Google Ads newsletter - week 34

Welcome to the Google Ads newsletter. In this newsletter, you read all the news around Google Ads from week 34.

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New newsletters

I have launched a new newsletter.

In this newsletter, I will dive deeper into the news items & share videos and templates.

This means that I will tell you how you can implement news and what the news items mean for you.

You will receive at least 4 newsletters every month with a deep dive. Join here.

Big update to the Google Ads Playbook!

I just made a big update with new scripts, e-books and exclusion lists that I have added to the playbook. Make sure to check it out here.

Week 34 Google Ads news

Outdated Ads

Even Google is running outdated ads! Found by Arpan Banerjee

Crazy Bug

Felix Mayo texted me that Google for one day showed a small amount of ads traffic from other Merchant Centers in his account! Crazy bug.

Real-time bidding depreciate

Georgi Zayakov just send me that The Google Real-time Bidding protocol is deprecated and will sunset on February 15th, 2025. As?previously announced, Google plans to no longer send bid requests to endpoints configured to use that protocol after it is sunset!

Further rollout of WhatsApp assets for Google Ads

Aleksejus Podpruginas discovered that Google is further rolling out WhatsApp assets to However, this exciting extension is only available in:

???? Argentina

???? Colombia

???? Hong Kong

???? Indonesia

???? Malaysia

???? Mexico

???? Peru

???? Singapore

???? Thailand

A few months ago it was only available in Brazil and India!

Are your YouTube videos optimized for success?

Catherina Tindal posted that Google launched a new open-source solution called the ABCDs Detector. This tool shows you how well your videos align with best practices for effective YouTube campaigns (“ABCD principles”) in an automated way.

GitHub repository.

ABCD principles.

Pmax Modification form

Hana Kobzová discovered that Google made some changes to the Pmax modification request form! In March they already changes excel file, that change was found by Natasha Kaurra.

Holiday 2024 best practices

Craig Graham posted that Google will hold the Holiday 2024 best practices on September 10. You can join here.

Video Lineups

Emirhan Bayutmu? discovered that you can now select "Video Lineups" also in "Video view" campaign! Before you could choose only it in Youtube Select campaigns.

Smart matching bug

Ginny Marvin stated that this smart matching bug happened after a small traffic experiment between 8/13/2024 and 8/14/2024 that incorrectly attributed traffic under this previously turned down “Smart Matching” designation. Advertisers will not be charged for these clicks, and Google has reverted the change!

New Pmax Design change

Zeeshan Ali discovered that the Google ads have a new design for Pmax! The final URL is now above the asset generation.

GCD Parameter change

Simo Ahava discovered that the "gcd" parameter in Google tag requests, which encodes the flags and settings for Consent Mode, seems to have been updated recently with a new flag "9l".

New installation method GA4

Himanshu Sharma discovered that Google now recommends the manual installement function.

v202408 Google Ad Manager API

Google announced that?v202408?of the Google Ad Manager API is available starting today, August 21, 2024.

This release brings support for setting contextual targeting with?ContentLabelTargeting?and?VerticalTargeting.

It also adds?AdsTxtService?for reading MCM supply chain diagnostics.In reporting, the?VIDEO_PLACEMENT_NAME?dimension has been replaced by the?VIDEO_PLCMT_NAME?dimension which reflects the?updated IAB definition.

For the full list check this page.

Shopping Feed Learning Series

Google Shopping Feed Learning Series is being held on 27 of August at 11:30.

This session?aims to guide brands on leveraging Google Merchant Center Feeds for business growth.

Link.

Google Video Partners

Thomas Eccel discovered a new Demand Gen feature called ???????????? ?????????? ????????????????.

This new feature allows Demand Gen campaigns to appear not just on Google-owned properties like YouTube but also on various publisher websites.

This expansion potentially increases ad reach by allowing campaigns to participate in auctions outside of YouTube, which may be lower-rated.

However, this increased reach could come with a trade-off in terms of traffic quality...

Netflix Inventory

Google announced that Netflix inventory is now LIVE in Display & Video 360 (DV360). You can now gain direct access to Netflix inventory through private marketplaces in DV360, and you’ll soon be able to leverage the power of Netflix ads through programmatic guaranteed. Read more here.

New GA4 Audience

Felix Mayo discovered this new audience in GA4 called Arts & entertainment!

Open beta Microsoft automated bidding

Google announced a new open beta for Microsoft automated bidding. Now all advertisers will have access to the feature in Search Ads 360!

Crypto change policy Switzerland

In September 2024, Google will update the?Cryptocurrencies and related products policy?to clarify the scope and requirements for the advertisement of cryptocurrency related business and services.

Looker Studio update

Conditional formatting for collapsed pivot table charts

You can now?apply single-color conditional formatting?to?collapsed?pivot table charts.

Partner Connector launch update

The following partner connectors have been added to the ?Looker Studio Connector Gallery:

Adobe Commerce (Magento)?By Supermetrics

CTM: Call Log?By CallTrackingMetrics LLC

Piano Analytics?By Catchr

ClickUp?By Bay Leaf Digital

TikTok?By Gladior B.V.

WooCommerce?By Data Bloo

Apresenta.me By Apresenta.me

Semactic SEO Data?By Semactic

Piwik PRO Analytics?By Piwik PRO

Metrihub?By Metrihub

Klaviyo?By Power My Analytics

Similarweb website analysis?By Similarweb

Start pausing low-activity keywords

Found by Scott Carruthers, Google has started pausing low activity keywords in accounts...!

GA4 Update

Google now processes the session_start event more completely when your property is linked to Google Ad Manager and you use the send_page_view=false configuration. The change will help you more accurately measure user sessions.

Merchant Center Rollout

Google has announced that by September 2024, all retailers will be upgraded to the new Merchant Center Next platform, which will replace the classic Merchant Center.

This updated platform offers several enhancements, including: Product Studio: An AI-powered tool to help retailers create marketing content more efficiently.

Enhanced Insights: A new analytics tab that provides comprehensive data and reports, including pricing insights, competitive visibility, and retail-specific search trends.

Improved Usability: The platform is designed to be more user-friendly, with easier navigation, streamlined website verification, and pre-populated product information to save time. Advanced users can also customize the platform with additional features.

These updates aim to make it easier for businesses to manage their product presence across Google and gain valuable insights into their market performance.

Display & Video 360 Update

1. Sunset of Oracle Audiences: As of September 30, 2024, all third-party audiences from Oracle (including BlueKai, Datalogix, and AddThis) will be removed from Display & Video 360. This includes their removal from any targeting within campaigns, and any line items relying solely on these audiences will be paused. Advertisers will also lose the ability to share first-party CRM audiences onboarded by BlueKai.
2. Transition from Bidswitch: Display & Video 360 will transition from using Bidswitch for select sub-exchanges to direct integrations with certain premium exchanges. These include Kargo, Media.net, Sharethrough, Nexxen, and Yieldmo. Current targeting through Bidswitch will automatically migrate to these direct integrations.
3. New Insertion Order Objectives: A new feature for insertion orders will allow the selection of specific objectives, which will determine the default KPIs, line item types, and bid strategies. This will streamline the setup process and enable AI-driven optimizations aligned with the selected KPI. Existing orders will default to "insertion order without objective," but users can choose to set a specific objective later.

These updates aim to improve campaign management and targeting efficiency in Display & Video 360.

New design test

Thomas Eccel discovered two new design tests this week:

- Carousel Image Assets in Local Search Ads (Pmax)

- URL greyed

Search Ads

Ankit Saxena discovered that Google is testing a new search ad format that resembles Google Maps sponsored ads with added features see business information.

YouTube has announced an upgrade to its partnership with Shopify.

Eligible Shopify Plus and Advanced merchants in the U.S. can join the YouTube Shopping affiliate program.

With this update more merchants can make their products available for creators to tag in their shopping content

Remarketing Audience for YouTube viewers

Georgi Zayakov discovered that when creating a remarketing audience for YouTube Viewers you have the option to "Select a video made by a YouTube creator"!

Google can disable your conversion tracking!

Starting from April 2024, Google has begun to ramp up its consent audit program?to ensure compliance with our longstanding?EU user consent policy.

This consent mode requires consent from users in the EEA for the collection, sharing and use of personal data for personalisation of ads.

Make sure you have implemented consent mode because advertisers who fail the audit will face enforcement actions such as: suspension of remarketing lists or disabling conversions tracking.

This will impact:

- Reach potential customers

- Measure the effectiveness of your campaigns

- Optimise performance

- Understand your return on investment (ROI)

Still need to implement Consent mode? Send me a personal message I will send a video + a 10% discount code on Cookiebot.

Week 34 finished

That's all the news from week 34! If you want to read more news check my website.