Google Adwords Tool (previous Interface) gone?

by 74 replies
86
Before I went to bed last night I did some research and saw that they had removed the "previous interface"

I thought well that must be due to some abuse or maintenance.

Well this morning I woke up and it's still missing.

I liked this interface more because I felt it helped in my keyword research more.

Bummed.

#search engine optimization #adwords #google #interface #previous #tool
  • same like me... i prefer use the old interface...
  • I have also just checked and it's gone my side as well!!

    I really like liked the previous version, is there any way to still get access to it?
    • [1] reply
  • Yes... totally gone.
    Still cant apply for the best research.
    I believe that most of us like the previous version.
  • That was the older one, but now it redirects to the new one. It's gone from mine as well.
  • So where shall we do the new keyword research?

    btw, I cannot open the link anymore.....
  • Am I the only one that noticed a HEAVY drop in the search results ? My keywords that have had an "exact global search count" of 22100 and 18 000 in the previous version now have only 1300 ? 1600 ?.... What gives ?

    Reinventing the way we do KW research ? DEAR GOD!
    • [2] replies
  • None of the threads are encouraging.... I think I am gonna be sick in a few minutes. 200 micro niche sites/hubs/lenses etc... cutnot just in half but around 20 times.....auch!
  • probably just trying intentionally weed out the people doing free research

    or make it more difficult, probably didn't affect the people who use it for their Adwords account as much. Personally I thought that Google's results were high any because they were probably combing PPC and partner results and relied more on the seobook/wordtracker keyword tool.

    At least MS and MNF still seems to be pulling the data.
    • [1] reply
    • MS and MNF are showing data : the OLD and not accurate data.

      Have checked all my sites for visitors using google and typing the EXACT keyword not any related keywords....and sorry to say the NEW results are SPOT ON...+- 0.5%...

      Disturbing...

      Damage assesment time.
      • [1] reply
  • Its been known for a while that the keyword tools were wildly inaccurate. After I do exhaustive research if theres any term on the bubble of whether i use it or not I run an adword and see what it really gets over a few days.
    • [1] reply
    • Looks like the old interface is gone for good.

      Also I noticed that you cannot download the keyword files like the old system.

      Most of the niche tools were using the old interface and will probably be scrambling for a software update or work around.

      The one constant about internet marketing is change.
      • [1] reply
  • Damage done : The volume estimated BEFORE (old KW-tool ) : 1.720.000 for all my sites.

    After : 260 000 ....

    A lot of money, time and will power lost...
    • [1] reply
    • Don't be too pessimistic. Traffic is one thing conversions are another. Plus if you are using adsense you can acutally increase ROI by moving a product of your own or some one else's
      • [1] reply
  • Huh Market Samurai also stopped working.... There goes another keyword tool.

    Oh lets not forget that the new Google KW Tool does not have LSI keywords feature ( or did I miss it ? )
    • [1] reply

    • Its kind of built in which is why it gives such a wide range of results. You can turn it off in the advanced options
  • I don't understand why the global search data as well as the other data is down so much from when I searched just a day or so ago with the old interface? I thought I was going to have a nice birthday - but now I'm really depressed!
    • [1] reply
    • Perhaps this will help everyone who's wondering why there's a difference between the the results reported by the old Google Keyword tool versus the new one.

      Read the second entry by "AdwordsPro" under "Best Answers."


      Bizarre results between Keyword tool beta and previous interface. 1000 vs. 550000 results!? - AdWords Help


      In short, the old Google Keyword Tool included data from Google as well as its search partners. However, the new tool includes search data for Google only.

      Keep in mind that Google Keyword Tool was primarily developed to help Adwords advertisers. They didn't seem to have us SEOer's in mind when they developed it. So, the move to the new interface and the way data is reported makes sense to them.

      Just think, if you were running an Adwords campaign, you would probably want to know the estimated search volume for a given keyword based on the data for Google's search engine alone and not for their search partners, too (that is unless you constructed your campaign to receive traffic from Google's search partners as well).

      As an SEO guy, while I don't like the new interface because I'm a creature of habit, I can appreciate the fact that the new search volume estimates only include data from Google search and not all of their partners. It gives me a much better idea of what kind of traffic is coming directly from Google searches.

      In the past, I've launched an SEO campaign or two for keywords that reportedly had thousands or tens of thousands of searches only to reach the top 3 positions and see about 30 to 40 visitors per day. This was with optimized title tags and compelling descriptions, too, by the way. Nothing, spammy looking, though.

      All isn't lost when it comes to keyword searches for us Micro Niche Finders and Market Samurais. If anything, we should just take the new data and crush it even more now that what we're getting is more specific to Google's search engine. It's only a matter of time before Micro Niche Finder and Market Samurai are updated to pull the correct data.

      I, for one, certainly appreciate the new Google Keyword Tool. But, I have to admit, I'm not in love with the new interface. I really like how the old interface broke down the search terms into themes. This was really great for building tightly themed niches sites.

      The alternative to this functionality, though, is to simply select "Related Searches" beneath the "More Search Tools" meanu when doing a live Google search. You can still get great ideas as to what Google finds thematically relevant. The "Wonder Wheel" is good for this, too, but not so much as the "Related Searches" option IMHO.

      Hope this helps,
      Paul
      • [1] reply
  • I may be one of the few here that wanted the old data back because I want the search numbers from Google partners. Do you know how many million visitors use Google's search through big portals like: Aol and many others?

    Those are real searchers, that bring traffic to advertisers and organic results. So why they suddenly don't matter anymore?

    And I hate the new tool. It's cumbersome, not user-friendly, gives lousy related suggestions and don't allow me to only see results for the keyword list I give.

    Also it gives really bad results for country specific searches. Check macbook in Germany, with German language. No one buys them there or use Google.com? Yeah, right.
    • [1] reply
    • It seems Google received enough feedback from Adwords advertisers to warrant the change. From what I've been reading, Adwords advertisers wanted the keyword tool to provide search data exclusively from Google.com results and not for all of its search partners.

      The truth is Google's primary customers are searchers and Adwords advertisers. So, we can't get too upset when Google makes changes to suit their primary customer base.

      You're right. These are real searchers. But, from what I can tell, it's not that Google's search partners and their data don't matter anymore. It's that Google needed to revise their keyword tool based on feedback from Adwords users (the people they built the tool for in the first place). So, in that respect, leaving out the data was a matter of responding to the needs of their paying customers.

      Keep in mind, too, that the data we get from the Google Keyword Tool is only an estimate and not to be used solely as a reason for entering a niche or going after a keyword. As long as a keyword has a decent amount of fairly consistent (see the trends data) estimated search volume, then it's likely to bring in some degree of consistent traffic.

      I prefer the old tool, too. But you can still get related suggestions using the "Related Searches" function from the main search results page. Sure, we'll have to use our brains a bit more. But, in the end, that provides an advantage for savvy marketers who are willing the extra mile in their keyword research. Google's Keyword Tool should never be seen as the only means of gleaning data from Google. There are so many other free tools Google provides that finding a list of profitable keywords is still a cinch.

      As for being unable to paste in your own keyword list, I'm not having that problem. Just paste in what you have (the tool won't accept more than 100 keywords at a time) and be sure to click on "Advanced Options" and fill the radio button that says "Ideas containing my search terms." From there you'll be good to go.

      We've got to remember, too, that the Google Keyword Tool has always been for Adwords advertisers. So, all the cool things we SEO geeks like about the tool aren't necessarily important to PPC advertisers. SEOers who adjust, adapt, and rethink their keyword research will continue to do well. Those who moan and complain because Big Daddy Google decided to change clothes will get left behind.

      Just my two cents...

      Respectfully,
      Paul
      • [1] reply
  • Banned
    [DELETED]
  • Yea, you know all those bots that used to go there to scrap info?

    Now they need a rebuild
  • Well many people believed that Google was exaggerating their numbers a little bit but this confirms that Google may have been just outright lying

    But it makes sense for them to lie because they obviously make more money if people believe they are the premiere company to go to for online advertising; it's not right but big companies like Google lie, cheat, and steal everyday to get ahead

    Anyway, I'm not crazy about the new version either but I find that the numbers for the new version are way more accurate when I'm trying to rank on the 1st page of Google.

    I would always wonder why if I'm #3 for a keyword that's supposed to get 8K searches exact a month that I'm only getting like 10 visitors a day
  • I'm an advertiser as well, so I like to know how many times my ads would be shown, in total, not just by people that go to Google.com but also those that search from AOL and hundreds of other big sites that use Google Search. Google has a big market share, but it's not just from people that go to their site, but from giant portals as well. There are portals with millions of visitors per day that now are unaccounted!!! And for me some of those searches are more valuable than from Google.com itself!

    The "Ideas containing my search terms" doesn't work many times, I've tested it.
    And the suggestions they are giving now are very poor as well, if you test with the same keywords as before. I'm getting appalling results and I'll stop using that tool altogether because it's now that it's giving me results I cannot trust. I had learned to read well the old results, I knew how to underestimate them. Now I have NO IDEA of the global search volume for some keywords.

    Maybe they just want advertisers to bid on popular keywords, paying higher PPC, instead of going to the long tail? As a publisher I have to change my sites then.
    • [2] replies
    • Could you elaborate on that. I haven't had any problems with this.


      I think the numbers are probably more trustworthy than they have ever been. The problem of the tool reporting more than real life indicated goes back from last year (and beyond). Steve's point is valid. the numbers never really added up.

      I've been convinced of that for quite a while. There's no incentive for google to give you all searches in a niche that has little or no competition. I've tested some words that were not supposed to be getting much searches and on some I got three times the amount of searches than Google indicated. so there's not only over reporting there's some under reporting too.
      • [1] reply
    • I can understand the frustration about the search partners' stats being removed. Regarding the fact that Google.com seem to only have a relatively low share of the old stats, remember that the search partners are not only AOL etc, there are also tons of smaller search partners. Remember the 'powered by Google' text boxes on many sites..
  • This also has implications for domainers. For instance, when someone is looking to buy a domain they will often ask for a certain amount of exact searches using the Google Keyword Tool. Now unless they now realise the big drop in search numbers as a result of this, they may still be asking for numbers based on the old criteria.

    If you look on DN Forum and Namepros you will often see posts where they ask for exact searches in excess of 10,000 or 20,000 for instance. Well that is going to be hard to achieve with the new version. This may take a while to filter through to the domaining community.
  • > The "Ideas containing my search terms" doesn't work many times, I've tested it.

    Several times yesterday I inserted my list of keywords, for which I didn't want any suggestions, only stats for my list, and it gave no results.

    I can tell you by experience that those new numbers aren't trustworthy as well, or are indication of the traffic you will get, they are way underestimate. Also the number and quality of suggestions you now get is inferior.

    I must say that I use Adwords on a daily basis before their PPC was released to the public, I was a beta tester.

    And I know that for some keywords (especially non-english) search partners provide a really big amount of the total number of searches. If you remove that you stopped getting the slightest idea of the real number of people that is searching for that. Wordtracker and other tools almost don't work for these keywords, they say half a dozen results when I know there are several hundreds (from my webhosting stats).

    But if the old tool doesn't reappear, I'll adapt.
  • Sometimes the GAKT shows search volumes far less than the actual search volumes, sometimes far more. Not accurate by any means.
  • Yes, not accurate at all, not the old one, nor the new one but with time we learned how to read those numbers...

    I went to test the new tool again and it seems to be working now, sometimes I just want to see search numbers for the list I insert like we had in the legacy tool...
  • Good discussion here.

    I wonder if anyone of us go one step ahead and ask formal clarification from Google directly.

    Perhaps we will get some new development or info which we never know...to add to our own speculation, preferences, likes or dislikes, expectations, etc.

    Cheers..
  • Hi
    Yes previous interface is gone. The new interface is running my local search trends column vertically. Segmenting the months down the page which makes it impossible to read. Does anyone know how to fix this?
    It is driving me nuts I am sure it is something simple.

    Thanks
    Journey Merchant
  • I did sent an email to the Google Adwords team through my own account asking why I still prefer to use the old tool, and I urge all of you to do the same.
    If they created the new tool because some advertisers asked for that, then we should have many advertisers ask for the legacy tool back.
    • [1] reply
    • i doubt they will re-activate the old interface. they make decisions only when they are sure of them and this decision to remove the old interface will definetly not be revised
      • [1] reply
  • Wow!!! The game has changed, the old interface was far better than the new. We all knew and suspected the numbers to be off and I always suspected Goog to be padding their search numbers to entice people to raise bids on the PPC side of things. Now I guess they've decided to take the veil off for some odd reason and only the strong will survive now. Better start thinking sideways about which terms to target, marketing is not suppose to be based off of assumptions and hunches but I think much of that will have to come back into play without solid tools to tell us what's what. Moooooohaaaahaaaa
  • Claudiu, yes I think that the non-return is a possibility but if enough people ask for it we never know. I've accomplished some things by asking and "re-asking", always explaining why.

    WyattTenG, even loosing part of their data of course other tools that don't use Google's data still lack a lot of information, especially for non-english markets. Not one is an alternative for me, and I've tested many.
  • Amazing, a few days ago I bought a domain in an auction, because it had more than 200k exact match searches and now it's saying 590!!!
    How is that difference because of search partners?
    • [1] reply
    • This means that 199410 people use Google partners for search and only 590 use Google. But! Google says they are the market leaders in search and that they own like 70%+ of all searches. This means that either the new data is wrong, or Google is lying.
      • [2] replies
  • I dont know of any replacements....anything else (eg: wordtracker) has been grossly inacurate............
    • [1] reply
    • Oh well....the game has changed yet again...I think it's a great thing though for me. I was starting to get lazy off using the numbers anyways.

      I guess I will have to get off my lazy butt and actually research the markets now.
  • Just adapt to the changes. Do that or be left out
  • Yes, me too tried reloading the page to see the link to previous interface.Its not there.
    Old interface was far better than current one.
  • I also like the previous interface. it is difficult for me to use the new version
  • I think they always wanted to remove the previous interface, you can always tell Google are about to change something permanently when they give you a link to the previous version
  • It seems they may own 70% of all searches but TOGETHER with their partners.
    When a google search box is used at any giant portal, or small adsense publisher, it's a google search, but not coming from Google. And now we no longer have access to that data.

    Apart from that, the new tool is terrible. The way it presents data, the number of results, but especially the quality...

    And there is no other database in the world with the same quality. Nowhere, even if you pay hundreds of dollars per year.

    I think not enough people are complaining through their Adwords account. I did that, but got no reply. If you have one, ask for the old tool back.
  • Like most, I liked the old interface best. I thought I would use the Search Based tool today and there is a notice there that says that they are discontinuing it soon and will only have the AdSense Keyword Tool. I don't remember why, but there you have it. Get used to this one, and like it.
  • Both the old and new Google keyword tools aren't accurate. I have one site getting 72,000 visitors/month from one keyword, Google shows just 40,000 search volume using exact match for the same keyword.
    They either give out numbers far less or numbers that are far more than the actual search volume.
    • [1] reply
    • I wonder why they do that. They obviously know the exact figures. If they don't want to give the numbers, why make the tool available?
  • I did receive a reply from Adwords support team but it went to the spam folder in Gmail!

    They said they would forward to the dev team but that for now we couldn't revert back to the old interface.

    If you want it, contact the Adwords team from your Adwords account, if enough people ask perhaps (we never know) they will give it back.
  • The old one that redirects to the new one. I think its an update version that's why the previous interface was gone there's gonna be a maintenance i think or an reconstruction from the older one.
    • [1] reply
    • This is kind of like saying Mr Pibb is as good as Dr Pepper.

      Why can't they just enhance the tool with new features instead of fundimentally changing the way it works.

      We have seen a lot of big profile roll outs that did not seem to bother with user testing and focus groups.

      I really miss the old digg.com as well.
  • jhonsean, for now there are no big expectations of the old interface or data going back, directly from the source.
    Unless many people ask for it the old tool is over for good.
  • The old interface is way better than the new one. It gives more result, I wish that Goolge will back the previous one.
  • Well. For me, though the look and feel of the new keyword tool is not user friendly but after so much testing....the new tool is more accurate than the old one.

    I just have to adapt to the look and feel. we have to learn to embrace changes......
  • Yes, by now we all have adapted... but I still miss many things from the old tool... I see many people in other forums saying that they would like to use the previous GAKT version, keeping it at it's separate url if necessary, but I don't know how many did email Google about this, and those are the suggestions they will read. At least I got a reply, my email was indeed read...
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