After many years of fostering a wild frontier of advertising opportunities, Google is implementing a system to rein in, control, and regulate it more. Its new verification policy requires that advertisers submit information about themselves and their businesses, such...
It’s now been a couple of decades since Google Ads (formerly known as Google AdWords) changed the world of advertising forever. It was the first self-serve ad platform that actually worked — meaning that it kept all parties involved wanting more (the ad...
Google Tag Manager (GTM) has been around for a long time, and I’ve been using it for most of that time. Just not very extensively. I’ve known that it has tremendous capabilities beyond how I’ve been using it, but only recently did I decide to explore...
UTM Parameters UTM parameters are an age-old method of tracking web activity based on link clicks, and they are still very useful today. In fact, they can help compensate for tracking data that is now missing due to PETs (Privacy Enhancing Technologies). They work by...
When advertising through Google Ads, it helps to get as much data as possible about the results that are generated. And although it’s an evolving and imperfect science, there are several tools and mechanisms that can give you useful data. For starters, you can...
If you’re advertising through Google ads, it’s important to have control over who will see the ads, where they’ll see them, and in what context they’ll see them. Google offers an interesting array of options for ad targeting. However, not all...
Google Ads offers a wide array of features and options to help optimize your campaigns for the best results. One of those features is called bid adjustments. With bid adjustments, you tell the system to alter your bids in the auction based on specified conditions. For...
The History For over a decade, Google Ads (formerly Google AdWords) allowed advertisers to create ads based on the wording of their choice. The basic components of an ad were: the headline, description, and URL. For the purpose of optimization, Google always...
To excel as an online ad specialist (which has been my goal for years), it’s crucial to understand how results get tracked and measured. The world of online tracking is a complicated one that can never be completely mastered. But in 2021, I decided to up my game...
Where do people see Google ads? Most people know that ads appear in Google search results, but Google has several other major outlets and networks where ads can be served. And although Google Ads may not be the only advertising platform around (there’s Microsoft...
If you are planning to do search engine advertising through Google Ads, it’s critical that you master the keyword match types system. The keyword match types are an indispensable feature that determines how closely the targeted keyword needs to match a search...
Since Google ads is an auction-based system, advertisers need to place bids to get exposure for their ads. Therefore, bidding is one of the most important aspects of the entire process. While bidding used to be simpler and more straightforward, modern technology has...
Since Google ads is a self-serve advertising platform, it’s natural that advertisers will use it with varying degrees of knowledge and skill (or the complete lack of). When advertisers use it without understanding it much, there can be problems. In fact, it can...
Traditionally, there are four levels of a Google Ads account. In today’s age of automation and expanded functionality, though, there are variations to this norm. But the traditional structure still applies in most cases. The four levels of a Google Ads Account...
There’s a very big learning curve to using Google Ads properly. Here are 3 more principles and concepts that can help build your foundation of understanding. Quality Score The factor of quality is crucial to understand when using Google Ads. As you set up and...
If you want to learn to use Google Ads to advertise your business, there is a significant learning curve. It’s not that hard to get campaigns running, ads showing, and costs accruing. But actually knowing what you’re spending your money on is tough!...
What is Performance Max? Performance Max is the name given to a new type of Google Ads campaign, which is distinguished by almost complete automation. As an advertiser, there are very few decisions to make. In general, you tell the system what your goal is, and the...
One of the newest types of advertising offered by Google is called Discovery ads. These ads provide a much different approach than methods Google has previously offered. Several characteristics distinguish them, but the two most important are: Discovery ads appear in...
After many years of planning and experimentation, Google has finally implemented a way for images to (sometimes) appear with ads in search results. Although the strict rules and requirements might present a challenge for advertisers, image extensions can add a...
A new type of ad, called “Responsive Search Ads,” is becoming the new standard for Google search ads. The old/outgoing type is called “Expanded Text Ads.” Starting June 30, 2022, it won’t be possible to create or edit new Expanded Text...
