The rise of mobile markets has been talked about for years and 2016 was no exception. With 60% of all searches occurring on mobile devices (Search Engine Land), Google is continuing to make enhancements to their advertising platforms to accommodate their users. This has included:
- Introduction of Expanded Text Ads
- Responsive Ad Formats for Display Network (see Blog)
- Reintroduction of Device Bidding
- Showing Shopping Ads in Image Searches and on YouTube
- Displaying Price Extensions in Swipeable carousels
Getting the most out of your campaigns means staying ahead of the curve and being ready for the changes that are coming next. Here are a few dates to prepare for that are quickly approaching!
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Some advertisers were notified that on January 19, 2017 Google may start showing a local retail phone number even if you are using call extension. If you are concerned about how this might affect conversion tracking there is an opportunity to opt out, but it could negatively affect your ad impressions (Search Engine Land).
If you login after January 28, 2017 and find that your campaign has been automatically paused, check your targeting settings. Google will be simplifying display and video campaigns. They will automatically pause campaigns that do not have a targeting method specified. This prevents the campaigns from being served where you don’t intend to show ads (Informatics Blog).
On January 31, 2017, Expanded Text Ads will be the only ad option for search! These new ad formats add two headline fields with a maximum number of 30 characters per field that appear better on mobile devices. If you still have Standard Ads active, you will not be able to edit them or create new ones and you may experience a decline in performance (Google AdWords Help Article).
If you are looking for assistance working with advertising through Google, contact Informatics today. We are a certified Google Partner and ready to help with creating, monitoring, or optimizing your campaigns.
