Google to Delete 'Delete' From AdWords - PPC Users Will Now Have to 'Remove' Campaigns Instead

In approximately two weeks, AdWords users will no longer be able to delete PPC campaigns from their accounts.

As announced by Google in a blog post yesterday, advertisers will now be able to choose to 'remove' a campaign rather than 'delete' it outright.

Functionality is expected to remain unchanged. The tiny semantic shift is "designed to help advertisers better understand that removed objects are still available for future reference," said Google.

"For example, you can report on a removed campaign's historical performance."

The change will affect most instances of the word 'delete' in the AdWords interface. This includes downloaded reports, in which the status column will read 'removed' rather than 'deleted' as appropriate.

Advertisers will not have to take any action unless they use spreadsheet macros or other scripting languages with their downloaded reports - Google recommends these are updated to accommodate the change by 21 July.

For many users, the decision is likely to make sense. Commenting on the blog post, user Robert Kohser wrote: "That's a good idea - better UI for sure."

"Many times, I've been happy that my ad groups hadn't actually been deleted... rather, just removed."

Google is known for its 'incremental-but-often' approach to change. In May this year, the search giant famously changed its logo - changing the position of letters by a matter of pixels.

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