I read something the other day about adding querystring={QueryString} on the end of the destination URL to show what the searcher typed in to find your website (when looking through logs). However, I want to know which of my keywords was triggered - not what the search term used is - as I can already find this out by simply looking at my Statcounter logs. Is there a way to do this? So say I have bidded on the keyword Widget (Broad) and someone triggers it by typing in 'Yellow Widget', it will put the Widget into my URL and not the Yellow Widget? This way whenever I see this in my logs, I know a broad match has been triggered and either add the new search term in as exact, or add a negative. Cheers, in advance.
Hi muchacho79, It sounds like you are more interested in Query Strings rather than {keyword}. A query string is a part of a URL that is used to pass information from one web page to another web page. This information can be used in scripts or in programs, or it can be stored in web logs for use in web analysis. Query strings in URLs follow the question mark and are in the form of variable_name =value. An example of a query string is bold in the following URL: http://www.example.com/default.asp?referer=MSN&campaign=search&keywords=travel+deals After the string is pulled, the script or the program can use the variable/value pairs exactly as that script or that program would use any other data. An example of a variable/value pair is "Searchwords={ QueryString }". You can use query strings inside destination URLs to pass information to your systems about your campaigns. You can also find out which match type adCenter used when it matched your keyword to a searcher's term. The match types are exact matches, phrase matches, and broad matches. Query strings let you track which ad was paired with the keyword and with the searcher's actual search term, not only the keyword that triggered the match. Microsoft adCenter can provide the following types of information in the destination URL of an ad. Information Provided Optional Parameters Possible Values Match type that was used to match a search query to an adCenter keyword { MatchType } e (for exact match) p (for phrase match) b (for broad match) Search query that was used by the person who performed the search { QueryString } This will be exactly as the user typed the text. For example, if the user searched on "find hotel deals in Las Vegas," that is the value of the wildcard. Ad ID { AdId } The numeric ad ID that was assigned to the ad by adCenter Keyword ID { OrderItemId } The numeric keyword ID that was assigned to the keyword by adCenter Here is how to add quesy strings: 1 On the Ads page, type the appropriate information in the Ad title, Ad text, and Display URL boxes. 2 In the Destination URL box, type the URL that customers go to when they click your ad. 3 On the Dynamic Text menu (under the Destination URL box), click Insert keyword destination URL {param1}. 4 Add the query strings you want to use: Type {QueryString} to see exactly what the customer typed before seeing your ad. Type {MatchType} to see what kind of match triggered the display of your ad. Type {OrderItemId} to see which ad group the ad was in. Type {AdId} to see which ad was clicked. 5 Click Save. If you are using the {keyword} parameter in your ad copy, this will dynamicly insert the exact keyword that you had uploaded into adCenter. This includes the same spelling and uppercase or lowercase letters. Note: at this time you cannot capitalize a lowercase keyword by using {KeyWord} as they can in Google. Hope This Helps! adCenterRep
Thanks for the reply. I was after the keyword that was triggered in my account, not the search query typed in by the user. This is because StatCounter already tells me this under 'query' in keyword analysis. What I've done is now use the following tag: http://www.xyz.com?kw={keyword} That's basically it. I only use these tags in my Broad Ad Groups / Campaigns, as I know in my exact it isn't needed (the search query will always match the exact match anyway). It seems to be working. I know see in my StatCounter control panel under Query, what the actual search query was and looking to the right I see the destination URL. For example: Query = Smoked Sausages Landing page URL = http://www.xyz.com?kw=black+smoked+sausages This then tells me right away that this query was a broad match and I need to either add 'black smoked sausages' as exact OR add 'black' as negative. Do you feel I need to add the other parameters, to make my stats show up correctly in Google Analytics? Will Analytics not function properly to track my AdCenter campaigns with just the {keyword} tag attached?