Google announces 5 BIG Changes Coming to AdWords

You probably may have heard already, Google is once more expanding the AdWords boundaries. The five big changes to PPC have been announced on Google I/O conference on May 24, 2016. So if you’re an online advertiser, then read on …

Changes to AdWords and what’s in it for you

1. Local Search Ads for Google Maps

Advertisers using location extensions will be able to show their business locations when consumers search for things in their location, such as “places to eat”, “accommodation”, etc. This new feature replaces pins with your brand logo and if someone clicks this icon, your ad will expand to show details about your business and special offers, appearing on the surface of the map, not just to the side. Google Maps Ads will appear within Google Maps on mobile, desktop, and app versions of the site.

2. In-Store Conversion Measurement

More and more various kinds of businesses will be able to better measure ROI and allocate ad spend with the new insights available for conversions. An example – presented on Google I/O conference – showed that Nissan UK, used in-store conversion measurement to discover they were earning 25x ROI on customers who landed in the showroom floor after clicking on a mobile ad. How does it work? By simply looking at phone location history, Google will be able to determine whether the person who searched and clicked on your ad ended up visiting your store.

3. Responsive Display Ads

Google is on the mission to eliminate the hassle with creating ads for all different formats (square, rectangle, skyscraper, leaderboard etc). Your ads will adapt to placement website and app content throughout the Google Display Network (GDN) and including native ad inventory so you can engage consumers with ads that match the look and feel of the content they’re browsing. All you will need to do is provide headlines, a description, an image, and a URL and Google will automatically design these beautiful responsive ads for you. You can expect these changes to roll out later in 2016.

4. Text Ads Expansion

Google is planning to expand text ads in AdWords to provide more ad space so you can showcase more information about your products and services before the click. Here are the key changes:

Google says the early testing revealed some encouraging results for advertisers. At the summit, data they shared showed CTRs under the new ad format increasing by as much as 25 percent!

5. Device Bidding Changes

Unlike things were up until now, when advertisers needed to set bids as a multiplier on a base desktop bid, Google will soon offer more separation between desktop and mobile bids. That way advertisers will have the option to set tablet bids and mobile bids independently or set them as dependent on each other.

If you’re interested to learn more on these topics as they were discussed on Google I/O conference, you can browse through Google Ads & Analytics Innovations Keynote:

Let us check if your AdWords campaigns are eligible and compliant with these changes. Get Free AdWords Audit. And of course stay tuned if you want to find out how to use your online competitors to your own advantage.