Internet powerhouse Google has begun sharing popularity information for the keywords users of its leading search engine look for, in an addition to the Mountain View, California-based company's popular AdWords online ad management program announced Tuesday. The new search volume data includes the approximate number of times each keyword was entered using the Google search engine or on the company's network of partner Web sites.

Approximate Search Figures Available For Keywords

The changes have provided Google advertisers with new information to use in the rapidly-growing online advertising market, which is expected to see spending climb towards the $50 billion mark during 2008, a 22 percent increase from last year according to research company eMarketer.

The large majority of Google's 2007 $16.6 billion ad sale revenue coming from sales of small text-based ads shown alongside search results and on its ad network, managed by advertisers who bid for keywords through its AdWords program, which had only shown simple bar graphs representing search traffic until the changes announced Tuesday. Over time Google has added image and video advertising options to what had been a text only program. The SearchEngineWorld image below shows the new features Google has added.

The additional AdWords search volume information, available in a section of the program for researching search keywords called the Keyword Tool, was added based on feedback from advertisers, and was expected to give marketers a clearer picture when creating advertising campaigns. The Google AdWords Keyword Tool can also help users select search terms by making suggestions.

"When you use the Keyword Tool to search for relevant keywords to include in your keyword list, you'll be able to see the approximate number of search queries matching your keywords that were performed on Google and the search network," Google AdWords engineer Trevor Claiborne wrote in a message announcing the additions to the Keyword Tool posted Tuesday on the company's AdWords blog site.

AdWords Keyword Tool Data From Previous Month And Year

Approximate rounded figures of keyword popularity have been added to the Keyword Tool, showing both a term's volume for the previous month and for the previous 12-month period. "The 'Approx Search Volume [Previous Month]' column shows search volume statistics for the last calendar month," Claiborne noted. "The 'Approx Avg. Search Volume' column shows average monthly search volume over a recent 12-month period," he added.

Google AdWords customers who use the Keyword Tool utility to build and refine a list of terms on which to base advertising campaigns were given what may prove to be an important new quantitative analysis method with the addition of the search term volume data announced Tuesday.

Although the new information has been added "to provide better insight into keywords' monthly and average search volumes than previously provided by the tool," Google cautioned AdWords users that the figures were approximate, and subject to frequent changes. "The level of search volume on your keywords [...] is constantly fluctuating," Google said on its AdWords Web site.

Google Adds Keyword Popularity Tool To AdWords Platform

The new search term information was set up to take into account advertising campaigns in different countries and languages, which Google said would "factor in your campaign's country and language targeting."

One member of the popular online discussion forums operated by WebmasterWorld, a community of webmasters and search engine marketing (SEM) professionals founded by chief executive Brett Tabke, saw the Keyword Tool changes as a helpful addition to the utility. "This eliminates a lot of unknown variables in projections," noted a WebmasterWorld member using the handle "fenway."

Another member of the Web site who had tried the updated Keyword Tool saw a discrepancy between the Google approximations and figures from his Web site's log files. The member, using the handle "Whitey," was "not sure of it's accuracy compared to what I'm seeing on log stats."

Some other WebmasterWorld members were delighted with the new information available from within the AdWords Keyword Tool, such as a member using the handle "toast the most." "I'm stunned that Google have done this. Just stunned," the member wrote.