In late May, Google hosted its 11th annual Google Marketing Live event. As anticipated, artificial intelligence played a leading role in many of these updates. More than 30 new products and features with AI integration were unveiled, focusing on several key categories: creative enhancements using AI, testing ads in AI Overview, the introduction of the Power Pair (PMax + Search Ads), Stickers in YouTube ads and Quick Reports in Google Ads – just to name a few.

There are reasons to question whether AI is a hindrance to these tools and processes, but it seems that it can provide extensive benefits for campaigns and overall client satisfaction.

Ads in AI Overview

Based on Google's data, users who utilize AI Overviews tend to use search more frequently and are more satisfied with their search results. When these users click through AI Overviews, the clicks are of higher quality, resulting in users likely to spend more time on site.

Given that the AI Overview result covers an extensive part of the SERP — and existing ads might not appear at all — it is no surprise that Google will start testing new placements for search & shopping ads in AI Overview for United States users. These ads will not only match a user's query, but also provide key context and a clear “sponsored content” label in the AI Overview.

I anticipate this benefiting retailers by increasing ad ROI for shopping ads. Since the target audience can buy directly from the ad, it will result in reduced search time for users. 

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The Power Pair

Google touted the importance of using the “power pair,” aka Performance Max (PMax) and Search Ads (using broad match keywords and smart bidding). It delivers the strongest conversion performance and ROI across Google’s suite of advertising tools. It was also noted that advertisers who use the Power Pair see an average increase of 27% in conversions at a similar CPA/ROAS.

In my experience, I couldn’t agree more. We adopted PMax in late 2021 for one of our clients, unknowingly starting the “power pair” dynamic. Comparing the MoM results, we observed an increase in conversions by 8%.

My recommendation when using this pair is to continuously analyze the search terms, especially when using non brand keywords in national and global campaigns. 

Performance Max

With the introduction of Generative AI to PMax, Google has seen that advertisers who improve their PMax ad strength to Excellent see 6% more conversions on average. 

This holds true for Responsive Search Ads (RSA) traffic metrics as well. I tested improving ad strength from Average/Poor to Excellent for a set of RSA ads. After the update, I saw an increase in clicks by 17% and decrease in CPC by 14% MoM. I highly recommend A/B testing ads to determine whether it improves campaign performance.

Reporting

PMax already shows the websites and apps where ads will appear. Soon, Google will add placement reporting & exclusions for YouTube videos.Additionally, advertisers will also be able to see asset-level reporting & conversions metrics for each creative asset. This feature has been eagerly awaited by many advertisers since PMax was introduced. While I am excited to explore this feature, I am also keen to understand how detailed the reporting will be in order for us to make data-driven decisions.

AI-Powered Creative

Retailers can now generate new ad creative by customizing their product images on different backgrounds in seconds.

Creative can be further customized as needed. For example, a prompt requesting for a lively painting and modern background can transform a plain, transparent image of a sofa. 

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While it’s fascinating that advertisers will be able to make all of these updates within seconds, I fear that the creative approval process will become challenging.

‍Demand Gen

Last year, Demand Gen was introduced as a campaign type in YouTube, Discover and Gmail. While this campaign type will roll out to Display & Video 360  and Search Ads 360 in the coming months, one update I am looking forward to the most is the reduced audience list threshold for the lookalike segments. Since the threshold will be lowered from 1,000 to 100 users, more advertisers can use this campaign. I anticipate adoption for this campaign to increase over the next few months because this is the only campaign type that offers lookalike segments in Google Ads.

Product Studio

Style-Aligned Assets & Image To Video

Leveraging generative AI for creative asset generation, advertisers will be able to select a product image and a reference image to generate ad creative that is “on-brand” for retailers. Users will also be able to build an animated image ad from pre-existing images in their Google ads account. 

As mentioned previously, I’m still skeptical over how this feature will replace the asset approval process. If brands are able to work around this update, advertisers and retailers will save time & money on photoshoots. However, it will definitely have some negative impact on the creative industry; themed photoshoots might become obsolete if users become heavily dependent on AI to generate the ad creatives.

YouTube Ads

Short Ads

Google stressed the importance of vertical video formatting for Shorts by highlighting that the view-through rate of this format has increased over 40%.

Stickers were introduced for Shorts ads to make them more interactive and better at driving action. These stickers will come from existing elements in your ads account, your product feed or your app store listings and will be placed right on top of your short ads.

It seems like Google wants more people to interact with these ads since the stickers will be clickable.

Having a visually fun CTA button isn’t new, but it definitely sparks my interest because a higher CTR will generate more conversions for the retailer.

Reporting & Optiscore

Google Ads Data Manager will now be available to everyone. In addition, advertisers will be able to generate quick reports and make optimization decisions faster through the Google Ads platform. The test that Google showed for quick reports seems promising, and I foresee this saving the data reporter some time. I am excited to experiment with these, especially when comparing demographics performance.

Since it might prove challenging to keep note of the updates a campaign needs, Google has introduced “AI Essentials.” When users log on to their Google ads accounts, they can now see “AI Essential” directly in optiscore, highlighting the optimizations that can be made. This column looks similar to current recommendations being generated by Google to help advertisers improve the optimization score, rebranding some as “AI Essentials.” I am certain more recommendations will be categorized as “AI Essentials” as the rest of the updates are rolled out. I suggest looking at this with a healthy skepticism and make updates that positively serve campaign goals.

Several additional; updates for shopping ads were announced with the goal to make the shopping experience seamless, interactive and faster for the user, while also making it easier for advertisers to create these ads.

Nevertheless, as AI-powered updates are being heavily relied upon by tech developers, companies will still need marketers to work with AI. Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM, Advertising at Google, rightly pointed out: “No matter how much AI progresses, it is not a marketer because it does not have your creativity, strategic insights and expertise.”

I encourage all marketers and advertisers working with Google Ads to review the Google Marketing Live article or watch the Google Marketing Live here.