Bitcoin. Cat Person. Other divisive things. The year 2017 has been a wild ride, and this is especially true in the world of Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords). From a redesigned platform to a plethora of new features and strategic adjustments, the changes were abundant! So, without further ado, let’s dive into the 27 most significant changes that graced Google Ads in 2017.
#1: A Fresh Coat of Paint: The New Google Ads Experience
Our beloved paid search platform got a much-needed facelift! Taking center stage in our Google Ads year in review is the platform itself. Dubbed the “new Google Ads Experience,” the updated user interface boasts a plethora of new features (several of which have earned their spot on this list). These include powerful data visualizations, expanded demographic targeting options, and a vastly improved workflow.
While this new interface is currently accessible to all advertisers, it’s not the only option available. For those experiencing a touch of nostalgia and a hint of vertigo from the nested menus and revamped aesthetics, you can still find solace in the familiar UI of the past (for the time being).
#2: The Diminishing Value of a #1 Organic Ranking Makes PPC More Important
Every year, the value of PPC advertising is called into question. One common argument against investing in Google Ads goes something like this: “My website already organically ranks at the top of the search results for [insert business-specific keyword]. Why should I spend money on ads when people can already find me easily?!” Well, my inquisitive business owner, the reason lies in the fact that over the past couple of years, the value of a #1 organic ranking has plummeted by a staggering 37%.
The rise of featured snippets and other prominent search result features, coupled with the ever-increasing dominance of mobile searches, has pushed organic search results further down the page. Consequently, Google Ads (particularly shopping ads) have become even more crucial for businesses looking to make their mark in the digital advertising landscape.
#3: Google’s Evolving Approach to Managing Your Budget
“Starting October 4, 2017, campaigns will be able to spend up to twice the average daily budget to help you reach your advertising goals.” Now, that’s a mouthful! Just a few months ago, Google implemented a significant change to the way your advertising budget is allocated over the course of a month.
To put it simply, if a campaign in your account has a budget of $500, Google now has the discretion to spend up to $1,000. It’s important to note that this adjustment affects all budgets, whether they’re specific to a campaign or shared across multiple campaigns. Now, Google has always had the ability to exceed your daily budget, but it was previously capped at 20% instead of, well, 100%. This is referred to as “overdelivery,” and its purpose is to ensure that you receive the maximum number of clicks (in other words, spend as much money as possible) within a 30.4-day timeframe. If you’re concerned about hitting your monthly budget ceiling, check out this script (a helpful suggestion from one of our commenters) offers daily budget overdelivery alerts.
#4: Ad Variations: Your Ticket to Fast and Efficient A/B Testing
Split testing is a necessary but often tedious and time-consuming task for Google Ads users, particularly for small business owners who are already juggling multiple responsibilities. Who has time to brainstorm new ad copy when there’s a never-ending to-do list? Well, Google understands your pain points, SMB marketers, and they’ve got you covered. The Ad Variations interface was recently introduced in the new Google Ads Experience.
This nifty feature allows you to effortlessly find and replace keywords, update entire sections of your ads (perfect for promoting those post-holiday deals), and even flip your headlines with a few simple clicks through dropdown menus. So, no more excuses for neglecting split testing!
#5: Exact(ish) Match Keywords: A New Era of Precision
Exact match keywords have long been the backbone of many successful Google Ads campaigns, providing advertisers with granular control over their targeting. This made aligning ad and landing page copy with a searcher’s specific query a walk in the park. Notice the past tense. In the first quarter of this year, Google decided to shake things up by broadening the definition of exact match keywords.
In today’s Google Ads landscape, “exact” is a relative term. Google now takes the liberty of ignoring, adding, or removing function words to match your target exact match keywords with very similar search queries. After analyzing data from 100 Google Ads accounts over a 30-day period following this change, we discovered that, on average, 18% of active exact match keywords became redundant. If you haven’t already, it’s time to roll up your sleeves and give your account a thorough audit before the year ends!
#6: Custom Intent Audiences: Harnessing Intent on the Display Network
One of the key strengths of Google Ads is its ability to tap into user intent, as expressed through keywords. However, this advantage is often lost on the Display Network. To bridge this gap, Google has begun to embrace a more audience-centric approach, reminiscent of Facebook, with its GDN.
Enter custom intent audiences! This feature empowers you to connect with “people who are actively interested in buying the specific products you offer” on the Display Network, based on valuable insights gleaned from your campaigns, website, and YouTube channel. What’s even more exciting than the “what” is the “how.” Creating custom intent audiences can be done manually, using topics and URLs to unearth fresh prospects. Alternatively, you can harness the power of Google’s machine learning (buzzword alert!). For a deeper dive into implementing custom intent audiences in your Google Ads account, head over to this insightful article on Search Engine Land.
#7: Promotion Extensions: The Art of Showcasing HOT DEALS
If there’s one thing SEMs love more than ad extensions, it’s a good old-fashioned bargain. So why not combine the two? After a lengthy beta period, Google finally unleashed promotion extensions to all Google Ads accounts in October. For the uninitiated, promotion extensions allow you to prominently display a tempting deal alongside an eye-catching price tag icon right below your text ad copy, like this:
But the true power of promotion extensions lies not in what they add, but in what they take away. By relocating the supporting details of your irresistible 20% off Christmas sale into a dedicated promotion extension, you free up valuable space within your ETA (two headlines and an expansive description) to highlight the key benefits of your offer and conclude with a compelling call to action.
#8: IF Functions: Tailoring Your Ad Copy for Maximum Impact
In my humble opinion, this is the most groundbreaking change to grace Google Ads since the introduction of expanded text ads. Similar to how promotion extensions enhance your ad copy to resonate with specific searchers, Google Ads IF functions enable you to dynamically adjust your copy based on the user’s device (desktop or mobile) or their audience. “Why is this a game-changer?” you might ask. Because your KPIs could benefit greatly from a well-placed reference to that sizzling mobile-exclusive deal you’re running.
However, the true star of the show is the audience-based iteration of the IF function. If you have an audience segment of recent cart abandoners or users who filled out a form on your website but never took the next step, leverage IF functions to tweak your ad copy, injecting a sense of urgency, highlighting a special offer, or emphasizing another irresistible incentive to nudge them towards conversion.
#9: Expanded Text Ads: A Retrospective Look at Their Impact
Before you unleash a barrage of tweets my way, yes, I’m aware that Expanded Text Ads weren’t a 2017 invention. However, for most search advertisers, it was in 2017 that they truly became a valuable asset. When ETAs first graced Google Ads accounts, they simply didn’t live up to the hype. This was primarily due to advertisers struggling to adapt to writing longer ad copy while grappling with the wealth of historical performance data accumulated in their trusty standard text ads. But after months of rigorous split testing and CTR-induced anxiety, things started to settle down. Then, the tables turned completely. Yes, you read that right, expanded text ads, now the sole text ad format available in your Google Ads account, have finally found their footing and are proving their worth.
Our very own Mark Irvine analyzed data from over 11,000 accounts and discovered that Expanded Text Ads are now crushing it. As advertisers continue to embrace the art of crafting more compelling ad copy, and Google rolls out even more (and more effective) ad extensions, this upward trend is likely to continue.
#10: Streamlining Ad Rotation: A Major Shift in Budget Management
If you’re engrossed in a blog post about the year’s most significant Google Ads developments, I’m assuming you’re no stranger to the world of paid search. This leads me to believe that you’re a diligent split tester! And if that’s the case, you probably noticed the changes to ad rotation settings that Google implemented towards the end of summer. The once-abundant ad rotation options available to advertisers were unceremoniously left behind like relics of the past. Today, your options have been streamlined down to just two: “optimize” and “rotate indefinitely.” If you were accustomed to relying on options like “rotate evenly,” “optimize for conversions,” or smart bidding strategies, you were forced to rethink your entire approach to budget allocation. Fun times, right? Now, while you can manage ad rotation at either the ad group or campaign level (yay for flexibility!), the once-extensive menu of rotation options has been significantly trimmed down.
#11: Life Events Targeting: No Longer Just for the Elite
Back in June, Bryant Garvin, the director of digital marketing at Purple (a mattress company), shared some impressive figures…
- A 21.8% increase in purchase intent and a 34.6% lift in consideration among individuals who were in the process of moving.
- A 23.1% increase in purchase intent and a 25.1% lift in consideration among individuals who were recently married or engaged. The secret sauce? Life events targeting!
But here’s the even bigger news: life events targeting was made accessible to all Google Ads users in November. Now, you too can target individuals who are going through major life transitions like moving, tying the knot, or graduating from college in your video (YouTube) and Gmail-exclusive campaigns.
#12: Quality Score Reporting: A Much-Needed Upgrade
Ah, Quality Score. We talk about it endlessly. Google harps on it relentlessly. It’s undeniably important. So, when Google decided to revamp the way we access and report on Quality Score within Google Ads, it’s safe to say that people were thrilled.
Now, you can easily view both current and historical Quality Scores for specific search terms, comparing metrics against any previous period you choose within the date range. But wait, there’s more! In addition to seeing the overall Quality Score, you can also delve into the current and historical performance of its individual components: ad relevance, landing page experience, and expected CTR. Talk about a treasure trove of data!
#13: Customer Match: Expanding Its Reach Beyond Email
Customer Match is a powerful tool that allows you to leverage your existing customer data to enhance your search, shopping, Gmail, and YouTube campaigns. Previously, this data was limited to email addresses. While email addresses are far from useless, having more data points at your disposal is always a plus. And as usual, Google delivered!
Just in time for the holiday season, Google expanded the capabilities of Customer Match, allowing you to leverage your prospects’ phone numbers and physical addresses as well. This means you can now deliver even more relevant and personalized ads to your most valuable audience segments. Tailored search ads are all the rage these days!
#14: Demographic Targeting Options: More Data, Easier Access
In the good old days of Google Ads, demographic targeting options on the Search Network were somewhat limited, with advertisers only having access to gender and age data. Fast forward to 2017, and we’ve welcomed household income and parental status to the mix. But perhaps more importantly, all demographic targeting options are now significantly easier to find thanks to the prominent “Demographics” button on the left-hand sidebar of the new UI. You literally can’t miss it!
Demographic targeting is a goldmine of valuable (and often overlooked) information within Google Ads. While seasoned search marketers have long been using this data to implement bid adjustments and even wholesale exclusions, the average advertiser might not even know where to find it, let alone how to leverage it for enhanced performance. The new Google Ads Experience addresses both of these issues by making demographic data readily accessible and providing even more data points to work with. Consider us sold!
#15: Similar Audiences: Making Waves on the Search Network
Similar Audiences have been a staple of the GDN for quite some time, but this year marked their grand debut on the Search Network. In essence, this feature allows you to expand your reach by targeting users whose search behavior closely mirrors that of your RLSA audiences, but who haven’t visited your website yet.
“Why should I care?” you might be wondering. Well, Similar Audiences for Search offer a wider reach compared to RLSA, while still delivering comparably high click-through and conversion rates. If you haven’t already incorporated them into your Google Ads arsenal, they could be the key to unlocking significant performance gains (and impressing your boss or clients) in the first quarter of the new year.
#16: Gmail Remarketing: Re-engaging Prospects in Their Inbox
I’ll admit, I was personally a bit miffed when Google decided to remove the option to target domains in Gmail ads this year. I even went as far as expressing my skepticism about the effectiveness of the platform to my fellow account managers over our usual soy lattes. While the introduction of life events targeting did pique my interest, it was the ability to leverage Gmail for remarketing campaigns that truly won me over (again). If you’re an eCommerce advertiser looking for an edge in the coming year, being able to remind your prospects about the items they left behind in their shopping carts right within their inbox is a game-changer.
#17: Uncovering the Secrets of High-Performing Ads: Data-Driven Insights
Not all noteworthy Google Ads happenings this year were directly orchestrated by Google. Back in August, we embarked on a mission to analyze 612 top-performing text ads to identify their shared characteristics. From lexical diversity to sentiment to pronoun usage, we left no stone unturned in our quest to decode the anatomy of a successful text ad.
While some of our findings were fairly obvious (terms like “Free” and “Your” are frequently used in ad copy, who would have thought?), others were quite illuminating. For instance, did you know that text ads conveying a positive or neutral sentiment significantly outperform those with a negative tone? Or that high-converting ads rarely phrase their message as a question? No? Well, neither did we!
#18: Enhanced CPC Bidding: Unleashing Its True Potential
Enhanced CPC bidding has been a popular strategy across industries, allowing advertisers to gain a competitive edge in auctions for high-value search queries. Initially, this feature allowed for a maximum bid increase of 30%, which is nothing to scoff at. This year, however, Google decided to empower advertisers to further optimize for conversions by removing this 30% cap.
If the thought of paying a premium on top of a premium for those ultra-valuable keywords doesn’t sit well with you, you can always disable ECPC in your account and stick to manually controlling your bids. However, used strategically and sparingly, this change has the potential to significantly boost your account performance.
#19: Navigating the Display Network with Smart Display Campaigns
The Google Display Network encompasses millions of websites. It can be a vast and somewhat daunting landscape, lacking the granular control offered by your typical search engine results page. This is where Smart Display Campaigns come to the rescue!
These campaigns allow you to target your ads to audiences and placements that are broadly aligned with your business goals. While less precise than custom intent audiences, smart display campaigns can still be a valuable asset in driving conversions. Instead of meticulously defining a set of keyword and URL-based parameters, you’re essentially entrusting Google to strategically place your ad creative based on your account history, ad creative, and your specified CPA goal.
#20: Introducing Our Revamped (and Free!) Keyword Tool
Shameless self-promotion? Never! While the Google Ads Keyword Planner remains an indispensable tool for many marketers’ optimization and research workflows, our significantly enhanced Free Keyword Tool (which hadn’t seen an update since, well, 2011) takes things to the next level.
Our tool tailors keyword recommendations based on both industry and geographic region, providing personalized competition and CPC metrics derived from the historical performance of your own Google Ads account (context is key!). But wait, there’s more! We’ve also introduced a proprietary metric called Opportunity Score, which helps you prioritize the addition of new keywords based on their potential to positively impact your account performance.
#21: Merchant Center Enhancements: Empowering Online Retailers
Merchant Center is often perceived as a mysterious and complex realm. After all, there’s an entire industry built around optimizing feeds! In November, Google announced a series of subtle yet impactful changes to its Merchant Center, aiming to give online retailers a boost during the holiday season and beyond. These changes included:
- An “Opportunities” feature, designed to help retailers drive more traffic by highlighting quick wins within their shopping feed.
- The ability to make direct edits within Merchant Center (eliminating the need to upload entirely new feeds for every minor change).
- The inclusion of holiday shipping cutoff dates to assist last-minute shoppers in determining whether their purchases will arrive before the big day.
#22: The Beauty of Data Visualization: New and Improved Reporting
I’m a big fan of reporting. You know what I’m not a fan of? Spreadsheets. The mere mention of cells and formulas makes my eyes glaze over. I much prefer my data presented in visually appealing and easily digestible formats. Thankfully, the new Google Ads UI is a haven for data visualization enthusiasts, offering account managers a plethora of ways to dissect and optimize performance. Whether you’re looking to fine-tune your dayparting settings:
Or analyze performance by device:
Google has a visually stimulating solution to meet your needs. (Still not satisfied with what Google has to offer? Want to consolidate your search and social media performance data into a single report? Check out our brand-new cross-platform success reports!)
#23: The Rise of Voice Search: Implications for Keyword Strategy
The growing popularity of voice search was a hot topic at PPC conferences in 2016, and it’s safe to say that it lived up to the hype this year. But how exactly did it impact Google Ads accounts? Significantly, to say the least. In fact, voice searches now constitute a staggering 20% of all mobile search queries on Google. According to our data whiz, Mark Irvine, the average length of search queries has increased, with long-tail searches now accounting for over 60% of overall search volume.
This shift in user behavior has had a profound impact on how advertisers approach keyword research and account structuring. If you haven’t already optimized your Google Ads campaigns for voice search, now’s the time to delve into your search query reports, identify long-tail keywords with decent search volume, and add them to your account. This will help you lower your CPCs on relevant long-tail terms that people are actively using, terms that you might be currently matching to at a premium because your phrase match keywords aren’t comprehensive enough. By taking these steps, you’ll improve your Quality Scores, ad relevance, and, most importantly, your bottom line.
#24: Dynamic Search Ads: Embracing the Power of Automation
I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest advocate of Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs). It’s not that I doubt their effectiveness, it’s just that, at heart, I’m a copywriter. I genuinely enjoy the process of crafting ad copy for every possible scenario (feel free to judge me later). Anyway, it wasn’t until mid-2017 that DSAs finally received the expanded text ad treatment that had graced the rest of the platform nine months prior.
If your Google Ads account primarily consists of Shopping campaigns, and your website boasts thousands of product pages, then these Dynamic ETAs could be just what you need to establish a commanding presence on the search engine results pages (beyond your existing Product Listing Ads, of course!).
#25: Navigating the Ever-Increasing Cost of Keywords
I imagine there was a time when Google Ads was considered “affordable.” While I haven’t personally experienced this mythical era, I’ve witnessed CPCs ranging from a few dollars to amounts that make me question my life choices. This year, we saw average CPCs in industries like business services, bail bonds, casinos, legal, and asset management surpass the $50 mark. Ouch.
While not every industry experienced such a dramatic surge in CPCs in 2017, there are certainly a number of niches where advertisers have had to prioritize minimizing wasted spend, strategically implementing negative keywords, and focusing on efficiency over sheer volume. If only there was a tool that could assist small businesses with all of these tasks (and more)…
#26: AMP Landing Pages: Speed is Key
Yet another mobile-focused innovation in 2017 (color me surprised!). According to Google, every second it takes for your mobile landing pages to load translates to a 20% decrease in conversion rate. Not ideal, right? This is precisely why Google launched AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) landing page support this past summer.
AMP landing pages load a staggering five times faster than their traditional mobile counterparts. Based on reliable sources like math and science, one could argue that implementing them guarantees a 100% conversion rate for every single visitor. [Drops mic]
#27: Showcase Shopping Ads: Free Brand Exposure and Potential Sales
This one’s a bit niche, I’ll grant you, but that doesn’t make this awesome new shopping feature any less noteworthy. This summer, Google unveiled Showcase Shopping ads, a dynamic and visually appealing new addition to the product listing ad family. Available exclusively in the new Google Ads UI, Showcase Shopping ads are triggered by broad, non-branded search queries that signal commercial intent. They appear above traditional search ads and are interspersed among your existing shopping ads. However, here’s where the magic happens: Click on them. Instead of directing the user to your website’s landing page, Showcase Shopping Ads lead them to a curated catalog of relevant products. And the best part? This initial click is absolutely free. You only pay if the user clicks on a specific product within your ad and proceeds to visit your actual website. Talk about a win-win! Free brand building, an opportunity to showcase the breadth of your product offerings, and the potential to generate sales – what more could eCommerce advertisers ask for?