Last week while bellying up to the SEO Roundtable I came across a small blurb about Google’s new Ad Text Ideas tool. With this tool an advertiser can plug in a variety of unique descriptions for their product or service. By selecting a combination of predetermined words, phrases, and locations the tool churns out a variety of paid search ads for your discretion. As an employee of a search-engine marketing agency this tool excited me. As the copywriter of said search-engine marketing agency this tool made me want to update my resume. However after testing out the tool I feel safe knowing that at its best the Ad Text Ideas tool is nothing more than a glorified mad lib.

The first initial problem that I came across is the 15-character limit for a location. While this is fine for Seattle, Washington, what about Truth or Consequences, New Mexico? How will the world-class spas of this resort town ever be found under these Gestapo-like character limits?

Another problem I found and thought could easily be corrected was the absence of a spell check. While I’m fairly sure your Google rep would notify you that a keystroke error turned your Shooting Range into a Shiiting Range, I would think a simple spell check could save more time and money.

With the previously mentioned Text Idea errors only affecting the grammar in the ads, there are a number of issues that could pose a threat to the clarity and service offerings for your advertisements. While there is a wide selection of product or service templates to choose from (e.g. Chinese Restaurants, Table Tennis Facilities) advertisers can only choose from one type of description. Luckily, Wal-Mart has a large enough brand recognition that people know they are the premier music/movies/clocks/firearm provider, but what about all the Mom & Pop MMCF shops? There are also some products and services that Text Ideas does not provide. Try typing in “Paid Search” into the box that asks you to describe your product or service. Ironically enough it seems as though Text Ideas does not comprehend this industry and gives you a slue of business templates to choose from that include “Attorneys” and “Employment Agencies.”

In addition to a limited amount of products and services there is also a limited understanding of products and services. For example typing in “sperm bank” gives you a variety of financial institutions to choose from, but not a single mention of services for potential frozen fathers.

In fairness, Google does not claim this tool will create ads that outperform self-generated content, and because of this I think the tool could serve as a valuable instrument for casual paid search advertisers. However it is refreshing to know my job is still safe, at least until the release of Ad Text Ideas 2.0.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 4:21 pm by cobo and is filed under E-Commerce, Google, Paid Search (PPC), SEM Tools, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engines, Tools. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.