Google AdWords™ For Dummies®, 3rd Edition

Advanced Method: AdWords Campaign Experiments

A key scene in the movie Sliding Doors shows Gwyneth Paltrow's character Helen Quilley catching a London Underground train — or not. From that point, the movie splits into two parallel universes, each of which plays out differently based on whether Helen makes it past the sliding doors. AdWords Experiments is a beta feature that allows split testing of elements other than ad copy by creating a parallel universe in which you get to change certain elements in a given campaign.

Setting up an experiment

You set up experiments on the campaign level, in a two-step process. First, you activate the experiment in campaign settings. Then you create experimental conditions.

Activate the experiment

Here's how to activate the experiment:

1. Click the name of the campaign in which you want to experiment.
2. Click the Settings tab and scroll to Advanced Settings, at the bottom of the page.
3. Click the Experiment link.
4. Click the Specify Experimental Settings button.
5. Specify the experiment settings, as shown in Figure 14-4:
   1. Name: Name your experiment so you can identify it later.
   2. Control/Experiment Split: What percentage of impressions do you want to be subject to the experimental conditions versus existing conditions? You'll get results the fastest at half control/half experiment. But if your control is working well, you may not want to risk half your traffic on an unknown condition. In that case, you may want to play it safe by keeping 80 percent of your ...