Google Ads announced that it would be focusing on three priorities in 2022:
- Automation
- Measurement
- Privacy
But what the heck does that mean for marketers? We’re going to cover these priorities in reverse order.
Let’s start with Privacy:
When it comes to privacy Google has updated their privacy playbook from the advertiser and user perspective. Google is also rolling out new solutions to privacy and measurement including:
- Enhanced conversions
- Consent mode
- Conversion modeling
- Data-driven attribution
Measurement:
We have been reporting a lot on the cookieless future and how advertisers need to adapt. For advertisers, Google is encouraging building a direct relationships with customers through capturing first-party data for more 1:1 direct communication.
Automation:
Performance Max and Discovery campaigns fall under the Automation pillar and Google is emphasizing the use of these campaign types to advertisers. Both campaign types focus on reaching users at scale from a single campaign and have benefits like:
- Simple management (often fewer campaigns)
- Multi-channel reach
- Greater ad inventory
- Incremental conversions
But Performance Max reporting is limited. While you can add multiple asset groups, you will not receive performance metrics data on the assets. Assets are ranked against others of the same type, and assigned a rating. But then marketers are still left a little fuzzy on what’s exactly working.
Discovery campaigns are great for potentially immersive visual storytelling. Users can showcase one image of their product or service, or implement an engaging carousel. However, these ads are typically geared towards goods and not services.
As always, not all of the bells and whistles Google are good for marketers, particularly if you’re strictly a service-oriented industry. Sometimes, they’re better for ads.
