Merilyn Pereira Editor , Ziff Davis B2B
Merilyn Pereira is the Editor of MarTech Advisor. She is a writer and editor, and has worked in Digital Advertising, Communications and Publishing. She has over 7 years of national and international work experience and has contributed extensively toward building quality content across industries. Attention to detail and excellent communication skills make her an achiever in any challenge she undertakes. Travel, photography, football and trekking are her stress busters and she can talk about them endlessly.
San Francisco hosted Google Marketing Live 2019 from May 14 to May 16, 2019, Google’s annual conference for marketers and advertisers, and this one was all about innovation and product releases. The key updates were centered around shopping and ads. We discuss the updates most relevant to marketers here.
Twitter has been raving with excitement and anticipation over #GoogleMarketingLive all week. Over 5000 marketers attended, and they were not disappointed! Google announced 10 new ad innovations and product announcements, and we can’t wait to share them with you.
The main themes at Google Marketing Live 2019 were privacy, discoverability and lots of shopping. Before we go into the key takeaways for brands after Google Marketing Live 2019, watch the highlights from Day 1 here:
Watch 👓 quick highlights from Day 1 of #GoogleMarketingLive. Tune in today to catch 10+ live streamed sessions → https://t.co/J8PIH9BX7m pic.twitter.com/fjNYRQKP6L
— Google Ads (@GoogleAds) May 15, 2019
Google is also answering questions about these latest announcements. To know more, you can ask away on Twitter with the hashtag #AskGoogleAds.
From ads to shopping and discoverability, let’s find out what’s in store for us now that Google has decided to take on Amazon (and the world).
Screenshot of Google’s Discovery Ads Displayed Across Platforms
Source: Google Ads Blog
Since Google is where people go to discover practically anything, and 76 percent of consumers enjoy making unexpected discoveries when shopping, Google introduced Discovery ads!
Discovery ads are now monetizing the discovery feed. Native ads will blend in across Google’s properties, including the YouTube home feed, the Gmail Promotions and Social tabs, and the feed in Discover, that now reaches 800 million users globally.
Representation of the new Google Shopping App
Source: Google Ads Blog
The app that was earlier known as Google Express is now being merged into Google Shopping. This entails a fresh revamp of the shopping experience on the app that was released earlier this year.
The redesigned Google Shopping app includes new features that include a personalized homepage, with filters to sort brands and products and a Google guarantee for customer service and easy returns. The features will also be rolled out to YouTube and Google Images later this year.
With this move, Google seems to be competing with more than just Amazon. Pinterest and Instagram – watch out!
The Custom Audiences feature now includes a brand-new audience expansion tool to reach lookalike audiences. That’s right, you will now be able to reach audiences who look and behave in a similar manner to your customers through Google. Ironic how Facebook is struggling with similar ad targeting segmentation due to customer privacy (or is it?).
At Google Marketing Live, it was also announced that later this year, Google will release Gallery ads, a new search ads format that brings more of your content to the top of the Search results page. These are interactive visual ads only for mobile, in a carousel format so users can easily swipe through and browse products.
Google has long considered Amazon a competitor and these releases show that Google is stepping up to challenge not just Amazon but also the likes of Instagram, Pinterest, and practically anyone in the ecommerce industry.
If as a marketer you’re worried about how these changes are going to impact your advertising activities, our advice to you is to listen to Mr. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, “You might fail a few times, but that’s Ok. you end up doing something worthwhile which you learn a great deal from”
Here are some actions we think you should definitely take:
The giant that Google is, there is no stopping them, and in innovating, they’ve opened fresh avenues for marketers to reach their prospects. Jump on for the ride, steer a bright path and set lofty goals – the future looks limitless!
What do you think about Google’s updates and the future of Google? Tell us on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.
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