Google Ads news - January Recap

Welcome to the Google Ads newsletter January recap. In this edition, you read all the updates from January.

Partnership Profitmetrics

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I launched my first product!

With all the Google Ads changes that I documented over the last years I found out that not everybody knows and understands all the settings.

Even worse, they use incorrect settings...That's why I made a Google Ads Settings Checklist!

To make sure that you are taking full advantage of all the options you have in Google Ads. What do you get in this document:

> Google Ads settings checklist with 121 points

> Account settings checklist with 13 points

> Search settings checklist with 68 points

> Pmax settings checklist with 54 points

> Standard shopping checklist with 33 points

> Display settings checklist with 5 points

> Tips & experiments checklist with 133 points

The document costs € 75. But for the next week, it will be priced at € 50.

If you also want to get the most out of your conversion tracking I have another special deal.

If you buy the Advanced Conversion tracking mastery from PPC Mastery with the code: adriaan I will send you the document for free!

For more information on the template go to my website .

For the Tracking Deal visit PPC Mastery and use the code: adriaan

* Deals are only 1 week available.

Google Ads News

Advertise with different business names

Yash Mandlesha?? found out that Google now allows advertisers to use a different business name in their assets.

Advertisers can make this change with the help of their trademark registration number.

Note that some people already have seen this before, but I have not. Could be a slow rollout.

New Pmax insights

Patrick Gehn found this new overview that shows you the reasons and explanations for the change in costs or conversion values for Pmax.

New Troubleshooter

Google has launched this new troubleshooter in the Google Ads help section.

New location report

Arpan Banerjee found this new location report tab inside the smart campaign setup.

New Consent Overview GTM

Matteo Zambon found this new overview for Cookie Consent in the GTM Bugger. In this overview, you see different colors for Cookie Consent!

Start of Cookie Depcreation

This week Google started by phasing out 1% of the cookies! Near Q3 Google will phase out all the cookies.

Protect your performance with tools like Server Side tagging, enhanced conversions, and Consent mode V2.

New YouTube call to action

Thomas Eccel found this new call to action Ad button on YouTube!

Automated migration of Merchant Center

Brice Josselin ??♂? & Yoann FERRAND found out that the automated migration of Merchant Center started on January 11, 2024.

New PMax feature

Chris Borg & Matt Bowen found this new feature that tells you that you can now remove automatically created assets in Pmax. More control for the win.

Adios

Lots of architects from Google like Izi Ancel have announced today that Google has shared an?open-source?solution to easily create and manage image assets in?Google Ads.

The open source is now available on?GitHub?and it is called Adios. If you would like more information, you can read this article .

Delay Third-Party cookies

Interesting news. Google is allowing some websites to delay the phase-out of third-party cookies, for more information read this article .

Warning message

Arpan Banerjee just got the notification that Google can pause some ad groups if they use similar segments. Now similar segments have already been phased out for some time but the notification he received was new for him.

Final all Ads API v13

Google is making the final call to sunset the Google Ads API v13.

Search Ads local results

Filip Silobod discovered that Google search ads with headings and descriptions are appearing in local results on desktop and mobile!

No-end date gone

Mitchel Wubben found out that the no-end date function is gone in his experiments! This function used to be active in the experiment.

End date discovery

Slobodan Jelisavac received this mail! Looks like Google is being serious about the upgrade from Discovery to Demand Gen.

New Google Ads business data sharing

Hana Kobzová found out that the business data-sharing setting started rolling out globally in January 2024 and is reaching general availability by March 2024.

When the setting is turned on, you’re giving Google permission to access Ads business account data and provide you with more relevant recommendations across Google business products, including Google Analytics, Business Profile, and Merchant Center.

Recommendations can be based on shared account-level data from you and anyone else you’ve authorized to access your Google Ads account.

This data can include information about the Ads products and features you use, how you’ve set up your accounts, and trends in your campaign spending.

You’re in control of the data you share, so you can opt out of business data sharing at any time by toggling the data sharing setting off.

New Pmax insights

Another catch from Thomas Eccel and again we get new insights into Pmax. Took some time.

But if we add all the new insights up we see more and more positive changes for Pmax.

With this new change, you can see data for Top Advertisers and a new box for Competitors entering and exiting.

Branded Local Service Ads

Ben Fisher found out that Local Services Ads now lets users choose if they want to show LSA ads if somebody searches for your brand.

Update measurement Protocol Documentation

Tamás Geiger found out that the measurement Protocol documentation has been updated.

You can now send the new consent parameter to include consent mode flags in MPv2 hits. For more information read the documentation.

Another Demand Gen update

Thomas Eccel found out that you can now add sitelinks to Demand Gen.

New option Demand Gen

Florian Ibe found out that you can now create a combination of image and product ads as well as video and product ads in Demand Gen!

Before it was only possible to create either only product ads or image and video ads, depending on whether a product feed was selected for the campaign or not.

Google customer service

Google Customer Service is at an all-time low according to marketers. Interesting article if you ask me. For more information click on this link .

Shutdown SA360

Teodor Yordanov just reminded me that the previous SA360 will shut down between February and April!

Performance Max Masterclass by Google

Arpan Banerjee sent me this message on Monday that Google is going to hold a masterclass for PMax.

The PMaxStellar (A Masterclass on Performance Max Campaign) is a livestream workshop session that brings together industry and Google Ads Performance Max campaign experts. Google is organizing this event on 14 March at 07:00-08:00 CET.

For more information read this article .

Remove PMax video

My man James Dixon just got the chance to remove the auto-generated video for PMax with the document below.

Only after a lot of back-and-forth emails… but still! If you want to remove it. contact your rep.

YouTube slower?

Rumors are going around that YouTube is making YouTube slower for users who are using Ad Blockers. For more information read this article .

New Display & Video 360 resources?

Natasha Kaurra just sent me this new announcement from Google where they explain that they have added new resources for CTV.

I saw that they already made videos about it in 2023. So not sure 100% if it is new.

But still, they have sent this mail.

The resources:

• Disney
• Sling
• Hulu
• Paramount
• Fox
• Tubi
• 4
• Samsung

New pop-up enhanced conversion account level

If you don't have this function on Google will now show this setting in the set-up of a conversion.

Google lays off employee's advertising sales team

Google is laying off hundreds of employees in its advertising sales team.

This move comes after companies are now looking to adopt artificial intelligence software and automation to lighten workloads. For more information read this article .

Google changes DMA

Google is making changes to its products in preparation for the Digital Markets Act (DMA) in the European Union, effective from March.

Users in Europe will notice differences in Google services soon.

Consents for linked services: European users will be asked for additional consent regarding data sharing across Google products. Users can adjust their choices in their Google Account settings.

Search results changes: Google is testing changes to the search results page in Europe. This includes dedicated units with links to comparison sites, query shortcuts for refined searches, and a dedicated space for detailed results in categories like hotels. Some features, like the Google Flights unit, will be removed.

Choice screens: Android users will see additional choice screens for selecting default search engines or browsers as required by the DMA.

Data portability: Google will soon test a Data Portability API for developers to meet new requirements around moving user data to third-party apps or services.

More details on the final changes will be shared before the March deadline. For the announcement read this article .

Two new search features

Google has released two new search features:

- circle to search

- upgrade for multisearch

Circle to Search is a new way to search for things on your phone with a simple gesture.

Upgrade: you can now take photos with your camera or upload them. Besides this change you can now also ask a question.

New Article about Consent Mode V2

Google has released a new article on Consent mode. In this article, they are talking again about March. So the deadline is still March for Consent Mode V2. I could not find anything I did not know already in this article. If you are still interested in it you can find it here .

Diagnose tab Store visits

Patrick Gehn found out that you can now see under the diagnose tab why you are eligible for store visits or not.

84 Day Maximum

Matinique Roelse found out that Google changed the maximum days of an experiment to 84 days in his account.

Image upscaling enhancement

Anthony Higman found out that Google has added a new feature called Image Upscaling Enhancements.

With this feature, you can automatically enhance your photos and scale them so that you meet the minimum size requirements for serving.

For now, it is only available for Performance Max and Responsive Display Ads. For more information go to the documentation .

Deprecating cross-device conversion metric values bid manager API

On Wednesday Google announced the deprecating of cross-device conversion metric values in the bid manager API.

New Demand Gen documentation

Another interesting finding from Dario Zannoni . He discovered and shared on his profile that Google has released a FAQ for Demand Gen!

The FAQ has 4 different sections:

?Transitioning from Discovery to Demand Gen

?Billing & Bidding

?Audiences

?General

For more information about the article visit this link.

Also, make sure to follow Dario Zannoni he finds changes in Google documentation frequently.

PMax guide enhancements

Google has announced some PMax Guide enhancements!

• New Getting Started guide that outlines the steps to create: Standard Performance Max campaigns, Performance Max campaigns for retail and Performance Max campaigns for travel goals
• Reorganized guide structure to better reflect entity relationships in Performance Max campaigns
• Clarified asset requirements
• Revamped Performance Max reporting guide
• Better surfaced features such as campaign-level conversion goals and asset group signals
• Additional troubleshooting content

For more information go to the announcement . For some more insights check Navah Hopkins her post !

Performance High Lights Account

Arpan Banerjee just sent me this message about the categories Google Ads shows in the Performance Highlights. I have never seen these before.

Look a like shopping section test

Daniel N?rgaard found out that Google is testing with a look-a-like shopping section that is also sponsored!

Offline conversions

Niklas Buschner found out that if you are sending offline conversion to Ads with Zappier you have to make sure you update for Consent mode V2!

A/B test shopping feeds

Sam Bailey and other Google Data Scientists have released FeedX.

FeedEx is an open-source solution to design and run A/B tests on Shopping feeds. This feature is now available on GitHub.

FeedX splits products into control and treatment groups. And, it is built with industry best practices in experiment design to ensure that results are sensitive and reliable

You can also use this tool to test FeedGen! For more information go to FeedX .

GDPR Banners

Thomas Eccel just received this email. Looks like Google might take action against accounts that have no GDPR consent banners!

Generative AI update

Gemini, is now powering the conversational experience in Google Ads. Advertisers in the US and UK have full access to the Gemini-powered conversational experience, and global availability is coming in the next weeks to all advertisers in English.

For more information read this article from Google .

1 headline test

Teodor Yordanov found out that Google is now testing with one headline only in Ads. Now if you have headlines you need to show it can be useful to pin the first headline.

Re-verify identity or business operation

Arpan Banerjee found out that if you make significant account changes during the pending of the advertiser verification process you may be asked to re-verify again.

Workaround end-date Experiments

Tina from Exsitec just sent me a message with this workaround for the end date of an experiment.

If you are being limited by the maximum number of days for an experiment. Just accept it and change the date in the experiment overview section.

Roll-out merge campaign objectives

Google is now rolling the reach, awareness, and consideration objectives out slowly. This merge was already seen a few months ago.

Short cut conversions

Arpan Banerjee found this shortcut for Google Ads Conversions! Very useful if you want to change the conversion goal category for example.

New attribute Google Ads

I just found this new established in attribute in a Google Ad! Looks like this attribute is coming from GBP. So always make sure you connect GBP with Google Ads.

Highly rated callout Local Ads

Anthony Higman found out that Google is testing with a highly rated call-out in the Local Service Ads

New Google Design

Joakim Lindh sent me a message this week about a new Google Design in the interface. My first reaction was this is already live for me.

Now I see more people talking about it so it must be new to a lot of people. Below you see an example of the new design from PPC Greg.

Tinuiti Q4 2023 report

The Tinuiti Q4 2023 report is out again! Some Google Ads findings:

- CPC’s increase with 17%

- Google Map ads 52% higher than in 2019

- Pmax helps increase shopping ad spending with 19%

For more information visit this article .

New Circle layout style Pmax

Thomas Eccel found out that Pmax now has new circle layout styles in the Ad interface. Looks good to me!

Update Demand Gen document

PPC Greg found out that Google has updated the Infographic about the New Demand Gen Features:

- New Ad creation workflow

- A/B experiments images/video's

- Conversion path reports

- Data driven attribution

- Device targeting.

For more information read this article .

Pop-up Google Rep

Scott Carruthers just got this new pop-up in Google. Now I have seen this pop-up before but not with the name of the Google rep.

New invoice overview

Patrick Gehn found this new invoice overview in Google Ads! Now it looks like this is a further roll-out because Thomas Eccel already reported about this before.

Consent mode check Google

Let Google check your consent mode. Ben Luong found out that Google can check if your consent mode is verified.

New icons in Google Ads

Felix Mayo just discovered these new icons when you select a campaign type. Very useful!

Launch Tutorial Asset generation AI

Google launched the Google Ads Tutorials: Generative AI-powered asset generation for Performance Max! For more information go to their YouTube channel .

A new way to persuade you to use Pmax

Besides the new icons that were discovered by Felix Mayo Ana Perez found these new sizes for the campaign types. Looks like Google wants to persuade users to use Pmax more by creating a bigger section.

Alphabet 2023 Q4

Google has released its 2023 Q4 financial highlights.

- 13% more revenue

- YouTube Ads revenue grew by 15,5%

- Display Ads revenue shrinks by 2,1%

- Search networks revenue growth 12,7%

Total Ad revenue was a bit lower than what investors expected.$65.5 billion vs. $65.8 billion expected.

For more information read this page .

Some other information about the call from Google on Ads:

Ads and SGE:

Google is experimenting with ads native to SGE, aiming to enhance commercial journeys by displaying relevant ads alongside search results.

- Philipp Schindler, Google’s chief business officer, mentioned the success of ads positioned above or below the AI-powered overview in SGE.

- Recent launches include features like a one-stop deals destination, new filters (e.g., "get it fast"), and AI-generated gifting recommendations within SGE.

- Google has officially clarified that it has no plans to replace its advertising sales staff with AI!

Google Ads solutions

Mantas Mereckis & Sofia Akritidou found this new menu option in their Google Ads called solutions.

Now I have posted about this before because Dario Zannoni found some documents a few months ago about this. But now this tool is rolling out

With Solutions, you can create automated and customized workflows without making changes to the code.

For more information read this document.

New function Demand Gen

Just like Pmax, Demand Gen is also getting a lot of new functions. One of the functions that Maximilian vom Eyser announced today is the adding or removing of a feed. Before you needed to remove the campaign and start a new one!

Grammatical Mistake

Arpan Banerjee just noticed that Google made a small mistake in the new account anomaly detector in Solutions.

New Categories Local Service Ads

Anthony Higman spotted some new categories for Local Service Ads:

> Audiologist

> Massage therapist

> Occupational therapist

> Orthopedic surgeon

> Plastic surgeon

New Search Trends

Thomas Eccel found out that Google is now showing search trends under recommendations!

Carded Shaded Formats

Google Ads is testing with new carded shaded formats. Spotted by Barry Schwartz and Shameem Adhikarath.

Consent mode update

Starting March 2024, for customers who have implemented consent mode, their ad_storage parameter will be automatically mapped to the new ad_user_data parameter.

No action is required for existing users of consent mode for measurement purposes

Policy section

Policy Update Delaware

In January 2024 Google will begin to accept and run ads for sports betting from state-approved entities in Delaware.

Sensitive content update

David Zouzout found out that Google is updating the inappropriate content policy in February 2024!

Gambling and games policy

In February 2024, the Google Ads?Gambling and games policy?Mozambique country-specifics will be updated.

Restricting plumbing Ads in The Netherlands

In February 2024, the Google Ads?Other Restricted Businesses policy?will be updated to restrict plumbing ads in the Netherlands. Google will begin enforcing the policy update on February 22, 2024.

Update Display & Video 360 API terms

On February 9, 2024 Google will update the display & video 360 API terms of service to add new languages that support announced changes.

From this week Google is allowing some cryptocurrencies and related product in the USA. For more information read this article .

Google has announced an update for Display & Video 360 API

- A new?floodlightGroups.floodlightActivities?service that enables the programmatic retrieval of?FloodlightActivity?resources. This was previously only possible using?Entity Read Files.

- Support of a?new inventory source configuration field?for YouTube & Partners Line Items.

Rollout AdMob Technical Ad Delivery

Google AdMob will roll out Technical ad delivery in Q1 2024. With this new feature, Google helps publishers ensure that displayed ads adhere to regulations in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK).

Sunset Entity Read Files

On?October 31, 2024, Display & Video 360?Entity Read Files?(ERFs) will sunset.

Looker Studio

Looker Studio product updates

Google has announced some product updates for Looker Studio:

- custom value formatting

- download and third-party access controls in Workspace admin console.

GA4

Reporting in GA4

Google has launched a series on YouTube for reporting in GA4. For more information go to their YouTube account .

GA4 update

Josh Silverbauer found out that GA4 has had an update. When you search in the table chart, it will now also filter the above timeline and bar chart.

First official GA4 update 2024

Google has released its first GA4 update for 2024. In this update, they have added new help options to Google Analytics 4.

These new options are accessible through the help button?in the top-right corner of Google Analytics

Learn about this page: Get detailed guidance on using the features on your current page.

Start tour: Open a guided tour, where available, that walks through key procedures relevant to the current page.

Get more help: Find information in the Google Analytics Help Center or join the Google Analytics Help Community for further assistance.

Send feedback: Encounter an issue? You can now share your feedback with the Google Analytics team.

Default all services GA4

Matteo Zambon found out that Google has updated by default all services enabled under GA4 data stream. This is because of the Digital Marketing Acts. You can find this new feature Data Stream > Configure tag setting > click Show More > Manage data.

Play Console recommendation GA4

GA4 can now show the Play Console recommendation!

Goodbye UA Data

Joe Robinson just got this new pop-up that counts the date down that Google is removing UA data.

January finished

That's all the news from January! If you want to read more news check my website .