Google is continuing its march toward a more perfect union between advertising and user experience. As the media giant promised at Google Marketing Live, two more ad products have rolled out in beta form, Gallery Ads and Bumper Machine. Here’s what you need to know about the new tools at your disposal.
Gallery Ads
These ads combine compelling visual images with limited text for a highly interactive experience. Swipe-able images in a carousel format sit right below a traditional text ad in the mobile search engine results page (SERP). Google’s testing just the mobile format for now, although opportunities may come up for desktops and other formats.
Similar to Google’s responsive style ads, Gallery Ads allow up to three headlines with a 30-character limit, between four and eight photos of products your target demo would find compelling and a unique tagline for each image in the carousel with a 70-character limit.
It’s not news that images drive ad engagement, but Gallery Ads drive the point home. On average, Google says ad groups with one or more Gallery Ad have up to 25% more engagement — measured by paid clicks or swipes — at the very top of mobile SERPs.
As beta access to Gallery Ads continues into early 2020, the format is already available in multiple languages besides English, including German, Japanese, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian, Russian, Swedish and Polish.
Bumper Machine
Staying with the visual creative theme, Bumper Machine is an ad tool that uses machine learning to create 6-second bumper ad spots from existing video ads of 90 seconds or less. Google launched the tool in gated beta this week (meaning you may or may not have access yet).
The brevity of bumper ads seems to make them memorable, as the numbers bear out. When Google examined 122 bumper campaign across the country from 2016, they found that 70% drove a significant lift in brand awareness, with the average lift at 9%. The ads performed even better in ad recall, with over 9 in 10 driving ad recall globally and an average lift of over 30%.
If you have videos that aren’t quite ideal for advertisements, this tool could help you maximize on it anyway. If you already have great instream ads, this tool can take you to the next level.
Next Steps
Success in selling online is more than just knowing what’s out there, it’s how to make the most of that knowledge and applying to your e-commerce business strategy. In an age where so much changes anywhere from hour to hour or week to week, consider a proven marketing agency to maximize your results. Get your free e-commerce analysis with EXCLUSIVE and see how a partnership with us will help you meet your business goals.
Olivia Prentiss is a Senior PPC Specialist at EXCLUSIVE. Her work days are spent finding new opportunities for her clients, while in her free time she enjoys testing new recipes and walking her Frenchie on the beach.
Google recently announced that it’s removing the average position metric from Google Ads on September 30. So, what exactly does that mean for you?
What is Average Position?
Simply put, average position tells you how your ad will generally rank against other ads. This rank would determine the general order ads appear [in] on the page. How Google decides to rank each ad is calculated using various factors, including how much you bid on Google Ads, the quality of your page and the context of the user’s search.
The Why and the What
Let’s talk first about why Google decided to go ahead with this update. Their stance is that the average position metric isn’t useful to measure performance for ads anymore. Back in February, Google released an announcement that they would be phasing out the average position metric in favor of newer metrics that more accurately gauge the performance of ads and automate certain aspects such as bidding.
It’s important to start planning ahead if you’re relying on average position to determine your ad rank, especially if you have scrips based on this metric. Now is the time to start looking into alternatives for measuring ad performance.
Your Next Steps
The first thing you should do is to familiarize yourself with the four new metrics Google launched earlier last year, if you haven’t already. These will fill the gap that the average position metric will leave behind. They’re known as “Impression (Absolute Top) % and Impression (Top) %” and “Search absolute top impression share and Search (Top) IS.” These metrics show you the percent of your ad impressions that would appear anywhere above other organic search results and if they were shown in the top location.
By implementing this change, Google aims to provide a clearer picture of how your ads are doing, which lets you to better understand what factors are affecting your ad rank. Of course, the best way to manage your performance is to look at the big picture. To find out exactly what it takes to grow your revenue along with your rank by requesting a free e-commerce analysis from our experts.
Featured photo credit: Pixabay Photo credit: Pixabay
Olivia Prentiss is a Senior PPC Specialist at EXCLUSIVE. Her work days are spent finding new opportunities for her clients, while in her free time she enjoys testing new recipes and walking her Frenchie on the beach.
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