One thing that’s constant in PPC is change. To thrive in this industry, you have to be flexible and ready to adapt. But if it seems like right now there’s even more change than typical, it’s not just your imagination. One of the reasons is that Google is sunsetting the AdWords API on April 27, 2022 and after that date, all calls to the API will fail.
There are many questions I’ve heard related to this announcement and I’ll answer them in this post.
Can I still use a 3rd party PPC tool?
Yes, 3rd party PPC management tools will continue to exist. Google is merely transitioning from one API to another. Everything you could automate before will still be possible to automate with the new API.
Google is not killing off 3rd party ad management tools. In April 2021, Google released version 7 of their new Ads API which had all the same capabilities as the old AdWords API. At that time, they announced the old API would stop functioning in 2022. But any developer who is willing to make the effort to rewrite their code can continue to offer their software to advertisers. Optmyzr is on track for the transition and will continue to support advertisers with great PPC tools.
Why do advertisers have to use a new Ads API?
Google normally updates its API for advertisers 3 times per year. Each new version adds some new capabilities to bring it on par with what advertisers have access to when they log into the Google Ads website. New versions may also deprecate features that have been removed from the ads system. And there are always some housekeeping changes, like capabilities that get renamed to be more consistent with other parts of the API.
To make it possible for developers to migrate to the latest version of the API without breaking their tools for existing users, Google keeps several versions of their API available at any given time. However, they announce sunset dates for versions that are more than 2 cycles old. So when they go from version 8 to version 9, they announce the date when version 7 will stop working.
To keep up with this constant change, Optmyzr makes significant investments in its PPC tools every year. While we’re always building new features to make advertisers more successful, we also spend a lot of time updating existing tools so that they keep working even when Google makes changes behind the scenes in their API. Recently we’ve also started investing more in improving our user experience with new, more modern designs. We are planning even bigger investments in all these areas for 2022 to make our users happier.
What’s different about going from the AdWords API to the Ads API?
Changing from the AdWords API to the Ads API is a much more significant project and one we’ve been busy working on for many months. Our customers won’t notice any difference, but some of our tools already use the new API while others are waiting their turn to be migrated by our engineering team. A good tool like Optmyzr just keeps working even when there are big changes behind the scenes in terms of how we fetch data and how we make changes to an advertiser’s account when they apply changes to their account.
The level of effort in migrating to the Ads API is significant enough that some tools, like Wordstream, and some agencies with their own software, are changing their business models so they will no longer build tools for the Ads API.
Should advertisers build their own tools?
Some advertisers who are able to build tools using the API may still decide to use third party tools like Optmyzr so they don’t have to constantly spend money to keep things working. It’s one thing to build a cool new in-house PPC tool, but it’s quite another to have to spend a lot of time to keep it working with each new API version.
Optmyzr’s core business is PPC software so we can invest in the constant updates needed to keep things working with the latest APIs from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, and Yahoo because it’s an investment that benefits advertisers who spend a combined $4 billion per year on PPC. Individual advertisers on the other hand may not be able to afford the level of engineering resources required to manage this level of change when it benefits just their own business which spends far less than $4 billion per year on ads.
Why is Wordstream shutting down?
Another piece of news that’s making the rounds in the PPC world is that Wordstream is shutting down its Advisor software and asking existing customers to sign up for agency services. The timing of this may be somewhat related to the news about the Google Ads API.
As a complete outsider to Wordstream, let me share what I suspect happened. Wordstream was acquired by Gannett, a large media conglomerate, in 2018. Gannett made several acquisitions in the digital marketing space around that time.
After the acquisition, the pace of change in the Wordstream software slowed. The timing of this acquisition was fortunate for Gannett because Google temporarily halted their API sunset schedule. The reason is that they had just introduced the Ads API as a replacement for the AdWords API but the new API had significant performance issues. Since the new Ads API wasn’t working well, they couldn’t sunset the old AdWords API and so for almost 3 years, while Google was working on making the new Ads API better, developers could keep their software running with only very minimal investments in API updates. Wordstream was able to continue existing, even when Gannett wasn’t investing much in their technology.
Now that the AdWords API is shutting down, some companies may decide to scrap their tools and go in a different direction. For Gannett, it appears that they are prioritizing managed agency services over self-service software. And that means the end of Wordstream.
What are alternatives for Wordstream?
Optmyzr is one of many great alternatives for advertisers who want to manage their own PPC accounts with software. Over the years, we’ve had many Wordstream users successfully transition to Optmyzr.
If you loved their 20-minute workweek, you might enjoy Optmyzr Express which helps you quickly fix the biggest issues and capitalize on the biggest opportunities in your Google Ads or Microsoft Ads account.
If you liked their account audit and performance grader, you might enjoy Optmyzr’s PPC Policy and Audits which helps ensure your account is following best practices like how your account is structured, what types of ads and extensions you’re using, and much more.
Wordstream clients always ask if we have an alternative to Query Stream (we have the powerful Keyword Lasso), and if we have reporting where delivery to clients can be automated (we do, with a backup in case certain metric thresholds aren’t met).
Some of the other capabilities we offer include multi-platform budget controls to create budget groups that includes changing and pausing budgets in Facebook Ads; optimization, reporting and alerts for platforms like Amazon Ads; and metric and budget alerts for Facebook Ads (plus reporting)
Another key benefit of Optmyzr is that it’s more customizable than Wordstream. We’ll start you off quickly with a set of recommendations based on industry best practices but as you develop your own expertise, you can tweak any tool so that it recommends more of the things you like. And when you’re ready, you can even start to fully automate many of these optimizations.
What are alternatives to building in-house PPC tools?
If your agency is losing some PPC tools when the AdWords API sunsets in April 2022, first consider some of the many great tools built by 3rd parties like Optmyzr. Many of the PPC problems your tools were trying to solve are probably not unique to just your agency.
When you shop for a tool, be sure to ask how much it can be customized so that you can still add your own secret sauce to it. For example, at Optmyzr, we have a PPC rule builder which lets advertisers build and automate sophisticated strategies that are completely custom to your own operations. The tool can even bring in your own first-party data, something increasingly more important as privacy regulations make it harder to rely on 3rd party targeting signals.
Also ask whether the company you’re considering working with is able to customize things for your needs. At Optmyzr we have a custom PPC solutions team that works with top advertisers to do some really cool PPC projects. When we bring together smart advertisers with our team that knows Google Ads really well, we can do some unique things to give advertisers an edge in an ever-more competitive PPC market.
January 2021 is the kickstart for a new year of rising opportunity, in the hopes that we can build on our foundations and push for success. Those foundations supported by platform improvements to aid us towards our targets and help maintain balance when faced with unsettling uncertainty, such as the introduction of iOS 14.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – Data Exclusion
Periods For Smart Bidding
There have been times when a business has to work around troubles with stocking, warehouse capacity, and even periods of server outage, which can skew data consistency. When it comes to something as data-dependent as smart bidding, this can cause a real issue in assuming false assumptions in demand. Fortunately, you can now exclude a range of time where your tracking may have been down, so that smart bidding doesn’t take into account that period of misleading data. Whilst it’s a shame this wasn’t available last year when we needed it most, at least we can be more prepared going forward.
1.2 – Target ROAS Now With Bid Limits
Recently, we have seen changes to our Target ROAS campaigns, allowing us to set minimum and maximum bid limits, which wasn’t previously available. It’s a very welcome addition; we’ve had our share of smart bidding anomalies with a CPC so high, you start questioning Google’s strategy. The support documents for tROAS campaigns have been updated to include this new feature.
1.3 – Similar Audiences Come With A Size
Whilst opinions may vary for ‘similar to’ audiences, it’s still another tool in our belt for account optimization. You can now view an estimated audience size for these similar audiences, giving you a bit more transparency as you expand your targeting. There are limitations, however, with the estimates only appearing for Search audiences of more than 20,000 and Youtube audiences of more than 5,000.
2. Microsoft Advertising
2.1 – In-market Audiences Now In Beta For The EU Market
In their key product updates blog for January, Microsoft announced that In-market audiences will are available in beta for EU advertisers, with the exception of Belgium. What’s better is that you can import all your In-market audiences from Google with ease as they have updated the import process to accommodate these new changes. More audience options are always a good thing; more data leads to increased optimization.
In addition to the above, Microsoft have expanded the beta for Customer Match audiences to non- UK/EU/China advertisers and said they’re working on a Target Impression Share bid strategy to be released later down the line.
3. Facebook & Instagram
3.1 – Facebook Attribution Window Changes
In October we spoke about the changes to Facebook’s attribution window and how it’ll affect accounts and reporting. This was something that was due to take effect but it seems that for a lot of accounts it was delayed. Only recently have we seen notifications pop up confirming that these attribution changes have taken place. Below is a slightly amended version of what we wrote.
Due to changes in digital privacy, Facebook will be removing the 28-day attribution window option and will instead offer a 7-day window, which they claim is a more sustainable measurement strategy. We can’t stress just how necessary data is for advertising so it’s disheartening news to hear. Any historical account data before these changes will remain. During this transition, you may find your reports showing a downturn in performance, although it’s important to note that this may likely be down to how results are measured.
3.2 – iOS 14
iOS 14 has shaken up Facebook, causing a lot of advertisers to panic. However, it’s not all doom and gloom as according to a leading expert, certain conversions will still be recognized, even if an Apple user decides to opt-out of tracking. You’ll still lose out on a lot of other useful data that will be important to optimizing accounts but Facebook will still at least be able to track purchase or lead conversion events.
January Resolutions
Smart bidding and audiences have been the main focus for Google & Microsoft this past month, with new bid limits and data exclusion periods to help compensate for poor results and more audience tools to expand our targeting. Meanwhile, Facebook appears to have timed their attribution window changes in line with iOS 14 permission updates, potentially as a way to mitigate the length of data inconsistency.
To finalize this ambivalent year, the latest updates round off what the platforms have been building on for these last few months. Machine learning has pushed accounts forward, market demand has been record breaking and audience engagement is now more important than ever. Our strategy is governed by the resources available and all eyes are transfixed on what the next year has to bring.
1. Google Ads
Explanations Expand To Target CPA
Explanations is a new feature to Google Ads, previously in beta, that gives you additional insights regarding your campaigns and performance factors, such as bid adjustments affecting devices. We’ve seen these appear more and more in our tROAS campaigns to great benefit and now the feature will start showing for tCPA campaigns. This additional information is invaluable when strategizing forward, especially around the holiday season where budgets tend to shift.
Google Ads Editor v1.5
Google Ads Editor is a favorite of ours given how much you can do on the platform compared to the sluggish Google Ads web app interface. New updates provide new opportunities and with the recent v1.5 release we have access to more recommendations, ad strength for RSAs, and image extensions. Whilst the application is still lacking important insights such as Explanations above, the ability to filter for new metrics and make changes efficiently is always a big bonus.
2. Microsoft Advertising
Mixed Campaigns & Data Retention Changes
Microsoft added mixed campaigns to their platform, allowing you to combine both regular ad groups and dynamic ad groups into one sole campaign. This has a lot of potential, especially taking into account smart bidding and campaign goals, which both ad group types will be able to contribute toward. Whether you choose to combine your ad groups or keep them separate as not to skew metrics is entirely your call but for accounts with a smaller budget, this could be huge.
In the same update, Microsoft also announced increases to their data retention window for Universal Event Tracking with data being able to be retained for 390 days, compared to 180 days which it was previously. You will need to update the membership duration of your remarketing lists in order to take advantage of this increase.
3. Facebook & Instagram
Preparing For iOS 14
With the release of Apple’s iOS 14 update, they announced their AppTrackingTransparency framework in the fight for data privacy, which required apps to show the user how their tracking information is being used, specifically if that information is being sent elsewhere, which they can deny. It came as a tough blow to advertising platforms with Facebook including these prompts from January 2021. To combat this, they have provided an update on how they are adapting to this framework, alongside a range of advice on how to prepare your accounts.
Shopping Now On Whatsapp
With many businesses utilizing Whatsapp for their customers, Facebook are continuously releasing new features to cater for more efficient engagement. The latest update makes it easier to shop with ‘Carts’. Through Carts, you can browse the items you’re looking for and add products to your basket, ready to be sent back to the retailer. Given that Whatsapp is one of the most used and loved social media platforms in the world, this is incredibly powerful, it’s just a shame it didn’t come sooner.
A Quiet December
It’s been a quiet December for updates given how much the platforms have worked to accommodate the demand that 2020 brought. Still, there is continued focus to provide more tools for advertisers, with Google expanding their insights for tCPA campaigns, Microsoft increasing their data retention windows, and Facebook giving Whatsapp a shopping facelift.
This year has been a tough one for advertisers and has yet brought many opportunities with businesses adapting to online sales. Throughout this year we’ve seen many smart bidding success stories, free product listings available for retailers and more insights than we know what to do with. We hope you have enjoyed this year’s tech updates and wish you the best as we go into the near year.
As we close towards the end of this rather unusual year, changes are being made to prepare for 2021 in what could be an even bigger opportunity for e-commerce. We’ve seen many businesses adapting their main source of income to online platforms and consumers changing their spending habits in tandem. The market is full of amazing potential, these new features help us capitalize on that.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – Enhanced Tools For Campaign Creation
Expansion is something we all do within Google Ads and campaign creation is a big part of that. Whilst we all have checks to ensure that the right settings are there, it helps to have a system there to keep you informed of any tips or potential errors. That’s why Google have introduced new tools for creating campaigns, allowing you to do so in confidence.
1.2 – Auction Insights Now Available For Report Editor
The report editor is something many of us utilize as it’s a handy way of compiling metrics, segmenting by desired dimensions. You can now access auction insights to these reports, although the number of metrics you can attach to them is limited, similar to accessing auction insights data within Data Studio. Still, the additional layout options that report editor provides is a handy way of analyzing competition within the Google Ads platform.
1.3 – Simulated Insights For Smart Bidding
We’ve recently seen in some of our accounts a new feature for simulating budgets, Target CPA & Target ROAS changes. You can now see the effect changing these targets will have on your account for up to the next 90 days with some incredibly powerful forecasting that also, quite handily, caters for seasonality. We’re hoping this update gets rolled out across all accounts as it’s a great tool for future strategy.
On top of that, there are improvements to the platform, such as the ability to view recommendations within the bid strategy report, or view average target CPA/ROAS in the campaigns tab. Also, for search campaigns, you can hover over conversions to get an estimate of future conversions, after taking into account time lag. Little quality of life improvements like these are handy for efficiently navigating through the busy platform.
2. Microsoft Advertising
2.1 – Promotion Extensions For Microsoft Advertising
As Microsoft Ads continues to bring its platform up to date with the competition, the newest & more welcome addition is the ability to create promotion extensions to go alongside your ads. These extensions, much like Google’s, allow you to set defined promotions between a date range and even select the occasion. These are invaluable for seasonal periods such as Black Friday & Christmas, adding hugely beneficial information to your ads, increasing the likelihood of someone engaging.
2.2 – Recommendations, Keyword Planner & More
Continuing with their platform improvements, Microsoft announced a range of new features starting with updates to the Keyword Planner, giving more effective keyword suggestions and even allowing the opportunity to scrape URLs for more keyword opportunities. This has the core of dynamic search ads but built for a very proactive approach towards search campaigns. It will be interesting to see how these suggestions turn out.
What was a major update for Google Ads has now made its way to Microsoft, that being recommendations. Whether you have agreed or disagreed with some of the strategy tips recommendations have made in the past (more budget please), there’s always valuable information to give and insights to report on. Having the ability to access that in Microsoft Ads is a huge boost to the platform and one many advertisers will take advantage of.
3. Facebook & Instagram
3.1 – Branded Content For Instagram Reels
Recently, we talked about Instagram’s Reels, how they’re fighting Tiktok for competition, and the potential this format could have for advertisers. Well, it’s just got even better. You can use branded content tags to promote your business through Reels, with Live on the horizon. In a world where social media influencers are plenty, this brings about more options at your disposal.
In addition, there’s a more streamlined process for brands to incorporate their ads into creator content. No longer do you have to rely on an organic post, now using the new Creation Flow, advertisers can initialize the setup with the creator accepting the terms and posting to their feed. It’s a lovely bit of synergy that brings collaboration together in a much smoother fashion.
An Insightful November
The further we go down the path of smart bidding, the more insights we are rewarded with. This month Google & Microsoft have brought us more reporting options, proactive tools, and forecasting models to help strategize accounts towards a better future. Finally, we have Instagram providing tools to help advertisers and content creators work together for a seamless branding experience that benefits all parties.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visit Mabo.co.uk.
Artificial intelligence is bringing about a golden age of technological divination, opening up insights that predict futures and trends that shape the market. Advanced machine learning models change the way we work, always learning and adapting, providing us with an accurate array of digestible data. The latest features from this month include new tools to give advertisers the ability to tap into that unrelenting power.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – Google Insights Page & Performance Max Bidding
Google’s announced two additions to the Ads platform in their recent Advertising Week roundup. The Insights page, which initially will be available as a beta, will prove key trends and account information to help accounts push in those areas. It may show an interest in a certain product range, or forecast future growth opportunities which you will be able to optimize towards. It goes without saying just how incredibly useful this feature will be, allowing you to catch the latest trends in time and build your strategy around them.
Performance Max campaigns will serve as an addition to Search campaigns, helping find the signals that ultimately lead to a conversion. They will allow you to focus on several goals such as new customer acquisitions which will give the option to assign additional conversion value, calculated from the potential future revenue. However you intend to choose your goals and accompanying value, we’re receiving yet another tool to expand our already diverse toolkit.
1.2 – Data-Driven Attribution Changes
Attribution modeling has always been a hugely important part of accounts, and getting the right model can play a huge role in an account’s performance. The Data-Driven model is excellent as it’s unique to each account, using advanced learning to find the ads which had the highest impact for each conversion.
Fortunately, the data requirements for an account to be eligible for data-driven attribution have reduced to a minimum of 3,000 ad interactions and at least 300 conversions in the past 30 days; that’s down from 15,000 ad interactions and 600 conversion events in the past 30 days. Google have updated their support article with these changes.
In addition to this change, Youtube metrics have now been included in attribution reports so that you can see how much video metrics play a part in conversions, further expanding opportunities for advertisers. This is currently in beta so you’ll have to opt in to take advantage and to put the cherry on top, Google have mentioned that they’ve got plans to include Display ads in the upcoming months.
1.3 – Google Local Services Ads Now Available In Europe
Google introduced Google Local Services Ads a while ago, allowing users to find local businesses, book appointments & more. These ads initially came to US & Canadian audiences however they’ve recently expanded to include a host of European countries including the UK, France & Germany. With a focus on home service industries, such as plumbing or electricians, these unique ads are ideal for lead generation with the added ‘Google Guaranteed’ bonus.
1.4 – Google Analytics 4
The new update for Google Analytics utilizes the same machine learning, which has successfully powered the Ads platform, provides smarter data insights to push for success. Similar to the Insights page for Ads, these new insights can give access to current trends and user demand, alongside predictive metrics that can project the amount of revenue a group of customers can bring, producing new opportunities for custom audiences. It will also give deeper access to a customer’s journey, how they discovered your brand and how they engage with your content. It’s safe to say these new features, which require you need to create a new view to access, will be pivotal to anyone wanting to analyze their traffic.
2. Facebook & Instagram
2.1 – Facebook Attribution Window Changes
Due to changes in digital privacy, Facebook will be removing the 28-day attribution window option and will instead offer a 7-day window, which they claim is a more sustainable measurement strategy. We can’t stress just how necessary data is for advertising so it’s disheartening news to hear. These changes came into effect from the 12th of October; however, any historical account data will remain. During this transition, you may find your reports showing a downturn in performance, although it’s important to note that this may likely be down to how results are measured.
2.2 – Facebook’s New Language Model
The team behind Facebook’s incredible AI have announced significant changes to the way language is processed, moving forward to their multilingual machine translation model (MMT). Whereas before, the translation model used English as the connective language due to the extent of English data that’s available. The new model, named M2M-100, cuts out the English connection allowing for 2,200 language directions improving how the meaning of the original text is conveyed. This change brings for more accurate translations with a model that’s continually improving in a world that’s getting closer every day.
October’s Attribution To Success
This month’s changes seem to be heavily focused on attribution changes with Google now including Youtube into attribution reports and reducing the limitations for accounts to take on the data-driven model. To contrast that, Facebook have reduced their attribution window from 28 to 7 days but have at least updated their ad policies allowing for more lenient creatives. Finally, Google Analytics has seen a new update to bring in advanced machine learning features, a massive benefit to all platforms.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visit Mabo.co.uk.
As we come to the end of Q3, preparations are underway to take advantage of the seasonal peaks to maximize on this upcoming potential. The ability to access a monumental amount of data is our biggest ally in the battle for profitability. New updates can come as a rallying cry of innovation or a new hurdle to surpass; the way we react to these changes can be a defining attribute for any advertiser.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – Google reducing visibility for search terms
In a heavily disputed move, Google announced on the Ads platform that they will start hiding low-traffic search terms, only showing high-traffic results. To confirm, even if that term received a click, it might not show up.
Data is king in this industry, whatever the amount, so this move has received some rather negative feedback. According to Google, this is a move to support privacy and protect user data, which seems slightly hypocritical considering how many user signals are tracked and used for smart bidding.
1.2 – In-market audiences available for shopping campaigns
Google’s latest CSS newsletter has announced that in-market audiences have officially been launched for Shopping campaigns, a hugely welcome feature for many of us. With smart bidding taking away a lot of optimization opportunities, audiences are now more critical than ever given that you can still enhance your smart bidding through adjustments. Additional audiences bring more options for you to optimize your bidding, allowing you to utilize that data tweak your bidding on a more granular level.
1.3 – Create rules more efficiently in merchant center
Feed rules have become even easier to do in the Merchant Center. You can add multiple words and phrases within a single rule with new options giving access to ‘any of’ variants, such as ‘contains any of’. Gone are the days of arduously creating a rule for each query to action on; quality-of-life improvements like these are a real step forward for user efficiency.
2. Microsoft Ads
2.1 – Dynamic Remarketing & more
One of the best additions this month comes from Microsoft, giving us a huge boost just in time for the holiday season with some powerful audience features.
Dynamic Remarketing is now accessible for advertisers, allowing you to target your audience with the very products they’ve been viewing; a perfect fit for Black Friday, Christmas and more. Go one step further with LinkedIn Profile Targeting, giving you a unique approach to create custom audiences based on a user’s company, job function and industry.
Finally, in-market audiences are now available for both France and Germany.
Google’s answer to tackling the new DST fees is one that’s come with shock, with them imposing the tax onto the advertiser’s bill as a percentage of spend. Initially affecting the UK, Austria and Turkey, the fees will start as of November 1 with a straight 2% of a UK account’s monthly spend being added onto the bill, rising to 5% for Austria & Turkey accounts.
Although this fee impacts all businesses, it does seem exceptionally harsh to SMEs, having just dealt with the economic repercussions of lockdown.
3.2 – Amazon following suit
Amazon has followed the same approach as Google by forwarding the new tax onto its sellers, their justification being that they absorbed the DST whilst the legislation was in the process of being passed. The fees for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) will increase by 2% as of September 1 and 15, respectively.
3.3 – Facebook’s heroic response
Facebook has a history of sour representation given David Fincher’s powerful 2010 drama and congressional hearing that sprouted several unflattering memes. Yet in an inspiring move, they have announced their intention to absorb the new tax so that it’s not passed onto sellers.
We’re seeing a rare glimpse of ethical responsibility coming from Facebook in a bold act that will surely improve their image.
A controversial September
This September is one that advertisers may hope to forget. Despite Google bringing some practical updates, they’ve also included some revisions which are arguably more detrimental to the ads platform. Amazon continues to be frugal and Facebook is taking an unexpected moral high ground, though we’re yet to hear any official word from Microsoft.
Unlike the last two months showering us with utility updates, this month hasn’t been half as fruitful.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visitMabo.co.uk.
With 2020 giving us a very testing year so far, there have been some promising insights from reports showing a massive surge in mobile usage, with the majority of us adapting our lifestyles through the palm of our hands.
Whether it’s browsing the digital shelves of your favorite supermarket or checking out the latest pop culture trends, the industry is transforming to our current needs. Learning to harness this potential and take advantage of new technology is how we can survive in this brave new world.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – App Campaigns get some love
You will soon have more flexibility when adding image assets to app campaigns, with a new focus on aspect ratio rather than the current set size collection available. Google wants to simplify the process to make it easier for advertisers to add more creatives.
On top of this, there’s a hefty increase to file limit size, going from 150kb to 5MB, so no more resizing images because they’re a few kilobytes too big!
Continuing with their app campaign updates, you can now apply Maximize Conversions for installs, giving you more options to help you optimize your accounts, building your campaign towards your desired target cost per install (tCPI).
The attention they are giving to App Campaigns is hugely welcome, especially with recent app projections showing that global ad spend is set to increase by over $40 billion by 2022 (AppsFlyer 2020).
1.2 – Lead forms now available for YouTube Discovery Ads
The lead form extension is a new feature that came to our eyes towards the end of 2019. Since then, we’ve seen some great results coming from this mobile-friendly format. With lockdown still in effect for many of us, YouTube usage has climbed rather dramatically (myself threefold), hence why Google have released lead forms for discovery ads.
This addition is very beneficial for both parties, with advertisers having more access to engagement and reducing the amount of app-switching ads taking users away from their favorite cat videos.
1.3 – A new direction for Showcase Shopping Ads
Due to hands-on feedback, there’s a new way in which Showcase Shopping Ads will function. No longer will these take to you to a mini-page within Google displaying a list of products under a headline banner.
Instead, these swipeable ads, arranged by each retailer, will be in a carousel-style format, similar to how standard Shopping ads look. Clicking on the product will take you straight to the retailer’s website, although this new direct approach will count as an engagement.
It’s interesting to see taking action on shoppers’ feedback as these top-page ads can be immensely powerful in showcasing your content.
1.4 – Merchant Centre changes & more
We’ve seen a subtle update come to the Merchant Centre with the way countries are targeted, or in this case, how countries can be untargeted.
There’s a new feed attribute in town and its name is ‘shopping_ads_excluded_country’. This new property allows you to exclude certain products (or all) from specific countries, beneficial for those products that might not fit a particular country’s requirements, instead of having to diagnose disapprovals.
On a side note, we’ve seen a few issues arise from this, most notably an increase in active and disapproved items given the changes to how the merchant centre targets countries. If you’ve seen similar trends in Merchant Centre, we’d highly recommend checking your feed targeting and language options and an overall audit to diagnose any differences.
There’s an additional help article provided to give more insight into targeting multiple countries; you might find that you have to utilize this new feed attribute sooner than you thought.
2. Microsoft Ads
2.1 – Free Product Listings
Just as we spoke about in last month’s update, the surge in online shopping is at an all-time high with Facebook and Google making significant changes to their e-commerce systems.
Microsoft are doing the same by offering product listings for free, giving retailers access to promote their products in the bing shopping tab. This new revision will be automatically applied to those with a Microsoft Merchant Center, however it’s currently limited to US advertisers with plans to extend this service for other countries later down the line.
It goes without saying how much this will help accounts of all sizes; it’s not often you hear the words ‘free traffic’.
3. Instagram Ads
3.1 – Engage your audience through Instagram Reels
Whilst Instagram’s latest addition might be a bit more influencer-friendly, one can’t turn away from a new area to spotlight their services. Instagram Reels provides a different way to create short videos with internal creative tools to help merge multiple videos, add custom audio, and make them sparkle.
The major highlight of Reels is that they can also feature in the Explore section, with an ample amount of real estate dedicated. Given just how much TikTok has established itself as a new headliner for social media and the political risk of its future, it makes absolute sense that Instagram followed suit by releasing Reels.
Another ‘Appy Summer For August
The continued focus on e-commerce is still the highest priority, with announcements to further improve Google and Microsoft’s merchant centers, giving us more customization to promote worldwide.
Despite this, mobile-oriented marketing has been the real winner for August with investment in apps and their respective ads. The monumental rise in lockdown-induced traffic is bursting with opportunity; the big platforms know this, and they are giving us the new tools we need to tap into those audiences.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visitMabo.co.uk.
The paid advertising industry is a continuous train ride of updates that, if you don’t keep up with, you’ll eventually get left behind. We’ve seen some major acceleration come with automation, how responsive ads & smart bidding are redefining our roles in the field.
To master these changes is to understand how to utilize them to their fullest.
Each month, we’ll break down the latest digest from the industry, giving you the head start you need to stay on track and the knowledge that you’re one step ahead.
1. Google Ads
1.1 New Features For Responsive Search Ads
Google have already shown us just how effective Responsive Search Ads were when they came about but now they’re taking them to the next level. To further enhance just how dynamic these ads can be, you can now insert locations and use custom countdowns.
It’s good to see updates on their latest products to include these already powerful features.
To quote Google, “Over 80% of digital marketers’ time is spent on manual tasks like reporting, while only 20% is spent on strategy.” We can find ourselves utilizing valuable time just getting the right data into the right place.
Thankfully they have our back with asset reporting, adding performance ratings & including descriptions, allowing you to analyze the ad copy that’s performing best — a very useful area for consolidating performance across your ads, which later becomes helpful for AB testing.
To learn more about these new Responsive Search Ads features, click here.
1.2 A new look for Responsive Display Ads
Google have recently brought new additions to their Responsive Display Ads, focusing on customer engagement, with new designs & automated video. Three new ad layouts have been added to the mix, designed for engagement but with a crisp aesthetic in mind.
Also, you can now automatically create video ads just by using the images and ad copy available, using animations to switch between the assets to create an engaging experience for the user. The is a great resource for those smaller firms who might not have the funding or capacity to create custom video ads.
To find out more about the new looks for responsive display ads, click here.
1.3 Buy On Google goes commission-free
Image courtesy of Google.com
We can all appreciate a seamless checkout experience with Amazon leading in that area. To fight back, Google released their own checkout service ‘Buy on Google’ but unfortunately for merchants, it came with a fee. Not anymore.
Starting in the US, the checkout service has zero commissions granting retailers free access to this payment system, dealing a major blow to Amazon. As we see our audiences shifting more towards this purchase option, it can only mean more weight being added to paid ads.
2.1 Discover powerful new keywords with Keyword Planner
In true Microsoft style, features we know and love from Google Ads are continually being added to Microsoft’s platform with the latest update bringing the Keyword Planner. Some accounts may not have the ability to import existing data so having this tool to help expand new campaigns is another step forward.
3.1 Facebook’s Shops: A revolution in social media shopping
Facebook have released some exciting and much-needed changes pushing their shopping presence into an impressive new direction. Facebook Shops allows users to buy products straight from their account, through a ‘catalogue’ of regularly updated stock, essentially their version of a shopping feed.
Users can add their payment information to their account, alongside other information such as size, resulting in a shop’s page dynamically showing the products available with a system to purchase without having to venture through their website.
This is huge for social media advertisers, where Analytics and a convoluted sales funnel was one of the main ways to gauge performance. The ability to have direct attribution coming straight from the Shops platform for metrics such as revenue & ROAS will be priceless for advertisers.
Advertisers can check stock, upload inventory, check insights and more through the Commerce Manager, the centralized hub for Facebook Shops. Granted that their platform already has over 2 billion monthly active users, the potential here is mind-blowing.
UK businesses will have to hold on though, with this service only being available in the US to start with unless they can get hold of an American bank account.
It doesn’t stop there though as with the Facebook Shops platform, you can create augmented reality ads, which allows users to envision how that particular product might look in their living room or if that shirt they like goes with their favorite pair of jeans.
To find out more about Facebook Shops, click here and to find out more about Commerce Manager, click here.
3.2 Facebook’s Roadmap
Building on their 10-year roadmap, Mark Zuckerberg’s recent talks have continued talking about how to combine their services, Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp. They have announced plans to merge the chats of these services into one.
Whether that’s just the technical infrastructure of the app itself hasn’t fully been confirmed but with ads now present in Messenger, this potential merge could introduce more opportunities, or frustration, to these social media networks.
What does this mean for the future?
July brings a step forward for PPC providers chasing in the footsteps of the giant that is Google, who themselves are further emphasizing the future that is dynamic advertising.
We’re seeing Microsoft establishing themselves as a top player adding more enticing features to their platform and rumors that Smart Shopping is on the horizon.
The e-commerce experience is drastically improving with Google & Facebook retaliating against Amazon giving retailers & consumers more options to buy directly.
Our creativity is progressing at an incredible level, where we can utilize the vast amount of user data available to create ads tailored to the individual. The industry is rapidly evolving and it’s our job to keep up.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visitMabo.co.uk.
One thing that’s constant in PPC is change. To thrive in this industry, you have to be flexible and ready to adapt. But if it seems like right now there’s even more change than typical, it’s not just your imagination. One of the reasons is that Google is sunsetting the AdWords API on April 27, 2022 and after that date, all calls to the API will fail.
There are many questions I’ve heard related to this announcement and I’ll answer them in this post.
Can I still use a 3rd party PPC tool?
Yes, 3rd party PPC management tools will continue to exist. Google is merely transitioning from one API to another. Everything you could automate before will still be possible to automate with the new API.
Google is not killing off 3rd party ad management tools. In April 2021, Google released version 7 of their new Ads API which had all the same capabilities as the old AdWords API. At that time, they announced the old API would stop functioning in 2022. But any developer who is willing to make the effort to rewrite their code can continue to offer their software to advertisers. Optmyzr is on track for the transition and will continue to support advertisers with great PPC tools.
Why do advertisers have to use a new Ads API?
Google normally updates its API for advertisers 3 times per year. Each new version adds some new capabilities to bring it on par with what advertisers have access to when they log into the Google Ads website. New versions may also deprecate features that have been removed from the ads system. And there are always some housekeeping changes, like capabilities that get renamed to be more consistent with other parts of the API.
To make it possible for developers to migrate to the latest version of the API without breaking their tools for existing users, Google keeps several versions of their API available at any given time. However, they announce sunset dates for versions that are more than 2 cycles old. So when they go from version 8 to version 9, they announce the date when version 7 will stop working.
To keep up with this constant change, Optmyzr makes significant investments in its PPC tools every year. While we’re always building new features to make advertisers more successful, we also spend a lot of time updating existing tools so that they keep working even when Google makes changes behind the scenes in their API. Recently we’ve also started investing more in improving our user experience with new, more modern designs. We are planning even bigger investments in all these areas for 2022 to make our users happier.
What’s different about going from the AdWords API to the Ads API?
Changing from the AdWords API to the Ads API is a much more significant project and one we’ve been busy working on for many months. Our customers won’t notice any difference, but some of our tools already use the new API while others are waiting their turn to be migrated by our engineering team. A good tool like Optmyzr just keeps working even when there are big changes behind the scenes in terms of how we fetch data and how we make changes to an advertiser’s account when they apply changes to their account.
The level of effort in migrating to the Ads API is significant enough that some tools, like Wordstream, and some agencies with their own software, are changing their business models so they will no longer build tools for the Ads API.
Should advertisers build their own tools?
Some advertisers who are able to build tools using the API may still decide to use third party tools like Optmyzr so they don’t have to constantly spend money to keep things working. It’s one thing to build a cool new in-house PPC tool, but it’s quite another to have to spend a lot of time to keep it working with each new API version.
Optmyzr’s core business is PPC software so we can invest in the constant updates needed to keep things working with the latest APIs from Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, and Yahoo because it’s an investment that benefits advertisers who spend a combined $4 billion per year on PPC. Individual advertisers on the other hand may not be able to afford the level of engineering resources required to manage this level of change when it benefits just their own business which spends far less than $4 billion per year on ads.
Why is Wordstream shutting down?
Another piece of news that’s making the rounds in the PPC world is that Wordstream is shutting down its Advisor software and asking existing customers to sign up for agency services. The timing of this may be somewhat related to the news about the Google Ads API.
As a complete outsider to Wordstream, let me share what I suspect happened. Wordstream was acquired by Gannett, a large media conglomerate, in 2018. Gannett made several acquisitions in the digital marketing space around that time.
After the acquisition, the pace of change in the Wordstream software slowed. The timing of this acquisition was fortunate for Gannett because Google temporarily halted their API sunset schedule. The reason is that they had just introduced the Ads API as a replacement for the AdWords API but the new API had significant performance issues. Since the new Ads API wasn’t working well, they couldn’t sunset the old AdWords API and so for almost 3 years, while Google was working on making the new Ads API better, developers could keep their software running with only very minimal investments in API updates. Wordstream was able to continue existing, even when Gannett wasn’t investing much in their technology.
Now that the AdWords API is shutting down, some companies may decide to scrap their tools and go in a different direction. For Gannett, it appears that they are prioritizing managed agency services over self-service software. And that means the end of Wordstream.
What are alternatives for Wordstream?
Optmyzr is one of many great alternatives for advertisers who want to manage their own PPC accounts with software. Over the years, we’ve had many Wordstream users successfully transition to Optmyzr.
If you loved their 20-minute workweek, you might enjoy Optmyzr Express which helps you quickly fix the biggest issues and capitalize on the biggest opportunities in your Google Ads or Microsoft Ads account.
If you liked their account audit and performance grader, you might enjoy Optmyzr’s PPC Policy and Audits which helps ensure your account is following best practices like how your account is structured, what types of ads and extensions you’re using, and much more.
Wordstream clients always ask if we have an alternative to Query Stream (we have the powerful Keyword Lasso), and if we have reporting where delivery to clients can be automated (we do, with a backup in case certain metric thresholds aren’t met).
Some of the other capabilities we offer include multi-platform budget controls to create budget groups that includes changing and pausing budgets in Facebook Ads; optimization, reporting and alerts for platforms like Amazon Ads; and metric and budget alerts for Facebook Ads (plus reporting)
Another key benefit of Optmyzr is that it’s more customizable than Wordstream. We’ll start you off quickly with a set of recommendations based on industry best practices but as you develop your own expertise, you can tweak any tool so that it recommends more of the things you like. And when you’re ready, you can even start to fully automate many of these optimizations.
What are alternatives to building in-house PPC tools?
If your agency is losing some PPC tools when the AdWords API sunsets in April 2022, first consider some of the many great tools built by 3rd parties like Optmyzr. Many of the PPC problems your tools were trying to solve are probably not unique to just your agency.
When you shop for a tool, be sure to ask how much it can be customized so that you can still add your own secret sauce to it. For example, at Optmyzr, we have a PPC rule builder which lets advertisers build and automate sophisticated strategies that are completely custom to your own operations. The tool can even bring in your own first-party data, something increasingly more important as privacy regulations make it harder to rely on 3rd party targeting signals.
Also ask whether the company you’re considering working with is able to customize things for your needs. At Optmyzr we have a custom PPC solutions team that works with top advertisers to do some really cool PPC projects. When we bring together smart advertisers with our team that knows Google Ads really well, we can do some unique things to give advertisers an edge in an ever-more competitive PPC market.
January 2021 is the kickstart for a new year of rising opportunity, in the hopes that we can build on our foundations and push for success. Those foundations supported by platform improvements to aid us towards our targets and help maintain balance when faced with unsettling uncertainty, such as the introduction of iOS 14.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – Data Exclusion
Periods For Smart Bidding
There have been times when a business has to work around troubles with stocking, warehouse capacity, and even periods of server outage, which can skew data consistency. When it comes to something as data-dependent as smart bidding, this can cause a real issue in assuming false assumptions in demand. Fortunately, you can now exclude a range of time where your tracking may have been down, so that smart bidding doesn’t take into account that period of misleading data. Whilst it’s a shame this wasn’t available last year when we needed it most, at least we can be more prepared going forward.
1.2 – Target ROAS Now With Bid Limits
Recently, we have seen changes to our Target ROAS campaigns, allowing us to set minimum and maximum bid limits, which wasn’t previously available. It’s a very welcome addition; we’ve had our share of smart bidding anomalies with a CPC so high, you start questioning Google’s strategy. The support documents for tROAS campaigns have been updated to include this new feature.
1.3 – Similar Audiences Come With A Size
Whilst opinions may vary for ‘similar to’ audiences, it’s still another tool in our belt for account optimization. You can now view an estimated audience size for these similar audiences, giving you a bit more transparency as you expand your targeting. There are limitations, however, with the estimates only appearing for Search audiences of more than 20,000 and Youtube audiences of more than 5,000.
2. Microsoft Advertising
2.1 – In-market Audiences Now In Beta For The EU Market
In their key product updates blog for January, Microsoft announced that In-market audiences will are available in beta for EU advertisers, with the exception of Belgium. What’s better is that you can import all your In-market audiences from Google with ease as they have updated the import process to accommodate these new changes. More audience options are always a good thing; more data leads to increased optimization.
In addition to the above, Microsoft have expanded the beta for Customer Match audiences to non- UK/EU/China advertisers and said they’re working on a Target Impression Share bid strategy to be released later down the line.
3. Facebook & Instagram
3.1 – Facebook Attribution Window Changes
In October we spoke about the changes to Facebook’s attribution window and how it’ll affect accounts and reporting. This was something that was due to take effect but it seems that for a lot of accounts it was delayed. Only recently have we seen notifications pop up confirming that these attribution changes have taken place. Below is a slightly amended version of what we wrote.
Due to changes in digital privacy, Facebook will be removing the 28-day attribution window option and will instead offer a 7-day window, which they claim is a more sustainable measurement strategy. We can’t stress just how necessary data is for advertising so it’s disheartening news to hear. Any historical account data before these changes will remain. During this transition, you may find your reports showing a downturn in performance, although it’s important to note that this may likely be down to how results are measured.
3.2 – iOS 14
iOS 14 has shaken up Facebook, causing a lot of advertisers to panic. However, it’s not all doom and gloom as according to a leading expert, certain conversions will still be recognized, even if an Apple user decides to opt-out of tracking. You’ll still lose out on a lot of other useful data that will be important to optimizing accounts but Facebook will still at least be able to track purchase or lead conversion events.
January Resolutions
Smart bidding and audiences have been the main focus for Google & Microsoft this past month, with new bid limits and data exclusion periods to help compensate for poor results and more audience tools to expand our targeting. Meanwhile, Facebook appears to have timed their attribution window changes in line with iOS 14 permission updates, potentially as a way to mitigate the length of data inconsistency.
To finalize this ambivalent year, the latest updates round off what the platforms have been building on for these last few months. Machine learning has pushed accounts forward, market demand has been record breaking and audience engagement is now more important than ever. Our strategy is governed by the resources available and all eyes are transfixed on what the next year has to bring.
1. Google Ads
Explanations Expand To Target CPA
Explanations is a new feature to Google Ads, previously in beta, that gives you additional insights regarding your campaigns and performance factors, such as bid adjustments affecting devices. We’ve seen these appear more and more in our tROAS campaigns to great benefit and now the feature will start showing for tCPA campaigns. This additional information is invaluable when strategizing forward, especially around the holiday season where budgets tend to shift.
Google Ads Editor v1.5
Google Ads Editor is a favorite of ours given how much you can do on the platform compared to the sluggish Google Ads web app interface. New updates provide new opportunities and with the recent v1.5 release we have access to more recommendations, ad strength for RSAs, and image extensions. Whilst the application is still lacking important insights such as Explanations above, the ability to filter for new metrics and make changes efficiently is always a big bonus.
2. Microsoft Advertising
Mixed Campaigns & Data Retention Changes
Microsoft added mixed campaigns to their platform, allowing you to combine both regular ad groups and dynamic ad groups into one sole campaign. This has a lot of potential, especially taking into account smart bidding and campaign goals, which both ad group types will be able to contribute toward. Whether you choose to combine your ad groups or keep them separate as not to skew metrics is entirely your call but for accounts with a smaller budget, this could be huge.
In the same update, Microsoft also announced increases to their data retention window for Universal Event Tracking with data being able to be retained for 390 days, compared to 180 days which it was previously. You will need to update the membership duration of your remarketing lists in order to take advantage of this increase.
3. Facebook & Instagram
Preparing For iOS 14
With the release of Apple’s iOS 14 update, they announced their AppTrackingTransparency framework in the fight for data privacy, which required apps to show the user how their tracking information is being used, specifically if that information is being sent elsewhere, which they can deny. It came as a tough blow to advertising platforms with Facebook including these prompts from January 2021. To combat this, they have provided an update on how they are adapting to this framework, alongside a range of advice on how to prepare your accounts.
Shopping Now On Whatsapp
With many businesses utilizing Whatsapp for their customers, Facebook are continuously releasing new features to cater for more efficient engagement. The latest update makes it easier to shop with ‘Carts’. Through Carts, you can browse the items you’re looking for and add products to your basket, ready to be sent back to the retailer. Given that Whatsapp is one of the most used and loved social media platforms in the world, this is incredibly powerful, it’s just a shame it didn’t come sooner.
A Quiet December
It’s been a quiet December for updates given how much the platforms have worked to accommodate the demand that 2020 brought. Still, there is continued focus to provide more tools for advertisers, with Google expanding their insights for tCPA campaigns, Microsoft increasing their data retention windows, and Facebook giving Whatsapp a shopping facelift.
This year has been a tough one for advertisers and has yet brought many opportunities with businesses adapting to online sales. Throughout this year we’ve seen many smart bidding success stories, free product listings available for retailers and more insights than we know what to do with. We hope you have enjoyed this year’s tech updates and wish you the best as we go into the near year.
As we close towards the end of this rather unusual year, changes are being made to prepare for 2021 in what could be an even bigger opportunity for e-commerce. We’ve seen many businesses adapting their main source of income to online platforms and consumers changing their spending habits in tandem. The market is full of amazing potential, these new features help us capitalize on that.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – Enhanced Tools For Campaign Creation
Expansion is something we all do within Google Ads and campaign creation is a big part of that. Whilst we all have checks to ensure that the right settings are there, it helps to have a system there to keep you informed of any tips or potential errors. That’s why Google have introduced new tools for creating campaigns, allowing you to do so in confidence.
1.2 – Auction Insights Now Available For Report Editor
The report editor is something many of us utilize as it’s a handy way of compiling metrics, segmenting by desired dimensions. You can now access auction insights to these reports, although the number of metrics you can attach to them is limited, similar to accessing auction insights data within Data Studio. Still, the additional layout options that report editor provides is a handy way of analyzing competition within the Google Ads platform.
1.3 – Simulated Insights For Smart Bidding
We’ve recently seen in some of our accounts a new feature for simulating budgets, Target CPA & Target ROAS changes. You can now see the effect changing these targets will have on your account for up to the next 90 days with some incredibly powerful forecasting that also, quite handily, caters for seasonality. We’re hoping this update gets rolled out across all accounts as it’s a great tool for future strategy.
On top of that, there are improvements to the platform, such as the ability to view recommendations within the bid strategy report, or view average target CPA/ROAS in the campaigns tab. Also, for search campaigns, you can hover over conversions to get an estimate of future conversions, after taking into account time lag. Little quality of life improvements like these are handy for efficiently navigating through the busy platform.
2. Microsoft Advertising
2.1 – Promotion Extensions For Microsoft Advertising
As Microsoft Ads continues to bring its platform up to date with the competition, the newest & more welcome addition is the ability to create promotion extensions to go alongside your ads. These extensions, much like Google’s, allow you to set defined promotions between a date range and even select the occasion. These are invaluable for seasonal periods such as Black Friday & Christmas, adding hugely beneficial information to your ads, increasing the likelihood of someone engaging.
2.2 – Recommendations, Keyword Planner & More
Continuing with their platform improvements, Microsoft announced a range of new features starting with updates to the Keyword Planner, giving more effective keyword suggestions and even allowing the opportunity to scrape URLs for more keyword opportunities. This has the core of dynamic search ads but built for a very proactive approach towards search campaigns. It will be interesting to see how these suggestions turn out.
What was a major update for Google Ads has now made its way to Microsoft, that being recommendations. Whether you have agreed or disagreed with some of the strategy tips recommendations have made in the past (more budget please), there’s always valuable information to give and insights to report on. Having the ability to access that in Microsoft Ads is a huge boost to the platform and one many advertisers will take advantage of.
3. Facebook & Instagram
3.1 – Branded Content For Instagram Reels
Recently, we talked about Instagram’s Reels, how they’re fighting Tiktok for competition, and the potential this format could have for advertisers. Well, it’s just got even better. You can use branded content tags to promote your business through Reels, with Live on the horizon. In a world where social media influencers are plenty, this brings about more options at your disposal.
In addition, there’s a more streamlined process for brands to incorporate their ads into creator content. No longer do you have to rely on an organic post, now using the new Creation Flow, advertisers can initialize the setup with the creator accepting the terms and posting to their feed. It’s a lovely bit of synergy that brings collaboration together in a much smoother fashion.
An Insightful November
The further we go down the path of smart bidding, the more insights we are rewarded with. This month Google & Microsoft have brought us more reporting options, proactive tools, and forecasting models to help strategize accounts towards a better future. Finally, we have Instagram providing tools to help advertisers and content creators work together for a seamless branding experience that benefits all parties.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visit Mabo.co.uk.
Artificial intelligence is bringing about a golden age of technological divination, opening up insights that predict futures and trends that shape the market. Advanced machine learning models change the way we work, always learning and adapting, providing us with an accurate array of digestible data. The latest features from this month include new tools to give advertisers the ability to tap into that unrelenting power.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – Google Insights Page & Performance Max Bidding
Google’s announced two additions to the Ads platform in their recent Advertising Week roundup. The Insights page, which initially will be available as a beta, will prove key trends and account information to help accounts push in those areas. It may show an interest in a certain product range, or forecast future growth opportunities which you will be able to optimize towards. It goes without saying just how incredibly useful this feature will be, allowing you to catch the latest trends in time and build your strategy around them.
Performance Max campaigns will serve as an addition to Search campaigns, helping find the signals that ultimately lead to a conversion. They will allow you to focus on several goals such as new customer acquisitions which will give the option to assign additional conversion value, calculated from the potential future revenue. However you intend to choose your goals and accompanying value, we’re receiving yet another tool to expand our already diverse toolkit.
1.2 – Data-Driven Attribution Changes
Attribution modeling has always been a hugely important part of accounts, and getting the right model can play a huge role in an account’s performance. The Data-Driven model is excellent as it’s unique to each account, using advanced learning to find the ads which had the highest impact for each conversion.
Fortunately, the data requirements for an account to be eligible for data-driven attribution have reduced to a minimum of 3,000 ad interactions and at least 300 conversions in the past 30 days; that’s down from 15,000 ad interactions and 600 conversion events in the past 30 days. Google have updated their support article with these changes.
In addition to this change, Youtube metrics have now been included in attribution reports so that you can see how much video metrics play a part in conversions, further expanding opportunities for advertisers. This is currently in beta so you’ll have to opt in to take advantage and to put the cherry on top, Google have mentioned that they’ve got plans to include Display ads in the upcoming months.
1.3 – Google Local Services Ads Now Available In Europe
Google introduced Google Local Services Ads a while ago, allowing users to find local businesses, book appointments & more. These ads initially came to US & Canadian audiences however they’ve recently expanded to include a host of European countries including the UK, France & Germany. With a focus on home service industries, such as plumbing or electricians, these unique ads are ideal for lead generation with the added ‘Google Guaranteed’ bonus.
1.4 – Google Analytics 4
The new update for Google Analytics utilizes the same machine learning, which has successfully powered the Ads platform, provides smarter data insights to push for success. Similar to the Insights page for Ads, these new insights can give access to current trends and user demand, alongside predictive metrics that can project the amount of revenue a group of customers can bring, producing new opportunities for custom audiences. It will also give deeper access to a customer’s journey, how they discovered your brand and how they engage with your content. It’s safe to say these new features, which require you need to create a new view to access, will be pivotal to anyone wanting to analyze their traffic.
2. Facebook & Instagram
2.1 – Facebook Attribution Window Changes
Due to changes in digital privacy, Facebook will be removing the 28-day attribution window option and will instead offer a 7-day window, which they claim is a more sustainable measurement strategy. We can’t stress just how necessary data is for advertising so it’s disheartening news to hear. These changes came into effect from the 12th of October; however, any historical account data will remain. During this transition, you may find your reports showing a downturn in performance, although it’s important to note that this may likely be down to how results are measured.
2.2 – Facebook’s New Language Model
The team behind Facebook’s incredible AI have announced significant changes to the way language is processed, moving forward to their multilingual machine translation model (MMT). Whereas before, the translation model used English as the connective language due to the extent of English data that’s available. The new model, named M2M-100, cuts out the English connection allowing for 2,200 language directions improving how the meaning of the original text is conveyed. This change brings for more accurate translations with a model that’s continually improving in a world that’s getting closer every day.
October’s Attribution To Success
This month’s changes seem to be heavily focused on attribution changes with Google now including Youtube into attribution reports and reducing the limitations for accounts to take on the data-driven model. To contrast that, Facebook have reduced their attribution window from 28 to 7 days but have at least updated their ad policies allowing for more lenient creatives. Finally, Google Analytics has seen a new update to bring in advanced machine learning features, a massive benefit to all platforms.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visit Mabo.co.uk.
As we come to the end of Q3, preparations are underway to take advantage of the seasonal peaks to maximize on this upcoming potential. The ability to access a monumental amount of data is our biggest ally in the battle for profitability. New updates can come as a rallying cry of innovation or a new hurdle to surpass; the way we react to these changes can be a defining attribute for any advertiser.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – Google reducing visibility for search terms
In a heavily disputed move, Google announced on the Ads platform that they will start hiding low-traffic search terms, only showing high-traffic results. To confirm, even if that term received a click, it might not show up.
Data is king in this industry, whatever the amount, so this move has received some rather negative feedback. According to Google, this is a move to support privacy and protect user data, which seems slightly hypocritical considering how many user signals are tracked and used for smart bidding.
1.2 – In-market audiences available for shopping campaigns
Google’s latest CSS newsletter has announced that in-market audiences have officially been launched for Shopping campaigns, a hugely welcome feature for many of us. With smart bidding taking away a lot of optimization opportunities, audiences are now more critical than ever given that you can still enhance your smart bidding through adjustments. Additional audiences bring more options for you to optimize your bidding, allowing you to utilize that data tweak your bidding on a more granular level.
1.3 – Create rules more efficiently in merchant center
Feed rules have become even easier to do in the Merchant Center. You can add multiple words and phrases within a single rule with new options giving access to ‘any of’ variants, such as ‘contains any of’. Gone are the days of arduously creating a rule for each query to action on; quality-of-life improvements like these are a real step forward for user efficiency.
2. Microsoft Ads
2.1 – Dynamic Remarketing & more
One of the best additions this month comes from Microsoft, giving us a huge boost just in time for the holiday season with some powerful audience features.
Dynamic Remarketing is now accessible for advertisers, allowing you to target your audience with the very products they’ve been viewing; a perfect fit for Black Friday, Christmas and more. Go one step further with LinkedIn Profile Targeting, giving you a unique approach to create custom audiences based on a user’s company, job function and industry.
Finally, in-market audiences are now available for both France and Germany.
Google’s answer to tackling the new DST fees is one that’s come with shock, with them imposing the tax onto the advertiser’s bill as a percentage of spend. Initially affecting the UK, Austria and Turkey, the fees will start as of November 1 with a straight 2% of a UK account’s monthly spend being added onto the bill, rising to 5% for Austria & Turkey accounts.
Although this fee impacts all businesses, it does seem exceptionally harsh to SMEs, having just dealt with the economic repercussions of lockdown.
3.2 – Amazon following suit
Amazon has followed the same approach as Google by forwarding the new tax onto its sellers, their justification being that they absorbed the DST whilst the legislation was in the process of being passed. The fees for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) will increase by 2% as of September 1 and 15, respectively.
3.3 – Facebook’s heroic response
Facebook has a history of sour representation given David Fincher’s powerful 2010 drama and congressional hearing that sprouted several unflattering memes. Yet in an inspiring move, they have announced their intention to absorb the new tax so that it’s not passed onto sellers.
We’re seeing a rare glimpse of ethical responsibility coming from Facebook in a bold act that will surely improve their image.
A controversial September
This September is one that advertisers may hope to forget. Despite Google bringing some practical updates, they’ve also included some revisions which are arguably more detrimental to the ads platform. Amazon continues to be frugal and Facebook is taking an unexpected moral high ground, though we’re yet to hear any official word from Microsoft.
Unlike the last two months showering us with utility updates, this month hasn’t been half as fruitful.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visitMabo.co.uk.
With 2020 giving us a very testing year so far, there have been some promising insights from reports showing a massive surge in mobile usage, with the majority of us adapting our lifestyles through the palm of our hands.
Whether it’s browsing the digital shelves of your favorite supermarket or checking out the latest pop culture trends, the industry is transforming to our current needs. Learning to harness this potential and take advantage of new technology is how we can survive in this brave new world.
1. Google Ads
1.1 – App Campaigns get some love
You will soon have more flexibility when adding image assets to app campaigns, with a new focus on aspect ratio rather than the current set size collection available. Google wants to simplify the process to make it easier for advertisers to add more creatives.
On top of this, there’s a hefty increase to file limit size, going from 150kb to 5MB, so no more resizing images because they’re a few kilobytes too big!
Continuing with their app campaign updates, you can now apply Maximize Conversions for installs, giving you more options to help you optimize your accounts, building your campaign towards your desired target cost per install (tCPI).
The attention they are giving to App Campaigns is hugely welcome, especially with recent app projections showing that global ad spend is set to increase by over $40 billion by 2022 (AppsFlyer 2020).
1.2 – Lead forms now available for YouTube Discovery Ads
The lead form extension is a new feature that came to our eyes towards the end of 2019. Since then, we’ve seen some great results coming from this mobile-friendly format. With lockdown still in effect for many of us, YouTube usage has climbed rather dramatically (myself threefold), hence why Google have released lead forms for discovery ads.
This addition is very beneficial for both parties, with advertisers having more access to engagement and reducing the amount of app-switching ads taking users away from their favorite cat videos.
1.3 – A new direction for Showcase Shopping Ads
Due to hands-on feedback, there’s a new way in which Showcase Shopping Ads will function. No longer will these take to you to a mini-page within Google displaying a list of products under a headline banner.
Instead, these swipeable ads, arranged by each retailer, will be in a carousel-style format, similar to how standard Shopping ads look. Clicking on the product will take you straight to the retailer’s website, although this new direct approach will count as an engagement.
It’s interesting to see taking action on shoppers’ feedback as these top-page ads can be immensely powerful in showcasing your content.
1.4 – Merchant Centre changes & more
We’ve seen a subtle update come to the Merchant Centre with the way countries are targeted, or in this case, how countries can be untargeted.
There’s a new feed attribute in town and its name is ‘shopping_ads_excluded_country’. This new property allows you to exclude certain products (or all) from specific countries, beneficial for those products that might not fit a particular country’s requirements, instead of having to diagnose disapprovals.
On a side note, we’ve seen a few issues arise from this, most notably an increase in active and disapproved items given the changes to how the merchant centre targets countries. If you’ve seen similar trends in Merchant Centre, we’d highly recommend checking your feed targeting and language options and an overall audit to diagnose any differences.
There’s an additional help article provided to give more insight into targeting multiple countries; you might find that you have to utilize this new feed attribute sooner than you thought.
2. Microsoft Ads
2.1 – Free Product Listings
Just as we spoke about in last month’s update, the surge in online shopping is at an all-time high with Facebook and Google making significant changes to their e-commerce systems.
Microsoft are doing the same by offering product listings for free, giving retailers access to promote their products in the bing shopping tab. This new revision will be automatically applied to those with a Microsoft Merchant Center, however it’s currently limited to US advertisers with plans to extend this service for other countries later down the line.
It goes without saying how much this will help accounts of all sizes; it’s not often you hear the words ‘free traffic’.
3. Instagram Ads
3.1 – Engage your audience through Instagram Reels
Whilst Instagram’s latest addition might be a bit more influencer-friendly, one can’t turn away from a new area to spotlight their services. Instagram Reels provides a different way to create short videos with internal creative tools to help merge multiple videos, add custom audio, and make them sparkle.
The major highlight of Reels is that they can also feature in the Explore section, with an ample amount of real estate dedicated. Given just how much TikTok has established itself as a new headliner for social media and the political risk of its future, it makes absolute sense that Instagram followed suit by releasing Reels.
Another ‘Appy Summer For August
The continued focus on e-commerce is still the highest priority, with announcements to further improve Google and Microsoft’s merchant centers, giving us more customization to promote worldwide.
Despite this, mobile-oriented marketing has been the real winner for August with investment in apps and their respective ads. The monumental rise in lockdown-induced traffic is bursting with opportunity; the big platforms know this, and they are giving us the new tools we need to tap into those audiences.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visitMabo.co.uk.
The paid advertising industry is a continuous train ride of updates that, if you don’t keep up with, you’ll eventually get left behind. We’ve seen some major acceleration come with automation, how responsive ads & smart bidding are redefining our roles in the field.
To master these changes is to understand how to utilize them to their fullest.
Each month, we’ll break down the latest digest from the industry, giving you the head start you need to stay on track and the knowledge that you’re one step ahead.
1. Google Ads
1.1 New Features For Responsive Search Ads
Google have already shown us just how effective Responsive Search Ads were when they came about but now they’re taking them to the next level. To further enhance just how dynamic these ads can be, you can now insert locations and use custom countdowns.
It’s good to see updates on their latest products to include these already powerful features.
To quote Google, “Over 80% of digital marketers’ time is spent on manual tasks like reporting, while only 20% is spent on strategy.” We can find ourselves utilizing valuable time just getting the right data into the right place.
Thankfully they have our back with asset reporting, adding performance ratings & including descriptions, allowing you to analyze the ad copy that’s performing best — a very useful area for consolidating performance across your ads, which later becomes helpful for AB testing.
To learn more about these new Responsive Search Ads features, click here.
1.2 A new look for Responsive Display Ads
Google have recently brought new additions to their Responsive Display Ads, focusing on customer engagement, with new designs & automated video. Three new ad layouts have been added to the mix, designed for engagement but with a crisp aesthetic in mind.
Also, you can now automatically create video ads just by using the images and ad copy available, using animations to switch between the assets to create an engaging experience for the user. The is a great resource for those smaller firms who might not have the funding or capacity to create custom video ads.
To find out more about the new looks for responsive display ads, click here.
1.3 Buy On Google goes commission-free
Image courtesy of Google.com
We can all appreciate a seamless checkout experience with Amazon leading in that area. To fight back, Google released their own checkout service ‘Buy on Google’ but unfortunately for merchants, it came with a fee. Not anymore.
Starting in the US, the checkout service has zero commissions granting retailers free access to this payment system, dealing a major blow to Amazon. As we see our audiences shifting more towards this purchase option, it can only mean more weight being added to paid ads.
2.1 Discover powerful new keywords with Keyword Planner
In true Microsoft style, features we know and love from Google Ads are continually being added to Microsoft’s platform with the latest update bringing the Keyword Planner. Some accounts may not have the ability to import existing data so having this tool to help expand new campaigns is another step forward.
3.1 Facebook’s Shops: A revolution in social media shopping
Facebook have released some exciting and much-needed changes pushing their shopping presence into an impressive new direction. Facebook Shops allows users to buy products straight from their account, through a ‘catalogue’ of regularly updated stock, essentially their version of a shopping feed.
Users can add their payment information to their account, alongside other information such as size, resulting in a shop’s page dynamically showing the products available with a system to purchase without having to venture through their website.
This is huge for social media advertisers, where Analytics and a convoluted sales funnel was one of the main ways to gauge performance. The ability to have direct attribution coming straight from the Shops platform for metrics such as revenue & ROAS will be priceless for advertisers.
Advertisers can check stock, upload inventory, check insights and more through the Commerce Manager, the centralized hub for Facebook Shops. Granted that their platform already has over 2 billion monthly active users, the potential here is mind-blowing.
UK businesses will have to hold on though, with this service only being available in the US to start with unless they can get hold of an American bank account.
It doesn’t stop there though as with the Facebook Shops platform, you can create augmented reality ads, which allows users to envision how that particular product might look in their living room or if that shirt they like goes with their favorite pair of jeans.
To find out more about Facebook Shops, click here and to find out more about Commerce Manager, click here.
3.2 Facebook’s Roadmap
Building on their 10-year roadmap, Mark Zuckerberg’s recent talks have continued talking about how to combine their services, Facebook, Instagram & WhatsApp. They have announced plans to merge the chats of these services into one.
Whether that’s just the technical infrastructure of the app itself hasn’t fully been confirmed but with ads now present in Messenger, this potential merge could introduce more opportunities, or frustration, to these social media networks.
What does this mean for the future?
July brings a step forward for PPC providers chasing in the footsteps of the giant that is Google, who themselves are further emphasizing the future that is dynamic advertising.
We’re seeing Microsoft establishing themselves as a top player adding more enticing features to their platform and rumors that Smart Shopping is on the horizon.
The e-commerce experience is drastically improving with Google & Facebook retaliating against Amazon giving retailers & consumers more options to buy directly.
Our creativity is progressing at an incredible level, where we can utilize the vast amount of user data available to create ads tailored to the individual. The industry is rapidly evolving and it’s our job to keep up.
For more information on Mabo and their paid advertising management services, please visitMabo.co.uk.
