With the new Google Ads updates ready to go into effect, it’s important to understand all the changes being made. Depending on how your business is set up, it might create some unique challenges for your marketing strategy.

Fortunately, Surfaced Media is here to help! We’ve gone through all the new changes and singled out the top 8 Google Ads algorithm updates you need to know about to stay relevant.

Read on to learn what they are, and how to update your processes!

1. You’ll Need More Than Exact Keyword Matches

Historically, Google’s search engine has helped customers find queries based on the exact keywords. We’ll give you an example.

Let’s say there’s a car lot that wants to advertise luxury cars online. If this car dealership wanted to optimize their page for Tata Motor vehicles, like a Jaguar, they would have to compose a blog or landing page with all the keywords they wanted to target. They choose:

• Jaguar
• Jaguar sports cars
• convertibles

While they will likely get some traffic from these keywords, there’s clearly a big market they’re missing out on. If, for example, a customer searches for “Jaguar convertible sports cars”, this dealership wouldn’t come up on the results page. This is where the broad matching update comes in handy.

With broad matching, Google predicts the intent of searchers based on their browsing history and common search patterns the algorithm observes. So now, when that same customer runs a search for “Jaguar convertible sports cars” this dealership will be included in the results. It’s important to note, however, that preference is still given to the exact keyword a customer searches for, so a good SEO strategy is still vital.

You’ll also need to invest more time into using negative keywords. Otherwise, there’s a chance that people who have no interest in what you offer could get targeted by a campaign.

2. Say Goodbye to Expanded Text Ads

Another big change that’s on the way is the elimination of expanded text ads. You’ll still be able to keep them in place if you’ve already created them in your campaign prior to June 2022. Otherwise, be prepared to switch over entirely to responsive search ads.

Both options are currently available for use in ad campaigns. If you don’t already have responsive search ads set up, you can easily add them into your marketing strategy before the Google Ad manager updates finalize.

Expanded Text Ads vs. Responsive Search Ads

With expanded text ads, you have 3 headings and two description lines. The way these ads appear in the preview box is the way that they’ll appear to the customers, regardless of the search terms used.

Responsive search ads are able to adjust to a combination best suited to the searcher based on the keywords they use. They have 15 different headline options and 4 description lines. The combination that pops up for the customer to see will depend on the search terms they used.

You can make sure all of the combinations are in line with what you want by using the preview feature in the Google Ads editor.

3. Cookies Are Off the Menu

As marketing evolves, more and more people are becoming uncomfortable with the amount of data that is collected from them by use of cookies. Google listened to the concerns of their customer base and has decided to do away with 3rd party cookies entirely.

If your current ad campaigns focus largely on retargeting efforts, you’ll need to look into ways to update your process before these changes go through.

1st Party Data vs. 3rd Party Data

The issue of privacy in regards to tracking is largely an issue when it comes to 3rd party cookies. These systems track the behavior of customers across several sites.

They use the data they collect to nudge customers into making a purchase. So if a customer was looking into buying a pair of Nike’s last week, they might get a sponsored ad from a blog they frequent as part of the retargeting efforts of the shoe store.

Getting rid of 3rd party cookies gives consumers more peace of mind that their every move and interest isn’t being leveraged against them. They can look at as many pairs of shoes as they want without getting pressured into buying.

Companies will still be able to use 1st party cookies (those that monitor activity only on their site). So even though you can’t use those frequent reminders, you can make sure a customer’s cart still has the items they viewed on a previous visit if they return to your site.

4. More Visibility for Minority Businesses Using Identity Attributes

In addition to the updates to keywords and ad text, Google has also updated its attribute options. In addition to allowing businesses to self-identify as black-owned, there are now tags for women-owned and veteran-owned businesses!

If you qualify, using these tags can help to increase your company’s visibility and drive more traffic to your site.

5. New Campaign Options

You should also be on the lookout for changes in the campaign planning options. Google is taking the best parts of the standard Display option and Smart Display campaigns and combining them into a single tool.

The end result promises to be an automated campaign with plenty of flexibility.

6. More Data on Impressions

Removing 3rd party cookies means you won’t have as many data points to work with, but Google is working to negate this by creating more insight categories that don’t require tracking across sites.

There will be many changes here in the coming months, but one to look into now is impressions and search query themes. This data will give you information to work with that doesn’t necessarily show up in your PPC reports.

7. Things to Do

Google is teaming up with travel agencies and other tech companies to help travelers quickly find information about activities available in their destinations. Businesses that have some overlap with tourism or hospitality will be able to take advantage of these ads to generate more traffic for their companies.

8. Holiday Updates

In the age of Amazon, consumers are especially vigilant of shipping and delivery timetables. Google is combatting this in 2022 by adding delivery and shipping cost estimates to their shopping page.

There will also be an option to alert customers of the delivery window before the holidays to help nudge them along in their buyer journey.

Preparing Your Company for the Google Ads Updates

We hope that we’ve helped to clear up some of the confusion surrounding the new Google Ads updates. Your company will need to prepare for big changes in the coming months, but if you can leverage this information properly you’ll see big gains.

It can be difficult to know where to start though. That’s why we’re here to help.

Want to learn more about how to use the Google Ads new updates to your advantage? Book a consultation with us today!