Over the last year, Google has been slowly rolling out the new AdWords interface that was introduced in March of 2016. On January 21, 2017, Jerry Dischler, Google’s head of search ads confirmed that the upgrade would be rolling out to even more AdWords accounts in the next few months, in addition to the accounts that have already received ‘alpha’ access.
For users who first gain access, they may be taken directly to the new interface, though others will see a notification of the update in top right corner of their screen or along the bottom, similar to other updated Google products in the past, like Gmail. If you click it and fear you may never be able to go back to the old interface, don’t panic—users currently have the ability to toggle between the old and new UI. In fact, if you do switch to the new interface, odds are you’ll have to switch back periodically, anyway, as certain functionality, like the ability to download data, is still not available. If you’re interested in seeing the new and improved UI, you’ll be met with a guided tour the first time it loads your account.
Google also says that accounts that receive the update are selected based on a number of different factors, such as the features that are used. For some, the update won’t change much about how they use AdWords, while for others, it’s hoped that the update will make it a much more useful tool than it was with the old interface.
This will be the most significant update to Google AdWords since its launch 15 years ago. In that time, and especially the last few years, the world of search advertising has changed dramatically and Google is hoping to bring it into the 21st century. With nearly a decade under its belt without a redesign or touch-up, one of the most striking updates to the new AdWords interface is its modern look. But apart from its streamlined and clean look, it contains a number of new features and time-saving visualisations, such as day reporting, ad scheduling and devices. Google is continuing to add more features to the newly redesigned interface, so even if you don’t anticipate using it much, it’s still worth checking out and getting used to navigating through the new visuals. Other than the look and inclusion of these new features, however, the functionality won’t change—the update is focused on the way data is displayed as opposed to how it’s structured or run.
