
}

// A helper function to make rounding a little easier
function round(value) {
  var decimals = Math.pow(10,DECIMAL_PLACES);
  return Math.round(value*decimals)/decimals;
}

Monday, March 11, 2013

Merge Multiple Campaigns Together For Enhanced Campaigns Migration

UPDATE 2013-04-14: Check Merge Labels from Multiple Campaigns for some help on merging labels.

Everyone is getting ready for Enhanced Campaigns and for a lot of people, that means finding an easy way to merge multiple campaigns into a single campaign. You may have a campaign for desktop traffic and one for tablet, or maybe one for each major mobile platform.

Well the beauty and the pain of Enhanced Campaigns is that you can do more with less. I haven't found a great way to easily merge multiple campaigns into one, so I made my own. All you need to do is specify a destination campaign where you want all the keywords, adgroups, and ads to end up and the set of campaigns you want to copy from. This script will pause any keyword and ad it manages to move over so you can see results and make sure everything is set up properly before deleting the old campaigns.

Thanks,
Russ

//-----------------------------------
// Merge Multiple Campaigns Together
// Created By: Russ Savage
// FreeAdWordsScripts.com
//-----------------------------------
function main() {
  var DESTINATION_CAMPAIGN_NAME = "dest_camp_name";
  var ORIGIN_CAMPAIGN_NAMES = ["to_merge_camp_name_1","to_merge_camp_name_2"/*,...*/];
  var DEFAULT_KW_BID = 0.01; //used in case we can't get the origin kw bid
  
  //build a list of adgroups in the original 
  var dest_adgroups = [];
  var ag_iter = AdWordsApp.adGroups()
    .withCondition("CampaignName = '"+DESTINATION_CAMPAIGN_NAME+"'")
    .get();
  
  while(ag_iter.hasNext()) {
    dest_adgroups.push(ag_iter.next());
  }
  
  var dest_camp;
  if(dest_adgroups.length > 0) {
     dest_camp = dest_adgroups[0].getCampaign();
  }
  
  for(var i in ORIGIN_CAMPAIGN_NAMES) {
    var camp_name = ORIGIN_CAMPAIGN_NAMES[i];
    var kw_iter = AdWordsApp.keywords()
      .withCondition("CampaignName = '"+camp_name+"'")
      .get();
    while(kw_iter.hasNext()) {
      var kw = kw_iter.next();
      var dest_adgroup = _find_adgroup(dest_adgroups,kw.getAdGroup());
      if(!dest_adgroup) {
        dest_adgroup = dest_camp.newAdGroupBuilder()
          .withName(kw.getAdGroup().getName())
          .withStatus((kw.getAdGroup().isPaused()) ? "PAUSED" : "ENABLED")
          .withKeywordMaxCpc(kw.getAdGroup().getKeywordMaxCpc())
          .create();
        dest_adgroups.push(dest_adgroup);
        //now we move all the ads over
        var ad_iter = kw.getAdGroup().ads().get();
        while(ad_iter.hasNext()) {
          var ad = ad_iter.next();
          dest_adgroup.createTextAd(
            ad.getHeadline(),
            ad.getDescription1(),
            ad.getDescription2(),
            ad.getDisplayUrl(),
            ad.getDestinationUrl(),
            { isMobilePreferred : ad.isMobilePreferred() }
          );
          ad.pause();
        }
      }
      var max_cpc = kw.getMaxCpc() || DEFAULT_KW_BID;
      var dest_url = kw.getDestinationUrl() || "";
      var kw_text = kw.getText();
      dest_adgroup.createKeyword(kw_text,max_cpc,dest_url);

      kw.pause();
    }
  }

  function _find_adgroup(ag_list,ag) {
    for(var i in ag_list) {
      if(ag_list[i].getName() == ag.getName()) {
        return ag_list[i];
      }
    }
    return null;
  }
}

Friday, November 23, 2012

Automatically Pause Ads with Low CTR

Recently, Brad over at CertifiedKnowledge.com published some tips about testing at scale.  One of the most common testing techniques he mentions is to create a ton of ads and let Google optimize the rotation for you.  The problem with this technique is that the losers are rarely deleted.  Well, using the script below, you can find the worst performing ads in all your adgroups and pause it (if there is at least one other ad in the adgroup).

Thanks,
Russ


//-----------------------------------
// Pause Ads with Low CTR
// Created By: Russ Savage
// FreeAdWordsScripts.com
//-----------------------------------
function main() {
  // Let's start by getting all of the adGroups that are active
  var ag_iter = AdWordsApp.adGroups()
  .withCondition("Status = ENABLED")
  .get();

  // Then we will go through each one
  while (ag_iter.hasNext()) {
    var ag = ag_iter.next();
    var ad_iter = ag.ads()
      .withCondition("Status = ENABLED")
      .forDateRange("ALL_TIME")
      .orderBy("Ctr DESC")
      .get();
    var ad_array = new Array();
    while(ad_iter.hasNext()) {
      ad_array.push(ad_iter.next());
    }
    if(ad_array.length > 1) {
      for(var i = 1; i < ad_array.length; i++) {
        ad_array[i].pause(); //or .remove(); to delete them 
      }
    }
  }
}