Adobe Systems has
released SearchCenter+ 4.0. The new version, which debuts Thursday, refreshes a 5-year-old user interface built by SiteCatalyst engineers at Omniture.
The shift puts services more in line
with features required by search marketers, according to Tim Waddell, the company's director of product marketing, who heads up advertising optimization in the Omniture business unit.
Changes
were made to management and reporting. Marketers can now customize campaigns, groups and data. Under the "More actions" tab, Adobe made it easier to access the bid and the landing page optimization
functions.
"We know the Google AdWords editor is the default for marketers, but we want SearchCenter to provide more data in the user interface," Waddell said. "We're trying to push the ability
for marketers to do day-to-day tasks and do changes quickly and easily."
SearchCenter's new filtering function enables marketers to dig into more specific data, making it easier to define specific
criteria, such as finding anything with a maximum CPC greater than 0.75 cents with a cost equal to or greater than $100.
Marketers can search and find keywords costing $100 or more, but that has
not converted into sales or other activity, signaling a wasted budget to search marketers. Another feature allows marketers to reduce bid amounts on the worst-performing words simultaneously -- or
increase the bids on the best-performing words. A find-and-replace function keeps the keywords active, but changes the landing page to which they are assigned.
Marketers now can set specific
criteria in data reports that appear in the SearchCenter log-in screen for a specific user. For example, the screen can be set to show the top-performing words with a set amount of volume or
conversions.
Adobe also will look at ways of bringing Adobe Test and Target, which automates testing, together into SearchCenter, Waddell said.