??PPC News (Week 15)

Our primary objective is to keep you up-to-date with the latest developments in the advertising industry. By doing so, we hope to help you stay ahead of the competition and achieve your advertising goals effortlessly! ??

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PPC News

April, 10th to April, 16th

Measurement

Google Analytics 4

Conversion counting method: GA44 introduces a new counting method for conversion events, offering two options: Once per event (recommended) or Once per session (legacy). Choose Once per event for most cases, but opt for Once per session to closely match Universal Analytics property conversion counts.

(source / Krista Seiden / Charles Farina )

New Experimentation Integrations: GA4's new experimentation integrations are now rolling out (with non-Google testing platforms). Charles Farina mentions that it's going to be interesting to see how the move to an audience-based measurement approach works.

BigQuery Inflation: Google is increasing prices for BigQuery by 25% - thanks for spotting it Glenn Vanderlinden (source)

Not a marketing communication

Google Analytics 4 audit: Paul Koks has released his free Google Analytics 4 audit. A long time ago, I learned how to audit Google Analytics thanks to him.

Paid Search

Google Ads

Vehicle Ads: Canadian advertisers can access vehicle ads, promoting inventory on Google.com with car details and images.?Clicks direct customers to the advertiser's Vehicle Description Page for further actions like contacting the dealer or submitting a lead form. (source)

Audiences Insights directly in the library: Google Ads Asset Library now surfaces audience insights directly in the library, but it requires significant data. However, it would be beneficial to have the ability to verify where each asset is used. ( Dario Zannoni )

Lead Form Segment Audience: Google Ads has introduced a new lead form segment that allows advertisers to create an audience of users who submitted the form. This was reported by Victor Sellés Guillemat and Adriaan Dekker . The new segment is now available in the audience manager of Google Ads.

Edit text assets: it is now possible to edit text assets of RSA ads directly from the [View asset details] screen. Dario Zannoni prefers to adjust the ads from the edit screen because the valuable information is only available there.

Custom Columns in Google Ads Manager: It is also now possible to create Custom Columns and assign them to Manager Accounts. These columns are automatically shared with all sub-accounts, so there's no need to recreate them!

Gad=1 - Google's URL parameter "gad" identifies URLs from ad clicks and improves ad conversion measurement. All URLs from Google ads have now "&gad=1" in the final URL. The parameter is not customizable and is the same for all advertisers and campaigns. It is added before any fragments and should be kept in redirects. However, some websites may not allow arbitrary URL parameters and may serve as an error page. Advertisers can check if their website allows the gad parameter by adding it manually to the landing page URL. (source)

RIP KeywordPlanAdGroupForecast: Google Ads API is deprecating KeywordPlanAdGroupForecast and KeywordPlanKeywordForecast on June 1, 2023. Users should update applications to handle blank responses and switch to using KeywordPlanCampaignForecast, following the documentation for a seamless transition. (source)

New Google skill shop: Dario Zannoni also reported a new Google skillshop called "AI-Powered Performance Ads". It includes plenty of courses related to Pmax campaigns but also one with the title "Apply Recommendations Automatically". (try it now)

Microsoft Ads

PLA Extension: an integrated retail media solution for serving product ads onsite and offsite with a single budget. If an onsite campaign underspends, the feature extends product listing ads to offsite placements via the Microsoft Search and Audience Networks. (source)

Amazon Ads

Expanded DMA: Amazon increased designated market area selection and line item budgets for Streaming TV local reach products, enabling emerging businesses to expand their reach according to growth needs. Previously limited to hyper-local SMBs, this change benefits local advertisers in the United States. (source)

Subscribe & Save Coupons: Amazon rolled out a new feature Subscribe & Save coupons in some marketplaces. So, now you can create new Subscribe & Save Coupons for eligible products to increase your revenue. ( Akshay Tarpara )

Top-of-search IS: Advertisers can now set their Top of Search placement setting directly from the campaign overview, which may lead to an increase in novice advertisers using the feature without fully understanding it. This could result in a boost in cost-per-click for Top of Search ads. Proper placement bid management will be even more important. The news was reported by?Danilo,?Nelissa,?Andy, and?Mohit?

New recommendation engine: Amazon's Sponsored Brands ads now feature a recommendation engine suggesting images based on previously uploaded content or A+ assets. Their AI system could soon produce custom images ( Alexander Swade )

Brand Impression Share: a new dashboard that displays a brand's top-of-search impression share across Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns. The feature is currently in beta and only available to select authorized vendors and sellers enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry. It will gradually roll out in the coming months. ( Adam Mellott )

Marketplace Switch: Announced last year, Amazon has started rolling out the new Marketplace Switch feature. It will make it easier to manage all marketplaces from a single sponsored ads account.

With the launch, advertisers can easily navigate between countries to view and manage accounts and sign in to the advertising console for all countries at once. ( Himanshu Verma )

Want to go deeper into Amazon Ads? Check out Jeffrey Cohen's newsletter.

Organic Social

Instagram

Improved Reels Creators' Experiences: Instagram improves Reels to enhance creators' experiences by introducing a dedicated trends destination, a unified editing screen and updated insights. It plans to expand gifts to more markets, adding features to recognize supporters. (source)

WhatsApp

WhatsApp Payments in Brazil: WhatsApp now allows payments to Brazilian small businesses within chats, providing a secure and seamless checkout experience. The feature supports Mastercard and Visa cards from participating banks and includes encryption for card numbers and Payment PINs. The service will expand to more businesses and countries in the future. (source)

Twitter

Twitter Branded Features: New unique ways for brands to engage audiences.

• Hashmojis (formerly known as Branded Hashtags) allow custom emojis linked to predetermined hashtags,

• Hashfetti adds a confetti-like animation to Hashmoji search results.

• Custom Likes enable brands to create branded animations for Twitter's Like Button with selected hashtags. These features boost engagement, recall, and purchase intent. (source)

Pinterest

Pinterest prioritizes teens' personal space, safety, and emotional well-being with private accounts for users under 16, limited contact options, and upcoming parental support features. The platform requires age verification and supports mental health, banning beauty filters and body shaming content. (source)

YouTube

New Premium Updates: YouTube Premium offers exclusive features for an immersive experience, including queuing videos on mobile devices, sharing videos via Google Meet or FaceTime, seamless video continuation across devices, automatic offline video downloads, and enhanced video quality on iOS. These updates aim to improve users' control, access, and enjoyment of YouTube content. (source)

TikTok

TikTok has removed the option to create a 10mn long video. ( Matt Navarra )

LinkedIn

New Verifications Features: LinkedIn is rolling out three additional ways to verify members' identities and workplaces.

Users can now display that they verified their identity with CLEAR or their workplace using their company email or Microsoft Entra. All features will be free for all LinkedIn members globally. The feature is not immediately available for all members but will expand over time. (source)

"I'm interested": You can now show your interest in working for a company without having to apply for a specific role simply by clicking the "I'm interested" button. ( Syed Zurriyat Adil )

Marketing Industry

GDPR & Cookieless world

• Apple has changed the way that cookies set via A/AAAA DNS cloaking are classified: previously, they would be interpreted as first-party, but now, they'll be viewed as third-party and limited to the same 7-day lifetime as other third-party cookies. ( Eric Seufert - read more)

• The CNIL, French Competition Authority, is likely to proceed with an antitrust investigation into Apple's 2021 app tracking policy changes, accusing the company of illegal anticompetitive behaviour. The changes impacted the digital advertising world and led to significant revenue losses for rivals like Meta. (source)

Advertising News

• Twitter's advertising business struggles to recover, as top companies and data from research firms indicate a slow bounce-back. Major brands, including Mondelez, Unilever, and Coca-Cola, are no longer in the top 50 advertisers. Twitter's global ad revenue forecast for this year has been reduced by 37% to $2.98 billion. Advertisers' lack of trust in Elon Musk and increasing competition for marketing budgets further challenge the platform. (source)
• Meta is testing two new advertising tools, Managed Partner Ads Lite and local inventory ads, to improve its ad offerings for retailers and e-commerce advertisers. The Managed Partner Ads Lite tool aims to tap retail media networks to help brands run more personalised ads, while local inventory ads will serve ads to people within a distance radius of a store. The changes are intended to help Meta recapture its dominance in digital advertising after the fallout of iOS 14. (source)

Thoughts of the week

What is the all-new search engine that Google is reportedly working on, and what AI-based search projects are being incorporated into Google Maps, Chrome, Android, and other platforms?

Google is developing an all-new search engine powered by AI, with a far more personalized experience than the existing one, according to The New York Times. The company is also upgrading its current search engine with AI features, while other AI-based search projects will be incorporated into Google Maps, Chrome, Android, and other platforms.

No timeline or ETA for the release of the new search engine is available. Google is expected to release features under Project Magi that help searchers complete their transactions directly in search, such as buying shoes or booking flights.

"Google is racing to build an all-new search engine powered by the technology. It is also upgrading the existing one with A.I. features, according to internal documents reviewed by The Times," the report wrote. There will be a "far more personalized experience than the company’s current service, attempting to anticipate users’ needs." "Modernizing its search engine has become an obsession at Google, and the planned changes could put new A.I. technology in phones and homes all over the world," the Times added.

Did we miss anything else?

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