It’s been a huge week at Google this week with big news following Advertising Week, including Insights in Google Ads and automated Performance Max campaigns as well as call history added to Google My Business and the House Judiciary subcommittee antitrust findings on Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple.
ICYMI, here’s what happened at Google This Week:
- New Performance Metrics in Google Merchant Center
- Simplifying Lookback Windows in DV360
- Combined Audiences for YouTube Ad Groups
- Performance Reports Updated with Search Results Data in Google My Business
- Changes to Video Uploads in Google My Business
- Preview Call History in Google My Business
- Insights in Google Ads
- Automated Performance Max Campaigns in Google Ads
- Web Stories on Google Discover
- House Judiciary Subcommittee Antitrust Findings on Google
New Performance Metrics in Google Merchant Center
Starting November 1, 2020, Google is updating its Retailer Standards program with two new performance metrics: “Return defects” and “Delivery defects”.
Return defects apply anytime an item’s return is not processed within 2 business days of delivery at your return facility. You can monitor performance of this defect starting November 1st. The first score impacted will be March 1, 2021, and will lookback to defects as early as November 24, 2020.
Delivery defects is a new category for “shipped on-time, delivered late” defects. These will no longer be counted under the overarching category of “shipping defects”.
Simplifying Lookback Windows in DV360
Google is simplifying lookback windows for line item conversions in Display & Video 360. Starting early next year, new line items won’t be able to be created with more than one lookback window. Edits to existing line items with more than one lookback window also won’t be able to be saved without choosing just one lookback window.
Combined Audiences for YouTube Ad Groups
Combined audiences will soon become available for YouTube ad groups in Display & Video 360. You’ll be able to select a combined audience in ad-group level audience targeting for YouTube and partners line items. When building a combined audience, the Audience Summary data will reflect eligibility for display, video and YouTube.
Performance Reports Updated with Search Results Data in Google My Business
Google My Business is updating performance reports with Search results data. The most significant update is the ability to see how many times your business profile was surfaced in Search. Google has also added insights to interactions so you can see how often people contact you after visiting your GMB profile.
Over the next few months, additional metrics will be added, including detailed reports about searches and data on Google Maps. The data will be available for up to 6 months.
Changes to Video Uploads in Google My Business
Google has changed the maximum size of videos uploaded to Google My Business. The maximum file size is now 75MB, down from 100MB, a significant reduction. Google confirmed the update on Twitter and added it to the Google My Business help page.
If you’re having issues uploading videos to Google My Business, it could be because they just changed the video maximum file limit from 100MB to 75 MB. https://t.co/S5VL7QTRE5
— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) October 4, 2020
Preview Call History in Google My Business
Google is testing another feature in Google My Business, Preview Call History. It shows you your recent calls made to you from Google Maps and Search via your local listing. It is a caller ID history. Call information is stored for 45 days in the “Calls” tab. This feature is currently only in beta for a select group of users in the US.
Insights in Google Ads
Google Ads is introducing a new Insights page that will be rolling out in beta in the coming months, first to the U.S. and UK this year. The new Insights page will bring in data from Rising Retail Categories and Google Trends data customised to the account.
You’ll see trending searches, auction insights and interest predictions which integrates with recommendations. Jerry Dischler, vice president and GM of Ads at Google said,
“We’re hoping that this is just going to be a foundation that we’re going to build on top of in order to offer better business insights directly within Google Ads.”
Automated Performance Max Campaigns in Google Ads
Google has a new automated campaign type, Performance Max. Unlike other automated options, Performance Max can run across all inventory. The ads are meant to complement standard Search campaigns.
The Search and search partners ads aren’t keyword-based and are served via dynamic search ads. Advertisers can provide some manual inputs to help inform the machine learning algorithms by specifying audiences most likely to convert and using conversion value rules. Performance Max campaigns are currently in early testing and more advertisers will be invited to the beta next year.
Web Stories on Google Discover
Google is bringing Web Stories to Discover in a new Stories carousel. This new feature is now out in the U.S., India and Brazil at the top of Discover, to help you find the best visual content from around the web. Google intends to expand Web Stories to more countries and Google products.
House Judiciary Subcommittee Antitrust Findings on Google
The big news out of Google this week was that the House Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust has released its findings and recommendations after a 16-month investigation into competitive practices at Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook.
CNBC highlighted a couple of findings:
- The report concludes that the four Big Tech companies enjoy monopoly power and suggests Congress take up changes to antitrust laws that could result in parts of their businesses being separated.
- Republicans have voiced objections to some of the bolder proposals in the report, such as imposing structural separations.
“We disagree with today’s reports, which feature outdated and inaccurate allegations from commercial rivals about Search and other services”
Read Google’s full response here.
Thank You for Reading
Have you noticed any changes from Google this week?
Check back next Friday for the latest from Google This Week.
