Never edit PPC ad copy? This title may shock some of you, but let me explain. I am not implying that you should never edit your copy in order to test new ad copy. Testing new ad copy, at least two per ad group, should be done as much as possible in both Google Adwords and Microsoft adCenter, depending on how fast you accrue impressions and clicks. When editing PPC ad copy, you should always pause the existing ad and create a new ad instead. This sounds like extra work, and it is, but here are two paragraphs quoted directly from Google Adwords Help as to why this recommendation is worth following:

Google launched Instant search nationwide on Sept 8th and the effects are just beginning to be understood.

Those most concerned about the effects of Instant search are those spending thousands of dollars a month managing AdWords PPC advertising budgets.

The biggest change in PPC advertising with Google Instant search is an increase in overall impressions, particularly on shorter keyword phrases.

AdWords impressions are now counted in 3 ways:

1. “Enter” - User hits enter after typing or selecting a query.

2. “Click” – User clicks any link on the instant results page.

3. “3 Seconds” – User is idle and stops typing for 3 or more seconds.

This will ensure an impression spike for generic keywords that typically begin a query. Within PPC advertising, if an advertiser is bidding on the broad match keyword “discount cruises” they may see an increase in AdWords impressions this month if a user paused longer than 3 seconds before typing in the destination long-tail.

In many ways this spike in impressions will be more reflective of actual search behavior and we may see a rise in impression assisted conversions.

While the changes to PPC advertising and impressions are significant, they won’t affect your bottom-line.

When users begin a query in Instant search, chances are the percentage of users selecting queries from the predictive options will increase as they browse the instantly populating links. By the time they have discerned that there are no useful links on the Instant search results page, the chances of them selecting a pertinent predictive query have increased.

Instant search’s rapid organic results along with the new impression tracking method should lead to an overall decline in AdWords CTRs.

Additionally, Instant search is expected to launch to mobile devices soon, which should have profound effects on mobile search performance.  It’s undoubted that Google Instant will have major effects on every aspect of search, but we’ll just have to wait and watch to find out exactly how far-reaching and paradigm-shifting these changes will be for AdWords and PPC advertising as a whole.