Similar to many marketers, I am frustrated with LinkedIn Ads. However, with a few key enhancements, both LinkedIn and advertisers would reap substantial benefits. LinkedIn’s advertising revenue could be significantly higher than the modest $181 million it generated in the second quarter of 2016. In comparison, Google and Facebook earned $19 billion and $6 billion, respectively, from advertising during the same period.

For advertisers, improved LinkedIn ads offer clear advantages. It would provide brands and businesses with another channel to reach LinkedIn’s 450 million professionals, even though only a quarter are believed to be active monthly. It’s a win-win situation, isn’t it? This prompted me to pen “LinkedIn Ads Review: 8 Things I Hate About LinkedIn Ads” approximately 18 months ago. Subsequently, in May 2015, LinkedIn invited me to their headquarters for a discussion about their ads.

Thankfully, it wasn’t an ambush! It turned out to be a fantastic experience. I had the opportunity to discuss exciting potential developments with their talented product managers. Eighteen months later, my fundamental question persists: if LinkedIn doesn’t prioritize advertising, why should advertisers bother with it? Have things improved over the past year and a half? Has LinkedIn, which was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion, finally gotten its act together in terms of advertising? Spoiler alert: not quite. While LinkedIn has made some necessary progress, it still has numerous shortcomings and remains a mediocre ad network.

Here are the seven things I still dislike about LinkedIn ads.

7. No Video Ads!

Why can’t we upload videos to LinkedIn? It seems illogical. Video advertising is highly effective in influencing people. Numerous studies have shown that video enhances brand recall and affinity, aids lead generation, and boosts engagement metrics like shares and click-through rates.

6. Still No Remarketing!

Remarketing has been around for over six years. However, my concern about LinkedIn Ads remains the same as before: “Remarketing ads are available on various platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Google Display Network, YouTube, and even Google Search, but not on LinkedIn.” Remarketing is still absent. Following LinkedIn’s announced of Lead Accelerator, there were rumors about remarketing ads coming “soon.” It was suggested that LinkedIn would integrate some Lead Accelerator features into the self-service platform. Well, we’re still waiting. “Soon” doesn’t earn you any points.

5. Still No Custom Lists!

LinkedIn still lacks an equivalent to Facebook’s Custom Audiences or Twitter’s Tailored Audiences. Seriously? Meanwhile, the effectiveness of custom audiences on other platforms is increasing. Google now offers Customer Match, and Facebook allows you to overlay custom audiences with specific traits, interests, and demographics.

4. Still No Lead Gen Ad Formats!

It’s baffling how a network for professionals doesn’t provide advertisers with a way to capture leads. You’d have greater success with lead generation on Twitter or using Lead Generation Ads on Facebook. Yet, LinkedIn Ads still offers nothing in this regard.

3. Pricing Is Still Unfavorable!

Previously, I criticized LinkedIn for not prioritizing value for advertisers. Unfortunately, it has worsened since then. Prices have increased significantly. Just look at these CPC prices – bids reaching $8?!

Yes, LinkedIn Ads still relies on relatively fixed pricing.

2. Ad Quality Remains Irrelevant!

LinkedIn Ads lacks a proper Quality Score system. There’s no incentive for running exceptional ad campaigns on LinkedIn, unlike Google, Facebook, and Twitter, which reward advertisers for creating high-quality ads. Facebook and Google Ads (previously Google AdWords) display relevancy scores to encourage optimization. Conversely, the absence of a Quality Score on LinkedIn means there’s no penalty for running ineffective and uninteresting ads. Some platforms wouldn’t display an ad with poor engagement. On LinkedIn, you can run terrible ads indefinitely, even if it requires 20,000 impressions for a single click. Consequently, my LinkedIn strategy differs significantly. I create direct, high-friction ads. For example:

It’s comparable to proposing on the first date! But with an $8 cost per click, you might as well encourage users to take your desired action! It’s a bold move that I wouldn’t attempt on other display or social ad platforms. Instead, I’d focus on content promotion with the aim of remarketing to engaged users. But again, remarketing is still unavailable on LinkedIn.

1. Account Promotion Still Doesn’t Exist!

Organic visibility on LinkedIn is excellent compared to Facebook. Sadly, there’s no “Follower” ad campaign type. I previously likened the lack of account promotion to doing social media with your hands tied behind your back. “Promoting your Company Page using LinkedIn ads means hoping that people will choose to follow it after clicking through to the page.” Excuse my language, but that’s nonsensical! If you need an ad format to increase your LinkedIn company page followers, look elsewhere because LinkedIn still doesn’t offer it.

LinkedIn Ads: Any Improvements?

We’ve been harsh on LinkedIn, but only because we care and want to see their advertising product improve. LinkedIn has implemented two notable improvements:

• They revamped their campaign editing interface, which was much needed. They did an excellent job, and it now offers what you’d expect from a modern platform.
• LinkedIn Ads now provides conversion tracking. The previous lack of conversion tracking was frustrating. While this addition is positive, the downside is that it mainly highlights poor ad performance. My criticism stems from my fondness for LinkedIn. I genuinely do!

However, I’m disappointed by their self-service ads. With advertising contributing only 20 percent of LinkedIn’s revenue, they’re missing a significant opportunity. LinkedIn remains crucial not only for professionals seeking visibility and opportunities but also for companies aiming to maintain a strong organic presence. LinkedIn excels in many areas (like LinkedIn Pulse, their content recommendation engine), and I believe it’s a great service with numerous compelling features. (I shared some great tips for upping your content game on LinkedIn here.) Unfortunately, the self-service platform hasn’t seen substantial improvements compared to advancements in other popular ad platforms over the past 18 months. Hopefully, LinkedIn will soon realize its full advertising potential, learn from Google, Facebook, and Twitter, and provide advertisers with a fantastic self-service ads platform.