May 24, 2023
Google Marketing Live is Google’s annual event designed to showcase the latest ads product innovations so that people like us (your Paid Marketing agency of choice 😉) can help people like you (ambitious retail brands🚀) do more with your ad accounts. It’s typically a pretty long event… so, in honour of saving you stacks of time, we’ve condensed everything you need to know into one easy-to-read blog by our very own PPC Manager, Laura Williams...
Highlights
Our favourite two key features to watch out for
- Merchant Centre Product Image Enhancements
- Search Generative Experience
We'll cover in more depth why these are our products to watch out for but we're popping those on your radar early!
Conversational Experience
Talk with Google to get better suggestions
Creating an ad in Google Ads can sometimes be tricky - trying to curate 15 headlines and 4 descriptions that are unique when you may not have a lot of information to go on isn’t often easy.
Now, you can simply add in the URL of where you want the Search Ad to take the customer to, and Google will write your headlines and descriptions for you - revolutionary, I know.
But wait, there’s more!
Google’s ‘Conversational Experience’ allows you to talk with Google to give them more information to make your ads really stand out and be highly relevant to your landing pages. As an example, the landing page you’re leading customers to is skincare related, with products to hydrate the skin.
This might be what Google has seen - but not that all of the products are oil free and use aloe vera to prevent your skin feeling greasy... stay with me.
You can provide this information to Google and they’ll update their suggestions… and you can keep on providing them with more information to get better results.
Laura's Pros
- Creates four descriptions and 15 headlines, as well as provides you with stock images you can use.
- Can use it if you're stuck for additional headlines for more inspo (15 can be hard to write!)
- Simple to use, quick and easy way to write ads.
Laura's Cons
- They may not be the best (descriptions aren't Proper case but the headlines are, for example. Providing Google with more information should help with this however)
- You have to use the Google Ads interface to create the ads, so you’re creating them one at a time - and with dozens of ads to sometimes create, this could be time consuming.
We’d therefore recommend using this more if you’re stuck for headlines or descriptions and want some inspiration - or if you’re only targeting a few ad groups and need only a handful of ads creating.
Generative AI To Create Assets
The New DSA?
If a consumer searches for how to relieve dry, sensitive skin, AI generated headlines can better match the customer query.
As an example, we might currently see ads like this:
They’re very generic and may cover a wide range of keywords, so may not be very specific to the query. Using AI Generated Headlines and Descriptions however allows Google to better match the customer search...
Laura's Pros
- Drive better results in search campaigns.
- Google indicates you will be able to stop showing some assets from showing if you’re unhappy with them, giving some control to the marketer.
Laura's Cons
- Lack of control over creatives before they show.
- We’re unsure on how transparent Google will be on what ad copy actually shows.
Merchant Centre Enhanced Images
Make those images POP
When searching for products on Google Shopping, 9 times out of 10 you’re likely to see the product on a white background:
A lot of products that are uploaded to the Merchant Centre also only have one product image associated with them - despite the fact that products with more than one image see a 76% increase in impressions and a 32% increase in clicks.
A new feature of Google’s will allow you to add more images to the products… using Google’s own technology. This will enable you to take the product image, remove the background and replace it with a scene you generate.
You think those trainers you’re selling are out of this world? Well, why not showcase them in space!
(Or, a much more sensible usage of this feature is if your skincare product uses natural ingredients and is peach scented, show it surrounded by peaches in nature like the below example).
Google will provide four images to choose from which can then be applied to the product.
Laura’s Pros
- Generating additional images, images that will stand out - helping to increase impressions and clicks
Laura’s Cons
- Time consuming to do thousands of products - but it could be great to test this on some low performing IDs to see what impact they have on clicks through to your site!
Merchant Centre Next
Simplify The Merchant Centre Experience
Merchant Centre Next is Google’s way of simplifying the Merchant Centre for customers who may not know or can’t generate a feed - it should allow you to auto-connect data for your website, and give you more control over how products are shown in Google without the hassle of manually uploading a feed.
You’ll still get several benefits of the main Merchant Centre experience, including competitor insights.
Search Generative Experience (SGE)
The Future Of Search With AI
Picture the scene…
You’ve just booked to take your family on a two week trip to Maui.
Sun, beaches, relaxation… but the kids can only handle this for a few days before they get bored.
So, you want to plan some activities to keep them entertained. You search for ‘outdoor activities in Maui’
And Google provides you with a list of Sponsored ads, and below that a Generative AI experience - listing a variety of activities you can do in Hawaii.
You review them all and decide you want to take them on a hike (good luck!) - but they don’t have any backpacks. So, using the same experience, you can ask a follow up question of ‘what kids backpacks are good for hiking’
Google will provide a list of essentials when considering what bags to buy kids to hike. With this, they’ll also provide you with a list of backpacks that match this criteria through Google Shopping.
But whilst you’re there, you decide you want to do some surfing in Maui.
Whilst you’re searching for kids' backpacks, you then search for ‘will it be easy to teach them surfing?’ - and Google will know the conversation is continuing, and that ‘them’ refers to the kids.
If you're still following, congratulations - that was a lot.. but this new AI powered conversation takes cues from past searches and what you’re currently researching to understand what you’re asking for when not all the information is provided.
GA4 Audience Creation In Google Ads
Making It Easier To Create Audiences
It does pretty much what it says on the tin - no longer will you have to leave Google Ads and go into Analytics to create audiences - you will now be able to do this purely through Google Ads.
We hope you found the article useful with a new found understanding for what's next with Google in 2023! If you're in need of a helping hand with your own ads, we'd be happy to take a look. Get in touch with our team using the button below.
