Google Ads news
Annotations
Annotations and some other features are coming soon to GA4. Picture credit to Brais Calvo Vázquez!
Brand restriction PDF & Live
Jordan Fry found these documents about brand restrictions.
With brand restrictions, Google is pushing more value-based bidding + broad match for brand search campaigns!
Below you find an example of the live function.
Changes to content API
Georgi Zayakov just sent me that: Google is shutting down the current support path: Effective June 10, 2024, the support email address (shopping-api-support) and the Developer Forum will no longer accept support questions.
New support paths:
– To reach our “Content API for Shopping” support team, please use our new Contact Us Form: link here
– To reach our “Comparison Shopping Services API” support team, please use this Contact Us Form: link here
– Going forward, these will be the only support paths available.
GA4 Attribution update
Arpan Banerjee just sent me this message that Google is improving the attribution models over the next two weeks to improve the accuracy of conversion credit for paid search campaigns!
More Ad formats coming to Google TV
More and more people are gaining the feature to advertise on Connected TV.
The Google TV network provides targeted ads across more than 125 built-in channels, including live sports, TV shows, and movies. In the U.S., 60% of households watch free, ad-supported streaming services, with Google TV viewers spending an average of over 75 minutes per day on free channels.
Currently, the Google TV network offers standard Connected TV ad formats like non-skippable ads and 6-second bumper ads, with more formats to come.
Advertisers can integrate the Google TV network into their YouTube ad buys via Google Ads and Google Display & Video 360, enabling comprehensive planning, buying, and measurement of digital video campaigns.
Conversion paths report change
Jordan Fry found out that video impressions are now part of the conversion paths report, enhancing your understanding of YouTube’s role in your marketing strategy.
Before the report only included click and engaged-view conversions.
Changes:
– Video impressions are now included in the Paths report.
– Get insights into how video ads influence user journeys.
– This change does not affect bidding or Data-Driven Attribution (DDA); it is solely for reporting purposes.
Google Analytics 4 now supports custom event data import.
With this feature, you can use a combination of standard fields and event-scoped custom dimensions to join and analyze imported event metadata with your existing Analytics data. For more information read this article.
Ad Manager update
Google Ad Manager is introducing updates to give publishers more control over direct sales ads on their reserved ad inventory.
These updates, based on partner feedback, include:
Creative-Level Ad Badging Controls: Publishers can disable ad badging disclosures for specific ads they manage.
Badging Scope Options: Publishers can choose whether ad badging appears worldwide or only in the European Economic Area.
Mute This Ad Sunset: The “Mute This Ad” feature will be removed for reservation ads to simplify the system.
These changes aim to reduce complexity and improve the ad experience by ensuring ads appear as intended and comply with regional regulations.
Despite the increased flexibility, publishers must still adhere to relevant ad regulations. The updates will be rolled out later this year.
Pmax Google Ads API workshop
Google is holding an upcoming workshop on July 17 for Pmax and the Google Ads API. You can register here.
Policy update
In June 2024, Google will update its Healthcare and medicines policy to allow advertisers to discuss opioid painkillers without promoting or selling them.
For example, the update will allow advertisers who want to discuss public policy solutions for opioid painkiller abuse to do so if they have a new certification.
Removed box Server-Side container
Tika Spijkerman found out that Google has removed the box from server-side to include user-provided information in your Ads tag!
If you send user-provided information through your web-based container, it now gets included by default…!
Google is testing new methods to control Ad Blockers
Google will do everything it can to stop Adblockers and to increase ad revenue income from YouTube. This is an overall trend since they focus heavily on YouTube. For more information read this article.
Feed labels in the campaign process
Hana Kobzová found out that in some of her accounts, she can now select feed labels when creating a Pmax campaign.
I have seen this already before but she has not, so looks like some users still do not have access to this option, but it is slowly rolling out further.
Google Ads API v17
Starting with Google Ads API v17, the BatchJobService now supports AssetGroupOperation, allowing batch processing to create and manage entire Performance Max campaigns.
Batch processing is a powerful feature in the Google Ads API that allows you to send a set of operations, which might be interdependent, to multiple services simultaneously.
This feature includes automatic retries for transient errors and automatic grouping of operations.
Update the default User acquisition and Traffic acquisition
Google has updated the default User acquisition and Traffic acquisition reports to include the User key event rate and Session key event rate metrics.
New call asset & location test
Anthony Higman found out that Google is testing with this new call asset & location asset!
Google officially launched these new Looker Studio updates
Group Others Feature in Various Chart Types
The “Group Others” setting allows aggregation of data that falls outside specified limits into an “Others” category, facilitating comparison against the rest of the data.
This feature is available for:
– Table charts- Time series charts
– Bar and column charts- Pie charts
– Line and combo charts
– Area charts- Pivot table charts
– Treemap charts- Expanded Data Label Customization
The Style tab’s Data label section now offers enhanced customization, including options for font type, color, size, styling, background color, opacity, and border radius.
These options apply to:
– Area charts- Bar and column charts
– Line and combo charts
– Time series charts
New Bin Calculated Field TypeA new “Bin” calculated field type allows for the creation of numeric tiers for dimensions without using CASE WHEN expressions or SQL logic.
Color by Tooltip Option for Timeline ChartsA new “Color by tooltip” option lets users color timeline charts based on tooltip dimension values.
Google has made an update for Display & Video 360
A new selection process for insertion order objectives will set default KPIs, line item types, and bid strategies within an insertion order, simplifying the workflow and ensuring alignment with the overall goal.
This helps Display & Video 360 provide AI-powered optimizations and recommendations tailored to the specified KPI.
Existing insertion orders will have objectives assigned based on their current bidding strategies and line item types.
After creation, users can change the objective to “No objective,” making all KPIs, line item types, and bid strategies available.
Payment change for certain high-spenders
Jeremy Brandt shared this email that told him that some high-spending advertisers need to transite from credit or debit card payments to bank-based payments by July 31….
Sitelink change
Alex Pegg & Scott Carruthers found out that Google is testing with another color for sitelinks!
Uber Expands Journey Ads
Uber has expanded Journey Ads to new platforms like Google’s Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk, and Yahoo DSP.
This means that more Advertisers can now purchase display and video ads on the app and target consumers across three distinct phases of their trip.
Digital coupons are now live
Hana Kobzová found out that Digital coupons are now live in Google Ads. This new feature was announced in March.
Edit Funnel Reports
Julie Brade & 🛰️ Yoann FERRAND found out that Google has released the possibility to edit funnel reports in GA4!
Google Sheet > Looker Studio
Brais Calvo Vázquez found out that it is now possible to create a Looker Studio report directly from Google Sheets.