The Biggest Trends Coming Out of Google Marketing Live

Google Marketing Live, Google’s annual event for advertisers, showcased a host of updates to Google Ads, including new functionality that will increase the flexibility, reach, and scalability of ads on the platform. As the average user moves faster and relies on visuals more heavily, many of the updates revolve around reaching users in different locations and grabbing their attention with ads which suit their visual tastes. Let’s break down the 6 biggest trends coming out of Google Marketing Live 2019.

New Ad Formats

Search ads are being enhanced with visuals and added functionality. Some of the new formats include:

• Discovery Ads.
  After the debut of Google Discover, the new mobile homepage for Google that provides bucketed content to users before they search, Google is rolling out Discovery Ads that allow advertisers to reach prospects on the YouTube homepage, G-mail promotions tab, and within Discover. Discovery ads promise to use machine learning to deliver better ads to prospects when they’re at their most likely time to buy.
• Gallery Ads.
  Gallery ads are carousel-style ads that use 4-8 images, a 70-character tagline, and up to 3 different headlines to try out different CTAs. Best of all, they reside at the top of the search results page to show up to prospects right away.
• Bumper Ads.
  Bumper ads are 6-second videos created using machine learning which takes longer videos and breaks them down into the shorter clip for further use. These ads have been found to be more effective than longer-form ads when used before YouTube videos. Now, they’ll be available to create within the Google Ads interface, using any video under 90 seconds.
• Google Shopping Allows Direct Buy.
  Shopping ads on Google used to allow companies to showcase their products and redirect customers to their website to buy the products they find. Now, things will be more streamlined, as users will be able to buy the products that they see on Google Shopping within the platform itself.

New Ad Media

In addition to the ad formats mentioned above, Google is expanding ad bidding and inventory for new media to the masses. This includes transportation apps like Waze, Smart TVs, and network television.

Better Data Integrity

Google is making adjustments to the way they utilize data to optimize campaigns. The biggest feature to note here is seasonality adjustments which will allow advertisers to optimize their campaigns around seasonal changes on demand. Another big change is that Google is merging their two sets of custom audiences—custom affinity audiences and custom intent audiences—into what will be known as (did you guess it?) custom audiences. This means that you will be able to target audiences based on both their interests and behaviors.

New Ad Spend Management Features

Perhaps one of the most useful items on this list, the rollout of new ways to optimize campaigns based on various conversion actions will mean that advertisers on Google have the power to choose the KPIs they want and get the best results for them. Some of the new features to help manage your ad spend include conversion tracking groupings, in-store visits, and shared budgets from partner organizations.

Expanded Google Ads Mobile App

Many advertisers and marketers are constantly on the move, and Google wants to help them stay on top of things from wherever they are. The Google Ads mobile app will now allow you to build responsive search ads within the app itself, for any last-minute campaign you might need to launch on the go.

Location-Based Ads Work

Google proved that, while e-commerce is steadily growing, physical stores are still thriving. Location-based advertising is contributing to that. Some Dunkin’ stores saw a 400% increase in store visits thanks to location-based ads and Google is continuing to push the functionality of hyper-local targeting.

There’s a lot to be excited about with all of the new features being added to Google Ads, and Google is showing that, although Amazon and Facebook are both advertising giants, Google’s handle on search and their near omnipresence for internet users is hard to beat. Advertisers have a lot to look forward to in terms of saving money while getting the best results from their ad strategies, and users may appreciate that ads are becoming more relevant, more visually appealing, and more directly actionable than ever.

To get the best use out of all of these new Google Ads features, you still need a strong marketing strategy. Kraus Marketing’s experienced team can help you with your next campaign, website design, or branding need. Contact us today to learn more.