Meta shared its 2022 Q3 earnings today and, as expected, performance left a lot to be desired. Advertising revenue came in at $27.2 billion, down roughly 4% year-over-year. The positives. Overall ad impressions were up 17%, while the cost per ad decreased 18% YoY. Monthly active users on the platform increased 2% to 2.96 billion YoY. Not news. Meta isn’t alone when it comes to underperforming earnings. This week Google and Microsoft also released worse-than-expected results, to the disappointment of investors. SNAP also reported their slowest-ever quarterly growth last week, but added 6% more monthly users. Frankly, Meta’s poor performance is (probably) no surprise to anyone. Meta shares are down nearly 60% YTD and inflation, a shaky economy, and privacy changes certainly contribute. At closing today, shared decreased another 7.69%. iOS and ongoing TikTok competition. Meta is still dealing with a host of challenges due to the implementation of iOS14, including growing competition from TikTok, all of which have taken a toll on Meta’s ability to drive interest in both organic and advertising users. Internal company documents obtained by the Wall Street Journal, indicate that Instagram users cumulatively are spending 17.6 million hours a day watching Reels, less than one-tenth of the 197.8 million hours TikTok users spend each day on that platform. What meta says. “Our community continues to grow and I’m pleased with the strong engagement we’re seeing driven by progress on our discovery engine and products like Reels,” said Mark Zuckerberg, Meta founder and CEO. “While we face near-term challenges on revenue, the fundamentals are there for a return to stronger revenue growth. We’re approaching 2023 with a focus on prioritization and efficiency that will help us navigate the current environment and emerge an even stronger company.” Dig deeper. You can review the Meta Investor Relations site with slides and a Webcast replay here. Why we care. This quarters disappointing financials for both search and social could be a sign of an even bigger economic pitfall. Advertisers should prepare for higher CPCs, staff cuts, and increased costs all around. The post Meta Q3 earnings: ad revenue declined 4%, but monthly users showing promise appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/n1gNCa7
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Google has just announced the release of v12 of the API. Here are the highlights. Taken directly from the Google Ads Developer Blog.
Update your Client Library. Developers who want to utilize these new features will need to ensure their Client Libraries are updated. Dig deeper. Get more information about the new release from the Developer Blog. Why we care. The new API includes updated conversion tracking, removed support for certain features and campaigns, and supports additional services such as location targeting. Developers who utilize APIs should update their Client Libraries and implement the changes so they have the most updated features. The post Google API v12 released appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/sXlLnHY 3 new Google Performance Max features to plan campaigns customize assets and measure results10/26/2022 Google is anticipating a busy holiday season this year. In preparation, they have just announced three new Performance Max features to help advertisers plan effective campaigns, customize their asset strategy, and evaluate your results. The Performance PlannerAdvertisers can use the new Performance Planner to create campaign plans and understand how to invest their budgets while maximizing ROI. The new planner is being launched now and will be available to all advertisers in the coming weeks. Planner features. With the Performance Planner, advertisers can forecast how their campaigns may perform in the future, as well as what can happen when certain elements like bidding strategies are implemented. Customizing your asset strategyAsset group scheduling. Asset group scheduling rolled out earlier this month. Now, you can add automated rules which allow you to schedule asset groups so they can be paused and enabled as needed. With scheduling, you can run ads at specific times of the day, or create and run different asset groups ahead of time. More headlines to get your message across. The number of headlines you can upload to your Performance Max asset groups will increase from 5 to 15. Google says that by adding more headlines “you can take advantage of machine learning’s ability to create and test even more combinations to find the best-performing variations.” Evaluating resultsPerformance explanations. Explanations help you identify what’s driving performance fluctuations, diagnose issues, and view recommendations. You can see these in the explanations panels and they are available for all Performance max campaigns. First-party audience insights. A cookieless future is imminent, but it doesn’t have to mean the end of accurate targeting. Now, you can add your data segments as audience signals in your Performance max campaigns. In the coming weeks, your data segments will be added to audience insights in the Insights page. These insights may help you understand the value of your first-party data and see which of your customer lists may be converting best. Dig deeper. You can read the announcement from Google here. Best practices. Google suggests the following best practices as you plan your holiday campaigns:
Why we care. The new features may help Performance Max advertisers optimize, measure, and take advantage of additional asset features. If you’re using Performance max, you should test and utilize these new features as soon as possible, ahead of the holiday season, to drive the most benefit. Regarding Google’s best practices, I’m skeptical of their advice to wait “A few days leading up to peak holiday periods” to make such drastic changes. Come on, Google. The post 3 new Google Performance Max features to plan campaigns, customize assets, and measure results appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/37lDgtU Yelp has just announced its newest feature that integrates Mailchimp, Realtor.com, automotive, Roadtrippers, MetLife, and more. It’s called YelpFusion. Incorporate Yelp content into Mailchimp campaignsMailchimp users with claimed Yelp Business Pages are now able to combine their marketing emails with content from Yelp. This includes their Yelp rating, recent reviews, photos, and business details. By using Yelp content blocks in Mailchimp, businesses can highlight a favorite reviews showcasing a great customer experience, a photo from Yelp of a special dish or a recent home service job, or simply share their hours, location, and contact information. Businesses can select and embed the best content from their Yelp account to show directly in the Mailchimp platform. The new Yelp content blocks link back to the business’s Yelp page. Additional brand integrationsAutomotive. Yelp Fusion will also integrate with dozens of auto manufacturers, including Ford Motor Company, Audi, and many more, flexible and scalable platforms to modernize vehicle infotainment and cockpit products. Roadtrippers. Travelers using Roadtrippers will see Yelp’s content and data while planning their trips and throughout their road trip journey. Realtor.com. Prospective homeowners can discover local businesses near the homes or neighborhoods they’re interested in, which can also be searched for by category using Realtor.com’s “Amenities” filter. MetLife. The new “Find a Dentist” feature makes it easier for consumers to find great local dentists. What Yelp says. “Giving Mailchimp customers the ability to add Yelp reviews, photos, location information, and other valuable content from their Yelp profile directly into their email campaigns helps businesses build trust and confidence with their audiences. We’re thrilled to partner with Yelp and bring their trusted content to millions of Mailchimp users to seamlessly leverage in their marketing efforts Dig deeper. You can read more about these new features on the Yelp Fusion website. Why we care. Admittedly, I wondered who in the world still used Yelp. But looking at some stats on their website, it seems that it's still a profitable and growing resource for reviews, local discovery, reservations, and more. Advertisers who manage Yelp accounts should at least take advantage of the Mailchimp integration. Social proof is a great way to drive in new customers, and showcasing Yelp reviews is an easy way to make that happen. Check out other recent Yelp news:
The post New Yelp Fusion feature integrates Mailchimp, Roadtrippers, Realtor.com, more appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/r9fpoBX In the first part of our SEM career playbook series, we defined the roles you will likely find within the digital marketing industry. Once you have secured a great position, you need a game plan to thrive and excel. Your employer often provides opportunities to sharpen your skills and advance your SEM career. If you proactively capture every opportunity to learn and take on more responsibilities, your development will accelerate significantly. Flourishing within an SEM role is a balance of mindset, education, and development. Of course, this could be said for career advancement in any industry. Successful SEM careers have many facets, but if you build a foundation of these attributes, they will serve you well for a long time. Maintain a growth mindsetThe SEM landscape changes constantly and there are no signs of slowing down. This means that everyone in the digital marketing industry is a lifelong learner – or at least they should be! Many personality types can find success in digital marketing. There is a wide array of tasks and responsibilities that will align with a broad spectrum of working styles and preferences. Everyone is unique and they bring different strengths to their work. Here are a few universal attributes that will help any individual bring a growth mindset to their current and future roles. Self-starterBe ready to dive into projects. A self-starter by definition is someone “who begins work or undertakes a project on their own initiative, without needing to be told or encouraged to do so.” Be the person on your team who is always one step ahead. Curious inclinationI’ll say it again, SEM is always changing. A growth mindset means always learning. Continue learning about every shift in the industry. Be curious about account strategy. Learn why certain objectives are prioritized over others. Understand how the daily tactics impact the overall campaign outcomes. Clear communicationOne of the most important skills in any setting is communication. The ability to convey complex ideas in a clear, concise manner is critical. Focus on developing communication skills across all mediums. This includes phone calls, presentations, emails, instant messaging like Slack, and even task delegation. Detail-orientedSEM activation has a very high level of specificity. There are dozens of settings and details you need to review for each completed task. From account implementation to performance reporting, all require a high level of detail and attention. Be that person on the team that is leading with operational excellence. Positive outlookNo one wants to work with someone who sucks the energy from the team. Be the person on your team who brings positive energy. Of course, no one can be a ray of sunshine all the time. But strive to be a person who is positive and ready to tackle any challenge. A growth mindset can apply to any personality type. If you are more introverted or extroverted, these skills are malleable to your strengths and interests! Focus on proactive educationDon’t wait for learning opportunities to find you. Proactively seek out avenues to sharpen your skills and grow your expertise. Be enthusiastic about development and doors will open for you. Attend every available training sessionMost companies offer some sort of training program and some programs are more robust than others. Make sure to take full advantage of any internal programs that are available. Don’t just show up and be a passive participant. This is your chance to learn and grow. Make it count. Discover third-party webinars and trainingThere are countless webinars available almost every week from reliable publications and organizations. Create a list of sources that broadcast webinars on a regular basis. This can be a form of ongoing education, even after you have completed the training provided by your company. Here is a quick list of organizations/publications that offer webinars regularly:
Acquire all relevant certificationsIn SEM, the available certifications are bountiful! Platform certifications can help establish and baseline knowledge. They can also help refresh your knowledge. Most SEM certifications are valid for a year, so you should keep them up-to-date. Here is a quick list of certifications everyone in SEM should acquire: Read industry publications regularlyDone! You are here at Search Engine Land, so you are well on your way! Be sure to read Search Engine Land (this is not a paid spot) and other industry publications daily. I learn new things constantly from the excellent articles posted in these publications. Here are a few publications to bookmark or add to your RSS feed reader:
How you manage SEM campaigns today will be different than how they will be managed three years from now. Reading these publications will help you stay on top of the industry. Strive for continuous developmentAs you can see, learning never stops in the SEM industry. This should excite and inspire you! There are elements of digital marketing that you can master like writing persuasive copy (people are people and that won’t change). Some elements change every year and you have to stay on top of this. For a successful career in SEM, you have to develop all of your skills. You should strive for continuous development of your SEM-specific skills and other skills that are required to be successful in the marketplace. Participate in a mentorship programMany companies offer a mentorship program. Some are more formal than others. If your company does not have a mentor program in place, you could reach out to a senior team member directly to ask if they would like to serve as a mentor. Mentors can provide insights that you may not get from a direct manager. Focus on goal-setting and achievementBe fanatical about setting goals and milestones for yourself. Most companies offer a review process, usually every six months, but it varies. Don’t be a passive participant in this process. Think about how you want to grow over the next quarter or six months. Always come to your review with a vision for your development. Of course, your manager will have their own ideas on growth and improvement – but you should arrive at your review ready to discuss your goals. Understand your personality typeSelf-reflection and awareness can serve your career very well. Often creating personality profiles can feel pointless. But that’s because we don’t take them seriously or put them into action. If your company offers a personality finder type of program, use it! Learn more about your personality. Hopefully, you’ll understand how you work best. This will help your long-term growth. Strike a balance to avoid burnoutNo one can grow, develop or do good work if they are feeling burned out. SEM work is fast-paced and endless because there is always work to do! It’s like running a marathon at a full sprint up a hill in the rain while being chased by a bear. I’m joking. Sort of. Learn how to be aware of burnout and take your mental health seriously so that your best self can show up to work every day. The building blocks of a successful SEM careerBuilding an awesome SEM career can be complex and challenging at times. Hopefully, this list is a great resource for anyone getting started. Or perhaps these are helpful resources for anyone who is looking to kick their career into overdrive. In our next article for this series, we’ll dive into the on-the-job performance that will help advance your SEM career. The post How to excel in your current and future SEM roles appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/q30asYc Google’s Q3 earnings were released today and for search, YouTube, and ads, it was a big “meh” across the board. Let’s take a look. YouTube. YouTube earnings were down about 2% to $7.07 billion from $7.21 billion. To put that into perspective, analysts were expecting an increase of at least 3%. This is the first-ever decrease since Google began reporting Missing the ad mark. Search ad sales grew 4% to $39.5 billion. Analysts had expected revenue of $41 billion. Google CFO Ruth Porat said that the modest growth was because of difficult comparisons to an unusually strong quarter a year earlier, a trend she said would continue in the fourth quarter. Google also saw advertising pullbacks in the mortgage, loan, and crypto categories, says Philipp Schindler, CBO, Google. New products and developments in Q3. In Google’s Search On event, a number of new products and features were unveiled including:
View the entire list of new shopping features announced at this year’s Search On event here. What Google said. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, said: “We’re sharpening our focus on a clear set of product and business priorities. Product announcements we’ve made in just the past month alone have shown that very clearly, including significant improvements to both Search and Cloud, powered by AI, and new ways to monetize YouTube Shorts. We are focused on both investing responsibly for the long term and being responsive to the economic environment.” Are advertisers to blame? Advertisers and companies may be pulling back budgets amid rising inflation and interest rates. In both Google’s FY22 Q3 and Microsoft’s FY23 Q1 earnings calls, leadership blamed the declines on advertisers pulling back. Microsoft CFO Amy Hood told analysts that “reductions in customer advertising spend, which also weakened later in the quarter, impacted search in advertising and LinkedIn marketing solutions.” Total revenues. Q3 revenues were $69.1 billion, up 6% YoY. Dig deeper. You can view the earnings report from Alphabet here. Why we care. Q3 showed slow growth, which could be a warning to advertisers that further budget cuts and higher CPCs could be on the horizon. Google emphasized YouTube Shorts and CTV placements, so they could be hinting at what’s to come. The holidays historically drive additional revenue for ad platforms, but with the uncertain economy, this year is anyone’s guess. The post Google FY22 Q3 earnings: YouTube earnings down, ad revenue up, advertisers pulling back? appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/bNyR4OP A new Semrush study has found that zero-click Google searches aren’t quite the boogeyman they’ve been made out to be in SEO circles in recent years. Where clicks went. Here’s an image summing up the findings for desktop Google searches:.
And here’s an image summing up the findings for mobile Google searches:
Methodology. The study was conducted by Semrush in May, based on an anonymous sample of 20,000 U.S. desktop and mobile users. Semrush analyzed a total of 609,809 search queries (308,978 on desktop, 146,390 on mobile). Semrush vs. past studies. SparkToro did a pair of studies (in 2019 and 2020). Here’s Search Engine Land’s coverage of those reports: Both studies had, let’s say, issues. Barry Schwartz outlined some of those issues on Search Engine Roundtable. Had there been another analysis this year or last by SparkToro, I’d imagine Google zero-click searches would be somewhere around 85%. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.) Read the study. It’s definitely an interesting read that I highly recommend reading. See Semrush’s Zero-Clicks Study. Why we care. Since 2019, there has been a lot of noise made about how Google is stealing clicks for itself. Google’s Danny Sullivan offered more context, pointing out that Google sends more traffic to websites every year and laying out some logical reasons why certain queries don’t end with a click on a website. Admittedly, two things can be true – Google can send more traffic to websites than ever, and reduce the number of searches that otherwise would have gone to websites had it not introduced its own products or search features that directly compete in organic search. In my opinion (as well as the opinions of many other smart SEO professionals I know): those past zero-click “studies” were misleading at best, and nonsense at worst. And they got way more attention than they deserved because the math never really added up. I applaud Semrush’s efforts in providing more context and a greater, more nuanced (read: less biased) analysis. The post Google search study: 25.6% of desktop, 17.3% of mobile are zero-click appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/KtyFYkV Apple now has four new options for advertisers to drive visibility and downloads in the App Store. The new placements are:
The Today tab. The Today tab lets you reach people with high-impact creative on the front page of the App Store. The ad creative for the Today tab placements are based on a custom product page you set up in App Store Connect, and must be approved for advertising before your ad can run. Search tab. Ads on this tab let you reach users before they search for something specific, with an ad that appears prominently at the top of the suggested apps list on the Search tab. Search results ads. These let you reach users when they search for something specific, with an ad at the top of relevant search results. To match your ad with potential customers’ search terms, you can choose your own keywords or use the ones that Apple suggests. Matching is based on a direct signal of customers’ intent — their search query. Product pages – while browsing. These ads let you reach people while they browse apps on relevant pages across the App Store, whether their journey started on the App Store or from an outside link. When interested users have scrolled to the bottom of relevant product pages, ads appear at the top of the You Might Also Like list. How ads are created. Apple ads are created using the metadata and assets you upload in App Store Connect. Search tab and product page ads feature app name, icon, and subtitle. Today tab ads are created using a custom product page you set up in App Store Connect. For search results ads, you can create a default ad that’s based on your app’s product page, or you can create ad variations from custom product pages you set up in App Store Connect. Why we care. Advertisers who run ads on Apple Search now have four options to showcase their product or app in the App Store. Like with any new platform or product, advertisers should test the different placement options and compare performance to determine the best options for their business. The post Four new Apple Search Ad placement options appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/jNClEDo Email may have been around since the dawn of the internet, but the space doesn’t stand still. Email marketing, and the technology that enables it, have evolved to deal with challenges like spam and deliverability and also to take advantage of opportunities, such as the ever-increasing sophistication of data usage for hyper-personalization. Developments in the email marketing platform environment, especially consolidation and integrations between parts of the tech stack, mean that the practice of email marketing is constantly changing. Additionally, external factors like Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection and Hide My Email, mean that marketers and their vendor partners need to adapt. Download MarTech’s “Email Marketing Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide” to stay up to date and learn about new and better features in the latest generation of email technology. This 51-page report is your source for the latest news, trends, opportunities and challenges facing this market as seen by industry leaders, vendors and their customers. Complete the form below to get your copy. This report is sponsored by Salesforce and Cordial. Can’t see the form? Click here. More MarTech Intelligence Reports The post Email marketing is continually developing. Are you keeping up? appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/YyAhxDO Every five years Search Engine Land likes to put together a sort of birthday tribute to the search engine, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics giant that we know as Google. Take a look at their big 2-0. But given all that’s happened in search the last two years, we think it’s about time to pop the champagne, cut the cake, and settle in for a new, yearly, honoring. Let’s get to it! 2021-2022Keyword match typesKeyword match types seem to be the gift that keeps on giving, or in Google’s case, taking away. This time Google’s simplified phrase match worried advertisers with some acknowledging how similarly BMM and phrase match have behaved, and others denouncing the change as a move to strip away more data and controls from advertisers so that Google can extract as much profit from auctions as possible. Farewell, broad-match modified keywords. Google expanded phrase-match to be included in broad match, to the chagrin of advertisers everywhere. AudiencesAdvertisers will be able to use connected TV campaigns to target viewers across YouTube and “most” other connected TV apps. The new development will bring affinity, in-market, and demographic audience segments to connected TVs. Advertisers will be able to reuse audiences across campaigns. When you build an audience to use in a campaign, Google Ads will save it so you can use it again in a future campaign. Google Ads is renaming some key terms in your audience report and throughout Google Ads. You may have seen this already in some accounts. Google revealed this via this help documentation in September 2021. RSAs and the end of ETAsResponsive Search Ads (RSAs) became the default ad type in 2021. RSAs allow advertisers to input multiple headlines and ad copy variations, and Google Ads uses machine learning to determine which variations to use based on what queries people are searching for. An open beta allowed advertisers to see Display ads alongside search and YouTube for the first time in the Google Ads attribution report. Advertisers can see the ads in Top Paths, Model Comparison, Assisted Conversions and Path Metrics reports. Automated vehicle ads were launched. The new format uses vehicle data feeds in Google Merchant Center to match users’ searches with ads. Nine new policies were added to the three-strike system to target clickbait, misleading ad design, and more. AutomationBundled bid strategies have replaced standalone options. The Target CPA (tCPA) and Target ROAS (tROAS) Smart Bidding strategies will be bundled with the Maximize Conversions and Maximize Conversion Value bid strategies, respectively, Google announced Tuesday. Moving forward, Maximize Conversions will have an optional tCPA field, and Maximize Conversion Value will have an optional tROAS field. Everyone’s favorite campaign type, Performance Max, became available to all advertisers. PMax includes Smart Shopping and Local campaigns, though Google eventually sunsetted Smart Shopping campaigns for good starting in January 2022. Changes to automated extensions include extensions being shown together, an “Automatically Created Extensions” report, and the ability to add them at ad group, campaign, or account level. Privacy Concerns DeepenThe depreciation of third-party cookies was supposed to happen in 2022 but was ultimately pushed to 2023. With that, an alternative targeting technology known as Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) was opened for advertiser testing in Q2 2021, with adoption slated for Q4 2022. The FLEDGE sandbox has been unveiled along with plans to roll out several Privacy Sandbox initiatives on Android, including the Topics API, the FLEDGE API for custom audiences and remarketing, and the Attribution Reporting API. It began testing in March 2022. Honorable mentions
2015-2020AudiencesGoogle’s 20th gave rise to an era of predictive marketing, using AI and machine learning to identify intent and predict customer needs, behavior and marketing outcomes. YouTube gains access to Google data for audience targeting, effectively improving ad targeting and measurement across search and YouTube. GA4 was also introduced, giving users expanded predictive insights, deeper integration with Google Ads, cross-device measurement capabilities and more granular data controls. Keyword match-type declineThe way we manage search terms has changed. Close variants are no longer what they used to be and marketers are being forced to adapt to machine learning. “Google says its machine learning is now good enough to determine when a query has the same intent as a keyword with a high enough rate of success that advertisers will see an overall performance lift.” Awkward. Google has loosened the reigns on close variant keywords. Broad match is super broad, exact match is more like phrase match, and phrase match is, well, gone? Privacy concerns have forced Google to limit Search terms reporting. In a statement from Google, a spokesperson said, “In order to maintain our standards of privacy and strengthen our protections around user data, we have made changes to our Search Terms Report to only include terms that a significant number of users searched for. We’re continuing to invest in new and efficient ways to share insights that enable advertisers to make critical business decisions.” Automation ramps upRSAs and the start of the end for Expanded Text Ads began in 2020. The option for text ads was no longer the default option in the Ads dropdown. Advertisers are seeing only Responsive Search Ad (RSA) and Call ad. Local Campaigns were introduced and aimed to drive in-store visits. Google automatically optimizes ad delivery across Search, YouTube, Maps and websites and apps in its ad networks. Smart Campaigns debuted and were designed for small and local businesses that don’t have dedicated marketing staff and may not even have websites. Smart Campaigns became the default campaign type for new advertisers in Google Ads. The campaigns are almost entirely automated and goals include phone calls, website visits and requests for directions. Honorable mentionsOther new advancements in Search included: 2000 launch to 2015While this is by no means a complete list, here are a few product development highlights from when Google launched the AdWords platform in 2000, all the way up to their 15th birthday. 2000Google launched its new self-service advertising program called AdWords. The program enabled “any advertiser to purchase individualized and affordable keyword advertising that appears instantly on the google.com search results page.” The AdWords program replaced Google’s first ad program called Premium Sponsorships. Check out this article we found from The Search Engine Report in 2000. 2006In 2006 Google decided to push forward with testing newspaper ads. If you’re curious, you can read the results here. In the same year, they also began testing in-stream video ads with Beet.tv. 2007Google started promoting audio ads. The landing page it takes you to tells you to call one of Google’s sales offices if you wanted to advertise on the radio. Pay-per-action ads were launched this year, allowing advertisers to only pay when their preferred action was completed, such as a sale or click. Google also began testing its Keyword Tool, showing the number of the previous month’s searches. The tool shows actual numbers in search volume for the previous month for keywords. Also happening this year, Google acquired DoubleClick from The New York Times for $3.1 billion. In July Google announced that those personalized ads you see are influenced by previous searches. In response, Google said “What you’re seeing is that we look at the user’s previous query and see how well it intersects with the current query. If it’s significant, we’ll use it to help targeting on the current query. We simply look at what’s in the referring URL (every time you load a web page, the HTTP header includes your previous URL as the “referrer”).” Google reaches 1 million advertisers! “An analyst from UBS estimated Google has between 1.3 million and 1.5 million advertisers. According to the analyst, it shows there is still room for a lot more growth in terms of the advertiser base.” 2008Google pitched its media buying dashboard to very skeptical agencies. Google also announced third-party tracking for the content network. Thanks, Google! This same year, Google also began testing showing product ads in search results. The Inside AdWords Google Blog announced that all US-based advertisers should now have the TV ads option in their account. In fact, you should see the option after logging in to your AdWords account at the bottom, where it says “Other Campaign Types.” 2009Google’s newspaper ads initiative shuts down. Google said they are discontinuing this service because “the current Print Ads product is not the right solution.” Google announced that they’re officially shutting down Google Audio Ads and Google Radio Automation. The Google Base blog announced the launch of the new Google Merchant Center. The Merchant Center is replacing Google Base for those who submit products to Google. Google Blog announced you can now buy YouTube Promoted Video ads directly in the Google AdWords console. Previously, all YouTube Promoted Video ads were managed on YouTube at ads.youtube.com. Google has acquired AdMob (www.admob.com), a popular mobile display ad company, for $750 million. This acquisition gives Google access to AdMob’s more than 15,000 mobile Web sites and applications. 2010Google has announced a new lab-type area called Google Ad Innovations, which is where it’ll “show you some of our latest ideas around advertising technologies and get your feedback.” Think of it as Google Labs for Ads. Google has enabled access to the AdWords dashboard and other features for smartphone users. It’s configurable and provides on-the-go access to account data and stats. The new mobile interface is currently available for iPhone, Android and Palm/WebOS users. Google starts testing a feature with a small number of advertisers in which a phone number can be included within the ad to help them more effectively engage with customers who prefer to connect over the phone. A new keyword type, broad match modifier, begins testing. Google Product Listing Ads are offered to all advertisers 2011Google is now letting AdWords advertisers automatically optimize what ads display most based on conversion rates. Google will begin charging $1.00 for calls completed using the unique number it provisions, but solely when the call originates from someone using a computer who dials the number themselves from a phone. When the call is from a mobile device, or someone on a PC calls from the computer itself by clicking, the standard click charges apply. Previously, the calls dialed on a phone were free, as they didn’t involve a click, per se. Google rolls out the ability to target ads to users by interest based on their previous browsing activity, or behavior, to all of its advertisers. Cost per lead tests start. Google is testing search and display versions of a cost-per-lead ad format that would allow users to request an advertiser contact them. Google is opening wider a beta test of Dynamic Search Ads. This ad type is designed for retailers or other advertisers with a large, often-changing inventory. Google automatically generates ad copy, based on the advertiser’s template. Google officially announced it would begin serving AdWords at the bottom of search engine results pages on Google.com. 2012Google Product Search is renamed to Google Shopping and only merchants that paid will be listed. Google is testing the effect of adding “Trusted Stores” badges to qualifying advertisers’ search ads, as it considers deploying the badges more widely. Google introduced the ability to target more than 30,000 ZIP codes in AdWords, giving advertisers the ability to find potential customers in a familiar, granular way. Another new feature, Location Insertion, is aimed at letting advertisers with multiple locations create one ad, and have information dynamically inserted depending on the user’s query or location. Google released a new report — Auction Insights — that helps marketers understand how their ads stand, compared to others in the same auctions. Testing begins for a new ad format on its Hotel Finder product that lets marketers bid to appear at the top of search results. Promoted Hotels ads are ranked based on a combination of bid and quality score, and are sold on a CPC basis. The remarketing tag gets a makeover. Google has begun notifying merchants that it won’t allow them to continue listing weapons-related items for sale in Google Shopping. 2013Google announced plans to add enhanced campaigns for AdWords to aid with campaign management catered to multiple-device users. The enhanced campaigns aimed to include advanced reports about users. This move was controversial among advertisers. Ad group-level mobile bid adjustments started to roll out. The AdWords Keyword Planner finally launches. Google has announced the official beta for Image Extensions in AdWords. Google announced the beta release of Review Extensions which allows advertisers to append a quote of endorsement from a reputable publication in their AdWords ads. 2014CNBC reports that Google is now banning porn businesses from utilizing their ad network. To help retailers maintain consistent visibility in PLAs, Google has launched “automatic item updates” in AdWords. Google announced it is extending its popular product listing ads (PLAs) to retail and e-commerce sites across the Google Search Network. The ads are served via a new Google product called AdSense for Shopping. Automated Extensions report starts rolling out. AdWords 11 is launched. Google released a fully-redesigned version of AdWords Editor that supports several of the bulk editing features that have recently been added to the web interface and introduces new functionality to the desktop tool. 2015By 2015 Google maintained nearly 64 percent of search share on desktop and almost 90 percent of mobile in the US. The Google shared library is sunsetted. Google launches dynamic structured snippets for AdWords. The automated extensions display industry-specific, structured information about products and services on advertisers’ sites. Google has opened up access to its home services ad program in AdWords Express. The home services ad program launched in beta in the San Francisco area to connect service providers with local residents searching for help. Starting in October, Google changed the conversions columns to include only those conversions that are set for optimization: i.e., optimized conversion actions. Google launched Smart Goals in early December. Smart Goals are designed for advertisers that don’t or can’t have conversion tracking on their sites. It aggregates conversion data from the thousands of sites that opt to share data with Google Analytics and, with machine learning, identifies visits deemed most likely to convert on the advertiser’s site. The post Google Ads turns 22: A look back at the biggest changes and advances in search appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/xlZK1U0 |
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