Earlier this morning, at the Google Performance Summit, Google announced a variety of updates and new features to better adapt to our ‘mobile-first’ world. It was emphasized that we now need to stop thinking of mobile as just an add on—it needs to be the foundation to any digital strategy.
With Google’s ownership of AdWords, YouTube, Maps, Gmail, Chrome, Android, Play and Maps, they are able to monitor and gather insights or over 500 million interactions (site engagement, app downloads, conversions, etc.) every day! With these insights, they have been able to combine intent and context to help take digital advertising to the next level with a variety of updates.
Google advised that this will be their biggest update since AdWords was introduced 15 years ago. These changes include longer text ads, specific device bid adjustments and even a redesigned AdWords platform.
Mobile-first Google AdWords Updates
What will text ads look like in a mobile-first world?
Through ongoing testing, Google has determined that longer headlines are much more useful to mobile users because they provide more information. With this in mind, Google AdWords is making two major changes:
- Ads can now have two 30-character headlines instead of one 25-character headline
- Ad descriptions will now be one 80-character line of copy instead of two 35-character lines of copy
These changes result in 50% more ad text to highlight your product or service and advertisers who have had the opportunity to test this out already have seen increases in CTR as much as 20%!
What will display ads look like in a mobile-first world?
Google confirmed that the Google Display network still reaches 90% of users on over 2 million publisher website and apps (this stat has been around since 2012). In addition, GDN will now be expanding the reach of remarketing campaigns by giving access to cross-exchange inventory.
Google will also launch responsive ads for display that automatically adapt to different different content and placements. All you need to do is provide a headline, description, an image and a URL and Google will create engaging responsive ads. These responsive ads will also open up new native ad inventory so you can reach users with ads that match look and feel of the content they’re browsing—something we’ve all been waiting on for some time now!
What will bidding look like in a mobile-first world?
Advertisers can now set separate bid adjustments for each device—mobile, desktop and tablet. This will give you more control by allowing you just adjust bids on the devices that are most important to you and your target audience.
Location, location, location!
Google also announced a variety of updates of location-based marketing. With more than one billion people using Google Maps and carrying their mobile device everywhere they go, Google has been able gather more data and insights than ever before.
As of today, a third of all mobile search are related to locations. Users are searching for places to go or information on businesses near them. With this trend, location based-mobile searches are growing 50% faster than overall mobile searches. The online and offline worlds are colliding regularly – 75% location based-mobile searches visit a store within a day and 28% result in a purchase.
To help advertisers adapt to this trend, Google is introducing a few exciting updates:
- Local search ads across Google.com and Google Maps
Advertisers who use location extensions will be able to show ads when users search phrases such as “coffee shop” or “gas station repair near me” - New ad formats within Google Maps
Google is testing out a variety of ad formats to help increase store visits. For example, you may see a ‘promoted pin’ on your map for a business who is offering a promotion
More updates!
Search
Similar to Retargeting Lists for Search Ads (RLSA), Google will add Similar Audiences as an option to layer onto a search campaign. This will allow you to leverage insights on your current audience and find similar audiences who aren’t aware of your brand yet.
In addition, layering on demographic targeting (age, gender) will become an option for your search efforts. With this feature, you can make sure you’re reaching audiences that are most aligned with your current target audience.
Newly Designed AdWords Platform
Google is completely redesigning the AdWords platform to make data more visual and easier to take action on. Here’s a sneak peak of the new platform:
Google will also focus more on your business and less on their product. By provide AdWords information about your business and objectives, they will make recommendations on what features and settings to take advantage of.
Lastly (for now), Google is changing the structure and layout of the account so many features and settings are accessible within one click form the account.
Google Analytics 360 Suite
Google recently introduced Google Analytics 360 Suite, which was designed with larger organizations in mind. Google understood the setbacks of not being able to integrate with all Google products, collaborate with your team, and create quick and beautiful reports, so they created this enterprise solution.
Check out Google’s overview of Google Analytics 360 Suite here.
For a full overview of Google’s announcements at the Google Performance Summit, check out their official blog post.
