There have been some exciting updates at Google This Week with app campaigns for engagement no longer requiring manual deep linking, plus product identifiers no longer required for free listings. The Search Analytics API now has Search, Discover and Google News data, there’s also improved event tag management in Campaign Manager 360 and there are updates for Display & Video 360. Google has also encouraged developers to implement “priority hints” to speed up Core Web Vitals.
ICYMI, here’s what happened at Google This Week.
- Search Analytics API Gets Search, Discover and News Data
- App Campaigns for Engagement No Longer Require Manual Deep Linking
- Google Ads Adds More Recommendations for the Holidays
- Updates for Display & Video 360
- Improved Event Tag Management in Campaign Manager 360
- Google’s Priority Hints Can Speed Up Core Web Vitals Scores
- Product Identifiers Not Required for Free Listings
- Link Your Zapier Account in the Google Ads UI
- Video Reach Campaigns Are Now Available Globally
Search Analytics API Gets Search, Discover and News Data
Google is updating the Search Analytics API to include data about Search, Discover and Google News. The searchType parameter is being renamed to type and will support two additional parameters: discover and googleNews. In addition, Google is adding Regex support to the query and page dimensions.
App Campaigns for Engagement No Longer Require Manual Deep Linking
App campaigns for engagement no longer require manual deep linking.
App campaigns for engagement enable advertisers to re-engage customers that already have their app installed through ads on Search, YouTube, Display, AdMob and in the Play Store.
Previously, advertisers needed to manually implement deep linking in order to run campaigns, now you can create App campaigns for engagement with no deep linking required (Android only). This option directs users to the app homepage even if your app doesn’t have deep links implemented.
Google Ads Adds More Recommendations for the Holidays
Google Ads is adding more recommendations to get you ready for the holidays. Now you can ensure accurate and actionable measurements with new recommendations to help you set up enhanced conversions, Consent Mode and Google Analytics 4. You can also optimise your Shopping campaigns more efficiently with new recommendations for Shopping campaigns, including Review Merchant Center account suspension warnings, set target ROAS to capture upcoming traffic increases, target all of your eligible Shopping products and set up new customer acquisition goals.
In addition, Google has released a new Smart Shopping campaigns Performance Comparison tool to help you compare week-over-week split test performance between Smart Shopping and Standard Shopping campaigns. You’ll also be able to reach more people with improved keyword recommendations and save time by applying more recommendations automatically by setting up a target CPA and ROAS. Google has also rolled out more recommendations in the Google Ads API.
Updates for Display & Video 360
Google is releasing a number of new updates over the next few weeks in Display & Video 360. The updates include:
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- Setting a radius for your proximity targets
- Two new filters for eligible 3rd party audiences based on “Provider” & “Eligibility”
- Audio LIs will be able to be targeted by content type
- Outcome based buying click campaigns will support HTML5 creatives
- YouTube “In-feed video ads” will be renamed to “video discovery ads”
Improved Event Tag Management in Campaign Manager 360
Over the next few weeks, you’ll see improved event tag management in Campaign Manager 360. You’ll see your event tags within campaign explorer view and be able to manage them in bulk. To enable the Event Tag view, click on Views > Customize Views and then check the Event Tags view.
Google’s Priority Hints Can Speed Up Core Web Vitals Scores
Google published an article that encourages developers to use its new and experimental “importance” priority hint attribute which can help speed up Core Web Vitals and improve the user experience. The Chrome browser team showed an example where a background image loaded with the Priority Hint HTML attribute shaved almost 2 seconds off download time.
“Hero images inside the viewport start at a low priority. After the layout is complete, Chrome discovers they are in the viewport and boosts their priority (unfortunately, dev tools only shows the final priority – WebPageTest will show both).
This usually adds a significant delay to loading the image. Providing the priority hint in markup lets the image start at a high priority and start loading much earlier.
The browser assigns CSS and fonts a high priority, but all such resources may not be equally important or required for LCP. You can use priority hints to lower the priority of some of these resources.”
Product Identifiers Not Required for Free Listings
Google Merchant Center is aligning item-level enforcement across Shopping ads and free listings by extending limited performance enforcements to free listings. Previously, when a product listing was missing unique product identifiers, such as GTIN, MPN and brand, the product was immediately disapproved and no longer showed in free listings. Now if these required attributes are missing, your products will remain eligible to serve but their performance may be limited.
Link Your Zapier Account in the Google Ads UI
Google is making it easier to link up with Zapier. You can now link Zapier directly in the Google Ads user interface. By linking your Zapier account with Google Ads, you can automate common tasks such as:
- Linking lead form extensions to your CRM
- Automatically import offline conversions from your CRM back to Google Ads
- Use Zapier to automatically update, sort, and remove contacts from your Customer Match lists
Video Reach Campaigns Are Now Available Globally
Video reach campaigns are now available to all Google Ads users globally. During beta, Video reach campaigns for Unique Reach result in 29-44% more unique reach per dollar and 16% lower CPM, on average, than using one or two standalone formats. You can use Video reach campaigns to serve the best combination of skippable and bumper ads to maximise reach and efficiency. You can also serve non-skippable ads if your goal is to share your entire message.
Thank You for Reading
Have you noticed any changes from Google this week?
Check back next Friday for the latest from Google This Week.
