For several months Google has been strongly suggesting Google AdWords account managers begin to use the new AdWords interface as plans progress to sunset the legacy version.
It now seems that the use of the new interface is less of an option and more of a necessity as more and more features are no longer available in the old interface.
Quick timeline:
- Last year the new interface was announced and began rolling out in beta for several accounts.
- Over the course of several months, more features were made available in the new interface.
- In March, Google announced that it would retire the old AdWords interface by the end of the year.
- Earlier this week Google began emailing account managers to let them know that access to the old interface will end as early as July.
- By the end of the year, all accounts will only be able to manage accounts via the new interface.
It doesn’t seem like Google will be flipping the switch on advertisers without notice. They have done a good job of pushing users to switch to the new interface while managing accounts in the old interface with a static notice on the old interface screen regardless of which tab is being viewed; “Get more done. Try the faster AdWords”.
Though they have been announcing the switch to completely roll out to all account by “year-end”, they will not be waiting until the height of the Q4 (holiday season) to make the change so everyone will probably be on the new interface no later than early November.
We made it a point to start spending time in the new interface when we realized it was going to be here to stay. If you have continuously switched back to the old interface when the account opens in the new interface, it would be worth taking at least 12-30 minutes a day to navigate the new interface and discover where things have moved to.
Overall, we do agree that the new interface functions faster and is streamlined. The learning curve may be steeper for some which will ultimately make some tasks longer but the access to chat support seems to be much better in the new interface and the new search function is very helpful.
If you feel overwhelmed by the new interface and need some help managing your account, contact us.