Is It Time To Stop Avoiding Your ROAS Issues?
Whether you're new to PPC or looking to refine your advertising approach, this piece provides actionable insights to leverage ROAS for better decision-making and increased campaign success.
Advertising Industry Updates from September 2024
Max Conversion Value Bid Strategy Now Available for Portfolio Bids
Microsoft Advertising has introduced the Max Conversion Value for portfolio bid strategies, designed to help advertisers optimize for higher-value conversions and maximize total sales value. Advertisers can leverage this strategy to let Microsoft Advertising manage bids across multiple campaigns in a portfolio.
Why Is This Important?
This update allows advertisers to optimize their ad spend more effectively by focusing on conversions with the highest value, providing greater control over overall campaign profitability.
Microsoft Advertising Updates Audience Ads with New Features for September 2024
Microsoft Advertising has introduced new features for Audience Ads, focusing on improving relevance and efficiency using machine learning. These updates include enhanced bidding strategies, expanded targeting options, and better conversion tracking for display and video ads. Advertisers can now add logos and customized call-to-action buttons to native ads. IAS verification is also available for viewability and brand safety across multiple ad formats. These features will start rolling out by the end of September.
Why Is This Important?
Advertisers now have more tools to refine targeting and improve ad performance while ensuring brand safety and visibility.
Microsoft Rolls Out Updates to Performance Max Campaigns
Microsoft is introducing several updates to its Performance Max (PMAX) campaigns, including a refreshed interface and new features like brand exclusions in pilot testing. PMAX campaigns imported from Google will now be automatically converted into Microsoft’s PMAX format instead of Smart Shopping or DSA. A search term insights report will also be rolled out to all advertisers soon, offering data across all campaign types. Additionally, Microsoft is piloting “search themes,” allowing advertisers to associate key phrases to help optimize campaigns during the learning phase. More updates are expected, particularly focused on Microsoft’s integration with generative AI.
Why Is This Important?
These changes streamline cross-platform campaign management and provide more detailed insights for advertisers to refine their strategies. The introduction of search themes and search insights allows for better targeting and optimization, which could help during the learning phase of campaigns.
Google Ads Introduces New Promotions Feature for App Campaigns
Google Ads is testing a new “Promotions” feature in App Campaigns, allowing advertisers to create event-driven promotions specifically for mobile users. Advertisers can tailor promotions to key events, such as Black Friday or Christmas, with options like percent discounts and item details. The feature includes tools for tracking URLs and scheduling to ensure campaigns are timely. Currently, the beta feature is only available to select accounts but may roll out more broadly soon.
Why Is This Important?
This feature helps app marketers enhance engagement by leveraging time-sensitive promotions tailored to user behavior.
Google Ads Introduces Advanced Performance Planner for YouTube Campaigns
Google Ads has launched an updated Performance Planner designed for YouTube campaigns, offering more refined planning for specific campaign goals such as conversions or brand awareness. The tool helps advertisers estimate potential performance outcomes, manage budgets, and align formats with objectives. It also supports planning for Demand Gen campaigns using mixed media formats like images and videos.
Why Is This Important?
This update gives advertisers improved forecasting capabilities, helping them make informed decisions about their YouTube ad spend and optimize campaign strategies more effectively.
Google Ads Shifts Video Action Campaigns to Demand Gen in 2025
Google Ads will replace Video Action Campaigns (VAC) with Demand Gen campaigns by Q2 2025, allowing advertisers to use both video and image assets across multiple Google platforms. This change aims to streamline campaign management and expand reach, providing enhanced targeting options to improve campaign efficiency. Existing VACs will automatically migrate early next year. Demand Gen also consolidates data across platforms for better insight into user engagement.
Why Is This Important?
Advertisers should watch this shift closely as it may impact current strategies by altering the campaign structure and performance reporting, potentially requiring adjustments in how they approach media planning and creative asset integration.
Google Ads to Exclude Parked Domains for New Accounts by Default
Starting in October 2024, Google Ads will automatically opt new accounts out of showing ads on parked domains. These domains, typically with little content and often used as placeholders, can lead to wasted ad spend. Advertisers will have the option to opt back in via the Content Suitability settings if desired.
Why Is This Important?
This change helps advertisers improve budget efficiency and relevance by ensuring ads are served on more valuable sites, reducing the risk of wasted impressions on low-content domains.
Google Tightens Rules for Gambling Certification and Recertification
Google Ads is updating its policies for gambling and games advertisers, requiring recertification for any significant changes in business practices, such as compliance or product updates. Starting in November 2024, failure to meet these requirements could lead to account suspension. Non-material changes, like payment methods or addresses, do not require recertification. These updates are part of Google’s effort to enforce stricter compliance in the gambling sector.
Why Is This Important?
Advertisers in the gambling sector must stay compliant with Google’s evolving policies or risk severe penalties, including account suspension.
Google Ads Will Sunset Enhanced CPC for Search and Display Ads in 2025
Google Ads will begin phasing out Enhanced Cost-Per-Click (eCPC) for new Search and Display campaigns starting in October 2024. By March 2025, all existing eCPC campaigns will transition to manual CPC. eCPC allowed advertisers partial automation by adjusting bids based on conversion likelihood, but newer machine learning-based options like Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value offer more advanced automation. This shift reflects Google’s push toward fully automated bidding strategies for better optimization.
Why Is This Important?
Advertisers will need to adjust to new automated bidding strategies and may lose some control over bid adjustments previously available through eCPC.
Google Introduces Stricter Verification for Lawyers Using Local Services Ads
Google is enforcing new identity verification requirements for law firms using Local Services Ads (LSAs), requiring verification for business owners and professionals by November 15, 2024. This process aims to ensure that only legitimate legal services are advertised. The checks will be handled by a third-party partner, Evident.
Why Is This Important?
For advertisers, this introduces an extra layer of compliance to ensure credibility and protect consumers, but it may require more administrative effort to meet the new standards.
Google Experiments with Clearer Ad Labels in Search Results
Google is testing larger, more noticeable ad labels in search results to better differentiate paid content from organic listings. The new labels include terms like “Sponsored” or “Promoted results,” with a taller gray background. Additionally, organic results are now grouped under “All results.”
Why Is This Important?
This change could impact how users engage with ads versus organic listings, potentially influencing click-through rates. Advertisers should pay attention to performance data during the test phase to assess any changes.
Google Introduces Confidential Matching for Data Privacy
Google has launched Confidential Matching, a tool that processes first-party data securely for audience targeting and campaign analysis. It leverages a secure environment to handle sensitive data without exposing it, ensuring higher levels of privacy. Confidential Matching aims to offer a more secure way to match audience data while keeping privacy in mind.
Why Is This Important?
Advertisers can use this tool to securely manage their first-party data, which is increasingly critical in privacy-focused advertising. It helps maintain trust and compliance with evolving data regulations.
Google Introduces AI-Powered Video Enhancements in Performance Max
Google Ads has introduced AI-based video enhancements for Performance Max campaigns, allowing automatic optimization of video ads. This feature adjusts video content to improve performance without requiring manual changes. While intended to streamline the ad creation process, it raises concerns among advertisers about the potential loss of creative control.
Why Is This Important?
Advertisers need to evaluate how these automatic changes align with their creative strategies, as the tool may influence video content in ways that impact their brand message and campaign objectives.
Google Adds Negative Keyword Exclusions to Performance Max
Google is introducing campaign-level negative keyword exclusions to Performance Max campaigns, enabling advertisers to refine their targeting by excluding specific search terms. The feature will roll out by the end of 2024.
Why Is This Important?
This update gives advertisers more control over ad targeting, improving campaign relevance and alignment with brand goals.
YouTube Studio Introduces Website Visits Goal for Promotions
YouTube has added a new “website visits” goal in YouTube Studio’s promotions tool, allowing creators to drive traffic directly to their websites. This feature is available alongside existing goals for audience growth and video views. Ads promoting website visits will appear in formats such as Shorts, in-feed, and skippable in-stream ads.
Why Is This Important?
This update gives content creators an efficient way to convert video engagement into website traffic, enabling better promotion of products or services directly from their YouTube channel.
Meta Restricts Data Use in Business Tools
Meta is rolling out new data restrictions in its Business Tools, impacting how advertisers track and target ads. Certain URL parameters and custom data will be automatically restricted, potentially pausing ads with highly targeted UTMs. This update will also affect the visibility of data in Events Manager, and advertisers may need to adjust custom audiences accordingly.
Why Is This Important?
Advertisers who rely on detailed tracking and targeted campaigns will need to adjust their strategies as Meta increases privacy measures, potentially limiting ad effectiveness.
Meta Adds Site Links to Ads for Enhanced User Navigation
Meta now allows advertisers to add multiple site links to a single image or video ad in the Facebook Feed. This update enables users to navigate directly to relevant product landing pages with just one click, improving ad interaction. For example, a beauty brand can link to different categories like skincare, makeup, and fragrance within one ad, making the experience more tailored for users.
Why is this important?
This feature enhances customer experience by offering easier navigation, potentially increasing engagement and conversions by streamlining access to relevant products.
Reddit Introduces AI Copywriter and Auto-Cropper for Ad Creation
Reddit has launched two new features to simplify campaign creation: an AI Copywriter, currently in beta, that generates ad copy tailored to Reddit audiences, and an image auto-cropper tool to automatically adjust image sizes to fit platform recommendations. These tools are aimed at streamlining the ad creation process, particularly for businesses new to Reddit Ads.
Why is this important?
These updates help advertisers, especially small businesses, save time and effort by automating key parts of the campaign workflow, allowing for faster and more efficient ad creation.
Reddit Introduces AI-Powered Ads Inspiration Library
Reddit has launched an AI-driven Ads Inspiration Library, showcasing high-performing ad creatives. The platform allows advertisers to filter ads by criteria such as budget, placement, and industry, making it easier to find relevant examples. Each ad highlights the top three creative best practices identified by AI. The library aims to help advertisers, especially small businesses, by providing insights into successful ad strategies based on upvotes and click-through rates.
Why is this important?
This tool offers advertisers valuable insights into what works on Reddit, helping them create more effective, audience-aligned campaigns.
TikTok Enhances Search Ads Campaigns with Keyword Targeting
TikTok has updated its Search Ads, allowing advertisers to target specific keywords in campaigns for Traffic and Web Conversion objectives. Previously, the Search Ads Toggle only enabled ad placement without keyword targeting control. Now, brands can optimize their ads’ appearance in user search queries for better relevance. TikTok also highlights that advertisers who use Search Ads alongside In-Feed Ads see a 20% increase in conversions.
Why is this important?
Keyword targeting is crucial for advertisers as it allows for more precise audience targeting, enhancing ad relevance and increasing conversion potential. This update helps advertisers align their content with user intent, providing more effective discovery and engagement opportunities.
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