July 2024: New interface, infinite scroll, farewell UA, and even more AI.

The Bluebird Messenger is a monthly newsletter that recaps all the latest news that digital marketers need to stay on top of their game. Keep scrolling to find out which updates recently dropped and how they impact best practices within marketing. Enjoy the read!

Paid Search

Easier negative keyword management & improved search term report

Google has streamlined the process of managing negative keywords by including all misspellings automatically. Previously, advertisers had to manually add every misspelled variation of a keyword to exclude them.

Now, misspelled search queries are also reported alongside the correctly spelled ones. As a result, approximately 9% of search terms that were previously hidden under "Other" due to misspellings are now visible in the search terms report.

New interface fully rolled out by August 30

Starting August 30, 2024, Google Ads will fully transition to its newly designed interface for desktop users. This update reorganizes the main menu into five high-level categories and features a top search bar for quick access.?

Google introduces tROAS Insight Box

Google has introduced a new tROAS (target Return on Ad Spend) Insight Box for Pmax and Standard Shopping campaigns. The Insight Box displays whether Actual ROAS is within the expected range, shows weekly averages and projected conversions, and includes a visual graph of ROAS performance over time. This helps e-commerce advertisers better understand their ROAS relative to targets.

Paid Social

Apple Expands 30% Fee on Facebook and Instagram Ads Globally

Starting July 1, Apple will extend its 30% fee on Facebook and Instagram ad purchases made through iOS devices to advertisers worldwide. The fee applies to ad purchases made via iOS apps but can be avoided by using desktop web browsers. Meta has criticized the fee as anti-competitive, while Apple defends its right to charge for access to its platform.?

Meta launches AI Chatbots & business messaging tools

Meta has introduced new AI-powered tools designed to boost advertiser performance and engagement. The AI chatbots on Messenger, built with Meta’s LLaMa 3 model, enable businesses to save on service costs by providing efficient customer support. What is extra interesting to us advertisers is that we can now send paid marketing messages on Messenger to opted-in customers. Additionally, the new Threads API allows for scalable management of posts and replies.?

SEO

Infinite scroll disappears from the SERP

Google has removed continuous scrolling search results on desktops as of June 25 , this will be implemented as well on mobile devices ‘in the coming months.’

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 according to Google.

Google June 2024 spam update done rolling out

Sites that see a change after a spam update should review our spam policies to ensure they are complying with those. Sites that violate our policies may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all. Making changes may help a site improve if our automated systems learn over a period of months that the site complies with our spam policies.

Impressions overlay in the Merchant listings rich report

Websites will see an increase in the number of impressions in the Merchant listings rich report in the Search Console. This is because Search Console is counting both image and web impressions for the Merchant listings rich report starting June 4. This is a just reporting change, not an actual increase in traffic.

This extension now applies to Image Search, indicating when an image from a site ranks and includes a product label overlay. This overlay shows that the product is available for purchase, including details like availability, pricing, and brand, helping eCommerce sites filter their Image Search data more effectively.

Tracking & Analytics

Updates to attribution models in GA4

Currently, conversions can be wrongly attributed to organic search, especially in single-page applications, due to 'gclid' parameter issues. The update will fix this, ensuring accurate campaign information on the first event of each page. This change may increase paid search conversions and affect Ad spending.?

Advertising segments in GA4

The Advertising section of Google Analytics 4 (GA4) has been enhanced. Users can now view the number of individuals eligible for remarketing and ad personalization in Google Ads, referred to as advertising segments. In GA4, these advertising segments are equivalent to the audience segments in the Google Ads Audience Manager.

Farewell Universal Analytics

June marked the final month of Universal Analytics. As of July 1, its properties and data will no longer be available. This significant change underscores the importance of transitioning to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and Google BigQuery.

Display & Video

Cross-Media Reach Measurement in Google Ads

Advertisers can now use Cross-Media Reach Measurement in Google Ads to measure deduplicated, on-target reach and frequency across video campaigns. This tool compares the reach efficiency of YouTube campaigns with TV, providing a comprehensive view of brand campaigns. It aggregates and deduplicates reach and frequency and focuses on digital video alone or includes traditional TV metrics, depending on the country.

Google AI-Powered Brand Recommendations

Google Ads has launched Brand Recommendations powered by Google AI, now available on the Recommendations page. These new recommendations cater to awareness and consideration campaigns (CPM and CPV), providing optimization choices alongside existing performance recommendations. Brand Recommendations analyze account history, campaign settings, and trends to generate suggestions for improving campaigns, such as recommendations to refine ads, adjust bids and budgets, enhance targeting, and improve measurement.

Summer Greetings from Bluebird!

As the sun shines brighter and the days grow longer, we also want to wish you a joyful summer filled with relaxation, adventure, and unforgettable moments. Whether you're traveling afar or enjoying a staycation, may this season be a time of renewal and happiness. From all of us at Bluebird, have a wonderful summer!