PPC News Roundup: Google AdWords Launches ‘Maximise Conversions’

Rachel Poole and Sarah Kemp detail the latest in paid search industry news including Maximise Conversions from Google AdWords, Instagram adds Click-To-Messenger ads, Snapchat hit by low quality ads and AdWords uses machine learning to track purchase intent.

Google AdWords’ New Feature Manages Auction Bids

Google AdWords unveiled a new bidding feature at the end of May. Called ‘Maximise Conversions’, the new feature lets Google automatically set the right bids for each auction. The aim is to help advertisers get the most conversions from their daily budget.

Here’s what Google had to say on the new feature:

It uses advanced machine learning to automatically optimise bids and offers auction-time bidding capabilities that tailor bids for each and every auction.

To set Maximise Conversions, you need to go into your campaign’s settings page on AdWords, click ‘Change bid strategy’ and select ‘Maximise Conversions’. Account users can test the feature first, get insights and monitor bid strategies.

See Search Engine Roundtable for a screenshot.

Instagram Rolls Out Click-To-Messenger Ads

Instagram has introduced ‘click-to-Messenger’ ads, AdWeek has reported. Originally rolled out on Facebook in November 2016, Instagram began introducing the Click-To-Messenger ad placement to businesses at the end of May. It expects to have the new ad option available to all businesses within the next few months.

Messenger now has more than 1.2 billion monthly users, with messaging currently used by more than 20 million active pages each month. According to Facebook, the Messenger Platform supports more than 100,000 active bots each month, and facilitates more than two billion messages between users and businesses each month.

More information on the new Instagram ad placement can be found in the Facebook developer docs.

Low Quality Ads Flood Snapchat

It seems that Snapchat’s new self-serve advertising platform may have opened the floodgates to ‘non-premium ads’, according to Digiday.

Shareen Pathak has reported that the social platform has seen a flurry of direct-response ads such as ‘Lower My Bills,’ app-install ads for Sing! Karaoke and other low quality ad creatives.

Snapchat launched its self-serve platform in May. While still only open to test to a handful of brands, a host of other new tools, such as goal-based bidding, seems to have led to a drop in ad quality.

However, it seems the drift to low-quality ads goes hand in hand with a platform’s maturity.

Google AdWords Introduces Machine Learning Innovations

Google AdWords announced at the end of May that it is to start rolling out a number of machine learning innovations to help it understand purchase intent.

One innovation, ‘in-market audiences’ will use machine learning to help businesses expand their reach amongst users who have already searched their category of products or services.

Here’s how Google explained in-market audiences:

“It analyses trillions of search queries and activity across millions of websites to help figure out when people are close to buying and surface ads that will be more relevant and interesting to them.”

Other machine learning innovations include:

Google Attribution – Brings together data from AdWords, Analytics and DoubleClick to enable businesses to assess if their marketing is working. This is currently in beta but will be rolled out to more advertisers soon.

Store Sales Measurement – Available at device and campaign level in AdWords, this new tool will enable businesses to measure in-store revenue achieved from online ads.

See Search Engine Journal for more on this story.

More Paid Search News and Advice

Check out our previous PPC news roundup: Google Announces Cross Device Remarketing Launch

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