Updates in Google Adwords so far in 2016

Beginning in February 2016, there was a rush of announcements that culminated at the Google Performance Summit on May 24. Those announcements will shape much of what search marketers will be working on in the second half of the year. Here’s a look back at all the big feature updates, launches and news from Google Adwords so far this year.

Right Rail Ads: - In February, Google confirmed that they would no longer serve text ads in the right rail on desktop. The move unifies how text ads display on all devices.

Ads in Local & Maps: - In April, Google started showing ads in the Local Finder, the page of local and Map results that users got to by clicking on “More Places” from the local three pack on the main search results. Google no longer categorizes Maps as Search Partners. The change means that only ads with Location Extensions are eligible to show in Maps, and it also means advertisers can opt out of Search Partners and still show ads in Maps.

Expanded Text Ads: - Expanded Text Ads are the biggest change announced in the first half of the year. Every single advertiser running text ads will be rewriting ads in the coming months.

Device Bidding: - Google is bringing device bidding back to pre-Enhanced Campaign days. Bid modifiers remain, but tablet and desktop bids will be separate, and advertisers can set base bids for Mobile.

Updates for Shopping and Retail: - GTIN requirements for shopping feeds went into effect to help Google improve the relevancy of product listing ads for user queries. Google officially brought Shopping Ads to Image Search. They also added a “store pick up” link option for Local inventory Ads to appeal to local shoppers who want to buy online and pick up in-store. Google announced inventory search in local knowledge panels for users to be able to see if an item is in stock at their local retailer. The feature is automatically available to retailers running Local Inventory Ads. Shoppers will soon notice 32 or 16 products as Ads in Google Search. Earlier there was space for 8 products.

Conversion Attribution Model: - Search Marketers can now set different attribution models including the new data-driven attribution model for individual conversion events in Adwords.

App Parity: - Google finally launched an iOS app for Adwords. Now Advertisers can access Adwords Apps on both Android and iOS.

Redesigning Adwords Interface: - Advertisers will hope to see newly designed UI of Adwords in second half of 2016.

Google Analytics 360 Suite: - Google launched a premium suite of Analytics. New in the premium suite is the long-awaited data management program (DMP), a landing page testing/personalization tool and a custom reporting tool.

Adieu Converted Clicks: - From September 2016, Converted clicks columns in Adwords will get deprecated. Advertisers will now consider All Conversions and View through Conversions.

Similar Audiences: - Adwords now create similar audiences using customer match data for targeting on Gmail and YouTube. Also, advertisers can now target Similar Audience in Search Ads or Re-marketing List Search Ads (RLSA) Campaigns. Also, RLSA Campaigns can now run on Search Partner Sites.

Cross-device Conversions: - Cross device conversions are now included in All Conversions.

TrueView Discovery Ads: - TrueView in-display Ads are now known as TrueView video discovery ads. These ads run on YouTube.

In-Market Audience: - Advertisers can now target In-market audience in Gmail Ads.

Target CPA on GDN: - A new version of the Target Cost-per-Action bidding structure with zero eligibility requirements launched on Google Display Network. Previously advertiser needed fifteen conversions in 30 days to opt-in to Target CPA. Now advertisers will be able to opt. all campaigns into Target CPA from day one with no campaign history, driving better and more efficient performance.

Quality Score Reporting: - Advertisers will begin seeing null Quality Scores in Adwords (designated by “-“), which will display where there are not enough impressions or clicks to accurately determine a Keyword’s Quality Score.

Price Extension: - The new Text ad Extension shows pricing information about products and services and takes up significant real estate on mobile.

Responsive Ads: - The Next generation of Text ads, Responsive Ads are design to adapt to their surroundings and create the perfect fit for any ad slot on the Google Display Network.

Carousel Cards: - Google is planning to launch carousel cards for Sitelinks used with Text Ads.

Health Score: - Google is testing a new overview in the Opportunities tab in Adwords that gives Advertisers an “Account Health Score for Search.”

Call Only Ads: - When Google debuted call only ads last year, one of the issues businesses objected to be the fact that only the phone number appeared in the ads. This is now changed, with business names now showing up in a second headline in call only ads.

Drafts and Experiments: - Google had also launched Drafts & Experiments features in Adwords which is now extended to Google Display Campaigns. It can be used to test changes to campaigns, such as bid adjustments and strategies, without affecting performance. In Drafts, advertisers can make a mirror campaign in which to make changes. These can be applied to the active campaign, deleted or executed as an experiment to test how the changes perform against the original campaign by designating a portion of the budget to the experiment for a period of time.

Campaigns Forecasts: - Google is slowly rolling out a new feature that allows advertisers to track goals across groups of campaigns. Advertisers can group campaigns into a campaign set and assign a performance target for conversions, CPA or spend within a specific date range. The tool then provides an overview of performance along with forecasts for goal achievement by the end of the date range.

Firebase Analytics: - Google has launched Firebase Analytics, a new analytics solution for mobile apps. It is designed specifically for mobile apps. That means instead of focusing on page views, impressions or sessions, developers can see what users are doing inside the app, how paid advertising campaigns are performing with cross-network attribution and where users are coming from.

SMS Ad Extension: - Google Adwords is now testing a new ad extension, similar to call ad extension for sending SMS or text messages to the advertiser. Clicking on the text messaging icon will allow users to text the company that is advertising on Adwords. When users click the icon, it opens default messaging app. It prefills the text message with the advertiser’s information. 

Adwords Editor: - Adwords Editor is now updated with inclusion of all Extensions and Expanded Text Ads.