The holiday season is upon us! We’re surrounded by ugly sweaters, flowing eggnog, and that one relative we barely know who insists on sharing tales about their truck. But amidst the festivities, it’s time to take a moment and reflect on the major events that shaped online advertising this year. 2018 was a rollercoaster, packed with rebrands, data scandals, and changes to targeting. Let’s delve into the biggest headlines that made waves:
1. Exact Match Keyword Targeting Evolves Again.
Once upon a time, in the early days of AdWords, exact match lived up to its name. Bidding on exact match keywords meant your ads only appeared when users searched those precise terms. However, over time, Google expanded the definition of exact match to encompass misspellings, plurals, prepositions, and even variations in phrase order. This year, Google further broadened the scope, allowing exact match keywords to trigger ads for synonyms, paraphrases, and queries with similar implied intent. For instance, bidding on [yosemite camping] as an exact match keyword might now display your ads for searches like “yosemite national park ca camping,” “yosemite campground,” and “campsites in yosemite.”
While this might seem concerning, it’s not necessarily a bad thing!
Clients of our digital marketing agency observed a simultaneous rise in both click-through rates and conversion rates, all while enjoying a reduced cost-per-click after these exact match adjustments were implemented. It’s definitely something worth monitoring within your own advertising account!
2. Google AdWords Transforms into Google Ads
Undoubtedly, the most significant news for online advertisers (and SEO professionals focused on AdWords-related organic traffic) this year was the rebranding of Google AdWords to Google Ads.
Introducing the new Google Marketing Platform, Google Ads, and Google Ad Manager. This change was far from superficial. Google stated that Google Ads embodies the comprehensive range of advertising solutions they now provide, enabling marketers to reach billions of users across Search, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Play, and the wider web. “Google Ads” certainly aligns better with this expansive suite of advertising networks than the search-centric “AdWords.” Google Marketing Platform, a merger of Doubleclick and Analytics 360, brings together ad creation and analytics under one roof, streamlining the process for large businesses and agencies to plan, purchase, evaluate, and optimize digital media and customer interactions. The new Google Ads is more comprehensive and user-friendly than its predecessor, shifting the emphasis for search advertisers towards building audiences rather than solely focusing on keyword strategies. However, the “AdWords” concept isn’t entirely obsolete; even seasoned professionals occasionally stumble over the name change, and when people search for information or services related to Google Ads, they often still use AdWords-related terms.
3. Responsive Search Ads Enter the Scene
Thanks to the power of machine learning, A/B testing became significantly easier this year. Responsive Search Ads (RSAs), Google’s latest, most versatile, and largest search ad format, allows advertisers to craft up to 15 headlines and four descriptions, resulting in a staggering 43,680 potential ad variations.
Google’s system then automatically tests various combinations of your ad copy and utilizes machine learning to identify the top-performing combinations. These optimized combinations are then displayed to potential customers, taking into account factors like their search query, device, past browsing behavior, and numerous other signals. These new RSAs can accommodate up to three 30-character headlines, a display URL with two 15-character path fields, and a maximum of two 90-character description fields. In essence, RSAs provide more space for your message on the search results page compared to expanded text ads.
4. Expanded Text Ads Expand Further
The initial rollout of expanded text ads was a game-changer, increasing search ad size by 50% and resulting in a significant 20% boost in click-through rates. This August, Google delighted search advertisers by expanding these text ads once more.
While the original expanded text ads consisted of two 30-character headlines and one 80-character description, the updated version now features three 30-character headlines and two 90-character descriptions, mirroring the format of Google’s RSAs. However, unlike RSAs, the new expanded text ads grant advertisers complete control over the ad copy presented to potential customers, without any automated spacing. The focus remains on maximizing the space occupied on the search results page.
5. Google Introduces Smart Campaigns for Small Businesses
A key driver behind the AdWords-to-Google Ads rebranding was the goal of making advertising on Google more straightforward and user-friendly. Smart Campaigns perfectly embody this objective.
As Google’s new default advertising experience, Smart Campaigns were designed to make the platform more accessible to small business owners who want a streamlined approach to setting up campaigns, launching ads, and driving traffic and conversions. Google claims that Smart Campaigns are three times better in reaching the right audience. Setting up a Smart Campaign is remarkably simple: create an ad, set a budget, describe your business’s offerings, and you’re good to go. While this simplified approach is highly appealing for small businesses seeking a hassle-free entry point into advertising, larger advertisers with more substantial budgets will likely prefer retaining greater control over their ad spending.
6. Google Shopping Embraces Automation with Smart Shopping
Continuing the theme of “smart” solutions, Google announced Smart Shopping at Google Marketing Live. This innovation extends the automated approach of Smart Campaigns to the shopping network.
Again, the emphasis is on machine learning and automation. With Smart Shopping, advertisers simply define their campaign goal and budget, leaving the rest to Google’s automated bidding and ad placement system. This system leverages product information from your existing Merchant Center product feed, automatically selecting and showcasing the most relevant combinations of this creative to potential customers across Search, Display, YouTube, and Gmail. Staying true to the theme of simplification, Smart Shopping consolidates display remarketing and traditional shopping campaigns, eliminating the need for separate management.
7. The Enduring Power of Stories
One of the most prominent trends in social media entering 2018 was the rise of Stories. As the year progressed, it became evident that Stories were more than a passing fad. At F8, Facebook executives made bold predictions, suggesting that Stories usage would soon eclipse that of the News Feed. The latter half of the year witnessed several announcements regarding Stories monetization, including the phasing out of Instagram Story Ads and Facebook Story Ads, and the integration of shopping features into both platforms.
Highlighting the significance of Stories, here’s Mark Zuckerberg discussing their importance during Facebook’s Q1 earnings call: “One of the interesting opportunities and challenges over the coming years will be making sure that ads are as good in Stories as they are in feeds. If we don’t do this well, then as more sharing shifts to Stories, that could hurt our business.” This shift towards Stories aligns with the broader adoption of mobile browsing. Companies are eager to create immersive, full-screen, vertical browsing experiences tailored for mobile users. The popularity of formats like Instagram TV, also launched this year, underscores this trend, and the increasing use of Stories on both Facebook and Instagram demonstrates that mobile users appreciate these innovations.
8. Data Breaches and Regulations Take Center Stage
In 2017, the notion of a “cookieless world” might have seemed like a distant concept. Fast forward to 2018, and cookies became a focal point of concern for the average user. This shift was ignited by the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the political data firm (it came out this year) gained unauthorized access to the personal data of over 50 million Facebook users and allegedly used this data to influence an election. The fallout from this breach led to significant regulatory changes, most notably the implementation of GDPR.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), dubbed the most significant change in data privacy regulation in over two decades, impacted both Facebook and Google Ads advertisers. If you recall a wave of emails around the third quarter from various companies outlining updates to their privacy policies, that was GDPR in action. The most substantial change introduced by GDPR was the requirement for companies to obtain explicit consent from users before utilizing cookie-based tracking. This directly impacted Facebook Custom Audiences, RLSAs, and other advertising features. On a related note, although less impactful, Google experienced a data breach in October, compromising the data of roughly 500,000 users. This incident ultimately led to the shutdown of Google Plus, their social media platform. A shout-out to hackers for their notable, albeit unwelcome, contribution to the year’s events!
9. Google’s Search Results Page Undergoes Multiple Transformations
This past spring, Google kept SEOs on their toes with a series of SERP updates. In March, Google introduced Zero Search Results, an experiment where they presented users with, well, zero search results.
To be precise, there was actually one result. Google aimed to eliminate clutter by displaying a single result for queries that, in theory, didn’t necessitate multiple options. For example, if you were returning from a trip to the West Coast and wanted to know the current time on the East Coast, searching for “time est” would yield this:
While the concept had merit, it didn’t bode well for websites that previously ranked for those queries, especially considering Google hadn’t quite perfected the art of determining which searches genuinely required only one result. The experiment lasted about a week. Following this, Google introduced More Results.
Instead of requiring users to click to the next page of search results on mobile devices, Google replaced this option with the ability to simply expand or elongate the first page. This experiment has proven more enduring and remains active today!
A Toast to the Future!
Several themes emerge when reflecting on the year’s developments: simplicity, data privacy, automation, and intent-based understanding. These aren’t just buzzwords; they represent a tangible shift among major players like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and to some extent, Bing. These platforms are striving to better comprehend user intent and deliver a more streamlined and intuitive browsing experience. While this inevitably entails some degree of user control being relinquished, it’s not inherently detrimental. Whether this trade-off is viewed positively depends largely on your stance on the increasing “ease” and “intuitiveness” of online browsing. Regardless of your perspective: Happy 2019 from our team to yours! May your optimization efforts thrive!