Samantha Shannon says, “If you have ever run a Google AdWords campaign, you know how overwhelming maintaining an account can be. Luckily, Google has many features and tools that make managing campaigns easier and more successful. The catch? It is up to us to utilize them. Today, I am talking about an advanced feature that can help advertisers better reach customers by matching their search query. This seemingly magical feature is called keyword insertion. What is Keyword Insertion? Simply put, keyword insertion allows you to customize ad text based on the search term a customer uses. This... [...]

Sean Philip says, “With Google unleashing several new Adwords features in the first half of 2016, advertisers should take this as an opportunity to maximise their paid search campaigns. Here’s how… The updates During the first half of 2016 Google announced two fundamental changes to its Adwords real estate. It launched ‘Expanded text ads’, with both ad headline and description lines increasing in length and it removed the familiar ‘sidebar’ paid search ads (on the right of the results page), introducing an additional spot for paid search listings above the organic results”. Six... [...]

Zak Stambor says, “Google’s Product Listing Ads accounted for 46% of retailers’ Google paid search clicks in the quarter, a three percentage point increase from the first quarter. The image-focused ads are set to account for more than half of retailers’ paid search clicks by the end of the year, according to a new report by performance marketing agency Merkle Group Inc. The report finds that Google’s push to eliminate ads from the right side of search results has helped boost PLA click volume 73% year over year in the second quarter, outpacing the 43% growth in PLA spending. The cost... [...]

Barry Levine says, “Google has taken another step toward becoming a one-stop, cloud-based solution for major media companies. Late last week, the tech giant announced its acquisition of Mountain View, California-based video platform Anvato. Deal terms were not made public. Anvato’s Media Content Platform automates the encoding, editing, publishing and secure distribution of video across different platforms, and it will now become part of Google’s Cloud Platform. Previously, Google offered cloud-based rendering, media archiving, video transcoding, distribution and similar services. This... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “With the news that over half of the trillions of Google searches happen on mobile, Google announced Tuesday that it will soon change the way advertisers set bids for targeting ads by device type in AdWords. Other coming changes announced at Googler Performance Summit in San Francisco include an update to Google text ads on all devices and responsive mobile display ads that can access native mobile ad inventory on the Google Display Network. The change in bidding is significant in that it accomplishes two things: 1. Untethers desktop and tablet bids; and 2. Allows advertisers... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Google’s advertisers may soon figure much more prominently into the terrain of the company’s maps feature. A new type of ad offering will let companies buy the ability to place a small logo image over their physical locations on Google Maps, the search giant announced on Tuesday. Such ads are already available in Google-owned navigation app Waze. Other new ads within Google Maps will allow retailers to peddle in-store discounts on specific products or display an inventory search of a nearby store when users search relevant terms within Maps. If someone were... [...]

Carly Stec says, “What’s the most viewable ad size? How does page position influence viewability? Is viewability affected by ad blocking applications? And what’s an average viewability rate, anyways? These are the questions many were left with when the Media Rating Council lifted its Viewable Impression Advisory back in 2014. As a result of this change, marketers and advertisers switched their focus from served impressions to viewable impressions. What’s the difference? Quite simply, served impressions are counted when the ad is displayed. As for viewable impressions, take... [...]

John Boitnott says, “Successful businesses consistently search for new ways to reach customers, not only through new channels of communication, but through the channels they use each day. Google, as one of the top tools used by consumers everywhere, has the attention of almost every brand. If they can find a way to reach Google users through their searches, businesses realize they can increase brand recognition and bring in new customers. Google has worked hard to make sure its paid ads deliver real value to business. This keeps companies paying for the service even when they could get clicks... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Today, Google announced that display ads created in Flash now will be converted automatically to HTML5 to make them eligible for viewing on mobile devices and browsers that do not support Flash. The feature was originally announced last fall among a slew of updates designed to make Google’s display formats more mobile-friendly. The ads will be converted when advertisers upload Flash ads to AdWords directly or through third-party tools. Until now, Google displayed a static image backup of an ad where Flash wasn’t supported. Now the ads will display as fully interactive... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Back in June, Google launched dynamic remarketing for retailers in on the Google Display Network and said it was testing the ads in the travel and education verticals. This week, the company announced dynamic remarketing is rolling out across all verticals including education, hotels, flights, real estate and more. Dynamic remarketing (or retargeting) ads that automatically insert product or items related to those that users viewed on a website. The service is not unique to Google, but now AdWords advertisers can run dynamic retargeting campaigns within the platform.... [...]