The Decision Log

If a decision is not recorded, it becomes harder to judge later. A Merch PPC account can become messy even when the seller is working hard.

The problem is not always neglect. Sometimes the problem is too much unrecorded action.

A bid is lowered on Monday. A negative keyword is added on Wednesday.

A product is removed from a Lottery campaign on Friday. A search term is harvested the next week.

A budget is changed after that. Two weeks later, the seller opens the account and sees a different result, but no longer remembers which decision caused what.

That is how optimization becomes guesswork. A decision log is a simple record of meaningful PPC actions.

It does not need to be complicated. It does not need to become a dashboard.

It does not need to track every tiny observation. Its job is to preserve the reason behind changes so the seller can review them later with context.

A decision log turns optimization from memory into evidence. This matters because PPC actions often take time to show their effect.

A bid change may affect impressions, clicks, CPC, and orders over several days or weeks. A negative keyword may reduce waste, but it may also reduce discovery.

A harvested term may or may not repeat in a cleaner structure. A graduated ASIN may perform differently after it leaves the original campaign.

A paused seasonal campaign may need to be restarted before the next window. Without a log, the seller may review the account and react to the new numbers without remembering the old decision.

They may reverse a change too early, stack another change on top of it, or misread a normal adjustment period as failure. The account becomes harder to understand because the history of decisions is missing.

A good decision log answers six practical questions: what changed, where it changed, why it changed, what evidence supported it, what should happen next, and when it should be reviewed.

Table 9.6. Decision Log Fields