Google Ads news - May Recap

Welcome to the Google Ads newsletter recap. In this edition, you read all the updates from May.

Partnership ProfitMetrics

Looking for a best-in-class Ecommerce server-side Google Ads tracking solution without the setup hassle?

ProfitMetrics' Conversion Booster for Google Ads, is a plug-and-play tracking tool that offers features including full server-side tracking, POAS (profit) tracking, consent mode compatibility, and enhanced conversion tracking.

It stands out by tracking, on average, 17% more conversions compared to server-side Google Tag Manager tracking. For more detailed information, visit the website.

New Google Ads template edition

Want to learn more about Google Ads and receive more than 200 tips? Then have a look at my Google Ads template!

This template will be updated every month. You will always have access to these updates.

Google Ads news

New Custom search terms

Anas Siddiqui found this new custom search terms section in video ads.

New Pmax features

Google has announced new ways to optimize your Performance Max campaigns:

1. Tailor campaigns towards acquiring and retaining high-value customers with new customer lifecycle goals.

2. Utilize account-level IP exclusions to filter out irrelevant traffic and focus on reaching relevant audiences.

3. Experiment in real-time within a single campaign to test optimization strategies, starting with Final URL expansion.

4. Gain insights into audience demographics, including age and gender, to better understand and target your audience.

5. Use budget pacing insights to track and optimize campaign spending in real-time, identifying areas for strategic budget adjustments.

Example of demographic insights by Brent Neale

Google has announced the April 2024 update to the Display & Video 360 AI

This update includes:

Support for additional key performance indicator (KPI) types.

Targeting support for new AppPlatform and Exchange values.

The addition of a new YouTube & Partners bidding strategy type.

Limited Ad Serving

Natasha Kaurra found this new Limited ad-serving notification!

Pause low-activity keywords

Jon-Paul LaFerriere just sent me this message that Google Ads will automatically pause low-activity keywords.

Luckily for us, it is only after a keyword gets 0 impressions in 13 months. This should make your account cleaner.

Hopefully, they don’t make the timeframe shorter.

Changes Surcharge

Thomas Eccel found out that Google has changed the surcharge for Italy, Spain, and Turkey!

New submenus?

Thomas Eccel found these new submenus!

Also, it looks like he is using the new Google Ads design 😲 .

Swiss users consent July 31

I just got this message from Zeeshan Ali that Google has just sent a message out that from July 31, 2024, advertisers will be required to obtain

Swiss users consent to the use of cookies or local storage, where legally required; and for the collection, sharing, and use of personal data used for ads personalization.

This is the existing requirement for European Economic Area (EEA) and UK users, and nothing is changing about our requirements for these locations.

I think that if you are using a CMP like Cookiebot this country will just be added to the EEA and UK area.

If you for any reason still have not implemented consent mode react with consent and I will send you the video.

Google Ads exam restrictions

Natasha Kaurra found out that Google has removed the strict restriction to take Google exams! Trevor Dewan found out that for other exams, Google still has more strict restrictions.

Privacy & messaging updates

The latest update to Google's Privacy & messaging user message involves changes to consent revocability, reflecting the advertising industry's ongoing adaptation to privacy expectations across Europe.

In this update, Google has removed references to privacy policies as a place to withdraw consent and clarified that the consent revocation link at the bottom of the page should now read "Privacy and cookie settings."

Google has made this change to ensure consistent transparency and user control over their data.

Despite this update, website owners can still include a consent revocation link on their data, cookie, or privacy policy pages if they prefer.

Google AdSense also automatically adds a required European regulations message revocation link to sites where European regulations messages are displayed.

Locations Smart campaigns

Tejas Tank just sent me this picture that shows a new section in the Google Smart campaigns.

Mother's Day gifts

Georgi Zayakov just sent me a message that Google has launched a new shopping experience to help users find Mother's Day gifts easily. Purpose:

This new shopping feature helps you find the perfect Mother's Day gift from Google's vast database of product listings, letting you browse and compare prices across various retailers.

How to Use:

You can start by searching "Mother's day gift ideas" or "shop Mother's day gifts" on Google.

Gift Inspiration: The experience provides a wide range of gift ideas, including popular items like jewelry, vinyl record players, sleep trackers, compression socks, and bonsai trees.

Jewelry is particularly popular, with search interest in “Mother's day jewelry” up 3,250% in the U.S. in the past month.

Where to Find It: You can access this new shopping experience by searching specific terms or visiting shopping.google.com/deals.

It's designed to make gift shopping easier and more convenient for any occasion.

Inappropriate content policy

In May 2024, the Google Ads Inappropriate content policy will be updated to prohibit promoting synthetic content that has been altered or generated to be sexually explicit or contain nudity.

Google will begin enforcing the policy update on May 30, 2024.

Google Ads API Resource Usage Policy Update

Google is updating the Google Ads API resource usage policy to throttle GoogleAdsService.Search and GoogleAdsService.SearchStream query patterns that consume excessive amounts of API resources.

Google Shopping Ads policy update

Google shopping ads will no longer allow:

Promotion of services that generate, distribute, or store synthetic sexually explicit content or synthetic content containing nudity.

This includes services that create "deepfakes" and other manipulated imagery.- Ads for content that provides instructions on the creation of synthetic sexually explicit content or synthetic content with nudity.

Pmax for Marketplaces

Dario Zannoni found this documentation about Google Performance Max for Marketplaces.

This campaign type is a specific type of Performance Max (Pmax) campaign that connects directly to a Marketplace system, allowing sellers to advertise only their own products.

Here's a summary of what it involves:

- No Website or Merchant Center Required: Sellers don't need their own website or Merchant Center account. All sales and product management occur in the Marketplace itself.

- Setup: The initial setup involves linking the Marketplace seller account to the Google Ads account via a connection request.

- Final URL expansion is not available, ensuring that only the seller's products are advertised.

- Video assets are not available (at least for now).

- Conversion Tracking: This is handled by the Marketplace, which sends conversion data to Google. Only sales from the specific seller's products are reported and optimized.

For more information check his post.

Generated AI CEE Region

Miroslav Chutňák found out that Generated AI is now available in the CEE Region!

Looker Studio update

You can now add a title directly to a chart in Looker Studio!

AI Essentials section

Maximilian vom Eyser found out that Google Ads now has a dedicated AI Essentials section.

Process of appealing suspension

Hana Kobzová found out that the process for appealing suspension has been changed!

Google Tag setup instructions

Thomas Eccel found out that once you launch a new campaign, and you have Conversion Tracking in place.

Google will direct you to the Google Tag setup with instructions.

Salesforce direct offline event data import

Thomas Eccel found out that Google has released the Salesforce direct offline event data import.

Belgium Online Pharmacies

Emmanuel Flossie found out that in May. Google will enable online pharmacies in Belgium to promote the sale of approved non-prescription (over-the-counter) drugs.

To promote these offers, online pharmacies must be registered with the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products and certified by Google.

Centralizing Streaming Ad purchases

Google is promoting new strategies for advertisers to reach audiences on streaming platforms.

During the IAB NewFronts event in New York City, Google announced its plan to centralize streaming ad purchases through its demand-side platform, Display & Video 360 (DV360), traditionally focused on web advertising.

The key point: With the increasing fragmentation of streaming audiences across various platforms, advertisers need a unified solution to reach their target demographic.

Google aims to offer this through DV360, enabling advertisers to manage video campaigns more efficiently. Google's approach involves "rethinking programmatic TV" by centralizing streaming ad buys on DV360, a platform that can integrate various fragmented streaming sources. According to Google, DV360 can reach 92% of connected TV households in the U.S. A case study with SAP demonstrated DV360's capability by reaching 29 million unique viewers, with 5.6 million incremental viewers.

Google's strategy relies heavily on YouTube's vast audience, using it to drive ad sales across streaming TV, and partnering with third-party sources like Disney for additional streaming inventory.

DV360 is also introducing new measurement tools, such as cross-device conversion reporting for connected TV campaigns.

Google Maps Search Ads

Thomas Eccel found out that the Google Maps Search Ads are now also live in Europe.

These Ads will lead to your GBP.

User IDs import

Bart van de Kamp & 🛰️ Yoann FERRAND found out that Google will introduce a feature that allows direct connection to Google Sheets to maintain ad audiences based on user IDs. This feature should go live in Q2.

New segment options

Thomas Eccel found out that you can now sort campaigns by metrics and optimization score!

Ad price manipulation?

The U.S. Department of Justice talked about Google search ad price manipulation and more in its closing statement on search advertising. Search Engine Land wrote a longer article about it read that for more information.

Saved comparisons

GA4 has now officially launched saved comparisons!

Saved comparisons enable you and others with access to your property to compare the user bases you care about without needing to recreate the comparisons each time you want to analyze those user bases.

Distance in Ad

Filip Silobod found out that Google is showing the distance in one Ad. I have not seen this before!

New Pmax features

Georgi Zayakov made an amazing slideshow from the Meet the Expert event that was held yesterday.

During this event, Google shared three new features that are coming to Pmax:

- Digital Coupons on Google Maps

- Brand safety reporting for video on Pmax(coming in Q2)

- 3PAS Verification for Display portion of Performance Max, a pixel tracking, similar to the one for the existing GDA solution, will be supported.

eBarometer April by ProfitMetrics.io

The market index data for April 2024 has been released, showing year-over-year comparisons with April 2023 across a range of metrics, including e-commerce revenue, orders, advertising spend, POAS, ROAS, and total gross profit.

Revenue has risen by 5.5% from last year, with a notable increase from last month. Gross profit has grown by 7.7%, while the number of orders is up by 4.9% compared to April 2023.

Overall, these metrics show a positive trend with increases across the board.

Advertising expenditure has also increased by 7.7% compared to last year, suggesting that acquiring sales has become more costly.

However, for the first time in a long time, the growth in gross profit is matching the increase in advertising spend, keeping POAS steady from last year.

ROAS has decreased by 2%. Yet, as long as POAS remains unchanged from last year and revenue and order volume continue to rise, overall profitability has improved compared to April 2023.

New bid option Google Ads

Anas Siddiqui found this new bid option for target CPV where he can tick a automatically set bid.

Local inventory Ads Slovakia

Local inventory Ads Slovakia Hana Kobzová found out that Local Inventory Ads are now available in Slovakia.

Emmanuel Flossie added later that these countries also now have access to Local Inventory Ads: Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Finland, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, Ukraine, and Vietnam.

More Social proof in Merchant Center!

Google has now officially sent out an e-mail about the new annotation feature that is launching in Merchant Center.

With this tool, you can, for example, show how many people bought an item. For more information read this article.

New GTM feedback tool

Damian Cutic found out that GTM has gained a container quality section!

We have seen more new data quality tools already this year. And I think this is a good update!

Poland Gambling and Games Policy

On May 20, 2024, the Google Ads Gambling and games policy Poland country-specifics will be updated. Google will begin to accept online lottery ads from the Finance Ministry's licensed entities.

Policy change ticket events

Starting June 10, 2024, Google Ads will update its policy regarding the sale of event tickets.

The update specifies that any disclosures related to the sale of event tickets must be prominently displayed in the top 20% of the destination page reached through an ad, without the option to hide or close them.

The text size of the disclosure must be equal to or larger than the majority of the text on the page.

This requirement applies only to pages reached via Google ads, not organic traffic.

Enforcement of the updated policy will gradually increase over a period of about four weeks starting from June 10, 2024.

Error Google Ads menu

Hana Kobzová found an error in the Google Ads menu. In the Billing section, she found two document tabs.

Image editor

Hana Kobzová found out that Google is going to add the image editor to the shared library section. For now, this tool is only available in the US.

Ranking factor change LSA

Barry Schwartz found out that proximity is no longer a relevancy factor for Local Service Ads!

Update Server-Side Documentation

Simo Ahava & 🛰️ Yoann FERRAND found out that Google has updated its server-side Google Tag Manager documentation, replacing the term "Immutable parameters" with "Internal parameters" to clarify their purpose.

The list of parameters has been refined to include only Google-specific ones, reducing confusion and potential privacy concerns.

Modifying these "Internal parameters" or other parameters like ip_override and client_id could impact data collection, so it's important to follow the documentation when making changes.

While modifying certain parameters may still affect data collection, they are no longer labeled as "Immutable," indicating that changes may not necessarily cause significant issues.

Google Analytics Data API update

🛰️ Yoann FERRAND found out that the Google Analytics Data API has been updated with several enhancements:

- Report tasks have been introduced in Data API v1alpha, enabling users to create customized reports asynchronously. New methods for manipulating report tasks have been added.

- New dimensions for key events have been introduced, replacing the isConversionEvent dimension. Users are advised to update their report requests accordingly, along with modifying deprecated metrics to their respective key event counterparts.

- The response for the properties/getMetadata method now includes information on key event dimensions and metrics in DimensionMetadata and MetricMetadata objects.

Removal of feeds targeting multiple locals in Merchant Center

Georgi Zayakov sent me this message that from the 13th of May, feeds with multiple combinations of a feed label and a language will be grouped into new feeds, each with only one combination.

You can also simplify the configuration by targeting a feed to multiple countries.

Hotel Ads 📉

🛰️ Yoann FERRAND & Mirai found out that the implementation of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by Google has led to a significant decline in clicks and bookings for hotels using Google Hotel Ads in affected European Union (EU) markets.

The changes, aimed at addressing self-preferencing practices by digital gatekeepers, have altered how hotel offers are presented in search results.

Before the DMA implementation, Google's search results displayed hotel offers integrated with services like Google Maps, providing users with a clear and intuitive experience.

However, with the DMA in place, hotel visibility has decreased, leading to a 30% drop in clicks and a 36% decrease in direct bookings.

These changes have increased hotels' reliance on intermediaries, impacting profitability.

The DMA regulations prohibit gatekeepers like Google from favoring their services over third-party offerings in search results.

Consequently, the presentation of hotel offers to users in DMA markets has become less organized and user-friendly.

The implications of the DMA for hotels include reduced visibility, profitability, and increased dependence on intermediaries.

The EU's efforts to create a fairer market are affecting hotels' ability to conduct direct sales and maintain independence.

The possibility of Booking.com being designated as a gatekeeper further complicates the situation.

Google Ads news

New Demand Gen feature

Carolin Carvalho da Silva & Thomas Eccel found out that Google Ads has rolled out a big update for Demand Generation campaigns, introducing the ability to select the preferred format for ads.

This beta feature, called "Set ad format preferences," allows advertisers to choose where their video ads will appear.

Update suspended accounts

In June 2024, Google will limit the functionality of suspended accounts. Advertisers will be informed in-product that their suspended account will have limited functionality.

They will be able to access their suspended accounts but will be limited to the following actions:

- Billing options: Make a payment, download tax documents, add a payment method

- Account settings: Cancel account and claim refunds

- Appeals and verification: Appeal a suspension, complete advertiser verification

- Security Settings: Update security settings within the Google Ads account

- Navigate to any page on their Google Ads account

What's App extension documentation

Arpan Banerjee found the What's App extension in April. And now Hana Kobzová found out that Google has released an article about it!

Message assets in Google Ads let you set up an ad asset or button within your responsive search ads.

Once set up, clicks from users are directed to WhatsApp, enabling customers to initiate a conversation with your business.

These assets are applicable for use in Search and Performance Max campaigns in Brazil or India.For more information read this article.

Wrestling with GA4 BigQuery exports?

Say hello to GA4 Dataform! Christoph Scherf just posted about Google's latest open source solution that revolutionizes your analytics game by transforming GA4 raw data into sleek, modular BigQuery tables.

Key Features:

- Last-click attribution models for sessions & events

- Custom attribution model development support

For more information check this Github link.

Safari 18 can block Display Ads

Apple is testing a feature called "Web Eraser" in Safari 18, allowing users to remove specific portions of web pages, including banner ads, images, text, or entire page sections.

The erasure is persistent across browsing sessions, and Safari notifies users when visiting modified pages, giving them the option to revert changes.

This feature seems inspired by third-party apps like 1Blocker.

For more information read this article.

Market observer

Smarter Ecommerce (smec) has released the market observer again. Below you see some charts that they have uploaded! For more information go to this page.

Google Ads Benchmarks 2024 New Trends & Insights for Key Industries

WordStream by LocaliQ has released their Google Ads Benchmarks 2024: New Trends & Insights for Key Industries.

Some key trends:

- Click-through rate improved for most industries

- Cost per click increased for 86% of industries

- Conversion rate decreased for 12 out of 23 industries

- Cost per lead increased for 19 out of 23 industries

For more information go to this page.

SGE Rollout

Google is rolling out SGE to everybody in the US. This change can have impact on your Ads!

Assign users and groups to report collections for Analytics 360

Arpan Banerjee just sent me that as an administrator of an Analytics 360 property, you can now assign users or groups to report collections, enabling you to customize your report collections to different user bases.

New recommendations

Natasha Kaurra found out that Google is now showing headlines, descriptions and images below the Pmax asset recommendation.

Update Google Analytics API

Google Analytics Data API has been updated with a new feature called Comparisons.

This feature allows users to evaluate subsets of their data side by side.

The update includes changes to the core reporting methods of Data API v1beta to support the comparisons field.

Users can specify basic comparisons using dimensionFilter expressions or use saved comparisons by providing the comparison's resource name.

The getMetadata method now lists all saved comparisons available for a property. Saved comparisons can currently only be created using the Google Analytics UI.

Comparison filter Looker Studio

Josh Silverbauer found out that the new GA4 comparison filter now also is available in Looker Studio.

New AI overview

Explanation Beta Interesting Brent Neale found this click and conversion explanation beta at the top of his account overview.

Ads that send multiple messages to companies?

Arpan Banerjee just gave me a heads-up about the findings from Matt Casady & Barry Schwartz.

They found and posted that you can send messages to different advertisers...

Netflix will launch its own advertising platform

Netflix made a big announcement during its Upfronts presentation, revealing plans to launch its own advertising technology platform just a year and a half after entering the ads business.

This move puts it in direct competition with industry giants like Google, Amazon, and Comcast, initially Netflix partnered with Microsoft for its ad tech, but now it's bringing the technology in-house, indicating a significant shift in its advertising strategy.

This change will give Netflix more control over creating targeted and personalized ad experiences for its massive user base of 270 million subscribers.

Netflix aims to move away from generic advertisements and experiment with "episodic" campaigns that tell a story rather than repeating the same ads. Additionally, Netflix is expanding its buying capabilities by partnering with platforms like The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360, and Magnite.

The company also shared the success of its ad-supported tier, noting that it has 40 million monthly active users globally, with 5 million users joining within six months of its launch.

YouTube Front

During YouTube Newfront Google released the new Video Reach Campaigns Non-Skippable & branded QR codes.

This campaign type is the newest AI-powered video campaign type optimized for the living room.

New account administrator requests

Google Ads is rolling out a new feature that allows the account administrator to request its users to switch from a regular personal email address to a business email address.

Google's new AI image generation tool

Google's new AI image generation tool will not make brand names & logos!

Two new Looker Studio updates

New event logging attributes are now available for the Looker Studio log event data source.

These attributes let Looker Studio administrators audit and monitor how Looker Studio users in their organization interact with schedules and alerts.

Besides that Looker data sources now display LookML filters.

Filters that are defined in LookML models with the conditionally_filter and always_filter LookML parameters are now displayed in Looker Studio charts with a Looker data source.

New YouTube report

Davis found out that it looks like Google added a new YouTube search term report where you can also exclude keywords and topics.

New YouTube Subtype

Shailesh Kabra found this campaign subtype in Ads called: subscriptions and engagement.

I have seen it before but it could be marked as new in your account.

AI Overviews

Thomas Eccel wrote an awesome post about Google which has introduced AI Overviews in the US as part of the Search Generative Experience (SGE). This new feature targets more complex queries, providing users with more value by showing fewer ads and more information.

Despite the reduction in ads, some Google Ads will still appear in AI Overviews. Examples include Shopping Ads directly beneath the AI results and large Google Maps Ads, managed by Pmax using location data. Local businesses might need to adjust their campaigns to remain visible in local searches.

The exact percentage of queries generating AI Overviews hasn't been disclosed, but it's estimated to be around 5-10%. Advertisers should start preparing for these changes.

GML 2024 Announcements

Ads AI overview

Ads will now show above or below in the AI overview.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: Launching experiments in the US on mobile
• Availability: Launching experiments in the US on mobile

AI Essentials in Optimization Score and Recommendation

• AI-driven improvements in optimization scores and recommendations to enhance campaign performance.
• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Google Ads Data Manager

• A tool to manage and analyze data within Google Ads for better decision-making.
• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Shopping Ads in Lens Search Results

Engage customers through shopping ads that appear in visual search results using Google Lens.

• Timing: Experiments in Q2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Search Ads with AI-generated Recommendations (Project AI Agent)

AI-generated recommendations to optimize search ads, enhancing relevance and performance.

• Timing: Q4 2024 for global availability
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Visual Brand Profile on Google Search

A feature that showcases a brand's visual profile directly on Google Search to enhance visibility and engagement.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: Currently in Beta
• Availability: Global

Loyalty Promotions for Shopping

Promotions aimed at increasing customer loyalty through targeted shopping ads.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

New Customer Pricing for Shopping Ads

Special pricing strategies for attracting new customers via shopping ads.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Profit Goals in Performance Max

Setting and optimizing towards profit goals in Performance Max campaigns.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Improvements in Lookalike Segments for Demand Gen

Enhancements in creating and targeting lookalike segments for demand generation campaigns.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Conversational Experience in Google Ads

A conversational interface in Google Ads to facilitate campaign creation and management.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Demand Gen in Display & Video 360

Integration of demand generation campaigns into Display & Video 360 for unified campaign management.

• Timing: Q3’24 (Beta), Q4’24 (GA)
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

YouTube Shopping Affiliate Program

A program to leverage YouTube's platform for affiliate marketing, launching with Shopify in the US.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: US (initial launch)

Partnership Ads Powered by YouTube BrandConnect

Collaborative ad opportunities through YouTube BrandConnect to enhance brand partnerships.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Generated Reports and Insights in Merchant Center Next

Automated report generation and insights in Merchant Center Next to streamline data analysis.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Measurement Diagnostics in Google Ads and Campaign Manager

Tools for diagnosing and improving measurement strategies across campaigns.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Image editing Improvements

Improvements in editing

• Timing: Q2/Q3 2024
• Status: Pilot
• Availability: Global

Meridian (Open-Source MMM)

An open-source marketing mix modeling tool to better understand the impact of marketing activities.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: Limited to select advertisers
• Availability: Global

Product Studio

A suite of AI-powered creative tools to enhance product images and videos, including features like image-to-video conversion and brand style-aligned asset generation.

• Timing: Q4 2024 for global availability
• Availability: Live in US, CA, AUS, UK; Coming soon in IN, JP

New Shopping Ads Features

Enhanced shopping ad capabilities specifically designed for shopping

• Timing: Q2-Q3 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: US

Generated insights in Merchant Center Next

Generated insights provide retailers with tailored summaries and actionable guidance, empowering them to quickly understand performance and make informed decisions to improve results.

• Timing: Q3 2024 - General Availability
• Status: Beta
• Availability: US-only

Performance Max creative improvements

Create on-brand assets with a unified creative direction for a consistent look and feel.

• Timing: H2 2024 - General Availability
• Status: Beta
• Availability: Global

Demand Gen Search Ads 360

Advertisers can manage Demand Gen campaigns in Search Ads 360 (SA360).

• Timing: Q2 2024

• Status: Beta
• Availability: Global

Animated Image Ads with Product Feeds

Dynamic image ads that incorporate product feeds to create more engaging advertisements.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Creative References

Options to tailor ad creatives according to specific References and styles.

• Timing: Q2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Creative Preferences

With Creative Preferences, you can now pin your video assets to specific surfaces within Demand Gen campaigns to refine ad visual experiences based on your expert knowledge

• Timing: Q2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Improved image generation for Performance Max and Demand Gen

Upgraded the underlying technology for asset generation so it’s built specifically for advertising. This was done by tuning our models with performance data that includes specific industry.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Generative image recommendations for retailers

Google Ads will offer AI-generated image recommendations that show your products in new contexts and help you increase your asset variety.

• Timing: Q3 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

More engaging ads on YouTube Shorts

Boost interaction and brand affinity, and increase conversions with innovations that are native to the Shorts experience.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: Drive to long-form (Pilot, closed) All others, not yet launched
• Availability: Global

Enhanced Placement Reporting and Content Exclusions for Video Campaigns

Improved reporting and exclusion options to better manage video ad placements.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Asset Experiments in Performance Max

Tools to test and optimize different creative assets within Performance Max campaigns.

Timing: H2 2024

Status: In-progress

Availability: Global

Generated Insights in GA4

Automated insights generation within Google Analytics 4 to help interpret data and drive decisions.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Generated Reports in Google Ads 360

Automated report creation within Google Ads to simplify performance tracking and analysis.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: Closed beta
• Availability: Global

Conversion Lift Studies for Performance Max

Studies to measure the impact of Performance Max campaigns on conversion rates.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: Currently Beta
• Availability: Global (user-based), Selected markets (geo-based)

Automated Discounts

Tools to automate discount offerings within ad campaigns to attract more customers.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Agency Growth Tools

Tools designed to support the growth and efficiency of advertising agencies.

• Timing: H2 2024
• Status: In-progress
• Availability: Global

Google Ads Editorial policy

The Google Ads Editorial policy has been updated and reorganized for improved clarity and readability.

Feedback from developers

Georgi Zayakov just sent me this message that Google is now asking feedback from developers.

GA4 Export

You can now export data from a report to Google Sheets!

Feed label and language

Arpan Banerjee just sent me this message that from May 27, 2024, feeds that have multiple combinations of a feed label and language will now be regrouped into feeds that have only one combination of feed label and language.

Pmax change modification form

Google changed the modification form some time ago. This was discovered by Quint van der Meer. In the new form, Google has a dedicated section explaining why you should not use negative keywords for Pmax.

Don't show this column

Natasha Kaurra hovered over the optimization score column and she got the message don't show this column. Not sure if it is new, but good to see that you can remove it.

Goodbye transit_time_label

Emmanuel Flossie found out that Google has removed the documentation about the transit_time_label.

Pause Google Ads keywords

Georgi Zayakov just sent me this message that has been uploaded by Google on the developer blog. They already announced this change some time ago:)

Users last 5 minutes GA4

Barry Schwartz found out that Google now shows also users from the last 5 minutes. Before this was only users in the last 30 minutes.

Pmax campaigns

Google recently published a new suite of guides on how to create Performance Max campaigns in Google Ads scripts. You can check them here.

Looker Studio forum moved to Google Cloud

The Looker Studio Community on Google Cloud is now open to all Looker Studio and Looker Studio Pro users to ask questions and interact.

Looker drill fields are now available in Looker StudioDrill fields and links that are defined with the drill_fields and link LookML parameters in Looker are now available to Looker Studio report viewers in the Drill Actions menu on Looker Studio table charts.

New partner connectors

The following partner connectors have been added to the Looker Studio Report Gallery:

- Pro Rank Tracker

- SEO Data by F.T.B ONLINE LTD.-

CallRail by Catchr.io

- Basis by Supermetrics

- Facebook Ads by Adzviser

- LinkedIn Revenue Attribution by Supermetrics

- Pinterest Organic by Catchr.io

Broad Match enabled = prioritized as exact

Anthony Higman found out that the new feature broad match enabled will be prioritized as if they are exact. For more information read this article.

1500 Credit offer

Anthony Higman found an Ads Credit Offer of $1,500. I have never seen such a high amount. To Get The $1,500 You Need To Spend $3,000 In First 60 Days.

v202405

Google has announced that v202405 of the Google Ad Manager API is available today. This release brings support for contextual targeting.

New GA4 features

Himanshu Sharma found out that GA4 released two new features:

- you can now open a closed funnel

- you can now visualize data by day, week and month in all standard reports with data tables.

End dates experiments

Jon-Paul LaFerriere just send me this message! It looks like this means that end dates are becoming required. Also, make sure to change the date if you do not want an end date of Aug 23.

DMA live for search engines

DMA live for my accounts, I now had to choose a search engine. This can impact the dominant position of Google. Because users can choose from other search engines in Europe.

GA4 Update

Google has now officially announced that you can switch between days, weeks, and months in reports.

Different location test

Hana Kobzová found out that Google is testing with different positions and styles for location and opening times!

Different name test menu?

Dawid Żurawski found out that in his Polish account Google names assets > components... Is Google going to change this?

Update Advertiser Verification Program

Arpan Banerjee sent me that Google will begin asking advertisers registered in South Sudan and Kosovo to complete advertiser identity verification as part of the phased rollout.

Google has launched a new Upgrade to Performance Max guide

In this guide, you will discover:

- A summary of the benefits available in Performance Max-Steps to assist you managing the upgrade process

-Eligibility information to help you understand which existing campaigns you are able to upgrade using the Google Ads API

- Recommendations to compare reporting between existing campaigns and Performance Max campaigns

- Enhancements you can make to improve your upgraded campaign

For more information read this item.

Scroll function gone

Google Ads is now showing all the accounts without a scroll function!

Gmail Label

Anthony Higman found out that Gmail is again testing with the sponsored label!

YouTube Event

What is next for YouTube? Find it out on June 18th during a LIVE Q&A with Google product experts. Register here.

Looker studio update

Looker Studio has released a new connector support for filter-only fields.

Skill Shop changes

Google is going to make some changes to the Skill Shop!

Privacy law provisions

Navah Hopkins just posted that for some US states privacy law provisions are coming into effect!

Import Ads conversions

George Evripidou got this mail that Microsoft will start importing Google Ads Conversions!

Incremental Feeds deprecating

Hana Kobzová found out that Incremental feeds are deprecating for new feeds.

Structured Data Files (SDF) v7.1

Google has launched the general availability of the Structured Data Files (SDF) v7.1 and the open beta of our new QA format. Both are available to all Display & Video 360 users!

Shopping ideas

Barry Schwartz & Shameem Adhikarath found out that Google is using shopping ideas to boost shopping results! Again this can have some impact on your shopping results.

Update Political Content

In June 2024, Google will update the policy for EU Election Ads under the Political content policy to include restrictions in Italy.

Automatically adding produts

Georgi Zayakov discovered in the Merchant Center that Google will start automatically adding products that are not found in the feed...

Now this is not a new feature, I have seen this before.

But always keep an eye on this feature. It could add products and maybe you do not want that...

GA4 Report email

It's official. You can now send reports by email instantly.

GBRAID & WBRAID

Niklas Buschner 🔮 found out that you can now also import GBRAID & WBRAID with Zapier!

New UI MMC

Google is now pushing the new UI also for MMCs. Found by Emmanuel Flossie.

Goodbye UI Google ADS

On August 30 the old Google UI will go away...

May finished

That's all the news from May! If you want to read more news check my website.