Unpacking Google Marketing Next for PPC: Ads Just Got Faster, Smarter and Easier

Consumer expectations are higher than ever, making the jobs of marketers more complex. In response, Google is making marketing in AdWords better and customer experiences smarter with data. Earlier this month in the annual Google Marketing Next Live Stream, the search giant made major announcements about product and feature updates within the Google ecosystem. Marketers worldwide were listening in closely to get the first glimpse at what’s next.

Aside from rolling-out a more goal-focused AdWords interface, the important messages impacting PPC were that Google is combining machine learning capability with its superior understanding of marketing audiences to improve their products. We’ve unpacked the presentation for paid marketers below so you can get the most important information upfront –  we know how busy you are!

1. Search: In-Market Audience Targeting

Anyone running display campaigns on the GDN is familiar with in-market audiences that allow marketers to target searches that signal strong purchase intent by certain industries like beauty products, business services, children’s products and many more. Google just announced that they would be bringing in-market audiences to search campaigns as well.

The increased AdWords capability to identify buyers in the moment of purchase during a paid search is done based on search history. Google hesitated to bring targeting at this level to search due to privacy concerns, but gave in after Facebook set a new marketing standard in terms of audience targeting.

Rejoice paid search marketers, you now have even more data to capture clicks right in the moment it counts…but it doesn’t mean you should discount your discovery campaigns!

2. Attribution Modeling for Free!

This year’s Marketing Next announcement also brought with it the introduction of Google’s free attribution modeling…yes you heard that right. While attribution modeling specialists are skeptical about the power of the new attribution feature, the hope is that it will help marketers better measure the impact of their brand’s touch points across devices and location by giving them a single view of their customer’s journey.

The existing attribution features available in AdWords will be combined with additional features in the new Google Attribution. Enterprise businesses will have to use Attribution 360 however as the free version won’t be suited to enterprise.

3. AdWords Gets CRO Tools

A/B testing is conversion rate optimization’s (CRO) best friend and typically marketers have to use different tools to test campaign variables for the best results. Google just entered the CRO tool playing field for AdWords advertisers with Optimize, allowing marketers to build landing pages right from their ads interface – crazy right!? Google Optimize will make it easier for marketers to get better results and conversion rates in AdWords.

Similarly, Google announced integration with Google Surveys 360, another tool that supports CRO; however, it’s not free. By giving marketers a built-in tool for customer feedback, they can learn why a conversion did or did not take place and adjust ads, landing page copy or any part of the campaign as necessary.

4. Store Sales Measurement Gets Smarter in AdWords

Big news for businesses with real-world locations! Google announced it’s expanding the existing in-store sales measurement in AdWords to include device and campaign data.

The increased ability to track the direct correlation between store visits and revenue will further assist advertisers in understanding the relationship between their digital ads and the purchases made at their brick-and-mortar stores.

This marriage of offline/online interaction means whole new layers of data that can be analyzed and used to maximize returns. The shroud of mystery surrounding offline conversions is slowly unraveling!

5. New Ad Data in AdWords

A Google Cloud (BigQuery) measurement tool originally built for YouTube, Adwords’ Ads Data Hub has found a new purpose in life. The cross-device solution gives advertisers impression-level data and can also be used to gain valuable insights for campaigns coming from Google Display Network and DoubleClick, in a safe and secure way. The new Ads Data Hub will speak to CRMs and other sources of data as well. Currently in beta stage, we’ll be waiting for more info from Google as it goes live. 

6. AMP Meets Search and Display

Google is doing everything it can to make mobile SERPs faster, including ads. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) were developed and designed to be the fastest loading results pages on Google. In fact, they will load 5 seconds faster than non-AMP ads, making users more likely to click on them. Alarmingly, conversion rate drops by 20% per second for every second waited by a mobile user. Previously AMP pages were available but not for ads. Google announced in their presentation that now Google ads (search and display) seen on a mobile device will automatically be AMP’d up and faster!

Is there a part of the Google Marketing Next announcement that is still unclear for you? Let us know in the comments below and we’ll elaborate in a follow-up post – happy campaigning!

 

Image Credits

Feature Image: Unsplash/Andrew Peloso

All screenshots by Chandal Nolasco da Silva. Taken June 2017.

Chandal Nolasco Da Silva

Chandal Nolasco Da Silva

With nearly a decade of digital marketing experience, Chandal has created content strategies for both the biggest and sometimes the most unexpected markets, while developing strategic relationships with editors and publishers. Chandal contributes to some of the highest authority industry publications, has been featured in industry events and is thrilled to be Acquisio’s Content Director.

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