I recently wrote about the new Bing-Yahoo search agreement and how PPC advertisers now need to transfer Bing Ads accounts over to Yahoo Gemini and manage both in order to continue displaying ads on Bing and Yahoo for all possible searches. As I have been doing just that for my own clients, I’m discovering that I’m using the term “management” loosely. The Gemini interface doesn’t allow you to do anything! I mean, at the very least, I would expect to be able to sort my keywords so I don’t have to scroll through tons of paused ones to find the active ones…but I guess that’s asking too much.
So basically, good luck trying to navigate and manage this thing. I’m hopeful, yet still a skeptic, that Yahoo will work to improve available features as more advertisers move their accounts over. For now, here are a few tips for advertisers newly moving into Gemini:
How to Edit Destination URLs for Tracking
Most companies use Google Analytics tracking in their Bing Ads account with the source parameter specifying utm_source=bing. Now that the campaigns are in Yahoo, it’s best to update the tagging to say utm_source=yahoo. To do so, follow these steps:
- At the campaign level, click on the Ads tab.
- Make sure all of your ads are showing by switching the ads per page size and then select all.
- Click on Actions > Edit ad text > Find and replace Destination URL.
Where to Find Campaign Settings
Click into a campaign and click on the Edit button. This takes you to your campaign settings including location targeting, demographic targeting, and campaign budget.
Where to Find Negative Keywords
To find your negative keywords, you’ll have to click into a campaign, then click on the Keywords view. Then click on the drop down that says “All Match Types” and change to one of the negative keyword options. This will populate your negative keywords on either the campaign or ad group level.
Ads Using Parameter Insertion
I strongly suspect (although I have not actually confirmed) that ads with param insertion specifications will not use the parameter in Yahoo. Therefore, it’s probably best that you make sure none of your ads are using param insertion, or at least make sure you have a good default phrase. Make sure your ads are optimized without relying on param insertion.
Bidding Tip
Anyone who is currently on Gemini is ahead of the game. You’re ahead of a large majority of advertisers who haven’t moved their Bing accounts over to Gemini yet. Because of the reduced competition, average CPCs are significantly lower than in Bing. Therefore, I suggest reducing your bids for a while. Why start them out high when you don’t have to? When your competition finally gets around to joining you, you’re starting the bidding at a lower place and you may be able to keep the bids at that level for a while longer. Enjoy it while you can!
As I continue to use and learn more about Gemini, I’ll keep you posted on any other findings. But until then, please share your own findings with me in the comments!
