Recent Updates to Google Ads

Changes to Google Ads happen regularly, and small businesses as well as marketing personnel need to stay informed of any changes that may affect their industry and their ads. Let’s take a look at some of the biggest recent changes to Google Ads and break down what it means for you.

Keyword Match Types: Modified Broad Match Becomes Phrase Match

Previously, modified broad match keywords, designated by a plus sign before the essential keywords, were used to target any search that contained those essential keywords in any order. So, if your modified broad match keyword were +independent +living, then a search for “independent senior living” will qualify to show your ads.

Phrase match keywords, represented with quotation marks, have historically meant that the keyword/s must appear in the same sequence in the search term (from the user) in order to trigger your ad. So, if your phrase match keyword were “independent living”, then your ad would show in a search for “independent living in Atlanta” but would not show in a search for “independent senior living” because it is not the same sequence as your designated keyword since there is another word between them.

Going forward, phrase match will essentially function the way the modified broad match did, and will not be held back by the sequence in order to more effectively target qualifying searches. You can read more about this update from Google here.

Responsive Search Ads Becomes the Default Ad Type

While Responsive Search Ads are nothing new – they’ve been around for a while now – they will now be the default ad type when you go to add new ads to your Ad Group. Responsive Search Ads allow you to provide several headlines and descriptions for Google’s machine learning to pull from in order to present the best combination for each user and each search based on indicators that advertisers don’t have access to. Typically, Responsive Search Ads have a better Click-Through Rate and convert better than Expanded Text Ads (the previous default ad type).

With this change, keep in mind that Expanded Text Ads still have a place in your Ad Groups, just no longer at the top. For more on this change, you can read about it from Google here.

Property Promotion Ads Rollout

Google has been testing new ways to position hotels to reach potential customers looking in a specific area as a way of helping the hospitality industry recover from the hit it took during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. With these ads, users who have chosen a destination but have not yet chosen a hotel will be presented with the hotel’s prices and availability there within the ad. Being able to influence the decision-making process rather than just capturing the user once the decision has been made (searches including the hotel brand name) will allow hotels using this ad type to increase bookings. While the hospitality industry has a long way to go before it is fully recovered, this new ad type will give hotels an advantage over their competitors.

For more on this new ad type that is now available for all hotel accounts, you can read this article from Google.

If you feel like you’re falling behind on the new features from Google Ads and are not able to keep your account updated and running efficiently, reach out to EVG and we can help you!