Posted by Will Crew, Agency Team

The My Client Center (MCC) makes it easier for agencies to manage multiple AdWords accounts through a centralized dashboard with one login - a Grand Central Station of sorts. In addition to AdWords, you can also use your MCC login to make life easier with the products below. Hopefully these tips will save you some time:

• AdWords Editor: Instead of keeping login emails and passwords for your client accounts on a spreadsheet, you can use your MCC login to download all your child accounts into AdWords Editor. Learn how.
  
  
• Google Analytics: It's easy to switch between multiple child accounts by using the drop down menu within the Analytics interface. Simply ensure that your MCC login is added to all your client Analytics accounts as an administrator. This way you'll have seamless access to each client account through the AdWords interface. Learn how.
  

Posted by Cathy Bishop, Creative Team

Good news for anyone using the AdWords API: The API team recently announced changes in our rate sheet. Effective last Tuesday, April 15, the number of API units required for certain operations was lowered due to increased efficiencies in the system. We hope these changes will help you leverage the AdWords platform when managing your clients' accounts. You can see the new rates on the AdWords API blog and the API website. And to keep up on future AdWords API changes, check out the Developer Forum and sign up for the API announcements email list.

Posted by Kerrie Lenhart, Product Specialist Team

Working under the hood of your clients' accounts has likely gotten you familiar with AdWords Editor and its capabilities, but we have two new resources to help your Editor skills stay sharp:

• AdWords Editor Forum: New announcement-only Google Group with product news and tips straight from the AdWords Editor team. Subscribe to get updates in your inbox.
  
  
• AdWords Editor feature matrix: Handy, one-page reference guide with a list of supported features and links to more information.

Posted by Tyler Johansson, Agency Team

If you're helping clients increase demand and acquire new customers on a local level, you've probably already teed up Google Maps listings, local business ads, and regional targeting. Adding Google Audio and Print Ads to the mix can help give your local efforts some added umpf.

Take for example, GolfNow, a company providing online tee time bookings at golf courses across the country. They identified local markets such as Atlanta and Washington D.C. where online campaigns needed an extra push. After running print and audio ads targeting these areas, GolfNow:

• Increased branded searches in Atlanta by 200%
• Increased sales in Washington D.C. by 33%

Watch the video below to get the scoop directly from the GolfNow team (and to check out their golf swings). You can also read the client-ready PDF version of the story.

Let us know how the pitch goes, and if you need some additional help, send us an email at agencyblog-feedback@google.com.

Posted by Christina Hill, Events Team

If you're planning on attending ad:tech San Francisco this April 15-17, we hope to see you there. Google specialists will be hosting a number of informational sessions, covering a range of topics from AdWords fundamentals to tracking success with Google Analytics. The full schedule of sessions can be found on the special events page of the ad:tech site, where you can also register for a free exhibit hall pass if you don't have yours yet.

Posted by Ashley Kibler, Creative Team

Last week, the AdWords team wrapped up its first round of quarterly AdWords Industry Newsletters for the year. If you're unfamiliar with the newsletters, here's a quick recap:

Retail Industry Newsletter
Highlights: Google Trends spotlight on jewelry sellers, Google Checkout update

Entertainment & Media Industry Newsletter
Highlights: Optimizers dispel top AdWords myths, social networking and online video trends

Auto Industry Newsletter
Highlights: Content network tips from an AdWords optimizer, focus on landing page quality

Tech B2B Industry Newsletter
Highlights: Search Query Performance report tips, placement targeting tips, intro to Google TV Ads Beta

Tech B2C Industry Newsletter
Highlights: Spotlight on security software marketers, intro to Custom Search Business Edition

In April we'll be releasing the spring edition of the retail newsletter and launching a new series for advertisers in the travel industry. You'll find them all here - stay tuned.

Posted by Stefania Pifer, Agency Team

We know the agency world is a busy place. With that in mind, we've organized Google’s products into an easy-to-use reference guide. This two-page agency product guide is your one-stop shop for brief descriptions and benefits of relevant Google products. Keep it on hand for clients' questions or, better yet, print it out as a gift for that special officemate.

Posted by Mari Nomura, AdWords Optimization Team

Negative-match keywords prevent your ad from appearing when a search includes a keyword that isn't relevant to your ad. Using negative embedded-match keywords can be even more useful, as they give you greater control over which queries trigger your ads.

For example, let's look at a client that sells Toy Story merchandise. Although the keyword 'toy story' is highly related, they may not want their 'toy story merchandise' keywords to expand to the query 'toy story' as it's too general for their product. With conventional negative keywords, they wouldn't be able to just add the negative '-toy story' as it would stop all of their 'toy story products' keywords from showing. However, if they use the embedded match option of -[toy story], their ads will appear for 'toy story dolls' and 'toy story products,' but not for the single query of 'toy story.'

You can run a Search Query Performance Report in the Report Center to find the queries that your broad match keywords have expanded to. From there, you can decide to add the expansions as keywords to gain more traffic or as negatives to prevent any irrelevant expansions.

Posted by Laura Hood, Creative Team

Creating a personalized iGoogle page gives you at-a-glance access to key information from Google and across the web. Some of my favorite content on my iGoogle page includes blog posts, my latest Gmail messages, headlines from Google news, weather forecasts, and stock quotes.

You can follow these quick steps to read the AdWords Agency blog posts from your own iGoogle page:

1. Sign in to your iGoogle page.
2. Choose 'Add Stuff' in the top right hand corner of your iGoogle page.
3. Choose 'Add feed or gadget' located on the left hand column.
4. Paste in the RSS feed of the blog or source that you'd like to add, such as the AdWords Agency blog: http://adwordsagency.blogspot.com/

Don’t have an iGoogle page? Visit the iGoogle homepage to set one up within seconds. And for more information on what RSS feeds are and how you can subscribe, visit the Reader Help Center.