When Google rolled-out “compare dates” functionality in AdWords, it was welcomed, but limited to showing changes on the graph view only. Yes, you could get comparison data out of AdWords, but it was cumbersome. Good news: Over the next few days, Google is officially rolling out an expansion of the compare dates tool that shows the change data in the AdWords tables.
This new functionality started showing up in some accounts earlier this summer. When you enable compare dates (available at the bottom of the date range selector), plus (+) signs appear in each of the metrics columns. When you click on a plus sign, you’ll see the metric from each date range and the difference and percent change between the two time periods.
What’s less apparent is that the change data is now available in the Filter options as well. By drilling into the options under Conversions, Impression share, Analytics, and Performance, you can choose to filter data by change data — and save those filters.
When you export the table to Excel, all change data exports for the columns included in the table. This new addition to AdWords should help analysts save time in Excel and make it easier to spot issues on the fly within the web UI.