Google Marketing Live 2024 Recap

I had the pleasure of hanging out with many brilliant marketers leading up to Google Marketing Live , as well as watching/discussing it with brilliant folks. Here are the #GML2024 announcements that sparked joy, caused stress, and thoughts on what was shown vs not:

?? What Sparked Joy ??

1. Asset group level data for PMax and the ability to exclude Youtube placements! This much needed bit of transparency got an audible cheer at the event and I absolutely am thrilled about it. I hope that folks don't go too crazy on placements as Youtube can truly be great - however data needs to guide every conversation.

2. Feed based stickers for Youtube Shorts! I'm so excited about this and how much Google is learning from TikTok. Yes, we might be losing TikTok, and yes Youtube might be clunkier to work with as a creator, but getting the additional tools to promote products with one of the best moderated creator network is a huge win for marketers.

3. Brand guidelines and controls! Being able to supply a brand style (including fonts and colors) and tone guide is so exciting! This will go a long way in helping brands lean into the very cool generative AI ad tools!

4. Image to video ads! This is probably the most impactful resource for marketers, but I wish they showed more lead gen use cases (more on that in the "caused stress" section).

5. Look a like seed audiences now only require 100 people! This is yet another moment where the lines between paid social and Google are blurring. It's also worth noting that Demand Gen is coming to Display360 and SA360

6. Data diagnostic tools and easier integrations with CRMs! This will make it much easier for all types of businesses to lean into AI (because without data there can't be big AI involvement).

7. Profit based goals! I would like more info on whether this is truly going to be a bidding strategy or whether it's a campaign goal. The big callout here is that advertisers can toggle between revenue and profit without initiating learning periods (which invites the question whether learning periods are a thing).

8. Helpful content ads with the AI Overview! There were two ads shown and the one I'm going to focus on solves the real problem of users not always having all the details to make a purchase and equipping them with that info. The example around the measurements for a storage unit hit home for me.

9. So much joy that Optmyzr has been providing conversational reporting and "go dos" for almost a year (Sidekick) and it's only just being announced at GML as coming soon. Shameless plug...moving on...

10. "Lean into your agencies"!!!! Great sentiment and we're very lucky Ginny Marvin is at Google to help promote those sentiments ??

?? What Caused Stress ??

1. Not a lot of love for lead gen/B2B. There were several moments that could have turned into lead gen/B2B moments (brand standards, image to video, etc.) but the only thing that even came close to lead gen/B2B were the improved connectors for CRMs. While those are nice, they don't seem to be moving the needle for B2B.

2. Bringing up Ad Strength and Optimization Score. This felt like a bit of a troll moment given that we had this whole discussion a few weeks ago. I think it's a mistake to bring up Ad Strength and Optimization Score in the way Google did if they will remain a non-ranking factor. There was an interesting stat around advertisers increasing their Optimization Score saw a 10% improvement in conversions. I'd like to understand whether that improvement in the score is based on action or dismissing the recommendations.

3. A lot of seemingly cool announcements or buildups that didn't lead anywhere. Maybe it's because I just attended Amazon's Upfront and Dev Summit, but this felt like a lot of great set ups with very few punchlines. For example, when they were discussing people watching videogames, I thought they were launching a Glitch/Twitch competitor (branded placements in games or mods for Fortnight). This pivoted into some news around search/display ads. Another example is the generic nature of generative creative. It doesn't really feel like Google has advanced that much on their ability to support advertisers in creativity (even though they've done a ton to help with technical hurdles).

4. AI Overviews is not ready for prime time. It's not that the idea is bad, but the content is really grab bag right now, and layering in ads that are smaller than normal in the overview amidst content that may or may not be right is a bad user experience. I think it would be useful if we could push this roll out till we can confirm quality of the content that will serve with the ads. I don't hate that folks get organic engagement from these, but I am concerned about how many instances the AI has pulled content from joke or sensitive sites.

??General Thoughts ??

1. I view this Google Marketing Live as a net positive for marketers, and a really important call to evolve our approach to communicating with our clients and vendors. If you only paid attention to video/creative based tools, it was a fairly positive and innovative round up of product launches. This speaks to Google's focus on video and how much they see the writing on the wall that consumer behavior is shifting to visual content inspiring transactional action. The stat around 1 in 4 image searches having transactional intent really stood out.
2. Feeds are the lifeblood of PPC and if you don't feel comfortable with feeds (including lead gen/B2B), you need to start experimenting. These seem to be the only advertiser controlled data set that consistently influences performance.
3. I'm confused that Google led with "AI isn't a Marketer" and then finished with "AI is your strategist". I feel like the first statement is what they knew we wanted to hear, and the second is where they're going. This isn't inherently a bad thing (especially if AI can help marketers provide the data the machine needs to allocate budget effectively).
4. Gil Gildner made the great point that "Power Pair" is just putting a name to what we already do. Smart bidding and broad match do work (so long as you have the conversion volume and negatives). However if you don't have the data, you need to lean on other marketing tools.
5. The fact that we only heard updates on profit vs revenue bidding paints a really clear picture of what kind of data Google needs. Advertisers who continue to hold back those numbers out of fear are hurting themselves and not enabling their brand to take advantage of the more advanced (i.e. worked on) Google Ad tools.
6. Keywords are not the future and getting bogged down in words over audiences and creative is a mistake. Optmyzr is investing heavily in empowering our customers to win across paid social and manage audiences across all ad networks. If there's one "go do" you should take from this GML, it's that Google's main levers are shifting to visual content and audiences powered by first party data and AI to bridge gaps (correct images, help with attribution modeling, etc.).
7. The future is bright! Google could have made today only about AI. That we got transparency in reporting, additional brand controls (including youtube exclusions for PMax), feed based creative, and improved integrations is a sign that Google is listening. Are we justified in being frustrated that lead gen and B2B didn't get a lot of love? Absolutely. But it is important to remember that many of these tools do help lead gen/B2B just as much as they do ecommerce.

Big shout out to Kirk Williams , Brooke Osmundson , Gil Gildner , Menachem Ani ?? , Eli Schwartz and Frederick Vallaeys for sharing your brilliant takes and helping me think about what's coming, what's here, and where to channel the excitement and firm but fair critiques.

What were some of your favorite GML2024 updates? Share in the comments!