AdWords Changes are Live

Depending on the types of keyword phrases that you bid on, the new changes to the AdWords system may be making you jump for you, or they may be making you dig deeper into your wallet. Either way, things aren't going to stay the same and you need to start thinking about how the new system will impact your PPC ads.

The details of the changes are available on Google's site, but the basics are as follows:

• New keywords are no longer disabled and don't have a minimum clickthrough rate (CTR) threshold. Instead, your keywords trigger ads as long as they have a high enough Quality Score (determined by your keyword's CTR, relevance of ad text, historical keyword performance, and other relevancy factors) and maximum CPC.
• Each keyword now has a minimum bid that is based on the quality (also called Quality Score) of your keyword specific to your account.
• Ad Rank, or the position of your ad, is based on the maximum CPC and quality (also called the Quality Score).

Google also offers up some optimization tips for the new system.

The folks over at the Motley Fool seem to think that the change is a good thing for the future of PPC. Here's what they had to say about it:

"The beauty of the new bid pricing policy is that it will encourage AdWords sponsors to become more effective advertisers (in three lines of text or fewer)."

There's no shortage of conversation on the changes. You can check out the discussions at Webmaster World and Search Engine Watch.