A lot of interesting things happened at Google this week with the rollout of the May 2022 core update, shopping ads ‘Swipeable’ feature, YouTube studio’s updated analytics reports, Merchant Center ‘Unsupported Shopping content’ policy update, and more.
ICYMI, here’s what happened at Google This Week.
- Google is Testing New Google News Design
- Google is Testing Search Grid Format Visual Design on Desktop
- Google Ads Bug Inflating Some Cost-per-click (CPCs) For Non-US Campaigns
- Chrome Will Perform Google Lens Image Searches Without Leaving the Page
- Google Shopping Ads ‘Swipeable’ Feature
- 16 Announcements From Google Marketing Live 2022
- Screenshots in the Google AdSense Policy Center
- YouTube is Moving Video Comments on Desktop
- Google’s May 2022 Core Update
- Google Brings Advertising to YouTube Shorts
- Merchant Center ‘Unsupported Shopping content’ Policy Update
- Updated Analytics Reports in YouTube Studio
- Google Ads Smart Display Campaign and Optimised Targeting Changes
- Cut, Copy and Paste files Using Keyboard Shortcuts in Google Drive Web
Google is Testing New Google News Design
Google is testing a more visual new trial version of the Google News portal that brings the navigation menu from the left side to the top and overall cleans up the look of the home page. This is currently a limited trial, but changes to Google News may impact some publishers.
Google is constantly testing new user interfaces across all their platforms, so this should come as no surprise.
Google is Testing Search Grid Format Visual Design on Desktop
Google is testing a more visual grid format design on desktop Google Search results, which was previously launched on mobile. This visual grid format design typically comes up for product queries and is now being tested on Google desktop search.
The visual grid format layout leads to even more visual layouts for the search result snippets.
Google Ads Bug Inflating Some Cost-per-click (CPCs) For Non-US Campaigns
Google Ads announced a bug impacting a “subset of non-US campaigns” where cost-per-click amounts are incorrectly inflated. Google said that there is no ETA for a fix, but they are aware of the issue and working on a resolution.
If you are seeing inflated CPCs and costs on your non-US campaigns, do not worry, Google is aware and working on a fix. It is not clear if this is a reporting issue or an issue impacting your budgets.
Chrome Will Perform Google Lens Image Searches Without Leaving the Page
Google Lens results within Google Chrome on desktop will now be displayed on the right side of the same browser tab you are viewing, instead of the results opening up in a new tab or new window within Chrome.
This will allow Chrome browser users on desktop to right-click on any image on a web page, then go to the new menu option “Search image with Google Lens”.
Google Shopping Ads ‘Swipeable’ Feature
Google is announcing a big visual change to apparel searches, which will create a unique blend of Google Ads advertisements and organic listings.
Organic results will be joined by shopping ads in one larger ‘swipeable’ visual feed.
16 Announcements From Google Marketing Live 2022
Google Marketing Live kicked off with a keynote address, which included the announcement of 16 changes and additions to Google Ads. The primarily focused improvements are video ads, advancements in automation, and a preview of forward-looking technologies.
The major announcements from Google Marketing Live are:
- Video action & App campaigns coming to YouTube Shorts
- Product feeds coming to YouTube Shorts
- Video ads coming to Discover
- Connected TV campaigns coming to Display & Video 360
- A/B testing coming to Performance Max
- Expanded campaign management support in Search Ads 360 and the Google Ads mobile app
- Ability to optimise campaigns for in-store sales
- New performance data such as attribution, audience and auction insights
- Optimisation score coming to all campaign types
- New Insights reports
- Automatically created assets coming to responsive search ads
- Mobile-first layouts coming to responsive display ads
- New account-level asset library
- Search and Conversion Lift tests
- Global site tag will become the Google tag
- My Ad Center will allow users to control the ads they see
Screenshots in the Google AdSense Policy Center
Google AdSense said it can now show you screenshots of your issues in the AdSense policy center. Google wrote that “to make it easier to determine what to fix when you have a policy issue, we’re introducing screenshots to the Policy center“.
These screenshots aim to highlight examples of policy issues found on your pages and can help you to identify and understand these issues and ultimately resolve them.
DID YOU KNOW: You have until the end of June 2023 to migrate from Universal Analytics to Google Analytics 4. Here’s a complete guide on how to set up GA4!
YouTube is Moving Video Comments on Desktop
YouTube will change how video comments are being displayed on desktop, with a new ‘teaser’ type presentation, which will show a single comment below the clip. The new comments stream will open to the right of the playback window, as opposed to expanding below.
YouTube says that the goal of this new format is to enable viewers to continue to watch the video while they scan through the various comments, to provide more context in a more integrated experience.
Google’s May 2022 Core Update
Google is rolling out its first broad core algorithm update of 2022 named the May 2022 core update. Google said that the “changes we make to improve Search overall and keep pace with the changing nature of the web to any particular site”.
Danny Sullivan, Google’s Public Liaison for Search, notes that changes to site performance in search results are to be expected. The May 2022 core update started rolling out at about 11:30 a.m. ET.
Google Brings Advertising to YouTube Shorts
Google is gradually rolling out ads in YouTube Shorts around the world, announced at its Marketing Live event this week. Video action campaigns and app campaigns will automatically scale to YouTube Shorts.
Google recognises the massive number of daily views generated by Shorts, which now averages more than 30 billion views per day, and the new ad experience aims to help brands reach people who are addicted to this short-form content.
Merchant Center ‘Unsupported Shopping content’ Policy Update
Starting in June 2022, Google Merchant Center’s “Unsupported Shopping content” policy will be updated to include a change to how motor-powered bicycles are listed. If the speed isn’t stated, the products are in violation and will be disapproved.
Electric bikes of a speed of 25 km/h or 15.5 mph or less are still allowed. However, product listings for these electric bikes are now required to explicitly state the bicycle’s speed on the landing page and either the product title or description.
Updated Analytics Reports in YouTube Studio
YouTube is rolling out an updated analytics report that will benefit content creators who make videos in different formats. Creators will now be able to see the total number of video views for each type of content they publish to their channel.
Previously, data were combined into a single metric that counted views for all content types. Creators will notice the absence of the Reach and Engagement. They are getting replaced by a new tab called Content, which is going to be a merged home where creators will be able to follow up on the performance of their different content types.
Google Ads Smart Display Campaign and Optimised Targeting Changes
Google has posted the upcoming changes coming to Display Campaigns in the Google Ads Community Forums. Google said these changes are for simplifying campaign creation and management.
The search company also announced that optimised targeting is now set as the default targeting method when creating new Display campaigns.
Cut, Copy and Paste files Using Keyboard Shortcuts in Google Drive Web
Google has announced that it’s adding the ability to use keyboard shortcuts to cut, copy, and paste files in Drive like you would in pretty much any other file manager, as long as you are using Chrome.
Additionally, a link to the file and its title will also be captured when copying a file, which allows you to easily paste them into a document or an email.
Thank You for Reading
Have you noticed the announcement to Google Ads scripts experience or any other changes from Google this week?
Check back next Friday for the latest from Google This Week.
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