Changes at Raven Tools!
-
I received notification today that Raven tools will lose it's Adwords API, see below:
"Raven received notice from Google late last week that we would lose access to its AdWords API. Without API access, Raven can't provide Google AdWords research, management and reporting to our customers"
This is a massive blow as we use Raven to track progress for clients and also to run keyword research etc. Does anybody that knows Raven have a suitable alternative?
Thanks...
-
another update to this. Adwords was restored to Raventools today.
-
another update to this. Adwords was restored to Raventools today.
-
We've only received notice that we can't use it, even if we pay. I suspect that many other tool providers like us and Raven also had access revoked, but I can't say for certain.
-
Satisfying the shareholders at any cost really helps to simplify the decision making process considerably. Ever since the Google Wave debacle a few years back, it seems that everything I've seen new and innovative from Google has been less 'cool for techie' and more 'good idea to make more profit'.
It seems we can count the Adwords API as yet another project headed to join the scrapheap in the Google Labs junkyard. Useful for some but not profitable enough to keep around.
-
The EVIL GOOGLE trend continues...
They're acting this way because they can and they will continue to push down competitors until the government steps in. This is what happens when a company becomes a monopoly.
-
There is more from Raven on their blog today. https://raventools.com/blog/update-google-adwords-availability-in-raven/
Interesting what they are saying (or not saying) about other people having access.
-
Thanks Rand...
It's amazing that a company the size of Google with the monopoly that it has in most markets can operate in this way.
-
Thanks for the update Rand.
They're hard to communicate with, inconsistent, and don't have any guarantees, even though we pay...
In a weird sort of way it'd good to know that they treat customers of all sizes with an even hand
-
A few folks on this thread asked how this might affect SEOmoz. As you've probably noticed over the past couple months, our AdWords API and data access has also been intermittently down (and is now down again). This affects the keyword difficulty tool (though not the difficulty scores, as those don't use AdWords data), and it affects the keyword pages in the web app.
The basic story is that we're expecting Google not to give access back, but you never know. They're hard to communicate with, inconsistent, and don't have any guarantees, even though we pay for this data. Thus, my best guess would be that they'll be shutting it off for lots of organic tool providers (like Moz & Raven). If you want AdWords search volume data, you'll probably have to go direct.
Our plan in the short term is to start using data from Bing, and then eventually to see if we can build a good metric that correlates well with search volume as reported by AdWords (like we do with PageRank->MozRank or Page Authority->Google Rankings). It's gonna be a slog, but this appears to be how Google wants it.
-
Do we know yet if this is Raven specific or if this is something that will affect all tools which use the API? Moz - what are you hearing?
I'm naturally very suspicious of everything Google does and this seems like they're moving to eliminate third party reporting services. Thoughts?
-
Thanks Mat for a copy of their email.
-
I used Raven before they added lots of adwords tools and I'll use them if they go. I still think it is one of the best value toolsets out there. I say this as I don't want people to think I'm knocking a great product. However hereis the main part of the mail that went out:
--- start ---
Raven received notice from Google late last week that we would lose access to its AdWords API. Without API access, Raven can't provide Google AdWords research, management and reporting to our customers. There's no short-term solution that will allow Raven to keep its AdWords API access and not affect other tools important to many of our customers.That's why, beginning at 11:59 p.m CST (GMT-5) on this Wednesday, Nov. 14,** Raven Internet Marketing Tools will no longer offer AdWords authentication, tools or reporting data.**First, I want to stress that your Google AdWords accounts and campaigns will not be affected. You can still log in to https://adwords.google.com to manage those accounts and campaigns. This change only affects Raven’s ability to sync your AdWords data in our platform.Second, I want to apologize. We know that this is more than an inconvenience to you. We’re urgently researching alternate data to integrate with Raven, but we don’t have specifics or a timetable to share yet.Since we will no longer be able to provide AdWords reports, I strongly suggest that you export or report any Google AdWords metrics before the cut-off date. For step-by-step instructions on how to download or report on your Google AdWords metrics to date, please see this article from our Knowledge Base.-- end --They then went on to list the exact parts that will be affected - tool by tool and their plan for tackling each.
The impact on keyword manager and serp tracker are bad for me (particularly as these are two areas that I think they do much better than seomoz). I hope that they will find alternative, credible, data sources for those.
-
I did not see that email come in. But that's a big change. What does Raven have to say about it ? Any other vendors using Adwords API facing similar issues ? Knock Knock Moz team.
-
Oh crap, I'm glad I checked the Q&A today as I didn't event receive an email from Raven about this crucial change. This will obviously impact their reporting functionality and take away from their core value of having everything (adwords, analytics, social) available via the one login...
-
Exactly my thoughts...I haven't heard anything from SEOMoz so I can only assume that it's Raven specific, but that would be a big issue for Raven!
-
Received this today as well, just as I was leaving the office. Weird. Does this mean that Google are changing their API terms and everyone is going to have similar problems, or I wonder if it is specific to Raven.
I don't use them for PPC management, but they're still useful tools to have.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Is there a tool that can alert me whenever the first page of search results change for a certain search term in a specific region?
Is there a tool that can alert me whenever the first page of search results change for a certain search term in a specific region?
Keyword Research | | Amanda_Palmary0 -
New Keyword Planning Tool
In the past we have used google analytics keyword tool to evaluate a keyword for our campaign. Recently though with the changes to the keyword tool becoming the keyword planning tool we've seen an extreme fluctuation in the metrics provided for avg monthly searches. Specifically the keyword "best fries" used to be reported at 33100 avg global monthly searches, now with the new tool its at less than 200 overall for the month. Additional information has the google trends for the keyword to only be increasing and is roughly near peak search interest. So I guess to simplify the question, should I trust this metric? Is there an alternative source I can use for keyword research? Why would a drop like this happen? Why isn't the google trends data similar to that of the keyword data? Surely 100 representing peak interest doesn't translate to 200 searches a month.
Keyword Research | | JamesBSEO0 -
Finding new keyword research tools
Does anyone have any recommendations for tools to help speed up the initial keyword reporting process? I'm looking for tips to streamline the current system of manually researching competition reports. Thanks.
Keyword Research | | Doug_Hay0 -
What's the difference between broad and exact match in Google's keyword research tool?
The exact match option shows you much smaller numbers. And Google's explanation of each isn't comprehensive. Can someone explain the difference between the two with examples? Also, which one is it better to target while doing SEO research?
Keyword Research | | davhad0 -
Google Keyword Tool Category Selector
Has anyone developed any useful techniques for using the category selector in the GKT? Perhaps in conjunction with a site URL. Always looking for something better
Keyword Research | | waynekolenchuk0 -
Why does google's autocomplete not align with google's keyword tool?
Is google autocomplete based solely off keyword search volume? Or is there some other factors i am missing here? Here's an example: Auto complete suggestions for 'storage toronto': [storage toronto cost] [storage toronto downtown] [storage toronto rates] [storage toronto leaside] [storage toronto prices] [storage toronto dupont] [storage toronto laird] [storage toronto eastern ave] [storage toronto ontario] Google adwords keyword tool results for these: <colgroup><col width="151"> <col width="129"> <col width="169"></colgroup>
Keyword Research | | adriandg
| Keyword | Global Monthly Searches | Local Monthly Searches |
| [storage toronto cost] | 0 | 0 |
| [storage toronto downtown] | 36 | 28 |
| [storage toronto rates] | 0 | 0 |
| [storage toronto leaside] | 0 | 0 |
| [storage toronto prices] | 73 | 73 |
| [storage toronto dupont] | 0 | 0 |
| [storage toronto laird] | 0 | 0 |
| [storage toronto eastern ave] | 0 | 0 |
| [storage toronto ontario] | 0 | 0 | So here is what i find confusing: If [storage toronto cost] is the top suggestion for [storage toronto...] then why does google say it has 0 monthly searches? Why isn't [storage toronto downtown] the first suggestion? or better yet, why isn't [storage toronto prices] the top suggestion? So either: 1) google adwords keyword tool is wrong. or 2) google suggest isn't based on just volume?? I've run these same keywords through Bing's Excel keyword information spreadsheet query and it came back saying all keywords had 0 searches ever, except for...drumroll: [storage toronto prices] with 7 monthly searches, once, in august, and 0 all other months. Now i assume that bing/yahoo numbers are significantly smaller, but this does show that that the same keyword is the most popular, so in some way suggests that google's keyword is accurate. So i guess this brings be back to my confusion, what other factors is google's suggest based on, because it obviously isn't primarily search volume. And yes, i have made sure to clear caches, and disable personalized search and search history, and tried the query in several browsers, just to double check i wasn't getting a personalized list, so we can rule that out. Thanks, Storwell.0 -
Is there a pro tool or google service that I can use to see which sites rank for certain terms? Without having to first identify the url's?
For example I want to see the top 20 sites in order of ranking for top keywords in my industry. Without having to know in advance the url's.
Keyword Research | | CURT-208170 -
What keyword research tools do you recommend to help with SEO?
We are looking for a keyword research tool to help with our SEO efforts for our ecommerce site. We sell food gifts and are looking for a tool to help us identify which keywords we should go after. Beyond Google's free tool - what tools would you recommend? We are willing to pay for a tool.
Keyword Research | | agolomb1