A lot of interesting changes at Google This Week with Google’s newly launched digital marketing certification, Google Ads updated create ad interface, Youtube’s new cross-channel live redirects, and more.
ICYMI, here’s what happened at Google This Week.
- Google’s New Users Limit Types of Ads
- Google Ads Reporting Issues with APIs and Ads Scripts
- Google Ads Updated Create Ad Interface
- Google Launches New Digital Marketing Certificate
- Google Blocked 3.4 Billion Ads in 2021
- Customer Match lists for Smart Bidding and Optimised Targeting
- Youtube’s New Cross-Channel Live Redirects
- Display & Video 360 May Updates
- YouTube Go is Shutting Down in August
Google’s New Users Limit Types of Ads
Google is introducing new user controls to allow people to limit the number of ads they see about pregnancy, parenting, dating and weight loss. The company announced that it’s expanding these controls with new ad categories for both YouTube and Gmail.
Google says it’s rolling out the new controls following feedback from users asking for more ads-level control, particularly about sensitive topics that they may want to avoid.
The user controls can be accessed in the Ad Settings section under the Google Account dashboard. From there, you can scroll down to the “Sensitive ad categories” section that will allow you to limit specific types of ads to the five available topics: alcohol, dating, gambling, pregnancy and parenting, and weight loss. You can then click on the “see fewer button,” after which Google will notify you that you should see fewer ads for this category when you are signed in to your Google Account.
Google Ads Reporting Issues with APIs and Ads Scripts
Google Ads Scripts, AdWords API and the Google Ads API are all impacted by a bug that may have caused reporting issues between April 25th 2:32 PM PT and April 26th 12:24 PM PT. If you have pulled data from these sources, your reports may be incorrect.
As a precaution, Google recommends running again any reports that have been executed during this period as the missing data has been restored.
Google Ads Updated Create Ad Interface
Google Ads has rolled out a new create ad interface to all advertisers. The new create ad interface is a very subtle change in terms of the interface.
Google told Search Engine Roundtable that there is now larger spacing and the box user interface styling and standardisation are now 100% rolled out.
Google Launches New Digital Marketing Certificate
Google announces the launch of a new career certificate in digital marketing & eCommerce to help jobseekers and employers acquire the necessary skills to be successful in online US business. It is endorsed by the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s).
Google’s certificate for digital marketing and e-commerce can be used to train employees for roles such as:
- Digital Marketing Specialist
- SEO Analyst
- Paid Search Specialist
- Email Marketing Specialist
- Marketing Coordinator
- E-commerce Specialist
The Digital Marketing & Ecommerce certificate from Google will provide hands-on experience with digital marketing tools and platforms, including:
- Canva
- Constant Contact
- Hootsuite
- HubSpot
- MailChimp
- Shopify
- Google AdsGoogle Analytics
Google Blocked 3.4 Billion Ads in 2021
According to its annual report, Google blocked or removed 3.4 billion ads in 2021. Google also tripled the number of account-level suspensions for advertisers in the last year. Abusing the ad network, adult content, and trademarks are the top three categories of bad ads.
Google also blocked or restricted ads from serving on 1.7 billion publisher pages, and took broader site-level enforcement action on about 63,000 publisher sites in 2021.
FYI: 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!
Customer Match lists for Smart Bidding and Optimised Targeting
According to an email sent to advertisers this week, Google will now use Customer Match lists for Google Ads’ Smart Bidding and Optimised Targeting. Customer Match lists won’t be used with manual bidding strategies. However, advertisers may still use bid modifiers manually to adjust bids.
If users don’t want Customer Match lists to be applied to Smart Bidding or Optimised Targeting, users will have the ability to opt out at the ad account level. To opt out, go to Account settings then choose Customer Match and uncheck the Use all Customer Match lists in Smart Bidding or Optimised Targeting box.
Youtube’s New Cross-Channel Live Redirects
YouTube rolls out a new feature called ‘cross-channel live redirects’ that allows streamers to send live viewers to other channels. Cross-channel live redirects are similar to Twitch raids, allowing creators to send their audience to another stream when theirs concludes.
Live redirects will be available to all eligible creators by the end of this week.
Display & Video 360 May Updates
Google Display & Video 360 announced that suggestions for new performance targets will be shown in the Intelligence panel for automated bidding line items with restrictive performance goals.
Along with the update, is the deprecation of the manual deal creation workflow. Through the rest of 2022, the manual deal creation workflow will gradually be deprecated on exchanges that are integrated with the deal sync API.
YouTube Go is Shutting Down in August
Google has announced that it’s retiring the lightweight alternative, YouTube Go, mainly because it has become unnecessary over the years. The lightweight Android app was first launched in 2016 and features offline viewing and nearby sharing.
The video platform advised users of the lite app to either switch to the regular YouTube application on their Android or visit youtube.com in the browser. YouTube it’s also working on new controls that would help people lower their mobile data usage if they have limited access to it.
Thank You for Reading
Have you noticed the updated create ad interface or any other changes from Google this week?
Check back next Friday for the latest from Google This Week.
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