Google Ads will now run Diagnostic Insights

If you want to know more about this new diagnostics tool, keep on reading.

Google is launching a new format on the Insights and Overview page called Diagnostic Insights. This data will identify issues in your campaigns when running diagnostic checks.

Diagnostic Insights will show issues in Performance Max campaigns, only when it is not receiving conversions or traffic. So, if users click on your ad and view it, no problems will be reported. Even though this is currently a beta version, Google is trying to roll out these insights to randomly chosen accounts, but with limited access. 

What will Google show on the diagnostics report? These are the insights:

  • Ad strength
  • Campaign budget
  • Campaign status
  • Account status
  • Billing status
  • Bidding strategy
  • Conversion tracking

Do you think this data insight is enough? What else would you add? Let us know in the comments below.

After Google runs its diagnostic check, you will be provided with a list of recommendations on how to fix the issues in your campaigns so they can perform at their best.

There is no official launch date for this Insights update, but we can expect that it will be coming out soon. 

Our Take

We are always thankful for more data and more insights available for the advertiser. So, in a way, Google is giving us more information about what is going on after we place the ad, including the negative issues. We have yet to see if the list of recommendations will be useful or if Google’s advice is just to “keep on spending”. Our eyes are wide open…

As expected, we will be paying close attention to this new update and its launch date, so we can let you know if it can actually help your campaigns. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Disney+ now includes four minute ads per hour

Learn about this new update and how it can apply to your business

Later this year, Disney will roll out ads for four minutes in shows that last more than an hour. This ad-supported option will be cheaper than the current $7.99 rate that runs without ads. 

However, compared to other streaming platforms, Disney offers fewer ads per hour than NBC, HBO Max, or even Hulu. 

Disney mentioned that these ads would not be displayed in kid’s shows or movies, and the content of the ads will be cautiously moderated so that no adult themes are shown in the films. 

Who can’t advertise? The streaming platform will not be displaying any alcohol, political, or competitor ads, given the characteristics of the average Disney user.

Also, it is rumored that Netflix will launch an ad-supported option, given that the streaming platform lost some subscribers and will need a way to keep them from shrinking and losing money. 

Would you place your ads on a streaming platform? How do you think it may perform? Let us know in the comments below.

Who is going to be watching these ads? Since the platform is in fact Disney and the ads aren’t for kids’ eyes, what will the ads be about? How limited will the ad space be? 

It would be interesting to see an on-screen click, like the recent initiative on YouTube Shorts so that users don’t require an extra step to purchase. 

We don’t have all the answers now, but we will definitely keep an eye on what’s happening with these streaming ads.

Quantikal will keep you in the loop as soon as this ad-supported version hits the market and we’ll see how it performs. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Updates in Google’s Audience Manager

Google Ads has been redefining Audiences with more updates and tracking tools. Keep on reading if you want to know more.

With Google’s new updates, the “audience” now has its own category, including several types of targeting. What used to be “audience lists, insights, and sources” is now Audience Manager. 

Within Audience Manager, Google organized the platform into four main categories: Audiences, Segments, Your Data Insights, and Your Data Sources

The “Segments” category includes:

  • Your data: people that interacted with your business beforehand.
  • Custom segments: people based on search history, apps, and visited sites.
  • Combined (interests and demographics): people based on their life events, location, and interests.

With this last feature, advertisers can narrow down and exclude users by demographic characteristics. Audiences can be cut-off by age, gender, parental status, income, etc., which looks helpful at first glance. This can be applied to various ad groups which may save time and help your targeting.  

Are you already using Audience Manager? Do you find it easier to work with? Let us know in the comments below.

However, there are some key points to keep in mind when you apply new audiences to your campaigns. 

If you add a new segment today, you won’t have any performance data from the past. Google’s metrics will only be available moving forward. Also, Audience Manager doesn’t show how your targeting performs, so you have to review these metrics within your ad group where it applied. 

We suggest all advertisers test Audience Manager and learn about segments and sources. This way, you can rest assured that your ad is reaching the right market and your insights may lead to new customers.  

As always, we will learn about this expanded category and we’ll let you know if anything catches our eye. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Performance Max campaign updates

Significant changes were announced to Performance Max campaigns at Google’s last event. If you want to know more, keep on reading.

Google Marketing Live 2022 gave us a lot to talk about. Among other important updates, the company announced new optimizations, insights, and in-store goals for Performance Max campaigns. In this post, we’ll explain everything you need to know about these additions

Optimization score

Google is now adding recommendations for optimizing the Google Ads platform, placing a new tip section in their most automated campaign type. This provides advertisers with helpful information about how campaigns are performing, followed by advice on a potential solution.

Additional insights

As we mentioned in our previous article, advertisers will get more insight into what is driving your ads’ performance, including consumer, audience, and auction information. Phrases such as “x is performing better compared to last week” will be displayed on your insights tab, followed by a graph with trend details. 

Experimentation tools

This new experimentation tool takes existing campaigns and compares them to a potential version of Performance Max, showing how much lift could be seen if launched. As it is a model, advertisers can’t control this experiment, so it only includes a potential visual. You can’t work with it and you can’t experiment with further changes. 

So beware, you might want to measure additional volume with your own means to see if it actually is incremental.

Do you think this new experimentation tool will be a good aid? Let us know in the comments below.

Further access with Search Ads 360

Lastly, those advertisers who use SA360 will now have access to manage Performance Max campaigns. Also, if you prefer the Google Ads app, these new updates might work in your favor. Google is cooking some operative changes to the app so that Performance Max campaigns can be managed from the comfort of your device.

Our Take

All of these additions can give advertisers more options to manage their campaigns, so, great news! Even though Google sticks with the automation mentality, we are grateful that they decided to add tools that provide further information since this campaign type is already very self-regulated to begin with

As expected, we will continue to review these changes and we’ll let you know if any news is worth sharing. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

TikTok allows Custom Attribution Windows

If you want to know more about TikTok Attribution Manager’s update, keep on reading

TikTok launched a new update where advertisers can set their own attribution windows. Campaigns can now be optimized with flexible windows from 1 day to 28 days. This allows advertisers to optimize their campaigns to individual goals. 

What is an attribution window? The time it takes for a user to act after they click or view your ad. Although some conversions are logged right away, others require more checkpoints for a user to be convinced of the purchase. So, with this new update, advertisers can choose specific time periods to meassure click-through attribution and view-through attribution.

Are you currently using TikTok ads? What do you think of this new update? Let us know in the comments below.

TikTok Attribution Manager gives advertisers the following options:

  • For click-through attribution, choose from 1, 7, 14 and 28 day windows
  • For view-through attribution, choose from 1 or 7 day windows 

If the advertiser chooses a 7-day window, the user has 7 days to convert for the action to be logged into Ads Manager.

Our Take

Nowadays, TikTok is rising in popularity as we speak. This visual platform has given advertisers an opportunity to customize ads and target specific audiences

This update allows advertisers to manage TikTok’s capabilities of logging data, so if you have preferences, Ads Manager will try to satisfy your needs. We are always in favour of new tools that give advertisers more options and more control over ad management. This update is Quantikal-approved!

As expected, we will review TikTok’s new capabilities and we’ll let you know if it works to its full potential. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

LinkedIn announced new Business Manager platform

If you want to know more about the creation of Business Manager, keep on reading.

Finally! LinkedIn announced a new centralized platform that will simplify advertisers’ accounts, people, and business management

LinkedIn’s Business Manager offers Campaign Manager and Pages options for easier account tracking, especially in a B2B environment. 

Business Manager offers the ability to view and manage ad accounts from a central dashboard, easier control of tasks such as billing, and the ability to update Matched Audiences. This last feature is an interesting addition since Google and Facebook also have their own Customer Match lists. So, if you have multiple LinkedIn accounts, Business Manager can let you share Matched Audiences across ad accounts.

In the official LinkedIn post, you can read further new features about the new Business Manager.

Did you read the official post? What do you think about LinkedIn’s Business Manager announcement? Let us know in the comments below.

Our Take

We are finally seeing how LinkedIn is catching up with the times. Even though Google and Facebook are ahead of the race, it is nice to see Microsoft up on its feet. 

However, this is not a head-turning announcement. At least not enough for advertisers to drop everything and sign in to LinkedIn platforms.

If you ask us, an ideal LinkedIn feature could include information about the user interacting with your account, such as job position, business, etc. Also, it would be compelling to see an option that allows you to list specific businesses you want the announcement to be shown in

These features would be helpful since B2B accounts are very well-identified, so being able to show customized ads to a niche audience of your choosing could be a potentially interesting addition.

As always, we will review this new centralized platform and see if it matches our expectations. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google’s Universal Analytics is discontinued for 2023

Here’s all you need to know about Google Analytics 4 and why it’s relevant to your business

Universal Analytics, known as Google Analytics 3, is saying goodbye for 2023. We want to inform you in advance so you can adjust to Google Analytics 4 as quickly as possible.

The name “Universal Analytics”, aka GA3, will cease to exist. Now, advertisers will use Google Analytics 4 as their new data platform.

Advertisers will have to export data from UA to GA4 through Data Studio, installing GA4 on their website to access year-to-date information before UA is gone for good. 

Did you install GA4 already? Do you think this will be a hassle for most advertisers? Let us know in the comments below.

What is different about GA4?

UA is a session-based model, as opposed to GA4 which uses an event-based version that welcomes more data for your analytics platform.

The event parameters are now bigger, from four per event in UA to 25 per event in GA4. Also, GA4 can have 500 named events for those you set up, so the limit does not exist for default events.

In GA4, you will notice that the bounce rate is gone and replaced with “Engaged Sessions”, which logs data if the user stays on your website for more than 10 seconds, if your website has more than 2 page views, or if the user triggers a conversion. 

However, not all sections in GA4 have the ability to change the time period. For example, while running a custom report, you won’t be able to change the time frame in that specific report. To be able to do this, advertisers will have to go back to the main Report menu and change the time logged there to see the changes reflected in your specific report.

Also, GA4 does not allow advertisers to click on reports and see the Ad Group. The platform will only show you all Ad Groups, with no way of seeing just a specific campaign. 

Google now includes a tool to move your conversions from UA to GA4 if you have goals set up in UA. What happens if you don’t? You will have to tackle Google Tag Manager to push your conversion data.

Our Take

We notice that there are some limitations in GA4, specially if you have a hard time getting used to change. In order to modernize its platform, Google focused on updating the display to a less easy-to-use version. This doesn’t necessarily mean that GA4 is more complex, but we do see that settings are more hidden or harder to find

We suggest advertisers practice and learn about GA4’s settings before UA is terminated so that you are ready to dive in without tackling the learning process simultaneously.

As expected, we will evaluate GA4’s performance and let you know if any changes are adjusted. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google removes Expanded Text ads

Users will no longer be able to create expanded text ads. Keep on reading to find out more.

By the end of June 2022, Google will end Expanded Text ads and no further creation or editing is permitted. After June, users will only have access to modifying Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) in Search campaigns.

Why? Google wants to simplify the creation process of Search ads and drive performance with automation tools. RSAs use machine learning to determine which ads are relevant to each user so that they can be placed up front, so this is “better” for reaching people in need of your product.

Expanded Text ads already created will continue running, with the ability to pause and relaunch, but no new ones will be created. 

Are you currently using Expanded Text ads? How will you adjust to this new change? Let us know in the comments below.

Google recommends advertisers repurpose well-performing text ads into RSAs and improve their ad strength. Using RSAs, you can pin headlines in positions where you ensure they always show, use variations to test different ads and review cross-campaign reporting based on performance.

Also, Google recommends the use of Smart Bidding for broad keywords in RSAs, which can allow marketers to optimize bids.

Our Take

We know that RSAs have been around for a while, -since May 2018 to be exact-. The fact that Expanded Text ads help advertisers have clarity and control over the order in which titles are shown is a valuable feature, and here is where RSAs have their setbacks. 

When pinning titles in RSAs, Google “punishes” advertisers by lowering the ad strength. Crazy, right? What Google doesn’t want you to do is transform RSAs into something similar to Expanded Text ads, so they strip advertisers’ liberty to order their own ads. Google‘s machine learning wants to have total control of your ad display, without any external intervention. 

It’s been clear for a while now that Expanded Text ads were being butchered and RSAs were winning over Google’s heart. Adding RSAs was not the problem since more options and more ways in which advertisers can place their ads are always welcome. Though it would have been great to see them coexist, Google’s flexibility was not ready to bend

So, now that Expanded Text ads are saying their goodbyes: why do advertisers have to lose the ability to build more specific ads by ordering titles as they please?

It would have been better to test ads with actual metrics, such as CTR or expected CTR beforehand. Instead, marketers are bound to trust Google’s machine learning abilities because the alternative is to be punished, and that doesn’t sound right to us

Here’s the thing: if Google added RSAs so that advertisers could have new options, shouldn’t there actually be an option (without any limitations)?

As always, Quantikal will test possible alternatives and keep you in the loop of any new changes. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google’s automated discounts as a shopping feature

Want to know more about this new pricing tool? Keep on reading.

Google Ads automated discounts is a new pricing tool using real-time data and artificial intelligence to attract customers into sales.

What does this mean? The optimized price is displayed in your ads. When users click on it, they are redirected to your page showing the actual price available (this resembles to plane tickets, for example). 

How do automated discounts work?

Google’s AI is in charge of adjusting the price of ads after analyzing large amounts of data. Once you set the minimum and maximum price range allowed, Google’s system considers price elasticity, trends, and market prices to determine optimized discounts.

Would you implement it in your business? Let us know in the comments below. 

How to set it up

  1. Implement conversion tracking: this can show you what happens when a user interacts with your ad
  2. Set minimum and maximum sell price
  3. Determine the cost: you can either set it yourself for items you want the automatic discount to work with or you can let Google’s AI determine it for you
  4. Integrate pricing controls on your website

Our Take

Google’s automated discounts are a great conceptual feature that we could experiment with. However, it may be tricky to trust Google’s AI with something as sensitive as the price of your products because it directly affects your profit. 

Price sensitivity, elasticity, and revenue management are pricing concepts that have been optimized for decades in different industries, such as airline tickets. It is great to have a tool to test possibilities of increasing revenue or profitability, but it’s not clear yet if you can choose a limited amount of products to test this with on shopping campaigns. 

Do we have some type of control of limited exposure to avoid potential catastrophic scenarios? 

As expected, we will continue analyzing this new feature and we’ll let you know if Google announces any changes. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

Google’s RDAs have new layouts for a better mobile experience

Want to know more about this upcoming update? Keep on reading

Google announced in the annual Marketing Live 2022 event that Responsive Display Ads (RDAs) are going to be enhanced towards a better mobile experience for advertisers and consumers, aka a mobile-first layout. According to Google, these changes give marketers more control over the ad’s visual appearance on mobile versions. 

What will be different about RDAs?

One of the main changes includes the option of a new portrait image:

  • Previously, the ad format required a square image, and Google filled in the gaps in the mobile version. 
  • Now, advertisers can control the ad’s appearance by allowing portrait images to display on mobile devices

Additionally, Google now gives advertisers the option to use existing resources to create a vertical video for ad campaigns. This format uses machine learning to design and create engaging display ads. However, checking the end result before testing might be preferable, since auto-created videos might not be at your standard level. 

Do you think this is useful for visual creators? Let us know in the comments below.

Another update to RDAs will make images fit in the available space, without needing to expand images. Let’s see an example:

Our Take

It is clear that RDAs are the dominant display ad format in Google’s platform. The possibility to adapt multiple size formats automatically for maximum coverage is a great benefit since traditional Display ads forced advertisers to design each and every image according to the size of the ad. However, RDAs are not quite cooked yet. As we see in Responsive Search ads (RSAs), Google allows advertisers to pin texts or images to guarantee it has a specific position, and this is a crucial feature we do not get to see in RDAs.

There should be more control over how ads are shown in different situations since not all advertisers are willing to have a full design team that builds hundreds of image variations according to each scenario. It would be a great addition to RDAs if Google launches more control tools that show how the ad is actually showing. It can’t be all black or white, some gray would be nice.   

Given that these additions show the importance of mobile usage nowadays, we are eager to see if any more ad formats are taken into account with more tools that give more power to advertisers.

As expected, we will keep you informed of any new updates launched in the near future. Stay tuned!

About Quantikal

Quantikal is a data-driven performance marketing agency based in Buenos Aires, Argentina. We help clients scale their business through profitable digital ad spending by constantly obsessing over clients’ key metrics. Quantikal’s experience working in diverse online companies in marketing roles including media buying allows us to provide solutions in the ever-demanding increase of marketing performance, doing more with less thus becoming a strategic partner.

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