In this monthly post, we bring you the latest from all of the major platforms.
Google Ads
What: Import Google Ads Data into Google Sheets
Details: A Google Ads add-on is now available for Google Sheets. Navigate to the “Add-ons” drop down menu in order to install.
Impact: The Add-On eliminates a degree of manual work and opens the door for improved custom reports.
What: Update to average daily budget setting for Maximize Clicks bid strategy
Details: The Target Spend setting for Maximize Clicks will be retired January 2021.
Impact: Accounts utilizing the soon-to-be phased out daily budget setting within their bid portfolio will need to pivot to controlling spend at campaign by campaign level.
What: Google updates Report Editor
Details: Google has updated its Report Editor in a fashion similar to Data Studio. Updates include shift of the dimensions and metric panel to the right side, a search function, and additional options for filtering and formatting.
Impact: Advertisers now have additional tools for analyzing and visualizing performance directly within the platform interface.
What: Google offers Insights page beta
Details: Over the next few weeks, Google will provide it’s Insight page via a beta test. The page will be available in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia, with more countries to follow.
Impact: The Insights page will help advertisers adapt to shifting trends and pivots in marketplace behavior. The data provided here by Google will supplement strategic planning beyond an account’s individual performance data.
What: Updates and improvements to Smart Bidding
Details: Several new features have been added to improve the success of Smart Bidding. First, budget and bid simulators will now allow for selection of a time period up to 90 days in the future. Previously, these used Last 7 Days data to show what would have happened in the past instead of what is expected to happen in the future. Next, Recommendations are now available within the Bid Strategy report. Lastly, certain features from the bid strategy report are now available throughout Google Ads including average target CPA/ROAS for a given campaign and the ability to hover over conversion within a campaign to reveal projected conversion delay.
Impact: Smart Bidding adoption continues to rise. Google has been pushing these strategies aggressively both externally and internally. These updates provide an additional layer of reporting transparency for advertisers who turn their bidding optimization over to machine learning.
What: Auction Insights Report extends to Report Editor
Details: Prior to the update, Auction Insights were only available at the account level which leads to complexities when analyzing cross-account performance. To make this easier, auction insights are now available in Report Editor at the account and manager account level.
Impact: Clients with complex account setups – such as multiple brands or geo-based accounts — will benefit from streamlined cross-account competitor analysis.
Microsoft Advertising (Bing)
What: Microsoft adds series of key product updates in November
Details: As November got underway, Microsoft launched updates on a variety of products. These changes are as follows:
- Mixed Campaigns: DSA ad groups can now live within a campaign that has standard ad groups.
- Keyword Planner: Updates include market expansion, language expansion, and additional options for receiving keyword suggestions such as using a landing page URL as the seed source
- Expanded Performance Reporting: Prominence metrics, such as Top impression rate and Absolute top impression rate, are now available everywhere you’ve found average position
Impact: Microsoft is providing advertisers additional flexibility with DSA ads. These campaigns no longer have to remain separate, and instead can co-exist within the same budgetary bucket. Regarding Keyword Planner, new markets and languages provide wider flexibility to the tool. Lastly, Expanded Performance reporting is ensuring advertisers retain transparency in the comparative prominence of their ads despite the upcoming depreciation of Avg Position (March 31st, 2021)
What: Promotion Extensions now available in US accounts
Details: Promotion extensions are now available within all US accounts.
Impact: Promotion Extensions offer a chance to separate ads from competitors. The rollout proves very timely as advertisers prep for what is expected to be a particularly busy holiday ecommerce season. Lastly, the addition means advertisers can now sync up Promotion Extensions for Google and Microsoft.
Facebook & Instagram
What: Updates to Branded Content on Instagram
Details: Instagram is adding a Branded Content tag within Reels. This will allow creators to clearly disclose when they’re creating branded content. Additionally, a new workflow allows users to create Branded Content ads without the need for creators to post organically on Instagram first.
Impact: The tag improves platform transparency for creators when releasing sponsored or monetized content.
General Note
If you missed last month’s update, turn to October 2020 Updates to Paid Media Platforms for all of the latest info.
Did we miss any major monthly updates? Not covering a certain platform close enough? Feel free to let me know on Twitter @Will_Larcom
