Yesterday evening – 24th May 2016, Google announced its latest changes to its AdWords and Analytics platforms.
As well as some big changes to the way ads are displayed, Google was keen to highlight the importance of a mobile-first world and re-emphasise that this world is already upon us.
Trillions of searches
One of the more remarkable pull-out stats from Google on the night was the announcement that it now processes ‘trillions of searches’ on Google every year. It is safe to presume then that the minimum amount of searches, per year, is now 2 trillion. That’s a lot of search queries, and a huge increase from its 1999 announcement of one billion searches per year.
As well as trillions of searches per year, Google also confirmed that ‘over half of those searches happen on mobile’.
A re-designed AdWords
This huge change in the way we digest content has led to Google having to re-imagine its products, both for the end-user and marketers alike.
The first hint as the changes laid out yesterday came when Google removed its sidebar ads, and even more recently when it announced that it would be expanding the width of search results.
But Google has now gone further, looking at the composition of ads themselves, the way we can now bid for different devices and the way we can measure these results.
So, what are the changes?
Expanded text ads
One of the main changes announced yesterday was the expansion of text ads. These provide more space for advertisers to get their message across, with Google announcing that during their testing, users were more likely to click an ad that had an expanded headline – early testing suggested a click through rate increase of up to 20%.
Below are the key changes taken from Google’s blog:
These new features fundamentally change the look and feel of a text ad, and it will be interesting to see the impact this has on CTRs for advertisers.
Changes to bidding
Perhaps the most welcome change for advertisers was the announcement that users will now be able to set individual bid adjustments for each device type.
This is something that has been debated for a long time, and was met with cheers and claps from audience members and Shorthose HQ.
Why is this important? It gives us far more flexibility with bids and also means that, as advertisers, we have greater control.
Responsive ads for display
Google Display Network is visible across 90% of the internet, but one problem has always been how these ads function across different screen sizes and devices.
Google has responded to this with responsive ads for display, which can be automatically designed by google.
Local search ads on Google.com and Google Maps
It is currently unclear as to whether or not this feature will be available to UK advertisers, but it is a safe bet to suggest that this will be available at some point in the future.
Local search ads will allow advertisers to ‘showcase their business locations’ when users are looking for local shops and suppliers.
Google have been keen to express the affect that local ads can have on footfall to stores, reporting that nearly a third of all mobile searches are related to location, and that since AdWords store visits was introduced two years ago, ‘advertisers have measured over 1 billion store visits globally.’
When will these features be available?
Well, they will be ‘rolling out in the coming months’, according to Google.
Our hunch is that text ad changes will follow closely with these announcements, whilst bidding changes may take slightly longer to roll out.
If you have any concerns about your Google AdWords campaigns, or are thinking about reaching more users online, then get in touch with the Digital team to arrange a coffee and a chat.
