- We’ll continue to have less control in ad platforms
- Keywords are on their way out as the core of Google Ads targeting
- Detailed demographics
- Spending transparency
- IP (internal traffic) exclusions
- Who doesn’t resonate with your unique selling points?
- Who clicks your ads but doesn’t become a lead or make a purchase?
- Who fills out a form but never follows through to become a client or customer?
Google has pulled the plug on pulling the plug on third-party cookies in Chrome.
It seems they couldn’t find a privacy-preserving replacement that would also preserve ad revenue.
Per Google:
we are proposing an updated approach that elevates user choice. Instead of deprecating third-party cookies, we would introduce a new experience in Chrome that lets people make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing
Basically, Chrome will do what iOS started doing in 2021 with the advent of App Tracking Transparency in 14.5.
Cookies have crumbled, but the crumbs are sticking around.
Similar to Google:
Microsoft Ads is rolling out a new feature called “brand lists” for Performance Max (PMax) campaigns.
Brand lists allow advertisers to exclude their ads from appearing alongside specific brands, potentially improving ad relevance and return on ad spend (ROAS).
Can pick up to 20 but sounds like you’re limited to a pre-defined list or requesting additions.
🚨 🪦
Google to kill off URL shortener once and for all
Links shortened with goo.gl will stop working in 2025
You have just over a year to migrate if you’re currently using Google URL Shortener.
via The Register
From MarTech: Steve Ganem, Product Director of Google Analytics, on what’s ahead for GA4
More offline data and more AI
continue to innovate and invest in making it the most effective, holistic and durable analytics solution
Next addition to the Google graveyard: infinite scroll
Google said this change is to serve the search results faster on more searches, instead of automatically loading results that users haven’t explicitly requested. Loading more results automatically didn’t lead to significantly higher satisfaction with Search
More on the Google ranking factors leak & why it shouldn’t distract you from focusing on users.
People have long divorced SEO from user experience, I think the two need to work more closely together. Because ultimately you need someone to come to your page and stay there. That is a signal that Google is using.
-Mike King
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is search engine optimization (SEO).
Google’s search ranking factors leaked & the SEO world has been doing its best Shark Week impression trying to digest the info and tease out the secrets contained within.
It’s over 14k attributes.
I haven’t dug in yet, but I agree with this approach:
Ultimately, you want to build content that people like. That people want to click on. That people want to consume. That people want to share. That people just want to go back to.
-Barry Schwartz
Content may be distributed by algorithm, but it shouldn’t be created for them.
On Brand: Authenticity & Personality
Blake Droesch on the type of brand that won’t be disrupted by AI And other technologies (~25:21):
The authentic brand is the one that is going to stand out. That was true yesterday, it’s true today, and it will be true in the years to come.
& Bill Fisher (~25:40):
Every brand’s going to have a core audience. And you need to speak to that audience in a relatable way. That’s what your brand personality is—or should be.
& Carina Perkins (~26:40):
Brands can’t really get away with false personalities anymore. Is that personality really reflecting their business and values? And everything they do, rather than just what they say?
Plus some solid branding advice from Dropout (formerly CollegeHumor):
It’s like I always say, if you’re going to use two brand names, just use one.
Google is emailing advertisers to notify them it will soon begin automatically pausing low-activity keywords.
According to the email, positive keywords in search ad campaigns will be considered low-activity if they haven’t generated impressions in over a year.
This should make account manager easier and cleaner.
But I think it’s also a low-key signal that:
And yes, this is mostly thanks to AI.
“Running with scissors is a cardio exercise that can increase your heart rate and require concentration and focus,” says Google’s new AI search feature. “Some say it can also improve your pores and give you strength.”
…
Google suggested that if you’re making pizza but the cheese won’t stick, you could add about an eighth of a cup of glue to the sauce to “give it more tackiness.”
At its core, AI is only as good as its training data. Why would we expect any different from a model that averages the internet?
It is only superhuman when it comes to speed.
via TechCrunch
Google Marketing Live continued a recent trend for Google Ads, making it more and more like social ad platforms as far as creation flow and targeting.
Social marketers will inherit the earth?
Which means, your creative is the most important part of your ad strategy.
While Google is Meta-fying its ad platform as fast as it can, Zuck+Co might be returning the favor.
Site links in your social feed!
The site links feature enables you to add multiple landing pages to your ads. Ads created without the site link feature can only include one primary landing page. The site links will appear as horizontally scrollable display labels under the main hero image or video. When someone clicks on one of the site links on your ad, they’ll be redirected to its designated landing page within the in-app browser to learn more about your business.
via Meta
it’s teaming up with OpenAI to add the startup’s technology to iOS 18, the next version of the iPhone’s software
Sounds like OpenAI won the gig (Google always felt like a weird choice based on platform competition and default search payola scrutiny).
Now Apple gets to enter the consumer AI fray and establish a connection with its hardware platform while continuing to develop its edge differentiation and outsourcing hallucinatory reputational risk to someone else.
Netflix will launch an in-house advertising technology platform, by the end of 2025
…
This summer, Netflix will also expand its buying capabilities to include The Trade Desk, Google’s Display & Video 360, and Magnite who will join Microsoft as the main programmatic partners for advertisers.
The streaming platform removed the Basic plan for new subscribers last July, not it’ll get rid of it for good.
I wrote this last March:
If Netflix goes the roll-your-own route to replace the Microsoft stack, I wonder how long the ad-free basic tier will last.
A mystery no more.
A year ago, Google said that it believed AI was the future of search. That future is apparently here: Google is starting to roll out “AI Overviews,” previously known as the Search Generative Experience, or SGE, to users in the US and soon around the world. Pretty soon, billions of Google users will see an AI-generated summary at the top of many of their search results.
How does this impact your ad strategy?
via The Verge
More Shiny New Ad Toys
Meta
Marketers get ready: ads are coming to Threads a lot sooner than expected.
The tech platform recently told ad execs that they will be able to buy ads on its X-rival, text-based platform as early as the second half of this year
Increase revenue potential and decrease CPMs (maybe), sounds like exactly what Meta wants right now.
If experimenting on Threads was on your 2024 To Do list, now is the time.
via Digiday
Snapchat
Use GenAI to create AR ads and filters.
& place them next to unconventional sports like extreme ironing.
via TechCrunch
Amazon
New ad types are coming to Prime Video, which should garner a lot of attention as ads are added to the streaming platform (which won a chunk of NBA broadcast rights).
The new formats include shoppable carousel ads, pause ads and brand trivia ads.
via Adweek
Microsoft
starting to test ads inside the Start menu on Windows 11. The software maker will use the Recommended section of the Start menu, which usually shows file recommendations, to suggest apps from the Microsoft Store.
A new ad channel for app developers enters the chat?
via The Verge
Roku
The patent centers around the idea of displaying ads on these TVs whenever they’re tuned to an HDMI input that’s paused or idle. Theoretically, this would allow Roku to present ads throughout your whole TV experience — and in places where it’s not viable to do so today.
Advertising is the go-to revenue stream for companies seeking bottom line growth. Even more so when consumers are especially price sensitive.
via The Verge
New AI-powered features are coming to Performance Max campaigns. Here are the ones that should be more widely available now/soon:
Detailed demographics in audience insights empower you to understand your untapped demographics so you can craft ads that resonate directly with specific age and gender groups.
At a glance, you can analyze your campaign pacing to identify potential areas for strategic budget shifts, such as moving budget from a campaign that’s underpacing to a campaign that is close to becoming budget limited.
exclude specific IP addresses (e.g., your company), reducing wasted budget on unwanted ad interactions.
Apple
Apple is really leaning into being the anti-Google. Enter “Web Eraser”:
The feature is expected to build upon existing privacy features within Safari and will allow users to erase unwanted content from any webpage of their choosing. Users will have the option to erase banner ads, images, text or even entire page sections, all with relative ease.
Also, Safari may act a little more like Arc—the current new browser on the block pulling a Hansel (I like the Arc Search app).
Expect more on-device AI features soon, this is Apple’s differentiator in the space.
via Apple Insider
I kind of love this idea:
How to transform your Google Ads headlines with anti-audiences
To define your anti-audience, think about who’s least likely to say “yes” to your offer:
Your brand can’t be for everyone.
Which means it’s actively not for some.
Lean into that.