INTRODUCTION
According to Statista, Google’s search market share is more than 62 percent in the United States. The platform also accounts for about 30% of all digital ad revenue, making it the top online advertising platform in the country.
Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, launched in 2000 and has since undergone numerous tweaks and changes. Over the past 20+ years, the platform has introduced new bid strategies, targeting parameters, ad formats and more. These efforts have helped Google dominate the market, and you should expect the platform to continue to evolve in the future.
Following are some new features and updates for Google Search Ads in 2022.
THE END OF EXPANDED TEXT ADS
As announced last year, Google ended support for the creation and editing of expanded search ads on June 30, 2022. Advertisers now only have the option to create responsive search ads in standard Search campaigns.
If you’re not familiar, responsive search ads have similar features to expanded text ads. For instance, they can show two-to-three 30-character headlines. Responsive search ads also show up to two 90-character descriptions, like expanded text ads.
The key difference between the two is that responsive ads are designed to be more relevant to what your potential customers are searching for. Instead of creating static headlines and descriptions, advertisers enter multiple headlines (up to 15) and descriptions (up to 4) into the responsive search ad interface. Google then shows the combinations that are most likely to generate results based on the search.
While you are unable to create new expanded text ads, you can continue to run them alongside responsive search ads if you enabled them in a past campaign. You’ll also continue to see performance reports for those ads, and you can reactivate any paused campaigns. If you opt to continue using your expanded text ads, keep in mind that you won’t be able to edit previous text.
BROWSER COOKIES WILL BE PHASED OUT
This major Google Ads change, called the “Privacy Sandbox” initiative, is a direct result of the third-party data tracking and privacy concerns that have arisen in recent years. For marketers, that means you will need to provide your own audience data, or first-party data, for future Google remarketing campaigns (e.g., ads that retarget people who have previously taken action on your website).
This change is expected to be completed in mid-to-late 2023; however, you should plan ahead now and start implementing new ways to capture data from consenting customers. For instance, you can include incentives on your website, such as downloading a report, in exchange for email addresses.
CHANGES TO KEYWORD MATCHING
Late last year, Google announced it would be taking steps to make keyword matching more predictable for Search ads. Specifically, Google’s BERT (bidirectional encoder representations for transformers) algorithm technology is being used to better determine search intent and context. This is particularly true for broad and phrase match keywords.
For example, if someone searches for a specific auto part, like “1995 5 speed transmission seal input shaft,” Google can now match that search to a broad match keyword like “auto parts.” This can help advertisers capture potentially relevant customers, even if they’re not targeting the exact match keyword.
On the other hand, the new matching behaviors may also yield non-relevant clicks. In reference to the example above, your auto parts store may not carry that specific part. Make sure to update your negative keyword lists regularly to avoid this scenario.
In addition, broad and phrase matches now follow exact match logic. As a refresher, Google favors the exact match keyword that is identical to what the user is searching for. Now, Google will also prioritize the broad match or phrase match keywords that best match the query.
For example, if someone searches for “sushi delivery near me” and you’re targeting broad matches for “sushi delivery” and “sushi delivery near me,” Google will prioritize the latter since it is identical to the search.
Finally, Google is considering other relevance signals, in addition to ad rank, for campaigns that include relevant, but not identical, keywords. For example, BERT will analyze the intent of the search as well as the context of your keywords based on your associated landing pages. Previously, the relevant keyword with the higher ad rank would take precedence.