Google Opens Automatically Created Assets Publicly to Boost Efficiency

Google has made the most recent improvements to the conversational experience and automatically created assets for Google Ads available to the public. More users will be able to employ AI to increase the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. The new capability is an effort toward automating the workflow for advertising. ACAs were previously restricted to marketers running English-language campaigns during open beta. The ACAs, however, are now offered in seven other languages. In the upcoming months, automatically created assets will begin utilizing generative AI for advertisers with English assets in the U.S. and U.K. Google’s goal is to assist marketers in producing more assets that are better suited to users’ search queries.

A quick look at Automatically Created Assets

Automatically created assets are an opt-in campaign-level setting. Advertisers can select this setting to generate new assets (headlines and descriptions) to be used with the ones they already submitted for responsive advertising. These materials are created based on the specific context of each advertisement, which includes the landing page, current advertisements, and the ad group’s keywords.

Benefits of automatically created assets

Performance

It improves the efficiency of responsive search advertisements (RSA) by automatically adding more headlines and descriptions.

Relevance

Consistently improve the user experience on landing pages, ad copy, and inquiry pages.

Productivity

Reduce the amount of time spent manually writing effective ad copy.

Increase in Automatically Created Assets

The extension of automatically created assets is one of the most prominent improvements. Based on the unique context of an advertisement, such as the landing page or previous advertisements, this function generates personalized headlines and descriptions. The aim is to increase the Ad Strength indicator, which measures the efficiency of ads in responsive search campaigns. Marketers can remove any ACA they feel is unsuitable for their advertising. This feature, which was first only available in English, has since been made available in seven more languages. French, Italian, Japanese, German, Portuguese, and Spanish are among them.

ACAs can boost ad relevance by matching ads and landing pages better. However, it entails handing over authority to Google’s AI. For brands with severe compliance rules or industries with heavy regulation, this might not be appropriate. This is because the company won’t have complete control over the message of the advertisement.

Read More: Google Boosts Performance Max with URL Contains Targeting Tool

Utilize ACAs to deliver better-suited search advertising.

Advertisers will have two choices to start employing automatically generated assets:

• Turn them on by using the campaign setting
• On the Recommendations page, locate the “enable automatically created assets” suggestions and simply follow the on-screen instructions to get started

Create better search campaigns with Google Ads’ conversational experience.

The most recent large language model (LLM) innovation powers the conversational experience in Google advertisements. With the use of this technology, advertisers may communicate with Google advertisements in natural language to create campaign pieces. Building search campaigns makes it possible to achieve greater results with fewer resources. All that is needed for a campaign is the advertiser’s website URL, and Google AI will generate the rest. They will receive headlines and pictures from it. Marketers can interact with AI during each session to change suggestions and approve them prior to launching the campaign. Google has won praise for saving time and inspiring fresh ideas for advertisers during beta testing now taking place in the United States and the United Kingdom. Google intends to improve these capabilities even more and send them out to more marketers in the upcoming months based on early feedback.

Google’s Ongoing Application of Generative AI

By offering a more automated and effective workflow, the new generative AI features coming to Google Ads seek to reduce the complexity of contemporary digital advertising. Advertisers should be able to quickly handle changing customer behavior and the increasing need for more individualized and successful advertising tactics thanks to these new technologies. Google’s AI-powered upgrades to its ad platform offer capabilities that might greatly speed up the production and placement of ads, making them more effective and targeted in a world that is becoming more automated.

Read More: Google Secretly Alters Ad Auctions to Boost Revenue Targets

Google Secretly Alters Ad Auctions to Boost Revenue Targets

Google has acknowledged that it modified ad auctions covertly to hit revenue targets. The search engine regularly modifies the auctions it employs to sell search advertisements, raising the cost of ads and reserve pricing for the typical advertiser by as much as 5%. A Google executive acknowledged that the price of advertising fluctuated during the auction process to satisfy revenue goals. This week, Google’s advertising tactics were highlighted in an ongoing federal antitrust trial.

Google’s Executive Testimony

According to testimony from Jerry Dischler, Vice President and General Manager of Google’s Advertising Products, the company modifies its ad auctions to achieve set revenue goals. These modifications include price hikes of up to 5% without the advertiser’s knowledge. He admitted to the U.S. Justice Department during the Antitrust Trial that the business may have raised pricing for some inquiries by as much as 10%. The testimony is a piece of a bigger lawsuit in which the US DOJ accuses Google of illegally maintaining a monopoly on online search. As the trial goes on, more and more details are emerging about Google’s pricing adjustments, its rivalry with Amazon, and the effects of its policies on advertisers.

Read More: Google Boosts Performance Max with URL Contains Targeting Tool

Advertising Practices of Google

During the federal inquiry, Dischler also disclosed that the internet behemoth frequently modifies its ad auctions. Without telling advertisers, these changes are made with the intention of selling search advertising. He also expressed worries about revenue and the potential impact on employee morale of a big decline in Google’s stock price. This applies particularly to teams in expensive areas. He also made it clear that his intention was to think outside the box so they could fulfill their quota. The majority of Google’s income comes from search adverts. According to Dischler, the corporation will make more than $100 billion from search ads in 2020. Since 2012, Google’s ad revenue growth, according to the DOJ, has regularly been in the high teens.

So I always knew this was the case, but to see it actually stated by the VP of ads is astounding!

And what do you think smart bidding is? A smart way for Google to be able to easily manipulate ad prices! SMH pic.twitter.com/rwvpCmWC0M

— Anthony Higman (@AnthonyHigman) September 19, 2023

 

Changes in prices and Increasing Competition

Dischler acknowledged that some adjustments to auctions led to a 5% rise in expenses for regular marketers. In certain cases, price increases reached 10%. Nevertheless, he thought that a 15% price hike would cause the majority of marketers to go to rivals like Meta Platforms Inc. or ByteDance Ltd.’s TikTok. Even so, he admitted that he had no reason to think that Google wouldn’t continue to attract enough advertisers to grow its revenue.

Read More: Google Unveils Fresh Consent Management Rules for EEA and UK

The threat from Amazon

When it comes to retail advertising, Amazon is growing twice as fast. Amazon is currently posing a serious threat to Google in the retail advertising market. Dischler acknowledged that companies that make consumer goods have threatened to switch their advertising budgets from Google to Amazon.

Why do tweaking ad prices matter?

The argument made by the Justice Department that Google has an unlicensed monopoly may be strengthened if Google can increase ad prices without seeing considerable competition. Given that Google’s search engine is a free offering for users, the government is unable to apply this defense against Google itself. They can counter that greater competition might have addressed other problems like search industry privacy requirements.

Why did Google tweak search ad auctions?

To ensure that his team exceeded the sales goals that Google CFO Ruth Porat had communicated to Wall Street, according to Dischler, staff members allegedly shook the cushions. He penned the following to his employees in an email in May 2019:

If we don’t meet quota for the second quarter in a row and we miss the street’s expectations again, which is not what Ruth signaled to the street, so we will get punished pretty bad in the market. I care more about revenue than the average person but think we can all agree that for our teams trying to live in high cost areas another $100,000 in stock price loss will not be great for morale, not to mention the huge impact on our sales team.

Read More: Imagine Communications Join Forces with Google Ad Manager

Google Boosts Performance Max with URL Contains Targeting Tool

Performance Max (PMax) campaigns now include the ‘URL Contains Targeting Functionality’ feature from Google. The tech behemoth has yet again raised the bar in the fiercely competitive field of digital marketing. It is poised to transform marketing tactics with its latest product, URL Contains Targeting Functionality for PMax. The multinational software company has always sought to connect its technology with the goal of giving advertising useful solutions. By providing a clever gateway between advertisers and their target demographic, this feature raises the bar once again. Advertisers can manually specify the URL to show the PMax advertisements using the capability, which is also accessible in Dynamic Search advertisements (DSA).

What is Performance Max Campaigns in Google Ads?

PMax campaign is a Google Ads campaign type. What distinguishes it from the competition is its capacity to integrate smart bidding and targeting elements into a single goal-based campaign across the whole Google Network. It utilizes all of Google’s advertising platforms. PMax’s main objective is to assist advertisers in growing their visibility and conversions within the Google Network. The campaign type uses smart bidding, an AI-driven automated bidding technique, to optimize ad performance in real time. Depending on what is most effective at a specific place and time, advertisements are displayed in a variety of formats.

How does a PMax Campaign work?

Ad Optimization

Ads are automatically and dynamically optimized utilizing data provided by advertisers (including various assets tailored to each advertising channel, such as photos, videos, logos, and ad content).

Cross-channel advertising

Performance Max may choose when and where to display adverts across the Google Advertising Network. This is possible thanks to machine learning technologies. PMax displays ads where the target audience is most likely to interact.

Bidding and budget strategy automation

It uses ML and automation to increase conversions and maximize budget efficiency.

Campaign issue identification

Detects campaign problems automatically and offers a diagnostic insights tool. Every time a potential issue arises in relation to an account, billing, campaign status, some policy violations, ad strength, budget, and more, advertisers receive immediate alerts that include solutions to troubleshoot the issue.

Read More: Google’s Triple Treat- Unleashes a Trio of Updates to Elevate User Experience

A Deep Dive into URL Contains Targeting Functionality

Advertisers can manually specify the URL where the PMax adverts are displayed by using the URL Contains Targeting tool. It substantially improves ad optimization by enabling the deliberate routing of users to certain URLs, like blogs or about us pages.

The significance of URL functionality to advertisers

Advertisers can use this essential feature to remove non-monetizable pages from their ad campaigns. It gives them the ability to target and provide ads to audiences that are most appropriate for their offerings. By focusing on the URL-included feature, marketers may enhance conversions

URL Contains Targeting Functionality- How does it work?

Advertisers can target particular pages using URLs that contain a particular text string, or “Token.” It is important to note that a text fragment enclosed by a delimiter (:, /,?, +, &) is referred to as a token within URLs. It‘s vital to keep in mind, though, that this capability does not apply to all URL types. It cannot be utilized, for instance, with URLs like “electronicexample.com/servicemenu” since the term MENU is present after the targeted keyword SERVICES. However, URLs like “electronicsexample.com/services-menu/” are compatible with this feature. This is due to the ‘-‘ separating the keyword SERVICES from the word MENU.

Google’s URL Contains Targeting Functionality that eliminates uncertainty in ad tactics at a time when digital marketing is constantly changing, allowing advertisers to increase their reach and impact. With such potent features, it’s intriguing to wonder what Google may release next.

Here’s what they said

As reported by Search Engine Land, Google said

This is a new feature rolling out for Performance Max. We are bringing the same URL Contains targeting functionality from Dynamic Search ads (DSA) into Performance Max to better support DSA use cases in PMax as part of the voluntary upgrade we announced in July. This feature works exactly as it does in DSA today.

Read More: Google Unveils Fresh Consent Management Rules for EEA and UK

Google Unveils Fresh Consent Management Rules for EEA and UK

EEA and UK advertisers and developers who use Google AdSense, Ad Manager, or AdMob for ad serving will need to use the new consent management platforms (CMPs) starting next year. The Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF) of IAB Europe (the Interactive Advertising Bureau) has been incorporated into this platform and received Google certification. Google is always searching for ways to improve consent experiences in order to meet consumer needs and statutory measures. This demonstrates their commitment to transparency and control.

CMPs consent requirements

For CMPs collaborating with its partners who use display ads in the EEA and the UK, Google has implemented a novel rule. Ad Manager and AdMob partners have until January 16, 2024, to adopt the CMP adjustments. Google-approved CMPs evaluate against Google’s certification requirements focusing on TCF compliance. Publishers who fail to comply will face restrictions from delivering ads to EEA and UK audiences. The rule also covers the use of AdSense, Ad Manager, or AdMob. When serving ads, they will have to connect the verified CMP to the TCF.

Google has also stated that traffic from Google-certified CMP will continue to qualify for limited, personalized, and non-personalized (NPA) advertisements. Google will seek authorization for both on-platform and off-platform reconciliation. They further indicated that CTV inventory is not currently subject to CMP regulations.

CMPs that collaborate with its publishing partners. It will keep trying to certify them in accordance with the certification standard. Google thinks the advertising sector can develop a more consistent and trustworthy system for disclosure and consent by embracing IAB Europe’s uniform framework. Additionally, these activities will promote a more security-conscious digital advertising environment and the current advancements in user privacy.

The Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF).

The IAB’s TCF v2.2 is becoming a crucial component in supporting the industry participants, including Google, which is currently restructuring its framework to align with this. It has significantly altered Europe’s data privacy landscape. The TCF is a tool for transparency that depends on standardization. It makes it easier to comply with GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive’s specific requirements. It applies applicable concepts and requirements drawn from EU-level guidelines from the EDPB and national-level guidelines from Data Protection Authorities, to the unique situation of the online industry.

The TCF is an industry-wide voluntary norm placed on technology partners that support the distribution, personalization, or evaluation of advertising and content (third parties or vendors). It aims to assist them to collaborate with publishers of apps and websites (first parties) to offer users a standardized experience when they make privacy choices.

Users have the option to give or withdraw consent as well as exercise their “right to refuse” the processing of personal data through TCF. It contains basic practical standards for educating users, giving them privacy choices, and respecting those choices that are derived from guidelines of Data Protection bodies and the law.

Read More: Antitrust Complaint Filed Against Google in the EU!

What is the EU user consent policy?

According to this policy, advertisers must ensure specific disclaimers and consents are received from end users in the EEA and the UK. This will be done in case they choose to include or use any of the Google products that implement the policy. In the event of non-compliance, usage of Google products may be restricted or suspended, and the agreement may be terminated. The publishers must legally get the end users’ authorization before collecting, distributing, and using personal data for individual advertising. It is also crucial to keep track of the end users’ consent and give them explicit information on how to withdraw their consent.

A quick look at personalized and non-personalized ads

Personalized ads

Previously called interest-based advertising, it is a robust technique that enhances advertising authenticity for users while increasing ROI for advertisers. They enhance both the user and advertiser experience by enabling advertisers to focus their campaigns on user interests. Personalized ads are ads chosen for display based on previously gathered or past data. The user’s past search queries, actions, visits to websites or apps, interests, remarketing, etc are all included in this.

Non-personalized ads

These adverts do not predicate on previous user activity. They focus on users based on relevant data, like basic geo-targeting, the user’s location, web or mobile content, and keywords. NPA uses cookies or mobile ad identifiers for frequency capping, aggregated ad reporting, and contest ad fraud and abuse. One must get consent before using cookies or mobile ad tags as per the ePrivacy Directive in some EEA countries. NPAs will only be provided to users who have signed in with Google in the EEA and shared their age under-age consent set by GDPR.

Read More: Meta Adopts Consent Policy for Targeted Ads Data in Europe

Google Rolls Out Advert Target Frequency For YouTube Campaigns

Google rolled out ad frequency targeting for YouTube campaigns. Showing the same ads to the same people, again and again, neither benefits the advertisers nor the viewers. However, can affect the brand’s reputation. So, achieving the right video ad frequency for both viewers and advertisers has always been a juggling act.

In line with this, Google rolled out target frequency giving advertisers control over how many times an ad is shown on YouTube. Previously, controlling ad frequency on YouTube was only possible when running connected TV campaigns in Google Display & Video 360. However, Google is taking a step further and making it globally available for all advertisers running YouTube campaigns.

Interesting Read: On Connected TVs, YouTube Makes Its Ads More Shoppable!

How will it help advertisers globally?

Whenever the same ads are shown to the same people repeatedly, there is always a risk of low returns. It is inevitable that viewers will tune out and sales will suffer as a result of the added impressions. It is an annoying experience for viewers to watch the same ad repeatedly and proves wasteful for advertisers. 

In the blog, the tech giant explained the launch of target frequency globally for Youtube campaigns will help the marketers harness the impact.  

This will help advertisers optimize towards more precise reach and frequency while ensuring that we continue to provide a suitable advertising experience for viewers. Target frequency allows advertisers to select a frequency goal of up to four per week and our systems will optimize towards maximum unique reach at that desired frequency.

A MMM meta-analysis commissioned by Nielsen shows on average, TV advertisers’ return on investment (ROI) decreased by 41% when frequency exceeded 6+ weekly impressions — which represents 46% of TV impressions served. Google inferred from the study that almost half of the impressions were wasted. However, Google explained that the same study shows brands can increase the frequency.

The same study from Nielsen shows that brands can increase their average weekly frequency from one to three on YouTube with a consistent ROI. This is a huge opportunity for marketers to maximize their impact across the same set of people they are already reaching today.

The frequency management solution on YouTube will help advertisers deliver a better advertising experience for viewers without any compromise in ROI. Advertisers can select the frequency target and the systems will optimize towards maximum unique reach at the frequency goal. Over 95% of Target frequency campaigns on YouTube successfully achieved their frequency goals when set up following recommended best practices. Not only do the campaigns deliver on their target frequency, but they drive brand impact as well.

Partnered with Triscuit

Google partnered with Triscuit to analyze how the brand can drive incremental impact to its reach campaigns with a frequency target. It set up a Video experiment to determine the incremental ad recall that a weekly frequency of two could deliver. The Target frequency campaign achieved a 93% higher absolute ad recall lift compared to the non-frequency optimized campaign, at a 40% cheaper cost per lifted user.

Interesting Read: Bridging The Gap: Is YouTube Unifying Linear And CTV Ad

Is Apple Secretly Buying Google’s Search Advertisements?

Apple is said to be discreetly purchasing Google search advertisements for high-value apps on the App Store. Because Apple gets a 15% to 30% share of the app and in-app sales, some developers believe is affecting their revenue.

Apple is “secretly” paying Google advertisements that send consumers to an app’s App Store listing rather than the developer’s website, according to multiple app publishers who spoke to Forbes.

One source told Forbes, 

“Apple is trying maximize the money they’re making by driving in-app purchases that people buy through the Apple Store. Apple has figured out that they can make more money off these developers if they push people to the App Store to purchase there versus a web flow.”

Interesting Read: Snapchat Sees a 20% Plummet In Revenue Due To Apple’s Privacy Changes!

Masterclass, HBO, Babble, Tinder, and Bundle are among the applications that have been marketed in Google searches, according to the report. The advertiser isn’t identified in the ads, but they all have essentially similar tracking data, indicating that they’re all purchased by a single business.

It’s worth mentioning that Forbes was unable to confirm that Apple was the buyer of the ad slots. Developers provided such information. It’s most likely due to the fact that the app developers didn’t pay for the advertising and that they all lead to an App Store link.

Also Read: Apple Will Now Ask Permission Before Showing Its Own Targeted Ads

Google Ads Launches Performance Max To All Advertisers Globally

Google ads announced an expanded rollout of Performance Max campaigns to all advertisers globally that will help them to drive more conversions. 

What Is It About?

Last year, Google introduced Performance Max campaigns which enable users to buy ads across multiple platforms, including YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps, with one single campaign. In addition to keyword-driven Search campaigns, they complement Google’s full suite of advertising channels and inventory.

Google Ads launched Performance Max campaigns in beta last year, and advertisers that tested the service saw an average of 13% incremental conversion increase. 

Performance Max campaigns will start to roll out to all advertisers today! This new campaign type can help you drive more conversions across all of Google’s ad inventory.

Check out new best practices and case studies → https://t.co/n0VEGlqPvg pic.twitter.com/jfgL2n3NoN

— Google Ads (@GoogleAds) November 2, 2021

Interesting Read: Neeva : An Ad-Free Search Engine Launched By Former Google Ads Head

How Will It Help Advertisers?

Performance Max helps increase online sales, generate leads, or grow offline sales. It helps you achieve your goals in four main ways:

1. Increasing conversions and value: Capitalize on new conversion opportunities by adjusting automated bids across channels in real-time.
2. Finding new customers: Google’s real-time understanding of user intent, behavior, and context can help you create more relevant ads to target new audiences.
3. Gaining richer insights: Performance Max campaigns are now included in the insights page.
4. Working together with automation: Get better results through automation by providing high-quality creative assets and insights into which audiences convert well.

MG, Deezer, and Allianz are brands that have used the beta version of the campaign. Marketers report that it helped them improve their conversion rates, find new customers, and understand consumers better.

Interesting Read: Google Gives A New Look For Attribution Reports in Google Ads

New Features In The Works

The Google Ads team announced that next year it will add more Performance Max features specifically for retailers. Retailers with local inventory feeds will see new Search and Maps ad formats integrated with their products to help increase foot traffic to their stores. Furthermore, Smart Shopping and Local campaigns will be upgraded next year.

Eduardo Indacochea, Google, senior director of product management said in a blog post,

“We know the holidays are a critical time of year for your business. You should continue using Smart Shopping and Local campaigns to reach more shoppers across online and in-store experiences this holiday season.”

He further added,

“However, when the time is right for your business, you can start testing Performance Max campaigns before next year’s campaign upgrades.”

Google plans to continue investing in Performance Max and improving its automation technology in order to help businesses succeed.

Interesting Read: The Ultimate A-Z Glossary Of Digital Advertising!

 

Google To Demonetize Ads That Spread Climate Change Misinformation

Last year, Google-owned YouTube announced that it will prohibit all anti-vaccination content on its platform except for COVID-19-related information. This time – Google is targeting climate change misformation. 

In an attempt to debunk myths about climate change and discourage the denial of the phenomenon, Google recently stated that it is censoring information on its network that undermines well-established scientific data, effectively shutting out climate naysayers.

Interesting Read: Google’s New Advertising Page Will Show Brand’s Recent Ad History

After media buyers and content producers voiced reservations about ad misplacement, the tech giant revised its advertising policy to ban misinformation about climate change. 

According to a company blog post, Google is targeting advertisers and publishing partners in Google-served ads who attempt to encourage climate change misinformation on pages and videos. It is also focusing on YouTube Partner Program creators attempting to monetize their climate change misinformation videos.

The blog post read – 

“We’re announcing a new monetization policy for Google advertisers, publishers, and YouTube creators that will prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts well-established scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change”

Interesting Read: Neeva: An Ad-Free Search Engine Launched By Former Google Ads Head

Google Ads : New Monetization Policy

Google’s new regulation specifically targets statements that claim climate change to be a “hoax or scam.” Furthermore, any claims that contradict long-term environmental patterns, and those that disregard crucial factors in climate change, such as greenhouse gas emissions or human activity causing climate change, are all targeted by the revised policy. 

On climate-related issues, such as educated discussions on climate change and reliable research, Google will continue to allow advertisements and monetization. 

Google made an official statement saying – 

“We’ll look carefully at the context in which claims are made, differentiating between content that states a false claim as fact, versus content that reports on or discusses that claim”

Also Read: Google Is Reportedly Planning to Index Instagram and TikTok Videos

Google’s New Advertising Page Will Show Brand’s Recent Ad History

Google announced new changes to its online ads with a focus on transparency. The new advertising page will offer an overview of what an advertiser has run on Google’s platform in the past 30 days. It will disclose more information that allows web searchers to know more about the advertisers, why the ad is served, and other ads the advertiser has run on Google platforms like YouTube.

Insight Into The Advertisers Page

The ad catalog will give a comprehensive insight to consumers and advertisers at the ad creative for large to small local brands. The ad catalog also called ‘advertiser pages’ will be accessible through the ‘about this ad’ tab on YouTube and Search. For example, imagine you’re seeing an ad for a coat you’re interested in, but you don’t recognize the brand. With advertiser pages, you can learn more about that advertiser before visiting their site or making a purchase.

In addition to this, the search giant presents it as a useful tool from a consumer perspective to report any ad that violates the policies.  On the blog, the Product Manager for Ads Privacy and Safety, Mojdeh Tomsich explains that the Advertiser Pages are based on a verification program. The program requires Google advertisers to verify information about their businesses, where they operate from, and what they’re selling or promoting. So far, Google has verified advertisers in over 90 countries to identify them as credible sources.

Interesting Read: Google Plans To Turn YouTube Into A E-commerce Giant

Transparency Is The Buzzword

The changes are a part of the search giant’s broader revamp in the face of increased regulatory scrutiny. Google’s approach to online advertising has been shifting and is focusing on transparency and consumer privacy. Google shared that over 30 million users interact with ad transparency and control menus every day.

Users engage with our ads transparency and control tools on YouTube more than any other Google product. To help our users make informed decisions online — no matter where they engage — we will roll out the “About this ad” feature to YouTube and Search in the coming months.

The feature will initially be rolled out in the USA in the coming months and then in other countries in 2022. 

Today, we’re introducing advertiser pages as part of our ongoing efforts to give users more information about the ads they see. From “About this ad,” users will be able to see the ads that verified advertisers have run over the past 30 days and more. https://t.co/lunm0YUnu5 1/2

— AdsLiaison (@adsliaison) September 22, 2021

 

A Major Shift In Internet Ad Companies Data Sharing Strategy

In recent years, internet ad companies have been disclosing more information about how their ad targeting works, the data used for targeting, and the creativity behind the ads. The walled garden ‘Google and Facebook’ share in-depth information on political and issue-based ads. Facebook ads library is a searchable archive that provides all current campaigns including non-political ads. It provides a glimpse into the kind of marketing done across their apps. 

Google’s advertising page is not a searchable archive and will appear only when a user is served an ad from any brand. If a user sees any particular brand ad then it will have access to that brand’s 30-day advertising history. These types of tools help in promoting more transparency. It aids consumers to procure more information about the entities in the case of any fraudulent too.

Also Read: Here, There, Everywhere, It Is Cross-Screen Advertising!

A Panoramic Perspective Of Amazon’s Advertising Business!

In the last five years, Amazon’s advertising business has boomed. It now has a DSP footprint that matches Google’s, and its SSP is the second most popular. In just the last year, the online retailer made more than $22 billion in ad income. Even for advertisers who spend a lot of money on the tech giant, Amazon’s advertising strategy and business remain inexplicable. 

If we just take the case of Amazon’s video advertising, it is notable that the company built Fire TV, its most ambitious video project, and also controls Twitch, which began testing direct programmatic partnerships last year; and also owns IMDb TV, a free streaming platform. The Amazon DSP provides programmatic video advertising across the web, and in-feed video spots appear in Amazon searches to evaluate or explain products.

Video isn’t the only kind of advertising that’s growing in popularity. A rising number of brands use the DSP even though they don’t sell on Amazon or even have an e-commerce presence. They simply want to use Amazon shopping data to target customers throughout the web.

If you pick instances from your life, you will notice that Amazon knows about everything you shop for, the brand you use, your spending bracket, and which products are you most likely to use. Advertisers use this information tactfully to get you to buy their product.

Amazon has grown to become the third-largest digital ad market in the United States, and a rising competitor to challenge Google and Facebook’s digital ad duopoly.

While it is a bit perplexing to untangle Amazon’s colossal advertising business, we have to go in-depth into its fabric to comprehend its adtech behavior. Keep reading below to get a bird’s eye view of Amazon’s advertising business model!

How Big Is Amazon’s Advertising Business? 

 

From Amazon DSP to Sponsored Display, there is an eclectic range of advertising solutions that Amazon offers to people. Want to know how far spread is Amazon’s ad business? Check these out: 

• Amazon Live – Allowing real-time brand interaction, Amazon Live offers the opportunity of contacting shoppers in real-time and engage in interactive shopping experiences.
• Amazon Attribution (Beta) – This solution provides marketers with an understanding of how their non-Amazon marketing portals impact shopping and sales activities on Amazon through search, social services, video, display and e-mails.
• Amazon DSP – Amazon’s demand-side platform (DSP) allows users to reach customers throughout the web, including on Amazon sites and applications, as well as through publishing partners and third-party exchanges.
• Sponsored Display – Amazon advertising platform offers this solution to help you target the perfect audience for your business both on and off Amazon with display ads that you can develop in no time.
• Sizmek Ad Suite – From creation to distribution, this ad server on Amazon will help you disseminate your campaign across a variety of screens.
• Sponsored Brands – With personalized ads that display in Amazon shopping results, you can increase brand recognition and product discovery for your brand and product portfolio.

• Post (Beta) – Posts in beta tell your brand’s narrative to relevant Amazon shoppers as they browse your categories. Shoppers may explore your brand’s feed by clicking through Posts and discovering product pages directly from your feed
• Custom Advertising Solutions – If you want to increase your brand awareness and conversation, Amazon’s Custom Advertising team will collaborate to create campaigns that engage customers at all phases of the marketing funnel.
• Audio Ads – Extend your brand’s reach beyond the screen with audio adverts. These ads are seen during commercial breaks while listening to Amazon Music’s free tier on Alexa-enabled devices, such as Echo and Fire TV, as well as on mobile and desktop.
• Stores – With a self-service store, you can create and design a unique brand destination on Amazon for no extra charge.
• OTT ( Over-The-Top) And Online Video Ads – This solution helps you reach a wider audience and engage them on Amazon-affiliated sites like IMDb.com and Twitch, as well as devices like the Fire TV and the web.
• Sponsored Products – With advertising that appears in shopping results and on product pages, you can help people discover and buy the things you sell on Amazon. There is no requirement for prior advertising experience.

Amazon Ad Business Growth

During the pandemic, ad spending saw a significant cut by marketers and we saw the rise of e-commerce advertising. As more and more people shopped from home, Amazon embraced this e-commerce advertising like no other company. 

According to EMarketer, Amazon controlled 10.3 per cent of the US digital ad market in 2020, up from 7.8 per cent in 2019, putting it in direct competition with Google and Facebook for ad dollars. Walmart, Instacart, Walgreens, and other businesses have also joined Amazon. 

Amazon made $21.5 billion in advertising revenue in 2020, up from $9.3 billion the previous year. While advertising accounts for a small portion of Amazon’s revenue from retail sales and Amazon Web Services, the company’s cloud division, it is one of the company’s fastest-growing segments. Advertisers’ search spending, which is primarily directed to Google, are continuing to be slashed by the internet giant.

All of Amazon’s advertising strategy is well thought out and will contribute to a booming ad business growth in 2021 as well. 

What Is Amazon Advertising Business

Advertisers and sellers frequently cite a lack of data and tools as obstacles to advertising on Amazon, which has spawned a cottage industry of companies dedicated to assisting marketing on the platform. Meanwhile, Amazon’s OTT division, which sells adverts in select Amazon Fire TV apps, has pushed further into programmatic advertising.

The four key areas where Amazon’s advertising business model skyrockets include video, non-endemic advertisers, conquesting, and polished targeting and measurement. Let’s have a look at these areas: 

Video

Amazon’s advertising business is not just about Prime Video, but also Fire TV, where Amazon sells around a third of the inventory. Fire TV has a footprint of around 50 million US households and is the only platform where TV-style video commercials may be directly linked to sales. 

The only way one can get their hands on the Fire TV inventory is the Amazon DSP. Advertisers can still get on Fire TV without having to go via Amazon because programmers keep 70% of the inventory to sell themselves. However, only the Amazon DSP can use logged-in Amazon data to boost those purchases or attribute ads to online sales.

Although adding video to static sponsored product listings can be costly, Amazon finds it easier to sell because those units are offered per click, exactly like sponsored search. 

In comparison to the programmatic video, where companies pay per impression and views are counted at the second mark, the pay-per-click approach can appear to be a good deal.

Because Amazon is selective with its sponsored videos, only showing in-depth product videos on highly relevant searches and for reputable brands, sponsored video listings are becoming a key signal of brand reputation. 

Conquesting

Conquesting is actually a really intelligent way for the Amazon advertising platform to accommodate sponsored ads. When you do a product search on Amazon, there are sponsored products that show up. Here, advertisers bid on certain terms, and advertisements with greater bids have a better chance of being seen.

What happens on Amazon is that, because of this bidding, when you search for a product by a specific company, the products of a rival brand pops up first. This is what advertisers call, conquesting, or the buying of terms against search terms for rival products. 

Advertisers can also purchase “sponsored brands” listings, which display in search results to assist consumers in finding a specific brand.

Furthermore, because Amazon’s purchasing data is so thorough, marketers may save money by not advertising to consumers who have just purchased a product and will not be purchasing it again very soon.

Non-Endemic Business

Beyond its base of e-commerce marketers, Amazon is also looking for expansion. The Amazon DSP created a dedicated ad sales team for non-endemic brands. What this means is that hotels or resorts can use Amazon to target audiences on search terms such as “ travel stationery” or “ mini travel kits”. 

Targeting And Measurement

With a cloud-based data clean room in beta, Amazon is fine-tuning its targeting and measurement. Amazon’s cleanroom expands the possibilities for leveraging Amazon’s buying data.

The Amazon DSP, for example, has a 14-day attribution window. Advertisers can test longer attribution windows using Amazon’s marketing cloud.

Amazon has a plethora of data about how consumers shop and has made additional information available to advertising to help them buy and target adverts. Advertisers, on the other hand, claim that Amazon’s data is restricted and that they are constantly looking for new ways to measure ads. 

Amazon Ad Business Revenue

According to Loop Capital, Amazon’s advertising unit currently contributes 2.4 times as much revenue as Snap, Roku, Twitter and Pinterest combined, and it is growing at 1.7 times the rate.

According to Amazon, in the first quarter of 2021, its unit which is mostly made up of advertising but also includes sales connected to other service offerings, increased revenue by 77 per cent year over year to more than $6.9 billion. 

According to Loop, Amazon made $22.4 billion in ad income in the last 12 months, growing 65 per cent year over year. That was 2.4 times the combined income of middle-cap ad platforms Snap, Twitter, Roku, and Pinterest, which increased by 38% over the same time period to $9.3 billion.

Amazon Business Marketing Strategy

When it comes to Amazon advertising strategy for 2021, it is evident that the company has well thought of all the challenges and advantages of the same. Here are 4 such strategies: 

Optimized SEO

When buyers search for relevant search terms, optimizing your products for Amazon SEO will help them find them. Well-described product searches are prioritized by Amazon’s search engine and pinned to the top of the recommended searches. 

PPC Advertising

Your business will receive more visitors to your product listings if you use Amazon advertisements. You can ensure that these ads create sales by delivering them to the most appropriate shoppers, thanks to Amazon’s extensive targeting choices.

If you decide to use PPC (Pay-Per-Click) in your Amazon marketing strategy, you’ll be able to choose from a variety of ad types such as Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products, and Sponsored Display.

Third-Party Advertising

Even if you sell on Amazon, your advertising doesn’t have to be limited to the platform. Increased clickthrough and conversion rates can be aided by third-party advertising. Make sure you use data to optimize your advertising at all times. This is greatly aided by automated data reporting.

Affiliate Marketing

Amazon has an affiliate programme that allows website owners to promote Amazon products on their own sites. A commission is earned when users click on these links and purchase a product. This is an effective Amazon marketing tactic because it brings in new customers to your Amazon website. Putting your products on other websites can bring in a whole new set of customers that you wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

Advertising: Amazon Vs Google Vs Facebook

When it comes to paid search advertising, Google Ads has been the standard for years. However, as its advertising powers develop, Amazon and Facebook are swiftly becoming a formidable force within their own right.

If you’re a digital marketer, marketing manager, or business owner, you’ll almost certainly be using Google for advertising or all of these platforms at some time in your career. But each time, there will be an inextinguishable dilemma as to which one suits your needs the best. So, we have curated something that will help you decide – keep reading! 

Google Ads

Retailers who sell a wide variety of products prefer Google Ads. The greater the number of products you have, the wider the net you can throw in Google. That’s a roundabout way of suggesting that you may bid low on a variety of keywords and yet get a lot of traffic.

Amazon Ads

Unlike the other shops, Amazon has made its platform available to third-party resellers, which means you won’t have to wait for a Target (or Amazon) customer to locate you. All you have to do is upload your products to Amazon and you’re set to go.

Facebook Ads

The Facebook Ads algorithm is fantastic at displaying the correct ads to the right individuals. This makes Facebook Ads ideal for startups with a specific product. It’s almost as if the fewer products you have, the better. 

Another significant benefit of Facebook Ads is the level of inventiveness available. 15–30 second videos, media-rich photos, comments, text, and more are all included. 

Is Google Advertising Worth It? 

Google advertisements, which are paid for by businesses, can be an exceptionally successful means of sending relevant, qualified visitors to your website at precisely the right time when people are searching for the items or services your company provides.

If you are using Google for advertising, then you can use various types of ads such as Search Ads, Shopping Ads, Display Ads, And Video Ads (YouTube). 

There are a plethora of Google advertising benefits for small businesses such as the ability to reach motivated and targeted audiences, as well as a pay-for-performance pricing mechanism and an easy-to-follow ROI. 

If your budget is an issue, you can dodge contending larger organizations by utilizing more longtail and local keywords, which will lower the cost of bidding on keywords that everyone wants. These keywords may not be as popular as the others, but they will still help you drive more high-converting traffic to your website. 

While talking about the Google advertising business model, it is also important to talk about the cost. 

Google Advertising costs vary depending on a variety of criteria, including the competitiveness of your keywords and industry, your geographic region, the quality of your advertising campaigns, and more. The average cost per click for Google search advertisements in the United States is $2.32 across all industries. The average cost of Google Ads in other countries is frequently substantially lower.

Facebook Advertising: Policies And Strategies

Facebook advertising is available in a variety of formats. You can advertise your Page, its content, user behaviors, or your website as a whole. Despite Facebook’s increased focus on native ads and keeping customers on the platform, you may still drive traffic to your website.

Facebook advertisements used to be more like display ads than search ads, but newer versions, such as product ads, allow advertisers to sell things directly to users. 

One of the major Facebook advertising benefits is that you can directly target users by using these components – location, age, gender, interests, connections, relationship status, languages, education, and workplace. 

Facebook also allows for detailed interest targeting. Users can be targeted using Detailed Interest Targeting based on information in their profile, such as “listed likes and interests, Pages they like, apps they use, and other profile (timeline) content they’ve provided” (according to Facebook). With Detailed Interest Targeting, you’ll get the best return on your investment.

Is Facebook Advertising Better Than Google? 

To answer this age-old question, we have to assess the strengths of both Google and Facebook advertising. Let’s get started. 

Advantages Of Google Ads

1. A wider audience – One of the biggest benefits of using Google as a platform for advertising is its massive reach. Google processes around 40,000 search requests each second, for a total of over 1.2 trillion web searches per year. It’s simple to see why AdWords is the most popular and frequently utilized PPC platform in the world, thanks to Google’s more accurate search results.

 

2. A vast range of ad formats – Advertisers can employ ad extensions, site links, social proofing like user reviews, location targeting, Shopping advertisements, and a variety of other capabilities, giving them an unrivalled level of personalization and control. Google has even created ad formats that are suited to the specific demands of different types of businesses.

Advantages Of Facebook Ads

1. A powerful visual medium – The greatest Facebook advertisements mix in perfectly with the videos, photographs, and other visual content in users’ News Feeds, allowing advertisers to take advantage of not only the visual ads’ strong persuasive capabilities but also the aspirational language that makes high-quality ads so appealing. 

 

2. Unmatched ROI – One aspect of Facebook Ads that frequently surprises newcomers is the potential return on investment that advertising on the network provides, as well as how far skilled advertisers can stretch a small ad spend.

So, to answer the question of which is better – Facebook or Google – the answer is both. Both the platforms serve differently to different businesses. 

Furthermore, many businesses are combining the benefits of Google Ads and Facebook Ads to gain maximum visibility, improve leads and sales, and attract new consumers, using diverse techniques that align with the functionality of each platform and generating impressive returns on their advertising expenditure. 

Conclusion

Having seen a panoramic perspective on Amazon’s advertising business along with Google Ads and Facebook Ads, it is safe to say that Amazon is right in leading the other two in this area. Here’s how – 

• Amazon is distinct from Google and Facebook in that it is primarily focused on a bottom-of-funnel audience, whereas Facebook and Google are more directed toward the top
• Amazon advertising has a higher CPC, conversion rate, and average rate of return than Google or Facebook advertising. Amazon is your greatest option if you want to maximize your Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

With Amazon’s growing popularity, it is likely that it will shine as the best advertising business platform soon.