There are very few advertising methods as cost-effective as Google Ads. With a plethora of ad types, precise keyword targeting, and access to billions of searchers, Google’s advertising platform is surely here to stay.
However, as the world is constantly changing, so do Google Ads. Staying on top of all the Google Ads updates and utilizing Ampd’s ad automation toolkit can help you to get the most out of your campaigns and grow a thriving online business.
Today, we are going to look at what’s new in Google Ads in 2021 and how you can use these major trends to give your ad campaigns a boost.
10 Google Ads Updates in 2021 So Far
Automation is changing the way marketers work, and most of the recent Google Ads updates are, in fact, related to machine learning and automation. Here is how:
Simplified Match Types
The different match types within Google Ads have evolved considerably over the years. As such, in 2012, Google announced the addition of syntactic keyword variants. Five years later, Google has altered the way the exact match type behaves by allowing adding or removing function words or reordering of keywords. Later on, Google has added the inclusion of implied words and synonyms to all of the match types available.
Finally, in February 2021, Google announced that they are introducing Simplified Match Types with the aim to reach more relevant customers, no matter how the search term is posed. This means that now, both broad match and phrase modifier keywords will match the same way and will display ads on searches that include the meaning of your keywords. In addition, the algorithm will take into consideration the word order when it is relevant to the intent.
For example, the keyword phrase “moving services NYC to Boston” will also display results for phrases like “corporate moving services NYC to Boston” or “NYC affordable moving services to Boston.” But Google won’t display results with a reversed direction, such as “Boston to NYC.”
Auto-Applied Recommendations
Another important Google Ads update is the Auto-Applied Recommendations Control Center. This serves as a “control panel” for automatically implementing Google Ads’ suggestions for all the accounts you manage. You will now have the ability to select which types of changes you want to be applied automatically in each account.
Simplified Campaign Structure
Forget about having granular breakdowns, single keyword ad groups, and creating multiple campaigns based on the device used. With Google’s new, more simplified campaign structure approach, you will be able to work with a smaller number of ad groups and a larger volume of keywords, considering every single user behavior signal.
The new algorithm will analyze the data from all the previous campaigns to optimize the current campaign and set the best bid. In addition, it will bid at the query level and on auction-time.
With this new Google Ads update, advertisers can focus on more important tasks, such as building a marketing strategy, while advanced machine learning takes care of the rest. What’s more, if you use Ampd to optimize and manage your ad campaigns, you can free up even more time to focus on other operational tasks.
Additional Data Required by Google Algorithm
Naturally, the Google algorithm needs all sorts of information to perform well. However, to make sure you succeed with the new changes, you are now required to add even more data, such as offline- or micro-conversions.
Examples of micro-conversions include what buttons people click on while they are visiting a page, at what points in the conversion process they stop, and more. These people may not have made a real conversion, but they have all the potential to do so. By using this data, the algorithm will display even more relevant information to the right audience segments to maximize your results.
New Types of Ad Campaigns
The types of ad campaigns available with Google is expanding with new types:
- Video action campaigns. This type of ad campaign can be used on YouTube only and will appear on YouTube video pages, its homepage, and on the Google Video partners network. You can make use of these video ads by taking advantage of the responsive video format with different descriptions, headlines, and CTA buttons.
- Discovery ads. These are display-based campaigns that will be shown in additional places, such as in Gmail, on YouTube, and on the discovery feed on your smartphones.
New Ad Formats
In addition to new ad campaigns, new ad formats and extensions are also being rolled out by Google:
- Responsive ads for Search, Display, and Video. These ads automatically change to fit the user and display more relevant messages. In a nutshell, Google Ads tests various combinations of images, text, and/or videos to find out what performs best.
- Lead form ad extensions. This extension is designed to help advertisers collect lead forms easily. You can position the Lead Form Ad Extension at the bottom of the ad, and the users will be able to submit their data directly. Then, you can integrate these leads into your CRM or download them manually. The extension works with Search Ads, Video Ads, Display Ads, and Discovery Ads.
New iOS 14 Policy Update
Back in 2020, Apple introduced the App Tracking Transparency policy update, which came into effect in the spring of 2021. The update focuses on stopping advertisers from gathering information through apps and sharing this information with other companies in order to track actions across various websites and apps. Instead, they must allow the user to authorize (or not) the app-tracking for the purposes of ad-targeting.
Of course, this will affect advertisers using the Google Ads platform. As announced by Google, “Apple’s ATT changes will reduce visibility into key metrics that show how ads drive conversions (like app installs and sales,) and will affect how advertisers value and bid on ad impressions.”
Giving Up Third-Party Cookies
Google is removing third-party cookies from Chrome in response to people’s need for privacy while they are browsing the web.
The current solution is Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), which will put large groups of people with similar interests into a cohort or cluster in order to reach them with relevant ads. This way, individual data is not visible, but advertisers can personalize their ad creative and offer to match the search intent.
New Country-Specific Taxes
Finally, new taxes are arising for certain countries around the globe. Google has already incorporated new taxes for advertisers in Spain and France, but now markets from other countries can expect additional costs every time an ad is served. The areas include Turkey, Austria, the UK, and, potentially, the state of Maryland in the U.S.
It is expected that this digital tax will slowly spread around the entire world.
Achieve the Ultimate Google Ads Success with Ampd
Achieving success with Google Ads has more than a few components to it: from staying on top of recent Google Ads updates, to understanding various campaign types and relevant metrics, to finding new ways to optimize ad performance and minimize Google Ads spend.
The good news is that Ampd’s turnkey ad automation tool can take much of the legwork out of managing and optimizing Google Ads to power up your success and return on investment. Get Ampd.
