Overview
Google is always coming up with ways to help improve advertisers’ conversions. One of the recent changes they made was to the Google mobile ad units they display in search results. While many of these changes are still in beta, we wanted to give you a glimpse at the future of mobile ads at Google.
What Google Has In Store For Their New Mobile Ad Units
More visually appealing
First, Google is introducing Carousel ads for mobile and app advertisers. These are visual ads that show ads like a slider on mobile devices. According to Search Engine Journal, these ads are only available to automotive advertisers at the moment (Sept 2015). However, as long as the beta program is successful it could expand to all advertisers in the future.
Images run the web today. Facebook has benefited on this trend tremendously over the past few years with sponsored stories and other visual ad formats. Based on research by Socialbakers.Com, of the top 10% of posts on Facebook pages, 87% of them had images or videos.
It only makes sense that Google will add to their visual ad formats to compete with the massive amount of imagery that Facebook and other social networks allow for their ad campaigns.
Google Compare
The carousel is only the start of the changes. The next change is Google Compare. While this is only operational currently for California insurance agencies, it has tremendous possibilities for the future. Soon mortgages, hotels, and other niches will have this program available as well. Imagine being on your phone looking to find the best credit card rates or insurance payments. Google compare has a quick 5 minute form to fill out. You start with your zip code, enter in what you need, and then consumers can learn all they want to know about different companies, programs, and rates.
Google Compare also should have a review component embedded in the comparisons to ensure the highest quality results. They know that studies show over 88% of consumers trusting online reviews. Companies therefore, will need to focus on getting positive reviews to build their business as they compete with others for the best service and price.
Updated Dynamic Keyword Insertion
The dynamic keyword insertion tool had its ups and downs over the years. While some marketers like Ebay vastly abused the system at their own peril, others found it a great way to create relevant ad copy for their prospective market. Essentially, you enter in the keyword in the title or description of your ad. It then mixes it with copy you created for your ads. When mixed properly it can be a tremendous boon. However, if you are like Ebay and carpet bomb your ads across the internet, then consumers will want to know why you have ads like: Baby: Buy it cheap on Ebay Low Prices, New and Used.
The ads need to be targeted more precisely, so those type of slip ups do not happen. The new version should help correct those errors.
Google now scrapes your website to turn your ads into specific categories that would match the keywords being used. By doing this, your ads also direct users to relevant landing pages. This can help searchers find a better experience with their ad campaigns. At the same time, the dynamic keyword insertion provides does not have as many mix-ups that might cause you to inadvertently sell babies on your website.
Buy button
The final component is the buy button. Google now wants to allow businesses to sell directly on the search engine. According to BBC, Google is doing this to reduce the friction of having to visit multiple websites. Consumers can be fickle on the web, clicking from one site to another. This provides retailers the ability to sell their goods directly on Google, just like they would on Amazon or Ebay.
Retailers are mixed on the idea. While it does help the 1 in 10 spur of the moment buyers, this also presents a problem to retailers. They want to sell their goods on their platform. That way, retailers get to tell the story of their products and also can control more of the relationship with the consumer.
This is not the case when users purchase directly through Google. A little bit of the story and connection is lost. The purchase becomes more of a transaction with the loss of customer loyalty that usually occurs in commodity purchases.
Final Thoughts
With all of the changes coming up in the future, Google has their hands full with ensuring the highest quality products are shown on their site.Each of the upgrades above helps the consumer feel comfortable searching and buying on Google through their phones.
As we enter the new mobile ad age of search, be prepared for new search ideas coming from Google. Their transition to the new leadership under Alphabet should prove innovative to search as well as the other industries they are working on conquering next.
In the meantime, if you want to conquer mobile ads on Google, and need some help your your Google Adwords services, give us a Shout to learn more about how to accomplish those ends.
