New dashboard for AMS??

[DrewMcGunn]

Today when I logged onto my AMS daskboard it appeared just as it had for all of 2018, but I carried forward a campaign that I wanted to relaunch, and when I posted the new campaign, lo and behold, the screen refreshed and it looked identical to the UK AMS page, complete with the graphic chart for performance.

Has anyone else noticed the AMS page update to the new graphics?

[Lee]

Not happened for me yet but does seem like it will go over to the new layout sooner or later. I just hope we all get it at the same time because it's going to be a game changer.

[JackT]

I hope this is true. It'll be so nice not have to do lots of screen grabs every few days!

EDIT: Yes, just had a look and it's updated for me too.

[123mlh]

Yep. New dashboard. PD ads are going away replaced by Lockscreen ads. Can now target SP ads by product.

Document describing all the changes here for those who haven't been transitioned yet: https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/ams/verticals/books/collateral/AMZ31977_Armstrong_PDF_FINAL._CB1546552875_.pdf?ref=1VBAL_Armstrong_UI_1_Guide

[Anarchist]

AMS apparently changed the way data are called from, and delivered by, the servers. My campaigns used to take 23+ minutes to load (I have a lot of campaigns). Now it takes less than a minute.

Amazeballs.

[Tom Wood]

Yep. New dashboard. PD ads are going away replaced by Lockscreen ads. Can now target SP ads by product. ...

I read through that PDF, and thank you for posting it. But I'm confused - What's the difference between the new SP ads targeted by product, and the current ones in the carousel below the product description and also-boughts? Aren't those already targeted on a product?

[Lee]

Well that's a coincidence, I've suddenly got the new dashboard.

[123mlh]

Yep. New dashboard. PD ads are going away replaced by Lockscreen ads. Can now target SP ads by product. ...

I read through that PDF, and thank you for posting it. But I'm confused - What's the difference between the new SP ads targeted by product, and the current ones in the carousel below the product description and also-boughts? Aren't those already targeted on a product?

The difference is before you could list a keyword like "Winds of Winter" and hope that it really did target at the George RR Martin book. Now you can specifically select products to target by searching for and selecting that exact product. (Targeting by ISBN or ASIN was always theoretically supposed to work but never did, at least not for anyone I knew.) They should both display in the same locations, it's just how you get there.

[notthatamanda]

Yep. New dashboard. PD ads are going away replaced by Lockscreen ads. Can now target SP ads by product. ...

Now you can specifically select products to target by searching for and selecting that exact product.

I just went in and clicked on a New Campaign  (I am in the US).  I have two options, Sponsored Products and Lockscreen ads.   

Sponsored Products says this:  Promote products to shoppers actively searching with related keywords or viewing similar products on Amazon.
Lock Screen Ads says this:  These ads are based on shoppers' interests and are shown when they ‘unlock’ their Kindle E-readers or Fire Tablets to begin reading or shopping for books. (eBook Only)

Product targeting under sponsored products says Beta on it.

Lock screen lets you pick categories seen in the kindle store:

Education & Teaching
Health, Fitness & Dieting
Humor & Entertainment
Literature & Fiction
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Romance
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Teen & Young Adult
Other

Most of these can be expanded.

I'm really prawny at AMS.  I'm going to try to have the mindset that as I ramp it up this month it's best to start with the new system, but right now I'm fighting the urge to run away.   

[JRTomlin]

I have looked at 'lock screen' advertising previously but consider for many of us the categories are WAY too vague for the cost.

[dgcasey]

Today when I logged onto my AMS daskboard it appeared just as it had for all of 2018, but I carried forward a campaign that I wanted to relaunch, and when I posted the new campaign, lo and behold, the screen refreshed and it looked identical to the UK AMS page, complete with the graphic chart for performance.

Has anyone else noticed the AMS page update to the new graphics?

Yes, I just saw it and it's going to take some getting used to. One interesting tidbit about this new page is the lack of notice of data being delayed up to two weeks. Now, down at the bottom of the page, in light gray text, it says data can be delayed up to 12 hours.

Gee, maybe AMS is really trying to get their act together.

I can attest to the fact that it is pretty snappy when it comes to updating data because, I published my latest Cold Shivers Nightmare late yesterday evening and had sales this morning that are already showing up in the AMS charts. Maybe now I can cancel my memberships at bookreport.com and get rid of the Machete add-on.

[Nobody]

3 things:

1. Finally!

2. Now we can clearly see how the ACPC has been going up month after month.

3. Has anybody's ads tanked?

Since this new dashboard appeared, my sales have stopped. Hmm. From what I can say, I was making around $250 in sale per day through ads; today it's showing around $15. Not sure if something has changed in the way the are serving ads..

[Lee]

Oh well, I was hoping it would be a game changer, unfortunately not. The reports are still basically the same.

[dgcasey]

Oh well, I was hoping it would be a game changer, unfortunately not. The reports are still basically the same.

Well, the reports are pretty, albeit a little confusing. However, they did get rid of that pesky two week delay in data being added to the information.

[LSMay]

I had to play around a little to find where the number of clicks for a given campaign is, but I haven't been able to find the clicks for a given keyword anywhere. Is this gone or am I just missing it?

[Lee]

Oh well, I was hoping it would be a game changer, unfortunately not. The reports are still basically the same.

Well, the reports are pretty, albeit a little confusing. However, they did get rid of that pesky two week delay in data being added to the information.

Pretty but not particularly useful. It's the download reports I'm interested in. Now that the interface looks like the UK version, I was hoping the Excel reports would be the same.

[Lee]

I had to play around a little to find where the number of clicks for a given campaign is, but I haven't been able to find the clicks for a given keyword anywhere. Is this gone or am I just missing it?

Customise columns, next to "Export" in the targeting tab.

[Lee]

A quick heads up for anybody copying PD Interest ads to Lockscreen. Careful if you have a successful ad currently running. Once you click "copy to lockscreen ads", the current one will immediately terminate and then the new one will go to the review queue.
I also tried a PD Target ad. This didn't go to review but it does look like any of the "copy to" functions will immediately end the current ad.

[APP]

I had to play around a little to find where the number of clicks for a given campaign is, but I haven't been able to find the clicks for a given keyword anywhere. Is this gone or am I just missing it?

Customise columns, next to "Export" in the targeting tab.

The only way I have found to see the number of clicks per keyword is to export the data. Then the information shows up. But IMO this is a poor way to do it, unless I'm missing something. Each time I want to see the clicks per keyword, I have to export the data?!?!  Very poor approach.

[Lee]

The only way I have found to see the number of clicks per keyword is to export the data. Then the information shows up. But IMO this is a poor way to do it, unless I'm missing something. Each time I want to see the clicks per keyword, I have to export the data?!?!  Very poor approach.

Are you not seeing the options in columns?

Click on the campaign then a click on "targeting" to see your list of keywords.
Above the list are two buttons, "Columns" and "Export".
Click on "Columns" and a little pop up appears with "Customize columns" and "Reset to default".
Click on "Customize columns" and a pop up should open with the display options.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to save your preferences so you have to do this each time you log in (I think).

[APP]

The only way I have found to see the number of clicks per keyword is to export the data. Then the information shows up. But IMO this is a poor way to do it, unless I'm missing something. Each time I want to see the clicks per keyword, I have to export the data?!?!  Very poor approach.

Are you not seeing the options in columns?

Click on the campaign then a click on "targeting" to see your list of keywords.
Above the list are two buttons, "Columns" and "Export".
Click on "Columns" and a little pop up appears with "Customize columns" and "Reset to default".
Click on "Customize columns" and a pop up should open with the display options.

Unfortunately it doesn't seem to save your preferences so you have to do this each time you log in (I think).

That's exactly what I've done. But it does NOT show me the clicks per keyword. The only way I'm getting the clicks per keyword is by exporting the data.

[Lee]

That's exactly what I've done. But it does NOT show me the clicks per keyword. The only way I'm getting the clicks per keyword is by exporting the data.

That's weird. It's working OK on mine. If it makes any difference, I'm using Windows 7 and Chrome on a desktop computer. Maybe try a different browser? It wasn't working too well for me with Internet Explorer.

[APP]

That's exactly what I've done. But it does NOT show me the clicks per keyword. The only way I'm getting the clicks per keyword is by exporting the data.

That's weird. It's working OK on mine. If it makes any difference, I'm using Windows 7 and Chrome on a desktop computer. Maybe try a different browser? It wasn't working too well for me with Internet Explorer.

ETA: Ah, I see what I've done wrong. After you customize setting, you need to click on targeting at the top. Then the clicks per keyword will show up.

[Anarchist]

Be aware:

When auditing your campaigns, if you allow the platform to display the default 10 keywords per page, you'll likely miss data.

An example scenario:

The macro view of a campaign shows $3.99 in sales. You select "Targeting" to audit the keywords, and then sort by clicks. You page through your keywords, 10 at a time (the platform's default setting), until you reach those keywords that received zero clicks. You did not see your $3.99 sale. Confused, you sort by sales. Sure enough, there's the $3.99 sale. You can see the keyword responsible along with the number of clicks.

You sort by clicks again and page through your keywords, confident you missed something on the first go. Lo and behold, you reach the keywords that received zero clicks with no sign of the $3.99 sale. Certain you need more caffeine, you sort again by sales to look for the $3.99 sale you saw a moment ago. And there it is, right at the top.

While auditing campaigns for a single book this morning, I came across this problem more than a dozen times.

I've been changing the default setting from "10" to "100." It's not a solution, but a reasonable workaround until the dust settles on this platform update.

[Lee]

Be aware:

When auditing your campaigns, if you allow the platform to display the default 10 keywords per page, you'll likely miss data.

An example scenario:

The macro view of a campaign shows $3.99 in sales. You select "Targeting" to audit the keywords, and then sort by clicks. You page through your keywords, 10 at a time (the platform's default setting), until you reach those keywords that received zero clicks. You did not see your $3.99 sale. Confused, you sort by sales. Sure enough, there's the $3.99 sale. You can see the keyword responsible along with the number of clicks.

You sort by clicks again and page through your keywords, confident you missed something on the first go. Lo and behold, you reach the keywords that received zero clicks with no sign of the $3.99 sale. Certain you need more caffeine, you sort again by sales to look for the $3.99 sale you saw a moment ago. And there it is, right at the top.

While auditing campaigns for a single book this morning, I came across this problem more than a dozen times.

I've been changing the default setting from "10" to "100." It's not a solution, but a reasonable workaround until the dust settles on this platform update.

Thanks. I'm not seeing it myself but I'll keep an eye open.

[JRTomlin]

It just took two hours and ten minutes to get a new campaign approved. No, that does not relate to the dashboard, but it is a fraction of what it took even a few weeks ago. I believe they are making a real effort to up their game - which was seriously needed.

ETA: I have to say I am extremely skeptical about lockscreen ads because you cannot refine the targeting, not even to subcategories. I prefer to advertise my novels to people who actually read Historical Fiction. However, I did decide to give one a try anyway. HF is one of those neither fish nor fowl categories. Amazon does not list it under genre but it isn't quite literary either.  I threw a pretty limited budget at it as an experiment and we'll see.

[notthatamanda]

I set up one ad/one target (I did a product target) to try messing around with the new dashboard.  The suggested bid was 50 cents.  I bid 20.   I just looked at it, the default bid was 75 cents.  Now it's totally possible that I screwed something up, because I didn't have a lot of experience with ads before the dashboard change and the new dashboard is confusing to me, but I'm curious if anyone else is seeing their default bids change. 

[LSMay]

I set up one ad/one target (I did a product target) to try messing around with the new dashboard.  The suggested bid was 50 cents.  I bid 20.   I just looked at it, the default bid was 75 cents.  Now it's totally possible that I screwed something up, because I didn't have a lot of experience with ads before the dashboard change and the new dashboard is confusing to me, but I'm curious if anyone else is seeing their default bids change.

What, exactly, is the default bid? My guess was it was what a new keyword in the campaign would default to, unless the user overrode it.

You seem to think the default bid is what you actually bid? If I go to the 'targeting' tab, I can see all of my bids per keyword, and only some of them match my default bid. The suggested bid is different again - it's what Amazon thinks you should bid to stand a good chance of winning, probably based on a data model.

[notthatamanda]

I set up one ad/one target (I did a product target) to try messing around with the new dashboard.  The suggested bid was 50 cents.  I bid 20.   I just looked at it, the default bid was 75 cents.  Now it's totally possible that I screwed something up, because I didn't have a lot of experience with ads before the dashboard change and the new dashboard is confusing to me, but I'm curious if anyone else is seeing their default bids change.

What, exactly, is the default bid? My guess was it was what a new keyword in the campaign would default to, unless the user overrode it.

You seem to think the default bid is what you actually bid? If I go to the 'targeting' tab, I can see all of my bids per keyword, and only some of them match my default bid. The suggested bid is different again - it's what Amazon thinks you should bid to stand a good chance of winning, probably based on a data model.

Okay, I understand now.  Thank you!  I looked at the other targeting tab and it showed my actual bid.