Ad Optimizer now supports creation as well as bid and budget management for all Sponsored Ads types. Read about the last 13 improvements below.
March 22, 2023
Over the last few months we have completely redeveloped Ad Optimizer and we would like to introduce you to a bunch of new and exciting features. The most relevant: With the new Ad Optimizer you can now create, update and manage all types of Sponsored Ads. Discover all new features and improvements in the following articles.
| Campaign type (ad format) | Optimization | Creation | Supported targeting types (creation) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SP | yes | yes | Amazon auto Keyword (all match types) Product Category |
| SB (Product collection) | yes | yes | Keyword (all match types) Product Category |
| SB (Store spotlight) | yes | yes | Keyword Product Category |
| SB (Video) | yes | no | no |
| SD (Image) | yes | yes | Product Category Views remarketing Purchases remarketing Views + purchases remarketing |
| SD (Video) | yes | no | no |
1. Sponsored Display (Image) campaigns can now be created in Ad Optimizer
From now on you can also create and update your Sponsored Display (SD) campaigns with the ad format “Image” in Ad Optimizer. The following targeting options are available:
- Contextual targeting: Product, Category
- Audience targeting: Views remarketing, Purchases remarketing, Views + purchases remarketing
Creation via frontend
If you want to create single campaigns or multiple SD campaigns with the same creative settings, you can easily do so via our frontend in Ad Optimizer. Simply select “Sponsored Display” as the campaign type and then follow the steps in the form.
Creation/update with bulk import
You can also use our bulk import feature to create or update many SD campaigns with different settings at the same time. In the new campaign import template, you can enter your campaigns with all settings in the “SD (image)” tab and then upload them via the user interface in Ad Optimizer.
2. Sponsored Brands (Store spotlight) campaigns can now be created in Ad Optimizer
With Ad Optimizer you can now create Sponsored Brands campaigns with the ad format “Store spotlight”, so that you can drive traffic to your brand store and defined subpages.
3. Improved targeting options: Product Attribute Targeting and support of all match types for keyword targeting
Create Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns with Product or Category targeting in Ad Optimizer.
Product targeting
ASIN targeting is a feature that allows advertisers to display their ads on specific product detail pages or results lists on Amazon. You can benefit from our automated target harvesting logic which automatically adds relevant ASINs to your campaign. Additionally, you have the ability to manually add products as positive or negative targets to customize the campaign strategy.
Category targeting
With Category targeting, Ad Optimizer automatically adds the most appropriate categories to your campaign as targets. You can then refine the targeting by defining negative products or negative brands to be excluded from category targeting.
Please note that metoda target harvesting is always enabled for this targeting type and cannot be disabled.
All match types for Keyword targeting
All match types are now available for keyword targeting. You can create positive keywords with the match types “broad”, “phrase” and “exact”, negative keywords with “phrase” and “exact”.
4. Automated metoda target harvesting can now be disabled/enabled for keyword and product targeting during campaign creation.
From now on, you can decide for keyword and product targeting campaigns if you want to use our automated target harvesting when creating campaigns or if you want to add your targets manually. In the targeting settings you can toggle the function off and on.
Our automated target harvesting is activated by default to make campaign creation as easy and fast as possible. Depending on the targeting type of your campaign, relevant keywords, ASINs, categories, and target groups are added and updated regularly. Of course, you can always add additional manual positive or negative targets.
Please note: If metoda target harvesting is disabled, it is required to add the targets manually. Otherwise the campaign will be “incomplete” and therefore cannot be displayed.
5. Easily create your campaigns with our new creation flow
With Ad Optimizer, you can now create campaigns even easier and faster, and make all the important campaign configurations right away. To make campaign creation clearer, we have revised the steps in our creation flow and removed the Launchpad. You can now make all settings for Targeting, Creative, Target ACOS, metoda campaign tags and campaign category during the creation process.
The newly created campaigns will directly appear in the Campaigns table. In case a campaign cannot be created, an error file with all campaign settings and issue report will be available via our frontend. So you can easily edit the campaign settings and reupload the file.
6. Improved bulk import and export file
We have completely revised our bulk import and export files to make all the new features available via bulk import. Furthermore, we have significantly improved the clarity and usability of the file. It is now organized around campaign type and ad format with refined help texts. Also, the import file now includes two additional tabs: “Portfolio list” (list of available portfolios with IDs) and “Assets list” (contains available assets per campaign type separated by logo, custom image, and video) to better support you with the mapping when creating and updating campaigns via bulk import.
7. Advanced target settings (beta)
Ad Optimizer has been improved to provide more comprehensive support for individual strategies. It now enables the creation of specific goals and settings not only at the campaign level, but also at the target level, providing greater flexibility and precision.
With our new beta feature Advanced target settings you can now adjust the targeting of your campaigns even more precisely, if desired. So, besides optimizing for the best campaign return, our Smart Bids algorithm will also allow for more strategic goals e.g. like visibility on a specific target / keyword.
Ad Optimizer now enables you to define separate minimum and maximum bids for specific targets or establish a dedicated target ACOS (“Focus TACOS”) to guide our Smart Bids algorithm towards your desired strategy, regardless of the campaign goal you have set.
Focus TACOS
The Focus TACOS allows you to set a separate target ACOS for a specific target/keyword, different from the campaign’s target ACOS. This way, you can increase the visibility on important keywords while still focussing on efficiently spending your budget.
Bid range
By entering minimum and maximum bids you have the possibility to define a bid range for specific targets. This guarantees that our algorithm will set bids only within the defined range. It is also possible to establish a fixed bid for a target by setting minimum and maximum bid to the same value.
How can you define focus targets?
To establish advanced target settings, download the “advanced target settings” file in the Campaigns table under “Export”. Here you can define the settings for each campaign and then upload it by using the import function. To make input easier for you, the file contains a second tab in which all your campaigns and associated portfolios are listed.
8. Changes in Campaigns table
We have improved the UX of the Campaigns table and added some nice new features that will make your daily work easier.
- You can now change the campaign name via inline editing
- With the new filter option “Last updated” you can easily find the campaigns that you have recently created or updated so that you can edit for example campaign names. 3 time ranges are provided:
- Last 5 minutes
- Last 10 minutes
- Last hour
- For a better overview, we have added the ad format to the Campaign type field and also to the corresponding filter. You can now sort and/or filter the following types:
- SP
- SB (Product collection)
- SB (Store spotlight)
- SB (Video)
- SD (Image)
- SD (Video)
- Enhanced campaign details: All the essential details about a campaign are now available in the improved campaign details section. It displays the “Items to advertise” like ASINs, SKUs (for Sellers), product names, brand store links, and “Creative” like Headline, Logo, Custom Image. You can access the campaign details via click on campaign name.
9. New bulk actions
To make your work with Ad Optimizer more efficient, we have added some new bulk actions.
Add targets + Remove targets
The “Add targets” and “Remove targets” functions allow advertisers to easily add or delete targets, such as keywords, to selected campaigns. This can be done by selecting the target type (Keyword, Product, or Brand) in the submenu and entering the desired changes.
“Copy” and “Copy as draft” for all campaign types
You can now copy all campaigns with the management option “Full support”. You can choose between the two options “Copy” and “Copy as draft”.
- Copy: The copy feature allows you to copy a selected campaign with all its settings including the targets, bids, and daily budget limits that have been adjusted by our algorithm, so that you get an exact clone. You can then edit the copy, change the campaign name, portfolio, start and end date or modify the targets.
- Copy as draft: With the new “copy as draft” feature, you are able to copy a campaign with all its basic settings into a prefilled creation form, so that you can easily create a similar campaign without inserting everything again. It is important to know that in this case bid settings and targets as well as daily budget limits are not copied.
Please note that campaigns with Status “incomplete” or “pending” cannot be copied.
Change portfolio
You are now able to easily move campaigns from one portfolio to another within Ad Optimizer by using the bulk action “Change portfolio”.
Change start date
To allow for quick changes on the start date of multiple campaigns the bulk action “Change start date” was added to the bulk action menu. Simply select campaigns, choose “Change start date”, select a new start date, and press “Save”.
10. Portfolio counter
With our new counter on the Portfolios page, you now have a much better overview of your used and available portfolios in Amazon Advertising. The counter shows the number of portfolios you have already created and how many you can still set up. Please note: the portfolio limit is defined by Amazon and cannot be increased in Ad Optimizer.
11. New “Creative assets” page with improved functionality
The “Images” page has undergone a significant update and now appears with a new name “Creative assets”, a changed layout and additional features. You can now manage custom images for Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display campaigns as well as logos. The upload still works as usual, you just have to define the file type (Logo or Custom image). An integrated search allows you to easily find individual files, check details on size and dimensions, or copy file names.
12. Campaign Insights v2: a new look-and-feel, additional KPIs, and improved filters
To allow for better campaign analysis, we have implemented some changes in Campaign Insights v2:
- A new look-and-feel
Campaign Insights v2 is now migrated to our new CI (Corporate Identity) with an improved color palette and design.
- Additional KPIs
New KPIs are available:- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): the ROAS is a great performance indicator for your campaigns. It shows the return relative to the ad spend calculating the ratio of advertising generated revenue to ad spend.
- Weighted TACOS: the weighted target ACOS helps you to better understand the performance of your campaigns relative to their TACOS settings. It takes the ad spend of all your campaigns into account to calculate the desired overall TACOS.
- CPO (Cost per Order): the CPO is the average ad spend (cost) for an order. It is another relevant performance indicator that allows you to steer your budgets more efficiently based on your goals.
- Ad ASP: the Ad ASP represents the average price of an order generated from your advertising campaign(s). It provides insight into whether the advertised product is the same as the one purchased.
- Improved filters
To take into account the new features in Ad Optimizer, esp. being able to add/remove Target ACOS settings for a campaign and to change the portfolio, you have access to improved filters.- The portfolio filter now gives you an exact overview of which campaigns have been residing in the selected portfolio(s) at any given point in time.
- The filter “metoda managed” replaces “metoda Created”. It filters all campaigns with (“True”) or without (“False”) a target ACOS. It is also taking into account historical TACOS changes on a daily basis.
13. Campaign Insights: improved filters
For better campaign analysis, we have also implemented minor changes in Campaign Insights:
- Improved filters
To take into account the new features in Ad Optimizer, esp. being able to add/remove Target ACOS settings for a campaign and to change the portfolio, you have access to improved filters.- The portfolio filter now gives you an exact overview of which campaigns have been residing in the selected portfolio(s) at any given point in time.
- The filter “metoda managed” replaces “metoda Created”. It filters all campaigns with (“True”) or without (“False”) a target ACOS. It is also taking into account historical TACOS changes on a daily basis.