Google Ads news
New GTM options
The automatic collection for user-provided data now gives you more options; before, you could only exclude certain elements!
Design change GTM
A few weeks ago, I saw this change in the design from Google Tag Manager when selecting a trigger! Looks cleaner.
Can’t really remember the last time that Google made changes to the design of Tag Manager. But I like this small change.
Update Product title
Google now advises to use the brand name in the product title. This update was found by Emmanuel Flossie.
For more information, check his video.
NCA problems
The NCA problem should be fixed! A week ago bidding stopped for campaigns focused on new customers.
YouTube just announced major ad updates at Brandcast 2025
Cultural Moments Sponsorships: Brands can now sponsor key events like the PGA Championship, Black Friday, and awards season.
Peak Points: Gemini AI identifies emotionally engaging moments in videos for smarter ad placement.
Connected TV upgrades: Shoppable TV ads and immersive full-screen mastheads.
Live sports push: YouTube will exclusively stream the NFL Friday night game globally.
YouTube is doubling down on TV and cultural relevance marketers should take note.
Update Microsoft
Microsoft Advertising is rolling out an important update the week of May 18 that changes how Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns compete in the auction.
Until now, Performance Max was automatically prioritized over Standard Shopping when both targeted the same products.
With this change, that priority is removed. The campaign with the highest Ad Rank will now serve, just like any other campaign types.
This update gives advertisers more flexibility in testing and managing campaigns. Microsoft expects this to have a neutral or positive impact at the account level.
No action is required, but if you want more control over campaign spend, it’s a good moment to:
– Review budget allocation across campaign types
– Double-check that Performance Max campaigns are set up with best practices (assets, URL expansion, audience signals)
According to Microsoft, Performance Max campaigns have outperformed Standard Shopping with a 39% increase in conversion rate and 7.6% more conversions overall.
Thanks to Arpan Banerjee for sharing the update.
NO consent = NO CONVERSION BIDDING
Microsoft is now sending out that they detect that advertisers did not adopt consent mode and that conversion-based bidding strategies will be deprecated for accounts without Consent mode.
All GML 2025 updates
I have made a special newsletter edition in which you can read all the new updates from GML 2025. Want to review the official update list from Google? Click here.
No consent = no tracking
Google is now also sending out emails that they will disable tracking if you do not install consent mode before July 21.
Customer list
Boris Beceric ✅ & Navah Hopkins discovered that you now only need 100 customers in the last 30 days to use them in search campaigns for customer match.
First Ads
First ads spotted by Brodie Clark in AI overviews.
New Benchmarks
Mark Grasmayer discovered that New price benchmarks have launched in Merchant Center!
New workflow
Google launched a new workflow for enhanced conversion. You now need to send them with the user-provided data tag.
New contact design
Zeeshan Ali discovered this new contact us beta from Google Ads!
New PMax Image Features (UI-only)
Google Ads now auto-sources images from landing pages and enhances uploaded assets (e.g. smart cropping). Enabled by default, but only manageable via the UI until API v21.
Debt Services Verification Update
Starting June 2, 2025, advertisers promoting debt services in Australia, Brazil, Germany, Ireland, South Korea, and Spain must complete Financial Services verification.
This replaces the previous debt services certification but does not change policy rules. Existing certified advertisers are not affected.
Looker Studio May 22, 2025, updates
Chart Properties Panel Improvements:The Setup and Style tabs in the chart properties panel have been updated to provide a more organized and user-friendly customization experience.
New User Consent Flow for BigQuery Data Sources:When querying BigQuery data sources using Viewer credentials, a new consent flow now prompts users to verify that their email credentials can be logged.
Pickup Label
Arpan Banerjee discovered this store pickup label in YouTube!
New Explanation page overview Ads
Google has launched a help page on ads in AI overviews!
New YouTube goal
Hana Kobzová discovered that Google added a new conversion action called follow-on views.
Roll out
Google is now rolling out discovery on desktop!