Okay, just for everyone else, the post from Google is here: http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=8759

That of course says no. Why? Because they want people to understand that having multiple accounts to cheat the system and have more than one ad per keyword is NOT allowed. That is why they say that.

But read the part that states “unless explicitly advised otherwise by Google.” I worked for a company once that had 7 accounts, I think. Maybe eight. We had our own MCC and lots of support from Google. Even though each was from the same company, Google saw that each was it’s own business.

Now, we did have an MCC, and I was certified, but no, that is not required. You can have an MCC without certification, though it’s not recommended of course to have one without a certified professional. ;)

No seriously, if you are running multiple accounts, you are most likely spending lots of money, and should do the training anyway. It’s a good investment of time, and good for whoever is running it.

I hope that answers your question. Be good about opening new accounts, attach them all through an MCC, and let Google know. Once they know that you are needing so many accounts to spend SO much money with them they will be more than happy to help you out. ;)

Kate

I just found your blog and I am loving browsing through old issues about organization, tools and ppc.

I only thought to ask you this (below) after I saw your disclaimer about tools you reviewed on site here. Very good idea, by the way!

Above you mentioned “Please remember to have an account for each business/website. Never put different businesses in one account…”

It was my understanding that it was against Google’s terms of service agreement to have more than one account, unless you were an SEO specialist and handled many (different) businesses. Even then you were only allowed to have more than one account if you passed their SEO course (which you have to pay for).

My question for you Kate is
Did I misunderstand what I read at Google’s TOS (as far as my understanding was explained to you above)?

Or has it changed?

Or is it one of those things, that most web business owners know about, but do it anyway?

What do you think?

Signed by “A New Fan”,

Julie
Truck Routes GPS
GreatEagleTech,com

I will see if I can come up with a more directed “case study” approach later on.

@Rob exactly!! Another great point about good organization. Your clients and company (if inhouse) will thank you later.

I like to organize an account thinking if someone was to ever take over the account, they should know exactly what’s going on just by viewing it. Back in my college days, my programming professors always said that you should code and comment in a way that if someone was to ever take over, they should know exactly what’s going on.

In my experience a well organized campaign can be the difference in a good campaign versus a great campaign in terms of performance and management. So both really. Let me explain.

Bidding is a big thing in campaign management, I will agree there, but even the best placed keywords on a SERPs page will not do well if the ad and landing page are not targeted to the right people. A well organized campaign with targeted ads, landing pages, and keywords will improve your quality score and potentially bring costs down, further helping your ROI on the campaign.

Think about a campaign with 5 ad groups in very general terms. 50 keywords in each one. There are keywords that have different intentions depending on the words added, word order, and the like. If those same keywords were groups by intention and product so that specific ads and landing pages could be applied would increase the chance that the end user will find what they are looking for and purchase.

I cannot give specific examples due to the nature of our business and client confidentiality and all of that. But here’s an idea of what I mean. This is just an idea, of course there would be more detail, but you get the idea.

Company: Diamonds Galore
Locations in California and Nevada, but can sell Nationally online

Account Setup A – Original Setup
Campaign: Necklaces
Ad Group: Emeralds
Ad Group: Diamonds
Campaign: Bracelets
Ad Group: Emeralds
Ad Group: Diamonds

Account Setup B – Optimal
Campaign: Texas
Ad Group: Engagement
Ad Group: Wedding
Ad Group: Necklaces
Campaign: Florida
Campaign: National (-Texas -Florida)

Here the second setup would allow the company to:
- target those people who can visit brick and mortar stores with geo-targeting, announce specials, and target the ads to pages with those specials and maps to the stores closest to them.
- target those who are in the market for specific jewelry items like wedding and engagement rings.

I hope you get an idea of what I mean here. With a well organized campaign, the management is easier, but more than that, costs drop (quality score) and return increases because the end user is targeted better.

Kate