AI was the name of the game at Google Marketing Live 2023, with the majority of Google’s updates and announcements centering on how AI-powered tools can help businesses drive better results, connect with their customers, and deliver the right message at the right time.
Google broke its presentation into three C’s: Customer connection, creative, and confidence, with examples of how its new tools and features (backed by AI) can help businesses in each of those critical junctures.
It almost feels like we were there…
So, want to know what’s coming (or what’s already arrived) as you market your business on Google? You’re in luck because we’re sharing a brief overview of the most important updates and announcements shared at Google Marketing Live 2023.
1. Conversational experience in Google Ads
This update will allow advertisers to essentially have Google guide them through the campaign setup process. You provide some information or prompts, and Google will create assets based on what you provide, including headlines, descriptions, and more. The more information you provide, the more refined your ads will be, said Google.
This feature will begin testing in July.
2. Automatically created assets using generative AI
With this feature, Google will use AI to generate headlines and ad assets that more closely align with the specific query without compromising what you’re offering.
3. Product Studio
Google shared that product listings with multiple images result in a 76% increase in impressions than listings with a single image. So they’re making it easier to manage, create, and upload product content directly from the Shopping Feed.
Product Studio will allow ecommerce businesses to edit and enhance their images using AI. You can remove the background, enlarge the image, and describe what you want the image to look like. From there, Google will return four options that align with your description for you to choose from. You can then add your image to Merchant Center, add or place the image in an online store, and it will be auto-saved across all your Google properties.
Google said this will make it easy to update assets for holidays or seasons. It will be available later this year.
4. Google Search Generative Experience
Google covered this more extensively at Google I/O but did provide an overview and walkthrough of its new Search Generative Experience, as well as where ads will show in this search experience and some of the future capabilities. We dove into SGE here.
5. Video view campaigns
Video view campaigns are meant to maximize results on YouTube on a cost-per-view basis. Video view campaigns combine ad formats including in-stream skippable ads, in-feed ads, and YouTube Shorts. Google shared that early testing of this campaign format resulted in 40% more views than single-format video ads. The beta for Video view campaigns begins next month.
6. Demand Gen campaigns
Demand Gen campaigns was announced as a campaign type designed for social marketers to reach customers on their most visually-focused channels, like YouTube, Discover, and Gmail. This new AI-powered campaign type is built to “engage and drive action among consumers with immersive and visual features.”
Within Demand Gen campaigns, you can create AI-powered lookalike audiences, tailor specific audience segments, and measure conversions as well as receive insights on brand lift.
7. Broad match Brand controls
This update enables you to get additional reach for broad match while ensuring that it matches all the relevant brand traffic for your business. This feature is currently available in beta.
8. Performance Max high-value new customer acquisition
This update is focused on getting new customers who have a high lifetime value or customers who haven’t been engaging with your brand recently. Using AI, you can have Google bid more for customers who match these segments.
9. Google Merchant Center Next
Google will replace Merchant Center with Google Merchant Center Next in 2024. Google Merchant Center Next was touted as a simpler experience than Merchant Center, with features that will allow retailers to easily connect product information from their websites and have control over how their products appear on Google without manually updating a feed.
Retailers will also be able to see insights on top-selling products on Google, pricing benchmarks, and find competitive insights and information.
Merchant Center Next is currently available for some retailers and will be more widely available soon.
10. Google Analytics 4 audience builder
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) audience builder will allow advertisers to build new audiences from Google Analytics right in their Google Ads account. This will include predictive audiences, which Google says uses AI to help you reach people who are more likely to purchase.
This feature is coming soon but is only available using GA4 (which you have until July 1 to switch over!).
11. Performance Max improved search term insights
Advertisers have requested more transparency around how Performance Max is driving results. The improved search term insights report is Google’s solution. These insights will allow you to see how Performance Max is responding to changes so you can refine your campaigns further. This insights report will also include information about what’s driving changes in performance and how specific creative assets are performing.
This feature is coming soon.
Stay tuned for more from Google Marketing Live…
Don’t worry, we’re not done covering Google Marketing Live (GML)! Check back for a more extensive breakdown of what went down at GML 2023.
For now, here were the updates we (briefly) covered:
- Conversational experience in Google Ads
- Automatically created assets using generative AI
- Product Studio
- Google Search Generative Experience
- Video view campaigns
- Demand Gen campaigns
- Broad match brand controls
- Performance Max high-value new customer acquisition
- Google Merchant Center Next
- Google Analytics 4 audience builder
- Performance Max improved search term insights
