11 Big Changes from Google that Impact Your Video Ads

Content is no longer king. It was for many years but now video content is the new dominant force in marketing.

A lot of companies are already on-board, as more than 80% of businesses believe video marketing delivers a great return on investment (ROI). When you compare the engagement stats, it’s clear that people do find video content more interesting than simple text posts.

So, what does that mean for advertisers? How can you leverage the medium in your marketing now? To understand just how powerful it can be, let’s consider the Google Ads latest updates.

How Google Video Ads Have Improved

As time goes on, more marketers are shifting their focus and resources behind video marketing. The changes over the past year have made the channel even more powerful in a number of ways. Here are the newest tools for your arsenal.

1.  Vertical Video Ads on YouTube

This switch to vertical ads allows your brand to offer a more “seamless mobile experience”, so users can view content on the YouTube mobile app in a similar way to Snapchat or Instagram. This enhanced user experience is likely to result in more interactions with ads.

2.  Location Extension for YouTube

Now, when you watch a YouTube video ad that has a location extension, you can see the address, store directions, and the opening hours of the business. This will make it easier for business owners to drive tangible sales through YouTube.

3.  Outstream Video Ads

Outstream video ads are advertising units that auto-play in a large format player when any user navigates to it through text content. Outstream video ads are exclusively for use with mobile targeting, and it is an effective means of expanding the reach of your video ads beyond YouTube.

4.  Google Ads Notes

Google Ads Notes was introduced in May after much fanfare about its upcoming addition to the platform. This feature enables you to add text notes at the account, campaign, and ad group levels, which you can easily do by clicking on points in the performance charts.

5.  Shoppable Image Ads

Studies indicate that around 1/3 of consumers search for product images before they visit a physical store. By using Shoppable Image Ads, advertisers can now get in front of those people sooner. These ads have a tag icon that links to a carousel of similar products, which users can then explore and continue to purchase.

6.  Video Showcase Shopping Ad

Alongside the Shoppable Image Ads, Google released the Showcase Shopping Ads. These ads link to a landing page that presents visitors with various promotions and descriptions. The featured image is a rolling video, which will then play in full at the top of the landing page once you click on it.

During beta testing, Google found that these ads generated a 3.6x increase in clickthrough rate (CTR), and almost 70% growth in new customer acquisitions.

7.  Improved Attribution for TrueView for Action Ads

Google has updated the attribution window for TrueView for Action ads. The previous default attribution window was 30 seconds with a 30-day conversion window. The update is 10 seconds with a 3-day conversion window.

This is so advertisers will be able to measure the impact of their video ads with greater accuracy. After all, YouTube ads may plant the initial seed that eventually leads to a conversion, even if it is some time after watching the video clip.

8.  Video Ad Sequencing

Just as with any other form of marketing, it’s important to align your efforts with user intent and their position in the buyer’s journey. With video ad sequencing, it’s possible to break up video advertising into several key sequences, which are essentially aligned with the corresponding stages of the purchasing process.

With this strategy, a viewer would need to see the first part of the sequence before they can see the second. Once they see the second, the third will be displayed next, and so on. This helps nurture leads through your marketing funnel with content that is aligned with their needs and interests.

9.  Ad Pod Testing YouTube Ads

Research by YouTube found that having fewer interruptions for ad breaks tends to generate higher ad view rates, and also reduces content abandonment figures. With this in mind, ad pods are now being using to combine ads, as opposed to showing pre-roll and mid-roll ads. The early indications are promising, with better results for advertisers, and less frustration for viewers.

10.  TrueView for Reach

The TrueView for Reach campaign type that Google released this year focuses on maximizing brand awareness metrics, such as impressions. This is sold on a CPM (Cost per 1,000 impressions) basis, and the ads are optimized to hit your brand awareness goals.

11.  Some Display Options Have Been Removed

The Display Planner tool allowed us to research the optimum ad placements, including helping marketers identify negative placements for their display campaigns. This no longer exists in Google Ads.

Another update was Google’s decision to remove the option of adding adsenseformobileapps.com as placement exclusion. Many advertisers were using this as a workaround to exclude mobile apps. This change has received mixed feedback. While it leans towards a mobile-first world, it may attract a lot of unqualified traffic to your ads.

Visual Content Has More Power to Persuade

There’s no doubt about the potential of video marketing. People enjoy watching video content, and they are more likely to interact with it.

The Google Ads updates reflect this dynamic digital marketing landscape, and the smartest marketers will keep these changes in mind when they are creating new video ads on Google and YouTube.