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Google has announced to make significant changes with AdWords and Analytics in the recently held GPS summit. The emphasis has been on Mobiles and even though there were many cosmetic changes over the past 2 years, the recent changes that are going to be rolled out in this year are quite significant. As PPC specialists, here is our view on the good and the bad of these updates.
The Extended text ads are optimised for the mobile-first world and they are designed to maximise the Ad presence on search results. With nearly 50% greater ad copy, this format features a more prominent headline and extra room to highlight your products and services.
Apparently the beta tests have proven a boost of 20% increase in the CTR which is pretty good. This also means before this update is rolled out, it’s quite important to plan to re-write the ads. The new character charter counts also has changed as below.
Good: This is a great feature to have more space for Ads. Its gives more room and space to communicate the value proposition to the users and I’m sure this will help to increase the CTR.
Bad: However, it could take up a lot of space which means the organic results could be pushed a little more down. It will be interesting to see the evolution of Ad space in Google Search engine.
After the announcements of Enhanced campaigns in 2013, Google removed the luxury of having Mobile only campaigns and device specific bidding model. However, Google has decided to implement the device specific bidding model which basically means you can alter the bids according to the specific device namely Desktops, Tablets and Mobiles.
This will massively help advertisers to choose the right bids on right devices. Even though the Cost per click on the mobile devices have gone higher in the last 2 years as a result of enhanced campaigns, it will be still better for advertisers to have a good device specific strategy.
Good: It will be brilliant to have a specific bid strategy for each device. This will give autonomy to the advertisers to modulate their bidding and messaging on various devices at various times of the day.
Bad: The CPC’s on Tablets will be a new area to explore however the bids on Mobile and Tablets will continue to increase. The bids on the mobile devices have already increased drastically after the enhanced campaigns were rolled out. This feature could push it even higher.
This has been a major move in terms of including Google Maps for local search ads. This will pretty good for the business which has a brick and mortar store to improve the footfall. Ideally this will benefit all Health clubs, Gyms, Restaurants, garages, or any physical store.
Google states – Advertisers using location extensions will be able to prominently showcase their business locations when consumers search for things like “shoe store” or “car repair near me.” The Promoted pins is a brilliant way to attract more footfall to the store. Also the Maps users may start to see promoted pins for nearby coffee shops, gas stations or lunch spots along their driving route as many people use Google maps for Navigation. The data collected using Google maps/locations is massive and Google has found a way to monetise the same. There are about 1 million users worldwide who use Google Maps.
Good: New Inventory for advertisers to tap in. It will a great feature for any physical store/location to drive more footfall to the store. This will benefit small business/Local campaigns massively.
Bad: The ad will show up at the bottom of the screen with a button could distract a user who is actually driving. The Mobile screen could be cluttered with ads which more likely will only lead to a paid version without ads.
The Display Ad builder has gone through changes over the last few years, however Google is changing the way to make responsive ads by providing simply providing the headlines, a description, an image, and a URL. We need to wait and see these new ads.
Good: Saves a lot of time in creating the right ads.
Bad: Most of the time, there are problems while saving the Ads created using the display ad builder. Hopefully that does not happen with this new feature. Also the designs will be the standard and the advertiser has limited control to change as it will be template driven. There will be no individuality.
Although this has been beta tested a while back, Google did not release this beta all this while. Now is the time, and the roll out is expected in Q3. This will massively boost personalised ads which is the future. The ad will be served more intelligently depending on the location and the demographics which will be very interesting.
Good: It will benefit more Fashion retailers, gender specific product retailers or any business which understand it client base.
Bad: The information regarding the gender, age group, parental status may not always be accurate. This only could limit the campaign reach. Also it does not give the luxury to target users according to their disposable income as in the US which could have been more beneficial. If multiple users could use a same Tablet/Laptop, the targeting might not be precise.
Just like the similar audience for Display, Google is creating a similar audience which is could be more beneficial for prospecting. This is a key area where Google has been really weak. However, over the last 2 years Google has got better in understanding the audience and their intent signals.
Good: This will be great for advertisers who has maxed their impression share on search and looking to prospect. This look like model could help them to reach more users.
Bad: Profiling users based on their search terms may not reflect the intent of the users completely if multiple users have access to the same Tablet/PC. Also depending on the length of the purchase cycle, this list could be more meaningful or pretty useless.
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