Big news! After almost two years in the AdWords branding, Google has decided it’s time to change how they do things. The AdWords brand and the experience we’ve been accustomed to and adore (and sometimes resent) will soon end. The sleeker Google Ads brand has been launched to replace it.
A complete overhaul of AdWords accompanies the new branding (now Google Ads..) user interface and user experience.
SEMs across the globe have begun to become acquainted with the new AdWords Google Ads user interface over the last few months. PDM’s Ryan Larkin – a Google Advertising veteran, has created his opinion of the brand-updated Google Ads UI. It took me some time to establish comfortable with my “sea legs,” so to think of it, after which, once I felt comfortable, I became a fan of the layout. Some things still need to be changed, and I’m sure it’s a significant improvement!
Google Ads wasn’t the sole change Google announced this week. Doubleclick and Google Analytics 360 – powerhouse tools for large accounts are now united under the same name Google Marketing Platform.
Google also introduced a few updates to the ad-serving aspect of the equation. DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange were joined to form Google Ad Manager.
We have been talking about the reasons Google uses to make these changes – and some of them are notable.
The transition of Google Ad Words to Google Ads
The focus is on the mobile user experience
The inclusion of more intelligent insights, fresh graphs, etc.
AdWords – Ads
For many years, Google has been the king of everything related to online search. They are still the best. However, this association could have caused harm over the past few years. The user experience online (especially that of mobile users) has been shifting away from advertising and text-based content towards high-quality images and video.
Google has always been a significant player in the world of video through YouTube; however, in recent times, Facebook has taken a large portion of the market. Facebook introduced a native YouTube hosting feature a few years ago that allows content creators to select YouTube or Facebook instead of hosting YouTube through Facebook.
Facebook was the unquestioned king of photo-sharing and UX for many years. They just pushed their dominance at the top after they acquired Instagram in 2012.
Remember Google+? Yes… it’s not like anyone else. Google’s attempt at making its way into the social media market has now morphed into a Pinterest-Reddit-Facebook mash-up called Discover. They tried but were unsuccessful.
Google’s sole monopoly on image-related advertising is the dominance of its Google Display Network (GDN). The GDN represents a whopping 70% of the web’s display inventory. However, the growth in Programmatic Display advertising recently has seen it begin to reduce its market position.
What does this all mean?
Google’s new brand is an internal initiative to change its focus away from text-based advertisements and toward the video and image experience.
GDN, YouTube advertising capabilities, and targeting have taken significant positive steps over the past few years. The rebranding represents an exterior reflection of the changes that have taken place.
Mobile Above All
This is a simple one. It’s not a surprise for everyone (not the least of which is your parents) that mobile internet use has increased dramatically over the past five years. Mobile technology has advanced almost dramatically, and has also improved the mobile web experience has also improved.
Humanity has access to an unimaginable amount of knowledge within our reach. We can get information on nearly everything or communicate with virtually anybody within seconds. As impressive as it is. It’s what we’ve been conditioned to expect from companies such as Google, Amazon, Facebook, and many others. Anything less than this isn’t enough and is quickly removed from the market.
The same is valid on the marketing side. We’ve come to anticipate more and better from the web, including more content, better videos, and more high-quality images. All of it is on a smaller screen. Google is certainly taking note.
Beyond their technical team, nobody knows the real motives behind Google Search and Ad algorithms. The algorithms are Google’s most accurate description of what consumers are used to from an online experience. We’re looking for faster, wiser, and more mobile. Google’s algorithm has changed accordingly.
Automated Insights
Another thing I’ve noticed in the new update is that Google has introduced new automated graphs and data to their advertising system. Here’s an illustration of what I’m referring to below from the overview of campaigns on Google Ads.
