4 Changes Coming To Google Adwords That You Need To Know

google-adwords

Did you have a chance to watch the Google Performance Summit on May 24th announcing changes to the Google Adwords platform?  If not, here’s the hour long video of the summit below:

Highlights Of Changes To Google Adwords Platform

At the Google Performance Summit, Google announced a bunch of changes to both it’s Google Adwords and Analytics platforms.

This article will highlight some of the changes regarding Google Adwords only, including the new mobile-first bidding option, local search ads (on Google and Google Maps) & promoted pins, longer text ads, and a peak at the new Adwords layout.

These changes are expected to roll out later this year and into 2017, so don’t panic – you still have time to adapt (but you’ll probably be wishing you could implement some of these functions immediately)!

If you have $150k to drop and want to learn about the new Google Analytics speak stats function and how it integrates with Google Machine Learning, then read the article here.  The ability to ask Google Analtyics a question and get a report as an answer is pretty darn cool! 

Google Adwords New Mobile-First Bidding Option

Did you know that more than half of all web traffic now comes from smartphones & tablets?  Unfortunately, when bidding for ads, you can only bid on desktop and then modify your bids for mobile, which is a challenge.

However, Google announced at the Summit that advertisers will soon be able to set individual bid adjustments for each individual device type, including mobile and tablets!  Advertisers will also have a wider range to adjust bids – up to 900%.  These changes should help easily optimize within a single campaign that reaches among multiple devices.

This change was expected and am pleased that it is finally going to be rolled out soon.

Google Adwords New Local Search Ads & Promoted Pins

Did you know that 1/3 of all the mobile searches are related to location?  Google announced that advertisers will soon be able to reach consumers searching for physical business locations via their new Local Search Ads across Google.com and Google Maps.  According to the Official Google Adwords Blog… “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’.

2 Cool Benefits of Local Search Ads:

  1. Promoted Pins – as seen on the example below (left), if a Maps user is looking for a Walgreens, they’ll also be able to see promoted pins for other local businesses nearby, such as coffee shops, gas stations, or taverns.
  2. Local Business Page Revamp – as seen on the example below (right), Google is adding new features like ‘special offers’ and the ability to browse product inventory.  The summit discusses an example of a person losing their phone charger.  They search ‘best buy phone chargers near me’ and on the Business Page for Best Buy, the user sees a list of different types of phone chargers as well as a 10% coupon for phone accessories. 

Long Text On Mobile Adwords Ads

I have long considered myself the King of the 26 character headline.  Unfortunately, Google only allows 25 characters in their headline. Anyways, Google is revamping the look of their mobile ads to give it more of a native feel.

One of the new perks of this redesign?  Expanded headline characters – and not just by 1 or 2 characters either.  Instead of one 25 character headline, advertisers will now have 2 30 character headlines to work with! (I wonder how long it will take me to master 31 character headlines?)

In addition, instead of having two 35 character description lines, Google is taking a page out of the bing ads and having one consolidated 80 character description line.

Google is also rolling out Responsive Ads for Display, which will cause the ads to have a different look and feel that will better match the look and feel of the content the user is browsing.  Below are examples from Google’s Blog:

Responsive Ads For Google Display

Initial testing by advertisers has shown a reported increase of click-through rates of up to 20% compared to current text ads.

New Google Adwords Layout

Google Adwords is rolling out its first major change to its facade since 2008.  The redesign won’t affect the way the campaigns are structured or how they run – the only changes will be on how the data is displayed and what is shown when.  Below is what Paul Feng, Google Adwords Product Manager, had to say about the reason for the change:

“The reason we’re rebuilding AdWords is because the world has changed so much in the past two years. AdWords is now over 15 years old and launched when Google was just figuring out what search advertising was. We rebuilt it several years ago for a desktop world — smartphones were only [a] year old. Now we are in probably the biggest shift since AdWords was introduced (and I’d argue perhaps ever) with mobile,” said Feng, “And there is now increased demand on marketers and on AdWords as a platform — advertisers are running ads in search, display, shopping, mobile, video. Ultimately, that’s why we’re re-imagining AdWords.” – Source: Search Engine Land

Below is an example of how the new platform will look:

adwords redesign

Google Adwords Summit Summary

While it may take up to 18 months for all of these changes (Mobile-First Bids, Mobile Text & Display Ads, Local Search Ads & Promoted Pins, and the New Adwords Layout), it’s a good time to start preparing for these changes.

Mobile focused ads offer a different set of challenges than desktop ads.  Behavioral Scientist & Author Dan Ariely wrote about this phenomenon recently, where he discussed the ‘time pressure‘ element.  People searching for solutions on mobile are typically looking to solve an immediate problem and require a specific solution.  From a social science perspective, these on-the-go mobile moments, which Google calls micro-moments, should be taken into consideration when writing copy for your ads. For many marketers, this will require a different style of writing.

What new Google Adwords change are you most excited about?  Leave your comments below!

 

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Nick Bridges

Nick is an Award Winning web designer, is also the Creative Director for the Agency, assisting in areas like funnel creation, copywriting, Landing Page development, and more. Nick also oversees all of the technical components of the creation and implementation of Social Media Ad Genius.

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About The Author

Nick Bridges

Nick is an Award Winning web designer, is also the Creative Director for the Agency, assisting in areas like funnel creation, copywriting, Landing Page development, and more. Nick also oversees all of the technical components of the creation and implementation of Social Media Ad Genius.

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