What were the biggest Google Ad changes in 2022?

The world of online advertising underwent major changes in 2022, and as always, Google was at the forefront of the industry. The changes that Google made to its ad platform had a significant impact on how businesses reached their target audiences and drove sales.

Google introduced a range of new features and updates to its ad platform in 2022, designed to help advertisers get more out of their campaigns. These changes included improved audience targeting and more sophisticated bidding options, which made a big difference in how businesses approached their online advertising strategy.

In our blog, we took a closer look and reveal some of the biggest Google Ads news stories across 2022 and what they meant for businesses looking to succeed in the ever-changing world of online advertising

By staying up-to-date with the latest trends and features in online advertising, businesses can better position themselves to achieve their marketing goals and reach their target audiences effectively.

Customer acquisition bidding

In 2022, new customer acquisition goals were added to Performance Max campaigns. As a result, users could now set up their Performance Max campaigns to either bid higher for new customers than existing/ repeating customers, or only bid for new customers. 

To use this effectively though, users would have to set up three things correctly: 

• Customer match list - List of customers who have made purchases. We can segment this by ferry customers vs tourism product customers.
• New customer acquisition reporting in Google Analytics. 
• An additional conversion value for new customers - how much more are new customers worth vs existing customers?

However, not content with just adding this as a Performance Max feature, Google also rolled out new customer acquisition bidding on search campaigns. As with Performance Max, it still requires you to meet the requirements of the three bullet points above. 

Ad extension rebrand 

Google released a new UI update that rebranded ad extensions as assets. 

Before the UI update, creating and managing assets such as call extensions or sitelinks were done in a separate step of the Google Ads campaign creation process. Now, when you set up a Search or Performance Max campaign, the extensions (now assets) are created in the same step.

Assets that are created during this stage of the setup process will be available when you work on other campaigns and ad groups.

New Performance Max features 

A large part of 2022 for Google revolved around updating Performance Max campaigns. In addition to the changes to customer acquisition bidding, Google also made it possible to see more search term data with Performance Max. 

The Performance Planner tool was launched to help create plans and understand how you can invest your budges to maximise ROI with Performance Max. 

In addition, automated rules for Performance Max assets can also be set up, this allows you to run your assets at a specific time of day, for instance. 

Finally, you can also add up to 15 headlines to PMax ads, increased from the previous maximum of 5 headlines. 

YouTube audio ads 

YouTube introduced a new genre of ad to its repertoire in 2022. After the introduction of audio ads, users are now able to use their existing radio ads as part of any YouTube ad campaigns they may be running. 

These audio ads are available to all advertised and are served to users exhibiting typical symptoms of listening behaviour, such as accessing content through a Google Nest smart speaker. 

To recap 

To sum up, the changes that Google announced to its ad platform in 2022 represent a significant shift in the world of online advertising. 

By introducing new customer acquisition goals, ad extension rebrands, search term data in Performance Max, and audio ads on YouTube, Google has given businesses more options than ever before to reach their target audiences and drive conversions.

With the ever-evolving nature of online advertising, it's essential that businesses stay up-to-date with the latest trends and features in order to succeed in their marketing efforts. By adapting to these changes and using them to their advantage, businesses can better position themselves to achieve their marketing goals and reach their target audiences effectively.

Overall, the changes that Google made to its ad platform in 2022 offer exciting opportunities for businesses looking to get the most out of their online advertising campaigns. As we move forward into the future of online advertising, it will be important to continue to monitor and adapt to new developments in order to stay ahead of the curve and succeed in this competitive landscape.

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