Marketing News

Google has recently announced that they will be deprecating the option to use enhanced cost-per-click (eCPC) bidding. All campaigns that are using this feature will be automatically transitioned to manual CPC bidding by March, 2025.

eCPC has been around since 2010 as a way to let Google’s system affect ad bidding by a limited percentage based on the perceived likelihood of a conversion. This was useful for people who didn’t want to use a full automated/Smart bidding option but wanted to get some of the benefits of it.

According to Google, the decision to deprecate eCPC is based on the advancements of auto-bidding strategies in recent years, such as Maximize conversions (with optional target CPA) and Maximize conversion value (with optional target ROAS).

In September 2024, Google is going to complete the rollout of the new version of Google Merchant Center. It’s called Merchant Center Next.

Google Merchant Center is an online tool that allows businesses to upload and manage their product information across Google Shopping and other Google services. It is designed for retailers who want to promote their products and drive traffic to their online or physical stores. By using Google Merchant Center, businesses can create detailed product listings, including descriptions, images, prices, and availability. These listings can then be used in Google Shopping ads, local inventory ads, and other Google platforms. The tool also enables businesses to monitor the performance of their product listings, optimize their feeds for better visibility, and troubleshoot any issues that may arise.

Merchant Center Next, the new version, will have new features. They include an AI-powered content creation tool, simplified verification processes, and a central hub for reporting and insights.

According to Google, all merchants using the old version will be automatically transitioned to the new version by September 2024.

Meta has announced some improvements to come in the area of tracking and attribution. The changes look quite interesting and meaningful in terms of how they can help advertisers be more successful. I’m looking forward to seeing how and when they are implemented.

One improvement is a feature called “Conversion Value Rules.” This feature will allow businesses to rate which audiences or conversions they value more or less. For example, an advertiser may determine that a particular segment of customers has a 20% higher lifetime value and are willing to pay more for exposure to this segment. The old (and current) way is that they would have to create a separate campaign to achieve this.

Also planned is a way for advertisers to optimize for incremental conversions. This is meant to provide data that highlights the difference in conversions between people who were exposed to a Meta ad and people who weren’t. Meta will determine this “incrementality” by new integrations with other data sources, such as Google Analytics.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced a final rule aimed at cracking down on deceptive practices related to online reviews and testimonials. The new policy is explained in a 163-page PDF document located on the FTC’s website: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/r311003consumerreviewstestimonialsfinalrulefrn.pdf

The overall gist of the newly defined policy is to discourage fraudulent reviews of all shapes, forms, and sizes. It aims to put on notice any business that is trying to game the system in unfair ways. It prohibits the sale, purchase, and creation of fake consumer reviews and testimonials. It bans undisclosed insider reviews. It also addresses review suppression and the misuse of fake social media indicators.

My take is that this is a great thing. Having an Internet of more authenticity and less deception is better for our society. We are all consumers and could all be duped by fake reviews. A system that is more credible is more likely to lift all boats and be better for our economy. Business owners should take this seriously. I believe that some steep fines will be assessed to violators.

Here’s something very new and interesting in the world of online ads. Microsoft Ads is now offering impression-based remarketing. This means that anyone who sees your ad can be added to an audience for remarketing. As a big proponent of remarketing, I am intrigued by this. In the past, remarketing audiences were built from website visits, so a person would need to actually load a particular website or landing page in their browser to be added. Remarketing audiences based on ad impressions are obviously a much lower bar for building an audience.

The big question in: Can impression-based remarketing be effective? My opinion is yes, but only by taking the narrowest of approaches for ad targeting, such as using carefully chosen, exact match keywords. An advertiser must feel confident that most of their audience-building impressions are seen by the right people, in the right places, with the right commercial intent.

Impression-based remarketing is being rolled out gradually and is not yet available in all Microsoft Advertising accounts.

Google has announced that they will be phasing out the smart campaign vehicle to promote more adoption of Performance Max campaigns.

This is not welcome news to me because I liked having the option of using a Smart campaign. Even though it wasn’t my usual tactic, it was something that I could try. It was a good choice in many cases in the past.

Performance Max–as I’ve noted before–is like the ultimate smart campaign, but it’s very broad. It includes all of Google’s placement options, such as search, display, YouTube, Maps, Gmail, and Discovery. For sure, Google’s thinking is that it’s time to trust their AI more in where ads should be served, and there is some sensible logic there. But I feel that the traditional Smart campaign was useful for when I don’t want to go as broad.

When will Smart campaigns be discontinued? Google doesn’t say, but it appears to not be anytime very soon. Perhaps sometime in 2025. When it does happen, Google will automatically convert Smart campaigns to Performance Max campaigns.

In a stunning decision by a federal judge, Google lost an antitrust case brought on by the US Department of Justice, stating that Google used unfair business practices to retain monopoly power over search engine services and text advertising in searches. The case, which was filed in 2020, focused on Google’s arrangements to have its search engine prominently placed on Android devices and IOS devices, such as the iPhone and iPad. In the case of Android, Google is the owner of the operating system, so it was in a position to take advantage of search. In the case of IOS, Google paid billions every year to Apple to keep its search engine prominent. The court found that Google created strong barriers to entry for other search engines and that it violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which outlaws monopolies.

Google’s contention was that its search engine is superior, and it simply wanted it to be easily available. The judge’s decision recognized that Google does offer the best search engine.

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, plans to appeal the decision.

Meta has announced that they will begin rolling out new AI-powered features for ad creatives in Meta Ads Manager. They are:

Background generation — This is a feature is only available for Advantage+ catalog ads. It’s meant to help you offer diverse versions of product images, based on your original product images.

Image expansion — When you apply Advantage+ creative in Meta Ads Manager, your images and videos are automatically optimized to versions your audience is more likely to interact with. It can expand images to fit different aspect ratios, sometimes adding image pixels to fit space.

Text variations — Based on the primary text in your ad, AI will create up to six variations automatically. You can choose to use them or not.

After a year of significant losses in ad revenue, X (fka Twitter) has decided to partner with Google for advertising.

The Google Display Network already includes millions of websites, including major publishers like Yahoo, the New York Times, CNN, and Fox News. It also includes thousands of mobile apps and gaming systems — not to mention Google’s own enormous properties, like YouTube.

The addition of X to the GDN is big news in the world of online ads.