Understanding Google’s Newest Advertising Innovations: 8 Takeaways from Google Marketing Live

This week, Google hosted their annual Google Marketing Live keynote and announced the new products and innovations that they will be introducing throughout 2018. As these features roll out, it is critical to understand how to access, implement, and optimize these tools.

As a Premier Google Partner, a status reserved for the top 3% of Google Partners worldwide, we want to ensure our clients are able to master these new initiatives and apply them across campaigns to maximize results for their business and their brand. Here are eight key takeaways from the 2018 Google Marketing Live keynote:

• YouTube: Google is introducing a new bid strategy for YouTube ads called Maximize Lift. It will optimize delivery to users who are most likely to consider a brand after seeing a video ad.

• Machine Learning: Google is rolling out a new ad type called Responsive Search Ads. They will use Google’s machine learning to dynamically mix and match different headlines and descriptions to best meet a searcher’s intent. This addition shows a continued focus on integrating machine learning into the Google Ads platform.

• Google Analytics: Google is introducing cross-device reporting and remarketing within Google Analytics so that we can better understand the full user journey.

• Focus on Speed: Google is introducing a new landing page speed score within the Google Ads platform that will be updated daily. Along the same vein, they also continue to recommend the use of AMP (accelerated mobile pages) to optimize speed for both SEO and paid search purposes.

• Support of Small Businesses: Google announced programs that cater specifically to small businesses--half of small businesses in the US don’t have a website, and these tools are aimed to help them manage campaigns independently. These products include Smart Campaigns that allow Google to optimize using machine learning technology, Automatic Landing Pages, and the Grow with Google Program that provides education to small businesses.

• Shopping Campaigns: Google is instituting Smart Campaigns for Shopping. This will include automated feeds, a much more streamlined solution to the current tedious and manual process. Additionally, two new business goal objectives will become available--driving store visits and driving customer acquisition.

• Local Campaigns: These new campaigns will specifically promote local businesses and drive in-store traffic.

• The New Google Marketing Platform: It will unify advertising and analytics to help optimize both media and the consumer experience. A new integration center will connect Google Analytics 360, Search Ads 360 (previously DoubleClick), and Display & Video 360 as one central location for sharing audiences.

The announcements at this year’s keynote display Google’s understanding of the trends and future of digital marketing--a commitment that we share as we position our clients to Own What’s Next.

The full rebrand of Google Adwords to Google Ads is scheduled for July 24, 2018.