If you are working with SEO or are running PPC advertising then chances is you will have used the Google AdWords Keyword tool. It has been the heart keyword research for some time now, especially with SEO professionals using it to identify and investigate those pockets of high-traffic low-competition keyword goodness.
Well it seems our trusted keyword companion might just become our ex colleague as it looks like it is not long of this world. Google have announced that there is a new tool in town in the form of the new AdWords Keyword Tool.
Beforehand we had 2 options, the normal Keyword Tool and the Search-Based Keyword Tool. This latter option actually looked at your site and suggested search terms that it thought was applicable. Well the new Keyword Tool is looking to streamline this process by including both of these techniques in one easy-to-use application. The old Keyword Tool options will still be present, but at some point Google are looking to retire them from active service.
So is this good news?
Well a centralsystem to find Keywords and add them to your AdWords account certainly seems like a useful turn of events, that is until you actually start using the tool, it seems to be missing one useful feature, negative keywords.
An SEO Manager actually mentioned this to an AdWords Support employee when the tool first surfaced, they seemed surprised that there was no option to research negative keywords and noted their comments. Hopefully this is a situation that can be remedied sooner rather than later.
