What does lightning mean in direct commander. Direct Commander: instructions for use. Quick search tool

Yandex Direct Commander makes it easy to work with large campaigns. We have described several situations where it is simply irreplaceable.

Features and benefits of Direct Commander:

This is not an online service, but a program that is installed on a work computer.
The program needs to be updated from time to time. Yandex itself will offer you to click a button and update the program when needed.
Commander allows you to quickly edit hundreds of ads.
Allows you to load campaigns from Excel files and make uploads of different formats.
Supports work with multiple Yandex.Direct accounts.

How Commander helps a PPC specialist.

Loading campaigns with a lot of ads.

This situation is typical for online store advertising with extensive semantics. Direct has a restriction on uploading and editing ads from a file. As a standard, each account is assigned 64,000 points per day in the interface. This is usually not enough to load a large campaign file.

The number of points for each operation can be found in Yandex Help:

adding an ad - 12 points;
editing an ad - 4 points;
adding a phrase - 2 points;
editing a phrase - 1 point.

When working with Direct Commander, the number of points can differ tenfold. This functionality is also implemented in some contextual advertising automation systems, such as GetDirect from CPA admitad.

Strategy for getting maximum conversion.

If there are a lot of campaigns and in the distribution of bids you use the strategy of getting the maximum conversion by goal, you need to check from time to time if you have accumulated enough statistics for this. If you check using the Yandex.Direct interface, you need to log into each campaign, it will take a lot of time:

In Commander, you simply switch between campaigns:

Disable keywords.

There are times when a specialist mistakenly uploads non-targeted queries to a campaign. If we created a separate ad group for each request, it will be difficult to disable or delete them. Especially if there are no common words in the queries. In the Commander, you can open all the keywords of your campaigns at once and, by analyzing their list, disable unnecessary ones.

Placement of negative keywords in the campaign.

This is useful in search campaigns - the program analyzes all keywords and refines them using negative keywords. Everything is done by correcting phrases, in the same window where requests are disabled:

After the correction, the table looks like this:

Removing duplicates.

This function allows you to remove implicit duplicate requests. Such as permutation of words and duplicates of word forms:

Bulk search and replacement of keywords.

This can be very useful if you need to edit a large campaign in a boilerplate. For example, you generated a campaign in Excel and misspelled the word. Let's say you sell Hyundai cars, but your keywords are “Hindai”. You need to do a search and replace for all keywords:

The same actions should be carried out with the text of the ads, if necessary.

Bulk keyword matching change.

To change the match from wide to phrasal, you need to enclose each keyword in quotation marks. One of the options is through search and replace in the Commander. We need to tick the "Use substitutions" checkbox and, one by one, first add the quotation mark at the beginning, and then at the end of the phrase:

Everything is pretty simple and transparent. When you have made changes to the campaign, you need to send it to the server.

Errors when working with Direct Commander:

Editing a campaign without downloading the latest changes. Before you change anything in the campaigns, you should download the campaigns themselves and separately the data with which you will work from the server.
Violation of Yandex.Direct rules when creating a campaign from a file: ad texts and headlines are longer than the allowed limits, prohibited characters in ads: anything that does not apply to the alphabet, numbers and punctuation marks.
Incorrect encoding of the Excel file (it must be in UTF-8 encoding).

If there is an error encoding, the file looks like this when loaded:

Findings.

Using Direct Commander, it is convenient to:

upload campaigns with a large number of ads and groups;
implement strategies for getting maximum conversion;
disable keywords;
place negative keywords in the campaign;
delete duplicates;
massively search and replace keywords;
massively change keyword matches.

Commander allows you to quickly work with bulk operations: simplifies routine work and saves time. Of course, these are not all the functions of the program, but the most popular ones.

Want to create context? Here's my advice - (link to old version) and master this useful program with a friendly interface. The time spent will pay off with interest!

To say that using Direct Commander is much more convenient than working in the Direct interface means to say nothing. Therefore, we will analyze the convenience of the program using real examples. And here are 7 arguments for you " PER". In search of useful material for this article, I discovered two new features that I did not know about before. Read to the end!

Argument 1 Cross minus or cross minus one

I already told you about Yandex operators, in particular about operator minus "-"... It is used to exclude impressions for queries that are not of interest to us. In addition to eliminating "junk" queries, I use the minus operator for the so-called cross minus. Let's say our ad campaign contains the following phrases:

If the user types in the query "buy a vacuum cleaner in Moscow", then our advertisement can be shown both for this phrase and for the phrases "buy a vacuum cleaner" and "vacuum cleaner". How can the system determine which phrase to select for display? In this case, in order to avoid confusion and competition between phrases, we use the function cross-minus, which is provided in the Direct Commander program... Note that there is no such function in the Google AdWords Editor program (a program for automating work in Google Adwords). And if there is a need for cross-minus in Adwords, then you have to resort to third-party services.

For cross-minus in Direct Commander, just click on the button " Multi-editing", Select" Correcting phrases "from the drop-down list, then Correct intersections" and press OK ". The program will perform the required action. Look at an example of how easy it is.

Argument 2 Remove duplicates

It is quite logical to argue in favor of Direct Commander with such a function as "Remove duplicates". Similar to cross-minus, deleting duplicates avoids competition within the same ad campaign. This function is called by the same button " Multi-editing". Only now we select "Delete duplicates". Try it, nothing complicated!

Argument 3 Change case

Before I opened the function of changing the case in Direct Commander, I used a text editor Word. I copied the phrases in Word, used the "Register" function and then copied the phrases back to the advertising campaign in Excel. Now this can be done in just a few clicks, without leaving the place. The "Multi-edit" button comes to the rescue again. See how.

Argument 4 Image Wizard

Do you know what is YAN? Of course you know! Advertisements blocks with colorful images that attract our attention. I often use different variants of images for testing, usually from 3 to 5. For quick editing of images, I use the Direct Commander "Image Wizard". What could be easier?

Argument 5 Virtual business card

Filling in virtual business cards using Direct Commander is a pleasure! With the help of simple manipulations, we create one business card for the entire advertising campaign or prescribe it with differences for each group.

Argument 6 Filter

The Direct Commander filter supports a special query language. To start the query entry mode, enter the "\u003d" sign. Next, we select the value we need, as shown in Fig. Finding and / or filtering out the values \u200b\u200byou want is easy.

Argument 7 Copy the column

A convenient function for editing texts is to copy the entire column at once. It is convenient to edit the copied data in Excel and then transfer it back. For example, in this way it is convenient to edit the texts and titles of ads.

So, in this article, we highlighted seven useful functions that are supported by the brainchild of Yandex. Therefore, I urge you once again: " Download Direct Commander and work with ease and pleasure. "

IN Yandex.Direct a new long-awaited application has appeared Direct Commander, which allows you not to get confused and streamline your work at the same time with a large number of advertising campaigns and ads.

Here are some of the features of the new updated interface:
- allows you to instantly find the necessary campaigns, customers and ads for specified keywords and phrases;
- create new advertising campaigns by loading ads from files;
- make changes to many campaigns at once
You can work in Commander offline, without downloading web pages, the Internet will be needed at the beginning of work, when you need to download and synchronize all available data. Commander allows you to work much faster than in a regular web interface, which is convenient, so it is especially necessary for those webmasters who have Yandex.Direct a large number of advertising campaigns.

Direct Commander - details

Direct Commander is a Direct interface designed to make it easier to work with large advertising companies.

DK makes it possible to:

Deal with tons of keywords, ads, campaigns and customers without any problems.
Create advertising campaigns by downloading RO from any files.
Make large-scale modifications to the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Find a keyword among thousands of others in a couple of clicks.
Find a keyword that refers to various RK and RO grapps.
Find an ad among many other ROs.
Find all ROs that may belong to different campaigns or groups.
Perform parallel editing of a large number of keywords.
Make similar, similar modifications to a large number of phrases.
Change links and text in a large number of advertisements.

The principle of operation of the DC

For the Commander's work, the API technology from YAD is used. If we talk about the user, then we can say that the work through the DC is performed as follows:

First, we download campaign and customer data from Yandex.Direct.
We create or edit the RC. All this is saved on your PC.
We send the entered data to the Yandex Direct server.

Remember that the DC's work with the server is not performed automatically. It is imperative to use a command from a person.

Getting started: you are an agency

During the first launch of the DC, you will need to enter the account data in the YD. Upon completion of the authorization process, all panels in the DC will be empty, since no information has been received from the server. To get information, you need to click on the button "Get a list of clients", when this is done, you need to click on the button to get advertising clients for the selected client. After receiving the RC, you need to "Get groups".

Getting Started: You Are an Advertiser

The sequence of work is the same as for the agency. Only by default, people who are clients of agencies cannot use the YaD API.

DK window for agency

All data with which you can work in YD is displayed in the Commander. The choice of the client in the first panel, displayed in the adjacent panels, its AC and parameters. If you choose not a client, but a representative of an advertising agency, then you will see all the campaigns that this representative can work with.

DC window for advertiser

Groups, ROs and keywords

The Ads tab allows you to look at a thumbnail of the RO, and the ad group tab shows a thumbnail of one of the ads in this group.

By double-clicking on the thumbnail, you will see a table where you can edit the RO.

The Phrases tab gray out those that are inactive:

keys that have been disabled for low click-through rates.
keys that are included in the stopped or not started RO and RK.

Selecting a large number of items in the Commander

If you hold down either Ctrl or Shift, you can select several ads, groups, keys and advertising campaigns at once. To select all the elements that are on the tab, click on the first one, and then use the Shift + End key combination.

To determine where (to which campaign and group) the key or RO belongs, the links that can be seen at the top of the tab help.

This tool is commonly used for:

quick search for keys or ROs that are included in different ACs or groups;
bidding en masse;
editing keys and RO en masse using f-Iu replacements.

Quick search tool

At the bottom of the tabs are filters that allow you to quickly select items.

You can use filters like this:

Text filter.
Lightning. Used to select modified objects for sending to the Yandex Direct server.
An asterisk. Using the corresponding button, you select all objects that are marked with a star.
Funnel. This button hides or shows inactive objects.

Setting up columns in tables

Tabs Ad groups, Campaigns, as well as Phrases and Ads allow you to customize the display of the table columns:

you can change the order of the columns by dragging with the mouse.
you can show and hide columns using the context menu. To call it, you need to right-click on the column heading.

We receive data in the DC from the Yandex Direct server

To download data from the server, you need, as mentioned above, to work with handles. If you are a representative of an agency, you must first select the desired client, and then, using a click on the gray down arrow key, download the information. If you are an advertiser, then immediately click on this arrow. After that, you need to download the data using the same keys for all campaigns with which you want to work.

Sending data to the poison server

All the settings made will start working after you send them to the Poison server. You can send the entire AC, but you can only send its parameters. Individual ad groups cannot be submitted.

After selecting the required advertising campaigns (the required campaign), you need to click on the gray up arrow key. Campaigns that can be sent to the server have a lightning bolt next to their name. If there is a red circle with a white "brick" next to a campaign, then this advertising campaign contains errors and cannot be uploaded to the server. If you hover the cursor over this icon, a tooltip will show what kind of mistake was made.

Creation of an advertising campaign

To create an AC, you need to do the following:

Select a client (if you represent an agency).
Click on the "Create a campaign" button in the corresponding tab.
Set the required settings on the AC parameters tab.
Create the required RO groups on the ad groups tab.
Configure ad options.
On the Phrases tab, configure the keywords: enter the necessary keywords and write down the priority and cost per click for them.
Upload the created RK to the Yandex Direct server.

Note... To set up a business card or add an image, you need to double-click on the Business card field or the Image name field, respectively.

Adding keywords

To add keys, you first need to select a group, and then click on the button for creating "new phrases". This will open a window where you can enter or paste keywords.

To specify new phrases, you can use the following methods:

write them in a line using a comma as a separator.
enter keywords into a column one at a time.
use the principle of generation, for example, (repair | renovate) (house | apartment).

Generating keywords

If you use the above example to create keywords, namely: "(repair | repair) (house | apartment)", then as a result you will receive the following key phrases: repairing a house, repairing an apartment, repairing a house, repairing an apartment.

Importing keywords from external files

To import data from files with XLS, CSV or TXT extensions (in general, a document that has tabular layout), you need to press the import data from file button, and then select the required document.

If the file does not have table markup, then you need to use the key for importing keywords from the buffer.

This will open the window for importing ads from the table. If as a result of these actions you see unreadable text, then you need to configure the used encoding on the Language tab. After that, click on "Apply" and indicate the types of information that are in the columns. If there are incorrect values \u200b\u200bin one or another column, they will be highlighted in pink.

If everything is configured correctly, in your opinion, then you need to create a new AC for these keywords. If the import was not correct or not correct, then you will see the familiar red icon with a white "brick".

After correcting the noted errors, you need to configure the parameters of the RK and send it to the YAD server.

An important detail. Any user of Direct Commander can import all (or selected) RCs into one file with the CSV extension. In this file, you can make the desired settings, and then import it back.

We copy advertising campaigns in the recreation center

Sequencing:

Select the client whose RC you want to copy.
Select RK.
Activate the copy key combinations for your OS (for Windows it is Ctrl + C).
If the RK is to be copied for another client, then it must be selected on the “Clients” tab.
Activate the insert key combinations for your OS (for Windows it is Ctrl + V).
Make changes in the created copy.
Upload the campaign to the Yandex Direct server.

We start, stop and send for moderation an advertising campaign using DC

After sending an advertising campaign to the Yandex Direct server, it receives the "Draft" status. After that, it can be sent for approval to the YAD moderators. The advertising campaign will start working when the moderation is successful and the payment is made. You cannot pay for an advertising campaign through the DC; this can only be done using the Yandex Direct web interface.

To send a campaign for moderation, start it, stop it, archive or unzip it, you need to change its state:

First, select the required RK.

To send an ad\u003e for moderation, start it, stop it, archive or unzip it, you need to change its state:

We select the required advertising campaign (or several). The "Ad Groups" tab will show the groups of all ACs.
In the "Ad groups" select a group (or several).
In the "Announcements" tab you need to select RO (or several).
Right click on the selected advertising campaigns. Next, select "Change state", and then the required action.

For both ads and campaigns, the selected modifications must be uploaded to the server.

Paste and copy ...

Advertising campaigns

DC allows to perform operations of copying and moving RC, together with groups, keys and RO. For this you need:

select the required advertising campaigns on the Campaigns tab.
use the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + C and Ctrl + X to copy and move, respectively. These actions will be referred to below as OP_COP.
to insert into the required place of the RK, you need to use the key combination Ctrl + V. These actions will be further referred to as OP_VST.

Ad groups

To copy and move ad groups to DC, you need:

Select the required RCs.
Execute OP_KOP.
Select the ad campaign where you want to paste the copied ad group.
Execute OP_VST.

Select the required RCs.
Select the ad groups you want.
Select the advertisements you want.
Execute OP_KOP.
Select the group where you want to paste the copied ads.
Execute OP_VST.

Phrases

For operations of copying and moving keywords in DC you need:

Select the required RCs.
Select the ad groups you want.
Select the desired key phrases.
Execute OP_KOP.
Select the ad group where you want to paste the copied keywords.
Execute OP_VST.

Inserting and copying column content in DC

Direct Commander has the ability to copy and paste everything contained in a column. This allows you to quickly transfer information between DC and other programs and in the middle of the Commander himself.

Selecting the columns

To select a column, you need to right-click on the header and select the context menu item titled "Select Column".
If you need to select several columns, you need to select them sequentially by LMB, and then perform the operations, as for one column.

Copying information in a column

First, select the columns to be copied.
Right-click on the title and select the context menu item titled "Copy Columns". This data ends up on the clipboard, from where it can already be pasted into a messaging program, word processor or spreadsheet.

Insert data into columns

To insert data, you can take an array of data from a different number of lines and columns. Data for copying can be taken directly to the DC or in an external file. How does this happen:

Data is inserted only into columns that are being edited.
Before inserting data, you need to select the required columns. If this is not done, then the data will be inserted into the columns that follow one after the other (in a row).
Blank lines at the end are not inserted.

Saving data from DC to file

It is possible in DC, RO groups and campaigns, export to a file with the XLS extension. You just need to remember that the information for export is taken not from the poison, but from the DC, so before exporting, you need to take the latest data from the Yandex Direct server.

Find and replace functions ...

When working with the search and replace functions, you can substitute a new fragment after, before and instead of the found fragment.

You can make changes without performing a search. To do this, in the search field, you need to select "All values".

To refine the parameters, use the fine-tuning block. Replacement is carried out both for one element and for all at once.

in advertisements

Using DC, you can almost instantly correct errors, change the text, links and titles of advertisements, even when they belong to different campaigns or groups.

First, select the RK.
Select an ad group.
For search and replacement, you can use the entire ad in the group, or select some of them.
After selecting the ads you need to edit, click on the corresponding button (gray pencil in a gray rectangle).
We register the parameters for the replacement.

in keywords

Select the required advertising campaigns.
Select ad groups.
If you need to work only with individual keys, then you also need to select them. If you do not select anything, then the search and replace procedure will be performed in all keywords.
After selecting the keywords needed for editing, click on the corresponding button (gray pencil in a gray rectangle).
We register the replacement parameters.

We set up several advertising campaigns in the DC

If you want, you can set the same display strategies, geo targeting and time targeting, for several advertising campaigns at a time.

To do this, first select the advertising campaign, and then write down the required values \u200b\u200bon the tab of the advertising campaign parameters.

We work with pictures in the recreation center

Using the DK, you can massively edit RO images for display on YAN pages.

Using the "Image Masters" button on the advertisements tab, you can work with graphic data. Here you can upload pictures in standard Internet settings: GIF, JPEG or PNG.

Setting up business cards in the DC for ...

On the ads tab, double-click on the Business card field. This will open the Virtual Business Card window, where you can:

create a new business card;
copy a business card using a different PO;
edit the settings;
delete the virtual business card.

several ROs

Next, select RO.
Call the context menu for the selected advertisements. In it, you need to select Business Card → Edit.

In the window for editing virtual Yandex Direct business cards, you can:

make the same modifications.
create identical business cards for selected ROs.
copy BB to selected advertisements.
remove explosives from all ROs.

How to place bids in Direct Commander?

In DC, you can work with the cost of clicks for a set of selected keywords, which can be in different campaigns, groups, ads.

First select the required RCs.
Then select the RO groups you require.
Now you can work with the cost per click for the keywords you need.
To do this, click on the button with the "magic wand" (button for bidding).
The window for the cost of bets will open. You can specify bids only in search, only in the Yandex advertising network, or both.
After setting all prices, click on the "Install" button.

Separating keywords in DK by words

Separation of keywords by words, one keyword divides into two keywords:

The selected word is added to one key phrase.
For another phrase, this word becomes a negative keyword. If you take the key phrase "sell a house" and divide by using the word "price", then, in the end, there will be two phrases "sell a house price" and "sell a house - price"

Service parameters in quick links

Direct Commander has two things: Parameter 2 and Parameter 1, which you will not find in the standard interface of the poison. These parameters are automatically added to quick links. The subsequent analysis of these parameters allows you to follow the transitions by keywords and show users additional data, and so on.

Limitations of Direct Commander

Technical restrictions

Any actions with campaigns are limited to 100 per day.
You can add or modify RO only 1 thousand times for the AC per day.
The number of all transactions is limited to 50 thousand per day.

If you exceed these limits, then you can carry out all subsequent actions at intervals of ten minutes.

Direct Commander is a free program that allows you to make massive changes to your advertising campaign. Let's imagine a situation where you have collected a lot of keywords, wrote a title and ad text. You have spent a lot of time for this. In your ads you have indicated a special offer, for example, “15% discount until April 28”. After some time, you will have to change the date in the ads. If you have a large advertising company, then manually it can take a huge amount of time. How to be in such a situation?

It is for this situation that there is Direct Commander... Let's take a closer look at this program. Direct Commander is a free application from Yandex, which makes it much more convenient to make massive changes to your advertising campaign. Compared to the Yandex Direct interface, its huge advantage will be ease of use and faster access to all settings.
Using Direct Commander, you can:

Make massive changes to your ad campaigns.
Create new ad campaigns by uploading from any file format.
It is easy to navigate a large number of companies, ads and customer phrases.

Basic functions in Direct Commander:

If you have a large number of keywords and you want to see if you have a certain key phrase or not, you can do it in the following way:

If you have an agent account, then you need to select the desired client in the client tab.
In the Campaigns tab, select the advertising campaign you need. To do this, you can use the shortcut keys Ctrl + A.

In the "Ad groups" tab, you need to select one or all ad groups
Now go to the "Phrases" tab
At the bottom there is a search line where you can enter a phrase. In my case, I want to see all the phrases in which the word “buy” appears.

You can find the ad among all the others.
For example, you want to search for ads with a specific text that are related to completely different advertising campaigns. In my case, I found all ads that contain the word “Generous Promotion”. As the statistics showed, this USP (unique selling proposition) has shown itself poorly, and I want to see how many ads have this phrase in their text or title.

For this:

In the "Clients" tab, select the required advertising campaign.
Next, we do the same in the "Campaigns" section.

In the "Ad groups" section, select all groups.
In the last tab, in the "Ads" section, go to the very bottom and enter the key phrase you need. In my case, it will be "Generous Promotion"

If you remove this search criterion, then we will show all ads.

As we can see, this allowed us to quickly sort the desired ads. If we tried to do these actions through the interface, it would take a long time.
In real time, we can set bids for keywords.

Another advantage of Direct Commander is the ability to set bids for keywords. You can set bids for both search and the Yandex advertising network. Unlike the interface, you will have access to such information as the cost of a click on the search (the amount that you will be charged for clicking on the ad), as well as the minimum bid for keeping keywords in certain positions. For example, if you want to show words only in warranty displays (at the bottom of the search), you can set this in the settings.
In order to place bets, you need to go to the "Phrases" section. We repeat the previous points: Customers tab - Ad group - Phrases.
Now that we have moved to the section with phrases for convenience, we must expand this block. To do this, click on the box that is highlighted in the screenshot below.

In this Direct Commander interface, we see:

Tab "Words". All the keywords that are on our account are displayed here. Thanks to the Direct interface, we can view all keywords from one place.
Condition. This tab shows the status of your ads. Let's imagine that you have uploaded an ad campaign and want to quickly see which ads have been moderated and which have not. For this purpose, this tab is ideal for you. There are five types of status in it: active, paused, rejected, under moderation and will be launched.
Online bet. Shows how much you have set for your advertising campaign in the Yandex search network. It is important to separate search campaigns and YAN campaigns. You can read more about the nuances and correct settings of advertising campaigns in this article.
CTR indicator. Shows the click-through rate of your ads, that is, how many people who viewed your ad clicked on it. In other words, the higher this value is, the more likely people are to click on your ad. You can read more about CTR in a separate article. As you can see in the screenshot, my ads have a high parameter - this allows you to significantly save costs for an advertising campaign. However, it should be understood that for each topic, CTR will be individual and even 4% can be a good indicator.
on the search. Shows the amount that will be debited from your ad campaign upon clicking.

Rate. In this tab, we see the amount that was set earlier. It is important to understand that this is not the amount that will be debited from our account when you click on the advertisement! In simple terms: by setting a high price on search, you show Yandex that you are ready to invest in advertising. For example, setting a price of 1300 rubles on a search, the cost of a click can be less than 50 rubles.
1st CP, etc. Here we can see how much you need to set in order for your ad to be shown in a particular position. At the moment there are four special placements.

Impressions tab. Shows how many impressions your ad had. However, you need to understand that this indicator, unfortunately, is inaccurate. For more accurate statistics, see the "Advertising campaigns report" section.
Network coverage%. Shows what percentage of coverage your ads will receive. It makes sense to look at this parameter if you have made an advertising campaign in Yandex YAN.

About there, how exactly to set the correct rates, read below in the article.
We can use Direct Commander to change the text and links in all ads.
This can be done using the “multi-edit” tool. To do this, go to the ad section and click on the icon in the upper left corner.

Why do you need to start with unloading campaigns in Direct Commander?

Direct Commander uses the Yandex Direct software interface (API). This means that in order to avoid future mistakes when working, you need to adhere to the following rules:
First, you need to get up-to-date information about your advertising campaigns from the Yandex.Direct server. This can be done using the arrow located at the top of the tabs. The screenshot below will show you how to get a list of campaigns.

All changes that you make to advertising campaigns will be automatically saved on your computer. Even if you have no internet connection.
For the changes you made to take effect, you need to send the data back to the server. To do this, click on the adjacent icon, as shown in the figure.

Getting started with Direct Commander

Since I am using an agent account, it will add the first tab with clients. If you have downloaded Direct Commander for your own use, then you will not have this tab.
When you start Direct Commander for the first time, you will need to enter your username and password in Yandex Direct

The first thing we do is load data for the next tabs.

Loading data for the Campaigns tab

Click on the "Get Campaigns" tab.

Loading data for an ad group

We can now load ad groups. To do this, click “Get Groups”.

Loading data for ads

We do the same for loading data for ads.

Windows in Yandex Commander

Working with Direct Commander is very convenient. All information of interest is placed in just a few tabs. If you have a user account, then three tabs are available to you:

Campaign
Ad group and settings
Ads and keywords

Ad groups and phrases

Using the "Ads" tab, you can change and view the appearance of ads and phrases. In order to make changes, you need to click on the "Show table" icon.

As we can see, the ads have changed their appearance. This feature is very useful if you want to see how your ads will look. However, do not forget that not all extensions will be displayed in this interface.

Multiple choice in Direct Commander

"Multiple selection" refers to the selection of multiple campaigns or phrases. For example, if you want to select all campaigns at once, then for this you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + A.
To select certain advertising campaigns, you just need to hold down Ctrl and select the required campaigns.
Also, for convenience, do not forget to use the Shift key, it will simplify the work with Direct Commander.

Multiple choices can be used:

For mass bidding.
In order to massively change certain ads and phrases using search and replace.
Using in conjunction with a filter, you can quickly find ads or phrases that relate to different groups or campaigns.
Quick search in Direct Commander.

There are filters at the bottom of each window. They can be used to quickly find specific objects and items.
There are three types of filters. We will consider them in more detail in the article.

Text filter

In order to use it, it is enough to drive the desired word into the search line. In my case, I enter "cork" in order to see all the keywords in which these words occur.

Now let's look at what we see in the screenshot:

Thanks to this line, we can understand that the filter is currently active.
We can customize the filter so that only featured ads are shown.
A string for searching words.
Turn off the filter.

Archive filter

With the help of the archive filter, we can show and hide archived campaigns, groups and ads.

Advanced or filter by columns

In order to enable the advanced filter you must click on the symbol in the lower left corner of the screen.
Each column has its own filter criteria: enable / disable filter.
Selection of selected objects. You can show search results that only consist of strings marked with an asterisk.
Filter for objects that have changed and are ready to go to the server.
A text filter, we have already talked about it above.
State filter. Shows ads with specified conditions.
Filters with numeric values.

Do not forget that you can use several filters at the same time. If you have enabled several filters, then the tabs will display only those objects that match the specified filtering conditions.
You can reset all filter settings at any time. To do this, just right-click on the enabled filter in the lower left corner and select "Reset"

Configuring windows in Direct Commander

You can customize the size of the panels to your liking. The screenshot below shows the basic functions.

Let's see what we can change in the interface:

If you have made adjustments to the appearance of Direct Commander and they did not suit you, then using this button you can return the base view.
Choose a ready-made option from the proposed ones. We will talk about them in more detail below.
Sliders used to move the panels.
With the help of these buttons you can either collapse or expand the panel of your choice.

Now let's look at panel sizes in more detail. To do this, go to the appropriate section, as shown in the screenshot. You can use hotkeys to resize the windows you want.

For the convenience of working with one specific tab, you can enlarge it.

Below in the screenshot we see:

Collapsed panel.
A button that can be used to restore the normal state.
Expanded panel.

Customizing columns in tables

In Yandex Direct, you can customize the display of columns. It is available at the Campaign, Ad Group, Ads and Phrase level. You can change the order of the columns by dragging and dropping their headers with the mouse. To hide or show columns, use the context menu. It can be called by clicking the right mouse button on the column header.

It is important to remember that for the "Phrases" tab, the display of the "Rate", "Rate in networks and priority" columns can be enabled or disabled only at the same time. Depending on the display strategy, it will depend on which columns will be displayed on the campaign parameters tab.

Server communication

Data exchange with the server can be divided into two stages. This is receiving and sending data. This stage is very important. It is worth accustoming yourself to the habit of starting your work by fetching data from the server.

Receiving data from the server for Direct Commander

Actual data from the Yandex.Direct server is not automatically loaded into the Direct Commander. Therefore, you need to download data from the server manually. It is advisable to repeat this procedure before making any changes.

In order to receive changes from the server, you need to press the button located at the top of the screen. You can get information for all campaigns in which you want to make your changes.

Get auction data, statistics and productivity

These statistics can be obtained separately. This means that if you want to get auction data, you do not need to download advertising campaigns. This is great if you don't plan on making any visual changes to your ads.
In order to get the data, you must be at the Phrases level in the last tab and click on the corresponding icon.

Sending data to the server

After you have made changes to the advertising campaign, in order for these changes to take effect, you need to send the data to the Yandex Direct server.
You can send the entire advertising campaign to the Yandex Direct server, as well as its individual parameters. However, you will not be able to send individual ad groups.
If you want to send several campaigns to the server, then for this you need to select the required campaigns using the Crtl or Shift hotkeys and click on the button, as shown in the screenshot below.

Also in Direct Commander you can send parameters for selected campaigns to the server. To do this, go to the "Parameters" tab and click on "Send campaign to server".

Campaign management in Direct Commander

Now let's talk about what we can do with campaigns using Direct Commander. With this program we can:

Create new campaigns.
Add key phrases.
Import from files.
Copying campaigns.
Alteration.
Launching, sending for moderation and stopping advertising campaigns.

Creating new advertising campaigns using Direct Commander

There is nothing difficult in creating new advertising campaigns using Direct Commander. To create a company, go to the "Campaigns" window and click on the "Create a new campaign" button. Next, we will need to select the type of campaign to create. In turn, it can be “Text-image ads” or “Ads for mobile applications.” The type of ads determines where ads will be displayed and what settings you can specify.

Now we need to add an ad group, come up with a name, and add geotargeting.

Adding ads. We can add unlimited ads.
We register the headings. If you plan to display on YAN, then there is no point in filling out the second heading, because it is not displayed in the Yandex Advertising Network.
Add a link. The final page where the user will go to after our ad.

Now we need to add the phrases for which our ads will be shown.

To do this, go to the Phrases tab
Click on the button "Add a key phrase"
In the new window “New phrases” that appears, enter the key phrases you need and then click “Add”.
Now in the Phrases tab, it remains to specify the parameters of the phrases. Namely, rate or priority.

Now we just have to send the created advertising campaign to the Yandex.Direct server. To do this, check that there are no errors and at the level of the Campaigns tab press the button “Send campaigns to the server”.

Adding key phrases to Direct Commander

In order to add new key phrases to your advertising campaign, you must be in the Ad groups tab. Then go to the Phrases section, click on “Add a key phrase”.

Add new key phrases as shown in the picture.

In the window that appears, we can add new key phrases. We have three ways to enter keywords:

Entering words in a line separated by commas.
Entering words in a column.
Generate using operators.

Import from file to Direct Commander

If you have a file with ads in a tabular format, you can create an advertising campaign based on it. To do this, you must be in the "Campaigns" tab. The RC is loaded by pressing the button “Import campaigns from file”. When you click it, a window will open in which you need to select the download file.

Copy campaigns

Copying Advertising Campaigns to Direct Commander is quite simple. To do this, you can use the special keys located at the top or select the desired advertising campaign, right-click and “Copy”.

Changes to the advertising campaign

You can make changes to any Advertising Campaign, except for the one that is currently in the archive.

You can:

Add a new ad group
Change geotargeting
Remove ad group

You can add ads from a file from the section with "campaigns". In this section you can:

Import ads from file.
Import ads from clipboard.

How to stop, start, or submit an ad for moderation

After you have created an advertising campaign and uploaded it to the server, it is assigned the “Draft” status. This means that there will be no impressions for the advertising campaign, in order for the advertising campaign to be active it is necessary.

You can launch an advertising campaign only after successfully passing the moderation and paying for it. At the moment, you can pay for an advertising campaign only through the web interface.
In order to send a campaign for moderation, you must be in the "Campaigns" tab. Then select the campaign with the right mouse button, go to the section change the state and select the item "Send for moderation"

Additional features of Direct Commander

Now let's dwell on the additional features of Yandex Direct. These include such functions as:

Copy and paste.
Saving to file.
Search and replace.
Query language.
Campaign settings.
Images.
Business cards.
Key phrases.
Control from the keyboard.

First, let's take a closer look at the copy and paste item.

Copy and Paste

In turn, it can be divided into two levels:

Copying groups, ads and phrases.
Copying the contents of the columns.

In the Direct Commander functionality, we can copy and move advertisements along with all groups, advertisements and phrases. To do this, you can use the special keys.

Bidding in Direct Commander

In Direct Commander, you can quickly set bids for a large number of phrases, even if they refer to different campaigns or ad groups. In order to place bets, you must do the following:

In the "Campaign" section, we choose the advertising campaign we need. Or we select all ad campaigns if we want to make adjustments for all keywords.
In the "Ad groups" tab, you need to select the groups in the keywords that we want to make changes to.
Choosing the phrases you want.
Click on "Bidding".

Click on the “Betting Wizard” icon.

In the window that appears, we see:

Entry rate. It should be used if you have a search advertising campaign. In turn, you can set the rate from the first to the fourth place, as in the special. permission and warranty.
With a flat rate, you can set one price for all ads. You will also have the choice to set a single price for search, web or web and search.
Set a price that will depend on the number of sites covered in the Yandex advertising network.
Written off price (no more). This parameter is responsible for the maximum amount that can be charged for clicking on your ad.
The final rate is no more than 15 rubles.
Then we can choose: make changes for all phrases or only selected ones.

Query language

In Direct Commander there is such a thing as "Query Language" (Direct Commander Query Launguege). With it, you can create complex criteria for the selection of objects. Or impose different conditions on field values \u200b\u200band combine them with each other using logical operators.
Enter the request in the text filter line at the bottom of any Commander panel. A query using a boolean operator must start with the "\u003d" character.

Composing a request

A simple query can have three parts:
\u003d Field Operator Value
For example, a request for title ~ wholesale will show all ads that have the word "wholesale" in the Title column
Start typing your query with the \u003d symbol. A green icon should appear in the timeline. Field names and operators can be selected from tooltips.

When entering values \u200b\u200bit is worth paying attention:

The characters are not case sensitive.

If the value consists of several words, which are separated by spaces, for correct processing of the request, you need to add quotation marks to the expression

Title \u003d "wholesale costumes"

Heading \u003d "\\" costumes wholesale \\ ""

If you want to specify multiple values, use square assemblies:

Title \u003d ["costumes"; "wholesale"]
or
\u003d heading \u003d [costumes wholesale]

If a field can contain a fixed set of values, such as moderation, [status, priority, etc., then use the ~ and! ~ Operators with square brackets.

Queries from multiple conditions

You can use the & (logical AND) and | (logical OR)
Conditions in a query must be executed strictly from left to right, but this order can be changed using parentheses. Conditions take precedence over sequence.

Example
\u003d Words ~ suit | Words ~ jacket
This query selects phrases that contain the keywords "suit" or "jacket"
Example 2
\u003d Words ~ suit | Words jacket & bet\u003e 1
this request selects phrases that meet two parameters:
Contain the word "suit" or "jacket".
I have a search bid greater than 1.
Example 3
\u003d Words ~ suit | (Words Jacket & Rate\u003e 1)

In this case, phrases will be selected that meet at least one of two conditions:

Contain the word "suit".
They contain the word "jacket" and have a search rate greater than 1.

Query language operators

Below is a table with operators and examples of use.

Findings:

Direct Commander is a necessary tool that every person who deals with contextual advertising should have. It allows you to quickly create and customize ad campaigns. If you work with a large number of ads and keywords, then using this program you will save a lot of time.

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