Tag Archives: new features

DS features in May

In May, we added the following features to DoubleClick Search (DS):

  • Public launch of Shopping campaigns in DS
    You can create and manage AdWords Shopping campaigns in DS, a feature that we initially rolled out in beta in March. Shopping campaigns are a new campaign type for AdWords Product Listing Ads that streamline how you manage and bid on your products, report on the performance of your ads, and find opportunities to grow your traffic from Google. Learn more.

  • Specify and report on sitelinks for ad groups
    Sitelinks are an ad extension available in AdWords engine accounts. They appear beneath the text of your ads (and in addition to the main landing page), link to specific pages on your website, and help customers find what they're looking for on your site with just one click. By default, all ads inherit sitelinks from the campaign, but now you can add different sitelinks for each ad group or prevent an ad group from displaying sitelinks. Learn more.

  • Include custom dimensions and metrics in DS reports
    If you use Floodlight activities to track conversions, you can add details to your DS reports that are customized to your business needs, such as the genre of a movie that a user purchases, the zip code to which an item is shipped, shipping costs, and so on. Learn more.

  • Upgrade to the new AdWords “Search Network with Display Select” campaigns
    AdWords will soon be replacing “Search & Display Networks” campaigns with a new campaign type, “Search Network with Display Select”, that offers 35% better Google Display Network performance than your current “Search & Display Networks” campaigns. You can upgrade your “Search only" and “Search & Display Networks" campaigns one at a time from AdWords, or use DS bulksheets to upgrade multiple campaigns with a single upload. Learn more.

We also made the following feature updates:

  • Executive reporting: Filter data sources in charts
    By default, charts display metrics from all data sources that are in a report. If you want a chart to display metrics only from specific campaigns, devices, or even keywords of a particular match type, you can add a filter to the chart. The chart will contain data only for items that match the filter.

  • Support for the AdWords "Rotate indefinitely" and "Conversion optimize" settings
    DS now supports the “Rotate indefinitely” and “Conversion optimize” settings for AdWords campaigns in addition to the “Rotate evenly” and “Optimize for clicks” settings that were available previously. Learn more.

Watch the recorded webinar for May features to see these updates in action.

Posted by the DoubleClick Search team

Feeling Lucky? Explore flights in fun, new ways with Google

Just over a year ago, we launched an experimental feature called explore flights to give you a unique, price-focused way of exploring different destinations within a region. It's still available, but over the next few days we’ll be rolling out some of the most popular functionality right into Flight Search -- plus a few other surprises.

So, whether you know where you want to go or want to throw caution to the wind and visit some place completely new, we've got some fun, new ways to help you explore the world around you! See it in action.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, you can click on the map to enter a full-screen exploring experience. You can pan the entire world and see all of the different cities you can fly to, see photos of the top attractions for each city and see how the price changes based on holidays, day of the week or time of year.

If you’re feeling really adventurous, try the “I’m Feeling Lucky” feature. It’s kind of like a travel slot machine. Simply select the “I’m Feeling Lucky” button from within the expanded map and we’ll give you ideas of where to go. You can add price or time limits and press the button as many times as you want -- we’ll keep suggesting destinations you might like.
Additionally, whenever you type a region (e.g. “South America”) as your destination in Flight Search you’ll see cards for the most popular destinations within that region, and destinations personalized for you based on your past searches. We’ll also provide a map so you can see where these places are located -- as well as the lowest fare and duration to fly to each place.
As you start to plan your next vacation, try google.com/flights for yourself. We hope it makes your destination selection process more fun and informative.

Posted by Gus Prevas, Software Engineer, Travel Team

Source: Google Travel


Google+ Stories and Movies: memories made easier

(Cross-posted on the Google Official Blog)

A suitcase full of dirty clothes. A sad-looking house plant. And 437 photos and videos on your phone, tablet and camera. This is the typically messy scene after a vacation. And although we can’t do your laundry (thanks but no thanks), or run your errands (well, maybe a few), we’d still like to help. Enter Google+ Stories, which can automatically weave your photos, videos and the places you visited into a beautiful travelogue.

No more sifting through photos for your best shots, racking your brain for the sights you saw, or letting your videos collect virtual dust. We’ll just gift you a story after you get home. This way you can relive your favorite moments, share them with others, and remember why you traveled in the first place. 

Stories will be available this week on Android and the web, with iOS coming soon. In the meantime you can browse my story below (click to start), or explore a few others by paraglider Tom de Dorlodot, and DJ Steve Aoki.
When it’s less about travel, and more about today's events (like a birthday party, or baby’s first steps), Google+ Movies can produce a highlight reel of your photos and videos automatically—including effects, transitions and a soundtrack. Today we’re bringing Movies to Android, iOS and the web, so lots more people will receive these video vignettes.
A movie of my daughter’s first bike ride, created automatically by Google+

To get started with Stories and Movies, simply back up your photos and videos to Google+. And that’s it. Auto Awesome will get to work in the background, and you’ll get notified when a story or movie is ready.

In fact: if your photo library is already online, you may already have stories waiting for you. So look for the new app in Google Play, view the full list of improvements on Google+, and enjoy your walks down memory lane.

Posted by +Anil Sabharwal, Director of Product Management

Source: Google Travel


DS features in April

In April, we added the following features to DoubleClick Search:

  • Bid strategies that can recommend and optimize mobile bid adjustments
    Bid strategies that target conversions or revenue can now optimize AdWords mobile bid adjustments based on the bid strategy’s goal. If you prefer a more hands-on approach, you can set your bid strategy to recommend mobile bid adjustments. Learn more.

  • Use keyword parameters in ads
    You can customize your Google AdWords and Bing Ads ads by using dynamic text parameters in DoubleClick Search (DS). A customized ad is more likely to appeal to potential customers because it's more relevant to their search queries. Ad parameters also allow updates to ads without having to go through the engine’s validation and approval process. This feature works with both manual campaigns and inventory campaigns. Learn more.

We also made the following feature updates:

  • Bid strategies for PLA campaigns
    To optimize bidding on Product Listing Ads, you can now apply a return-on-investment (ROI) bid strategy to product targets, an ad group with product targets, or an entire campaign. You can even use the same bid strategy to manage bidding for both keywords and product targets and let DS determine the ideal bids for reaching your ROI goals. Learn more.


  • Use formula columns that contain Google Analytics goals in bid strategies
    If you need greater control over how conversions are combined and weighted in your bid strategy, you can create a formula column that defines your own key performance indicators (KPIs), and then add a bid strategy that optimizes to the formula column. Now, formula columns that include data from Google Analytics conversion or revenue columns can be used in a bid strategy.


  • New reporting resource in the DS API
    DS has added a new resource type to its API that contains the list of all columns an advertiser has created, such as Floodlight columns, Google Analytics columns, or formula columns. Once you retrieve the list of columns, you can request reports for the metrics that the columns contain. Learn more about working with saved columns from the DS API.

  • Saved views include segmentation selection
    When you save a report view that is segmented, DS now saves the segmentation selection as well. This only applies to new views that you create going forward. Existing views cannot save the segmentation selection.

  • Fresh, new look
    We’ve added more space and softer colors to make DoubleClick Search easier on the eyes. This is the same look in many of the other Google products you know and love.

We also want to let you know about a change in product functionality:

  • Fewer AdWords search queries available in the search query report
    Google now removes the search query from the referrer on ad clicks that originate from SSL searches on Google.com. Learn more about this change. The search query report in DS won’t be able to display search queries for these clicks. Instead, you’ll see Other queries. Learn more about how encrypted searches affect the DS search query report.

    The AdWords search terms report lets you see search queries that generated ad clicks along with key performance data. And the Search Queries report available in Google Webmaster Tools provides aggregate information about the top 2000 queries, each day, that generated organic clicks.

Posted by the DoubleClick Search team

The Search Agency saves times and discovers insights at scale with executive reporting from DoubleClick Search

The search marketing landscape can change quickly and marketers need tools that can adapt just as fast - to understand immediate opportunities, and react if necessary. Late last year, we announced executive reporting from DoubleClick Search to give marketers the ability to see their campaign performance quickly, across their entire business or in any specific view. Today, we’d like to highlight how a top digital agency has found success with our tools to increase efficiency and get a better handle on their business.



With hundreds of clients around the globe, The Search Agency’s leaders were finding it increasingly hard to keep an eye on the health of their business. Keen to quickly understand the performance while eliminating time-consuming monthly and quarterly reporting tasks, they adopted executive reporting from DoubleClick Search to help oversee company’s interests.

The team needed a way to get the big picture—fast. They also had to have details such as monthly and quarterly reports of all the agency’s business, aggregated for industries or individual clients, with in-depth costs by month, quarter or device.

“That kind of detail is essential for day-to-day work, but also for quick KPIs,” says Wiratunga. “If I’m walking into a board room with my department leads about a certain client or if I get called into a meeting with 15 minutes to prep, I need a way to see—on the fly—exactly what’s happening with an account and all of its issues.” 

After implementing executive reporting, Wiratunga was able to save multiple hours each month and quarter by eliminating repetitive reporting tasks for his team, and focusing them instead on more strategic work. He was also able to prepare for client escalations on short notice as needed. To get the full scoop on The Search Agency’s success, read the full customer story here.

DS features in March


In March, we added the following feature to DoubleClick Search (DS):

  • Support for the new AdWords “Search Network with Display Select” campaigns
    AdWords has launched a new campaign type, “Search Network with Display Select”, which is helping advertisers     gain up to 15% more customers than search campaigns alone. Any new campaigns that you create in DS will automatically be “Search Network with Display Select” campaigns. DS will continue to support legacy “Search & Display Networks” campaigns for a few months. Learn more.

We also made the following feature updates:

  • Include impression share in executive reports
    You can now     add a chart to an executive report that displays the impression share metric for your Google AdWords keywords. With impression share metrics, you can easily report how many of the overall potential impressions you’re capturing.

  • Improved targeting settings for Bing Ads ad groups
    We made some improvements to clarify that a Bing Ads ad group can override the campaign’s location and device settings     independently. In other words, you can override one or both of these settings when you create or edit a Bing Ads ad group.

  • Segment Google Analytics goals by device
    When a reporting table includes columns for Google Analytics goals, you can now     segment the table by device as well as by ads.

  • Bid strategies for PLA campaigns
    To optimize bidding on Product Listing Ads, you can now apply an ROI bid strategy to product targets, an ad group with product targets, or an entire campaign. You can even use the same bid strategy to let DS optimize your bids across both product targets and keywords to reach your ROI goals.     Learn more.

  • Formula columns: new functions, new columns, and new aggregation options
    • New functions
      We have added 18 functions that you can use in formula columns: 14 for manipulating strings, 2 for specifying relative dates, and 2 for error handling. In addition,       to_number(), to_percent(), and to_money() can now convert localized strings into numbers. See a list of all functions in the new function list for DS formula columns.
    • New columns You can now use the Status and Keyword_match_type columns in a formula column. These columns are considered to be enumerated columns because they always contain one of a few values pre-defined by DS. Make sure that any functions you create refer to one of the pre-defined values that the column can contain.
      Here’s an example function that outputs "Brand-Broad" for keywords that are labeled with the “Brand” label and have been defined with a broad match type:       If(and(Has_label("Brand"),keyword_match_type="Broad"),
      "Brand-Broad","Brand")
    • New aggregation options When you create a formula column, you can specify how the summary row in a reporting table aggregates data from a formula column. Previously, a summary row always summed the raw data in the individual rows and then applied the formula to the sum. Now you can specify that a summary row applies the formula to each row and then sums the formula results.

Posted by the DoubleClick Search team

DS features in February

In February, we added the following features to DoubleClick Search (DS):

  • Report on impression share You can now report on impression share for keywords in your AdWords engine accounts in DS. Impression share is the number of impressions you’ve received divided by the estimated number of impressions you were eligible to receive. With impression share metrics, you can easily track how many of the overall potential impressions you’re capturing. Learn more.

  • Easy access to agency and advertiser data, and faster account navigation We’ve completed the rollout of two DS UI changes that are designed to enhance usability and workflow efficiency.

    • The new agency view: Enables viewing and reporting across multiple advertisers. This view shows key data from multiple advertisers in one integrated, consistent view to help advertisers more easily act on big opportunities.

    • The new navigation bar: Provides a more usable way to quickly find and access information across your advertisers. It includes a new horizontal layout, a search-as-you-type function, favorites labels, and keyboard shortcuts.

To learn more, read this blog post and this Help Center section.

We also made the following feature updates:

  • Improvements to automated rules and bulk edits We made the following improvements to automated rules and bulk edits (including scheduled edits) in DoubleClick Search:

    • Bulk edits and automated rules at the advertiser level
      When you navigate to an advertiser with all engine accounts, or navigate to an advertiser with an engine type (e.g.,       All AdWords accounts), you’ll now see the Edit and Rules buttons above the table.

    • Bulk edits and automated rules for objects within labels
      When you click       Labels in the left nav and then click a specific label, you’ll now be able to apply bulk edits and automated rules after navigating to the campaigns, ad groups, keywords, or ads in the label.

    • Change min/max bid in bulk for keywords
      Change min/max bid for bid strategies is a new option when setting up a bulk edit or automated rule for keywords.

    • Change budgets across engine accounts
      For rules and bulk edits on Bing Ads campaigns, we combined the       Change daily budget and Change monthly budget options into one Change budget option. This allows you to change budgets in bulk across Google AdWords and Bing Ads engine accounts.

    • Change labels in bulk for ads
      Change label is a new option when setting up a bulk edit or automated rule for ads.

    • See the source of your bulk edit or automated rule
      When you click       Bulk operations in the left nav, the new Changed by column on the Bulk operations page shows the source of the edit or rule.
      • For one-time bulk edits, the column displays the user’s email address.
      • For scheduled edits, the column displays Scheduled edit: {scheduled edit name}.
      • For automated rules, the column displays Rule: {rule name} with a link to the Rule details page.

  • Sitelink descriptions in DS DS now supports syncing and managing multi-line descriptive text for AdWords sitelinks.

  • New LENGTH() function for inventory templates Inventory templates for ads and keywords now support the LENGTH() function, which returns the length of a string or other value. With this function, you can create templates that respond to the length of a field, as in the following example that outputs “generic” if the BRAND field is blank: [IF(LENGTH(BRAND) > 0, BRAND, "generic")]. Learn more.

Watch the recorded webinar for February features to see these updates in action.

Posted by the DoubleClick Search team

Calendar shopping for flights just got easier

Let’s say you want to go skiing in Vail, Colorado this winter, but you’re flexible on when you leave and how long you stay. Try our improved Flight Search calendar from any of your devices to help you quickly figure out the best deal. As soon as you start entering your dates, a new, expanded calendar pops up with the lowest fare highlighted for each day. Select your outbound date and prices update instantly for return dates. You can change stops, length of stay, preferred airline or more -- and prices update instantly, without having to do any extra searches!

To see how prices may fluctuate based on the season, holidays or other events, use the lowest fares graph under the calendar. It lets you scroll through future months to quickly and easily compare airfares across dates. Now you can see low-fare flight options, even if your travel dates are far in the future.


For your Vail trip, as you enter your origin and destination cities, a calendar pops up with lowest fares for each day. If you quickly scan the lowest fares graph below, you’ll see that March is the least expensive time to travel. Select your outbound and return dates. Try restricting the results to non-stop flights and compare the price difference for a 3, 4 or 5 day trip. Now you can make your final selections and book your flight, feeling confident you’ve found the best option for your trip.

We hope the changes we’ve made will help you save time and money! If you haven’t already done so, try our enhanced calendar shopping and lowest fares graph when planning your next trip.

Posted by Rani Manoharan, UI designer, travel

Source: Google Travel


DS features in January

In January, we added the following features to DoubleClick Search:

  • Inventory Product Listing Ads campaigns
    This release introduces a new type of campaign: an inventory Product Listing Ads (PLA) campaign, which makes it easy to scale up your PLA advertising with detailed reports and bidding on each of your individual products. Inventory PLA campaigns automatically generate ad groups and granular product targets for Product Listing Ads from data in your Merchant Center account.     Learn more.

  • Reporting API
    You can now use the DoubleClick Search API to programmatically download reports. You can combine the API data with data you already have about your products, customers, and business goals (from a CRM system, for example) to complete the picture of your search advertising impact.     Learn more.

  • Assess your bid strategy’s health
    The new     Bid strategy health column displays messages about issues that prevent a bid strategy from performing optimally. If you click the message, DS navigates to the location in the UI in which you can address the issue. Learn more.

We also made the following feature updates:

  • Google Analytics metrics and goals in Executive Reporting
    If you use Google Analytics to track your conversions, you can now enhance your     executive reports with GA metrics and goals for multiple advertisers. For example, you can create a single chart that compares GA new visits with overall revenue for all of your advertisers.

  • More actions and notification options in automated rules and bulk edits
    We made the following improvements to     automated rules and bulk edits (including scheduled edits):
    • You can now perform bulk edits and automated rules on a list of product targets.
    • Change bid strategy and Change mobile bid adjustment % are new options when setting up a bulk edit or automated rule for campaigns or ad groups.
    • When setting up your actions and alerts for a rule, you have more options for when to receive an email. For example, you can choose to receive emails only when a problem occurs.

  • Improved support of targeting settings for Bing Ads ad groups
    When you     create or edit an ad group in a Bing Ads engine account, you'll notice that the Languages, Locations, and Devices settings have been changed to more accurately reflect the way Bing Ads organizes these settings.

Be sure to attend the New Feature Review monthly webinar to see these features in action. There are sessions on February 6, so register today!

Posted by the DoubleClick Search team

DS features in November/December


In November and December, we added the following features to DoubleClick Search:

  • Executive Reporting
    When it’s time to present performance data to your clients or executives, instead of manually downloading detailed data and distilling it into useful summaries, you can now create an executive report in DoubleClick Search (DS). DS executive reports     are a powerful new way to create custom visual reports to analyze data and share with your end clients, teammates, and managers. Learn more.

  • Analyze performance for all keywords or ads at the advertiser level
    You can now see the performance data for all of an advertiser’s keywords or ads across all engines. Most DS customers have multiple engine accounts, so this feature makes it easier to understand aggregate/overall performance. In the DS UI, simply navigate to an advertiser and click the Keywords tab or Ads tab.     Learn more.

We also made the following feature updates:

  • Better summary data for your bid strategies
    The bid strategy summary page now focuses on conversions, revenue, and bid strategy status by displaying the Bid strategy performance view by default. In addition to displaying goal type, target metric, and constraints, the Bid strategy performance view has been updated with new columns that show the conversion and revenue statistics relevant to that bid strategy.     Learn more.

  • Apply bid strategies to campaigns/ad groups via bulksheets: You can now use the Bid strategy column in a bulksheet to apply existing bid strategies to campaigns or ad groups. This makes it much easier to apply bid strategies to multiple campaigns and ad groups. Learn more.

  • Use bulksheets to create, change, and delete labels
    There’s a new bulksheet that makes it easier to create multiple labels at once, and it also allows you to change and delete labels.     Learn more.

  • Segment sitelink performance data by campaign
    You can now view sitelink performance by campaign in a single view. For example, if you applied a sitelink to 3 campaigns in a single AdWords engine account, you can see a list of the campaigns with the number of sitelink clicks in each campaign.     Learn more.


Posted by the DoubleClick Search team