Comments on PPC Management Software - ILoveJackDaniels.com

Comment on PPC Management Software

2008-05-09T00:52:39+01:00

Comment by Bill McIntosh ( http://www.billmcintosh.com )

Hey Dave, I suggest doing some research to find out what's really needed for your use and go with that. Many people have there opinions, but they may not work for what you need.

Comment on PPC Management Software

2007-12-21T22:11:14+00:00

Comment by Erik Cocks (no relation to Erick!) ( http://www.Deusmarketing.com )

Dave, informative thread. I signed up with Adapt over Atlas recently and am happy with what they offer.

Whatever you invest in, select a product you will actually use, figure out what bells and whistles you really need, and think about the learning curve and support. Otherwise, the servant may become the master...

Comment on PPC Management Software

2007-11-22T20:19:24+00:00

Comment by Erick Herring ( http://www.adapt.com )

I have long been a fan of your cheatsheets - thanks for making them!

My company, Adapt Technologies, makes a product called Adapt SEM. It will definitely help you, and we have flat pricing with no term commitments and fantastic support. We have several customers in the UK if that is a consideration.

Comment on PPC Management Software

2007-10-26T02:30:00+01:00

Comment by gugo ( http:// )

This seems to have good info:
http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?threadid=16011

And some vendors in a list ( not by importance)
1. AdWords Dominator
2. Atlas Search (formerly OnePoint and GO TOAST)
3. BidBuddy (The Search Works, UK)
4. BidRank
5. BidHero (ClickTracks)
6. Did-It Maestro
7. Dynamic BidMaximizer (ApexPacific)
8. Inceptor BidCenter
9. KeywordMax Bid Director
10. KeywordROI
11. MakeMeTop
12. Omniture SearchCenter
13. PPCBidTracker (SearchMarketingTools)
14. PPC Pro (PPC Management)
15. Searchignite
16. WebSideStory Bid

Comment on PPC Management Software

2007-09-09T17:26:12+01:00

Comment by seo la ( )

cam i try it somewhere, is that possible, i am dong ppc campaigns for several companies, let me know if you would like to cooperate in some way , good job Dave

Comment on PPC Management Software

2007-08-02T14:23:31+01:00

Comment by Thomas ( http://www.dotcomonomics.com )

Good luck out there!

Overall the biggest part I think a lot of companies are trying to focus on is the reporting aspect. As we know, without a solid understanding of what the keywords are doing and how they are performing, then changes to pricing and bidding is like driving down the highway your eyes closed! ; x-)

Because of that I see a lot of solutions with great reporting and not enough focused on bid changes, it's just something a lot of people don't want to invest the resources in, though almost all of the big four engines will say "API API API!"

If you figure out an easy way to do it, I'm all ears, but that seems to be the holy grail of PPC that just gets harder and harder to figure out.

Comment on PPC Management Software

2007-08-02T09:00:10+01:00

Comment by Dave Child ( http://www.ilovejackdaniels.com )

Thomas, thanks for the thorough reply!

Cost is not necessarily a major problem - we are happy to pay for API calls as needed and don't expect that to be free. The main issue is (as you rightly spot) that we don't really have the time to keep up with the changes to the APIs ourselves and so having a company manage that is the logical next step.

Reliability is actually one of the main reasons we are looking for a new company to work with - currently none of our changes are making it to the engines (due to a problem with the software itself which has still not been resolved after over 3 months), which is a fairly serious problem!

I'm naturally cautious of rules, so would be looking to keep any automated changes on a very tight leash. I'm more concerned with actually getting the keywords and bids we assign to our products and product categories (with our homegrown CMS) to the search engines without needing to spend a lot of my time keeping up with APIs.

A simple system that can take a CSV (or similar text file) sent over FTP and make the relevant API calls to add, pause and delete campaigns, ad groups, ads and keywords as required is all I'm after.

If nothing's out there already, I may need to build something myself (as an extra-curricular project) but I'd rather avoid repeating work if such a tool already exists!

Comment on PPC Management Software

2007-08-01T23:28:31+01:00

Comment by Thomas ( http://www.dotcomonomics.com )

I have worked for several companies that have had solutions for that, from Atlas to an Ad Agency that had an internal program. While management of the keywords is tough, and having that many is definitely a task, auto bidding is rough for several reasons.

1. Cost
It's simply just too tough to keep the costs down. With Google charging these companies to access the API on a weighted system, the 3rd party passes the cost off to you the consumer, loads of fun there!

The other part is for an internal company to work with APIs and stay up to date, it takes a Full Time Employee doing just that, it's crazy all the changes they do and number of versions out there.

2. Reliability
Even if you get a system up and running that submits bids automagically to the engines, they don't guarantee immediate changes, while most will change quickly, there are still times and situations where the changes may not take and thus you could blow a very large wad of cash on a system that you thought was doing the work for you.

3. It's not you
Ultimately, you are the person that wants to see it succeed or not. 3rd party software doesn't care, there may be a rule that brings a keyword down that you really must have up and running for branding and what not, if you don't tell it so, you will still come down. Letting a system make changes for you without knowing who you are and what you do, it just doesn't work as nicely as some of these systems say they do.

Ultimately, from the years I have worked in PPCSE and the work I have done in the backend on these things, I think that while reporting is nice from a 3rd party, the management of the keywords still has to fall in the lap of skilled people.

One thing I have seen way more effective is that of cutting down your total number of keywords to a list that is effective and balancing out your overall approach of online marketing, from PPCSE and SEO. Using both helps to balance your budget as well.

Just my two cents...