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For ad groups that contain text or mobile ads, a keyword is a biddable word or phrase that is compared to the user’s search query. If the keyword matches the search query using the match type that you bid on and it performs well in the auction, an ad from the ad group could be served in the search results.

For details on managing keywords, see the following sections.

System_CLiX_note Note

Partial success is supported when adding, updating, and deleting keywords. For example if you submit 10 keywords and 2 fail, the remaining 8 will succeed. For more information, see Partial Success.

Creating Keywords

To add one or more keywords, call the AddKeywords operation. Set the Keywords element to the list of keywords that you want to add, and set the AdGroupId element to the identifier of the ad group that will own the keywords.

To bid on a match type, you must explicitly create a Keyword object and set the bid amount of the match type to a valid bid value, or to null to use the ad group’s default bid value. If you do not create a Keyword object for a match type, that match type is not used to compare the keyword to the user’s search query.

You should create a Keyword object for each match type that you want to bid on. For example, to bid on exact-match and phrase-match for the keyword car, you must create two Keyword objects. Set the Text element of each Keyword object to car. In one keyword object, set the Bid element to a bid amount and set the MatchType element to Exact. In the other keyword object, set the Bid element to a bid amount and set the MatchType element to Phrase. For possible match type values, see MatchType Value Set. When you add the keywords, you’ll get a unique keyword ID for each keyword and match-type combination.

For details on specifying a bid amount, see Match Type and Bid Values.

To use the ad group’s default bid amount, create a Keyword object and set the bid amount to null. Note that you do not set the Bid element to null, but instead set the Amount element of the Bid to null, for example <Bid><Amount i:nil=”true” /></Bid>.

The AddKeywords operation returns the identifiers of each keyword and match-type combination that you added. You should store them locally for easy access to the keywords later. For information about why you should store identifiers locally, see Using Bing Ads Services Efficiently.

For information about specifying a keyword’s destination URL, see Keyword Destination URL.

For information about how you can use the keyword and its parameter elements, such as Param1 and Param2, to modify an ad’s title and copy at display time, see Dynamic Text Substitution.

For information about the editorial review process of a keyword, see Editorial Review.

Getting Keywords

To get an ad group’s keywords, call any of the following operations.

Updating Keywords

To update a keyword, call the UpdateKeywords operation. The operation updates only those elements that are not NULL.

To update a keyword’s bid value, set the bid's Amount element to a valid bid value. To use the ad group’s default bid value for a match type, set the corresponding bid's Amount element to null.

You cannot change a keyword’s match type from one match-type bid to another match-type bid. For example, you cannot update a keyword from exact match to phrase match. Instead, you must add a new Keyword object that specifies a bid amount for the new match type. Optionally you may delete the original keyword if you do not want to bid on its match type.

Pausing and Resuming Keywords

To pause and resume a keyword, set the Status element of the Keyword to Paused or Active respectively. Paused keywords are not compared to the user’s search query.

Deleting Keywords

To delete keywords, call the DeleteKeywords operation. After deleting a keyword, you cannot access the object by using any Get operation, such as GetKeywordsByIds.

Keyword Normalization

Keyword normalization is the process by which extraneous characters—such as punctuation marks—are removed from keywords, negative keywords, and customer queries. Normalizing keywords and queries allows more user search queries to match your keywords, thus potentially increasing ad coverage. Knowing which characters are removed can help you make your keywords more effective.

For more information, see Keyword Normalization.

Keyword Destination URL

Each ad specifies the destination URL of the landing page where the user is taken when they click the ad. If you want the user taken to a landing page based on the keyword that matched the user’s search query, set the DestinationUrl element of the Keyword object. The keyword’s destination URL is used if specified; otherwise, the ad’s destination URL is used.

Although you can mimic this behavior by setting a text ad’s DestinationURL element to {Param1} and the keyword’s Param1 element to the destination URL, it is recommended that you instead use the keyword's DestinationUrl element to specify the keyword’s destination URL.

Editorial Review

When you add keywords, they go through an initial editorial review. For more information, see Managing Editorial Review and Appeals.

Negative Keywords

You can use negative keywords to prevent you ads from being served if the user’s search query contains one of your negative keywords. To specify negative keywords for a campaign or ad group, call the SetNegativeKeywordsToCampaigns or SetNegativeKeywordsToAdGroups operation. For more information about negative keywords, see Negative Keywords.

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