Google Ads News
Visits
Thomas Eccel discovered this test from Google Ads that has social proof of how many visits a website has!
Channel Performance
Georgi Zayakov discovered that Google is transitioning Chanel performance to general availability!
New level of competitor-aware insights in Google Ads?
Just spotted an interesting update shared by Emirhan Bayutmuş: Google Ads recommended a Target CPA increase based on competitor comparison data.
That’s a first.
Emirhan noticed that his Impression Share dropped by 26%, while a competitor gained +11% and the platform used this as justification for a higher CPA target.
New: “Brand Searches” in Google Ads
Dario Zannoni discovered that Google has launched a new help page for the conversion type called “Brand Searches”, showing how often users search for your brand on Google or YouTube after seeing your ads.
Note that this was announced during GML 2025, but Google has now uploaded a help page.
Applies to: YouTube, Performance Max, and Demand Gen (YouTube, Discover, Gmail).
Attribution: 30-day last-view, view-through model. Optimization: Not usable yet but “not yet” hints it may be in the future. Setup: Requires brand mapping (ask your Google rep).
Google Ads Lookalike Segments
Georgi Zayakov discovered that Google is quietly upgrading Lookalike Segments in Demand Gen campaigns, giving advertisers new ways to scale with precision.
You can now build lookalikes from richer sources like Android device IDs, GA4 audiences, and even YouTube users (with a higher 1,000-user match requirement).
This opens the door to more cross-platform targeting than ever before.
Another big shift: advertisers can now use the audience of a creator’s video as a seed list. It’s a game-changer for influencer campaigns or brands lacking deep first-party data.
Add to that the ability to combine up to 10 seed lists and adjust similarity settings (narrow, balanced, broad), and Google’s audience modeling just got a major upgrade.
Sponsored Label
Barry Schwartz & SERP Alert ⚡ discovered that Google has removed the prominent “Sponsored” label from the Find Related Products & Services ad section.
Instead, it now uses a smaller-font disclaimer below the section stating the results are from advertisers, making the ad label less visible to users.
GA4 Change
Arpan Banerjee discovered that you can now import cost data from reddit ads into GA4!
Design change
Hana Kobzová discovered that Google has updated the design of the Found Products section in Google Merchant Center.
Alphabet Q2 2025 earnings: strong growth across all major business lines
Alphabet reported $96.4 billion in revenue for Q2 2025, up 14% year-over-year from $84.7 billion. Net income reached $28.2 billion, up from $23.6 billion in the same quarter last year. EPS came in at $2.31, beating analyst expectations.
Advertising performance stood out:
– Total advertising revenue grew to $71.3 billion, up 10.4% year-over-year- Search ad revenue rose approximately 11–12%
– YouTube ad revenue reached $9.79 billion, up 13% from $8.66 billion
– Google Network ads generated $7.46 billion, up 9%
– Google paid search ad spend rose 11%, with click volumes up 7%
Additional highlights (YoY):
– Google Cloud revenue: $13.6 billion (up from $10.35 billion)
– Subscriptions, devices, and Play Store: $11.2 billion (up from $9.31 billion)
– Operating income: $31.3 billion
– Other Bets: $373 million in revenue with a $1.24 billion loss
Alphabet also raised its 2025 capital expenditure guidance to approximately $85 billion, citing long-term infrastructure investment
Ads API
Starting October 3, 2025, Google Ads API will allow both gclid and gbraid fields to be set in ClickConversion imports via the UploadClickConversions method.
Previously, doing so caused a partial failure error. After the update, these imports will succeed without error.
Early Access to Google Trends API (Alpha)
Barry Schwartz discovered that Google is launching an alpha version of the Google Trends API, offering developers, researchers, and journalists programmatic access to search behavior and trend data.
The API allows:
– Access to 5 years of data
– Custom aggregation by day, week, month, or year- Insights across countries and sub-regions
– Advanced capabilities like merging multiple keyword requests and extending time ranges without rescaling data
The alpha phase is designed for users with clear use cases who can start testing soon and provide direct feedback.
Big RSA Update in Google Ads
Bob Meijer & Miles McNair discovered that some accounts now show click and conversion data per RSA headline, replacing vague ratings like “Good” or “Best.”
This enables real ad copy testing again.Check via Campaigns → Assets → Add columns.
Not in all accounts yet, but rollout is expected soon.
Google has rolled out new shopping features powered by AI to help users discover, try on, and buy products more easily, and AI-Powered Virtual Try-On (Now Live in the U.S.)
Shoppers can now upload a full-body photo and virtually try on clothes across Google Search, Shopping, and Images.
The tool lets users preview looks, save favorites, and share outfits with friends.
Smarter Price Alerts (Rolling Out in the U.S.)Users can now set price alerts by preferred size, color, and budget.
Google will notify them when an item meets those conditions using data from its extensive Shopping Graph.
Shoppable Outfit and Room Inspiration (Coming Fall 2025)With AI Mode, users can explore visual outfit and room design ideas.
Google’s vision match tech will generate visual matches and shoppable links based on over 50 billion products in its Shopping Graph.
These updates aim to personalize and simplify the online shopping experience using AI.
Version Support Changes for the Google Ads API Python Library (July 24, 2025)
Google is phasing out support for older Python versions in its Ads API client library:
Python 3.9 End-of-Life (October 2025):Once Python 3.9 reaches end-of-life, the Google Ads Python client library will no longer support it, except for critical security fixes.
New Library Release (Q4 2025):A major new version of the library will launch, incompatible with Python 3.9 but supporting Python 3.14.
Deprecation Timelines:
Now: Python 3.7 users already can’t access the API.Q1 2026: Python 3.8 users will lose access when API version v19 sunsets.
Late 2026: Python 3.9 users will lose access when API version v22 sunsets.
Action required: Developers using Python 3.8 or 3.9 must upgrade to Python 3.10 or newer to maintain access.
Looker Studio has introduced several new features and improvements:
New Canvas Sizes: Two A4 canvas presets (portrait and landscape) are now available, giving users more control over report layout.
Alt Text for Images: Users can now add alt text to images for screen reader accessibility, supporting WCAG compliance.
Looker Connector Enhancements: More calculated field functions are now available in Preview mode.
BigQuery Performance Boost: Reports using BigQuery data may load faster due to “short query optimized mode,” especially when using Viewer’s or non-owner’s credentials.
Highlight Charts by Filter: The Applied Filters panel now lets users click a filter to highlight all relevant charts in the report.
Report Descriptions: You can add descriptions to reports, which are now searchable along with the report title.
New Partner Connectors Added: The Connector Gallery now includes integrations from Detrics, Master Metrics, Supermetrics, Dashbo, Jivrus Technologies, IntelliKid Systems, and others covering Google Ads, GA4, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Odoo, and more.
YouTube Shorts adds AI-powered creation tools
YouTube just launched new generative AI tools to supercharge Shorts content:Photo-to-Video: Turn static images into short, animated clips
AI Effects: Transform doodles & selfies into dynamic visualsAI Playground: A new hub with creative prompts and tools
All features are free, rolling out now in select countries global expansion later this year.
LSA Warning
Anthony Higman warns that Google’s Local Services Ads (LSA) are becoming even less transparent. Message leads, once clearly priced at half the cost of phone leads, are now priced based on vague, undisclosed factors like a user’s likelihood to book.
This shift reduces price clarity and undermines the auction model. He advises caution, especially for small-budget advertisers and suggests turning off message leads for now due to a lack of cost transparency and Google’s practice of sending the same lead to multiple businesses.
New Google Merchant Center Attribute – MRP (India Only)
Emmanuel Flossie discovered that Google has introduced a new [mrp] (Maximum Retail Price) attribute for free listings in India via Google Merchant Center.
It is mandatory that this MRP:
– Is shown both on the product page and at checkout
– Matches exactly across landing page and checkout
– Uses INR only (Indian Rupee)
– Cannot rely on IP-based price switching or live exchange rates
– Is distinct from sale price, both must be used appropriately
Sellers using non-INR currencies for Indian users may lose 90%+ visibility.Action: If you’re targeting India with free listings, review and update your product feeds now to ensure MRP compliance.
Funded by
Arpan Banerjee just texted me that Google started shooting mails for Ad-funded disclosure info!
Amazon pulled out
Amazon has abruptly pulled out of product advertising on Google Shopping, marking its most significant retreat since the pandemic.
This move affects Google’s ad revenue and could lower auction prices, as Amazon was a key player.
While Amazon has been slowly reducing its presence over the past year, this sudden stop raises questions about their motives, whether it’s about not funding a competitor, internal ad strategy shifts, or AI priorities.
The fallout may benefit competing retailers but could hurt brands that relied on Amazon’s visibility.
Thanks for spotting Mike Ryan, Smarter Ecommerce (smec) and Josh Duggan (Vervaunt), and Andy Taylor (Tinuiti). Make sure to follow them for more news!
New Search Term Matching
Felix Mayo spotted this new beta called Search Term Matching!
Search Term Matching automatically expands your keyword targeting beyond the traditional broad match, phrase match, and exact match types .Looks like AI Max.
Sitelinks
Hana Kobzová discovered that Google is testing with underlined sitelinks in Ads!
E-barometer Update – May & June 2025
The May and June E-barometer reports are now available. Here’s a quick overview of the June highlights:
Month-over-month declines in turnover, gross profit, number of orders, and ad spend.Year-over-year growth remains strong:
– Turnover and gross profit up double digits YoY.
– Orders up 7.8% YoY.
– Ad spend dropped more sharply than turnover/profit, resulting in improved ROAS and POAS.
This suggests companies became more efficient with their ad budgets in June.📩 You can view both reports and sign up for monthly updates via the link.
Google Labs just launched Opal, a new tool that helps bring AI app ideas to life, no coding needed.
You simply explain your workflow in plain language, and Opal builds a visual interface around it. Whether you’re chaining prompts, using AI models, or building multi-step processes, it’s all doable by just describing what you want.
You can start from scratch or use handy templates like:
– Creating AI ads for your brand
– Analyzing online sentiment about your business
– Turning YouTube videos into interactive quizzes
– Editing is flexible, either drag-and-drop visually or make changes by talking to the tool. Once done, your app can be shared with others.