On February 6, 2013, Google announced Enhanced Campaigns, coupling devices together to encourage (nod nod wink wink) the development of mobile-first campaigns. Bing, of course, followed suit soon after.
The PPC world at large was not pleased. I think I speak for many of my peers when I say we’re a group that relishes precise control. While device-coupled campaigns offered mobile-specific messaging, they removed the ability to target mobile/tablet-only keywords or to budget by device.
In late May of this year, Google was kind enough to reverse this most unpleasant change, allowing device bid modifiers as low as 100 percent for each device type. In a manner of speaking, device-specific campaigns are back. Yet there seems to be a bit of chagrin when it comes to relaunching our device-only campaigns, be it due to rising complexity, decreasing tablet volume or the feeling that on the whole, bid modifiers will cover it.
I’ve written previously about my affinity for segmentation, so it should come as no surprise that I (generally speaking) advocate device-specific campaigns. That said, it’s not a simple yes-no decision any more, as there are far more factors at play to ensure account stability.
I’ll walk through some of the pros and cons of device-specific campaigns, then provide some tips for designing them.
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