AdWords has a tendency of making unpublished interface changes, some so small that they can even go unnoticed to its user base. A simple switch recently that has spectacularly practical uses is the custom date comparisons.
Undoubtedly, many search marketers are aware of this function, but I have still seen many who have been oblivious to it. The value stands in the fact that you do not have to pull multiple excel files, and templating them to find value in your comparison KPI’s. Take a look below:
You can locate the Compare feature in the date drop down, and then proceed to select the custom date range you want to review.
After your selection, the column headers will show plus signs, which are collapsible. Clicking on the plus sign allows you to quickly view data from different date ranges and even bakes in change and % change.
This can be used in a plethora of ways: internal reporting, external reporting, coming to quicker decision making processes, and so forth. Not to mention you can run every major metric within the UI, stacking up date ranges against volume KPI’s, conversion KPI’s, competitive metrics, and so much more.
This simple, yet effective change in the interface can be a big time saver and more importantly eliminate mundane reporting efforts.
