Create AdWords Multi-period Reports to Compare Data

Comparing AdWords PPC Data for Multiple Periods

The bulk reporting tool is accessed from the “Report History” tab and allows you to select a single report to run as a multi-period report, or to run any number of reports with a new period.

To run and visualize a month-to-month report, or any “multi-period” (days, weeks, months, quarters, years, or custom) report:

1. First run the report (such as Account Performance) for the first month (or any period) for which you want a comparison.
2. Next go to the Report History tab and select that report, then press the button “Run Selected Reports.”
3. You will see a date selector and “Additional reports to create…” numeric selector. You can increment this number for each additional month/period you’d like a report on, based on the initial report length.
4. Also important, opt to “Merge additional reports” so that all the reports are merged into a single report.
5. Then you can view this merged report from the visualization tool, or view it in the reports section and press the Visualize button.
6. The same works for Bing Ads or Multi-channel (Google & Bing Ads together) reports!

Compare Data Across Worldwide Regions, with Heatmap

If you run the DNA report for AdWords “Analysis: Geo Regions” then the date selector will default to a multi-period report type.

Example: EUNA region impressions data by country and quarter

This report creates an Excel file with a heatmap of each metric across the selected periods. After the Excel file is generated you’ll need to allow the Excel macro to run when you open the file, and this macro is what formats the data and adds the conditional formatting/heatmap. This is very powerful for comparing AdWords worldwide performance for each metric across days, weeks, months, quarters, years… while automatically organizing data into worldwide regions: AMER, APAC, EUNA, RMEA.