Google Ads News Round-Up
Google has a huge stake in creating a safe and healthy digital ad ecosystem. This is something that the company helped to pioneer in the last two decades. Google aims at ensuring that the internet is useful to everyone.
In 2018, the company was faced with challenges where online ads were used to scam online users. For instance, they came up with a policy banning for-profit bail bond companies since this industry was taking advantage of vulnerable communities. They also came up with a policy restricting ads for addiction treatment. Now they only allow certified organizations to post such ads. In total, they created 31 new ad policies that addressed areas such as garage door repairmen and cryptocurrency. The result was that over 2.3 billion bad ads were taken down in 2018.
One of their biggest takedowns in 2018 was of an ad fraud network under operation. They worked with the FBI and White Ops, a cybersecurity firm that was able to generate over 3 billion daily bid requests.
Google Aims to Help Games Developers Build their Business
Building a mobile game takes a lot of effort. However, building a business on top of a game is even more complex. Google is coming up with new solutions that will grow the lifetime value of players. It is becoming much easier to re-engage audiences and take advantage of new approaches aimed at monetization.
One method of achieving this is by helping inactive players re-discover games. This is a problem especially when players stop playing games after a few days. A great opportunity for growth is getting players to come back.
The company is coming up with Ad campaigns that will help players rediscover old games when they engage with various Google properties. For instance, this can be done by encouraging players to complete tutorials or informing them of any new features in a game.
In the new system, Google will let developers show ads for in-app purchases to only players that are not going to make purchases. It will eliminate the fear game developers have that converting players will leave their game due to the disruption caused by in-app ads.
A New Ad Format for Google Images
Google is cognizant of the fact that most US shoppers first discover a new product on Google. However, shoppers are not just using Google.com. About half of all online shoppers say images inspire them to make their purchase and many are now using Google Images.
This is why Google has invested in shopping solutions on Google images. When the ads launched on Google Images, they wanted to give advertisers a new way to get to shoppers who need more visual inspiration. Now there will be shoppable ads on Google Images to ensure businesses and customers connect more.
The method will let businesses highlight various products they sell within a sponsored ad in Google Images results. Google is currently testing it on limited traffic using select retailers based on broad queries.
If a shopper is looking for office renovation ideas on a mobile device and she visits Google images to find out more, she will find various images. She can hover on a sponsored ad, and it will show the items on sale in the image plus the prices, brand, and other details.
Right now, Google already offers Showcase shopping ads that let sellers promote brands and products via descriptions, beautiful images, and various promotions. Since it was launched, retailers and brands in 17 nations have benefited from showcase ads. These ads reach customers at the phase when they need the inspiration to complete a purchase.
The company will also expand the Merchant Center, which will be used to power shopping experiences beyond the ads across Google. Now beside the markup solutions, retailers can offer more product data to Google. This way, Google can show more of the product information to potential shoppers.
Google Releases New Tools to improve the Mobile Experience
It is about 12 years since the era of mobile internet dawned. Since then a lot of digital innovation has occurred including the creation of new platforms. Things such as voice-activated assistants and Apps have been developed. Technology such as AR and VR now fits in mobile devices. A reality of today’s world is that mobile is the most used platform for accessing the internet.
Most people today turn to mobile when they need to buy or go somewhere. Google recognizes this reality, and they are developing tools to make the experience much better. Since Google wants marketers and brands to succeed, they are always looking into new tools and innovation to take the industry to the next level.
One of the innovations by Google is the top to bottom rebuild of Test My Site. The Rich Communication Services (RCS) Business Messaging will also see a lot of growth. One of the most important areas on mobile devices is speed. Studies have shown that a one-second delay can affect up to 20% of the conversion rate. In 2016, Google created Test My Site to help sites check the speed on their mobile pages and get recommendations to fix them.
Google also recognizes the importance of messaging in business. That is why their RCS Business Messaging will get a boost. The new service will feature rich media and branding, among other things. It will no longer be a simple 160-character text.
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