The Great Google Ad Rebrand: What it means to you
July 19, 2018
Google announced earlier this month that it was combining all of its advertising products, including AdWords, under three new primary brands.
“Today’s shopper will consider many different sources — like online search, videos, and blogs — before making a purchase. In any 48 hour period, over 80% of Americans are shopping for something,” according to the video announcement.
The company says it’s making the change “to help you grow your business,” while the marketing community is hailing the rebrand as a much-needed simplification to a bloated platform.
Read on for what you need to know about the changes, along with our take on the new opportunities they offer.
What’s different after the rebrand?
All Google advertising products are being consolidated under three segments:
- Google Ads
- Google Marketing Platform
- Google Ads Manager
Marketers are now offered a “one-stop shop” for all of Google’s advertising products, allowing them to be more nimble in designing, launching and managing their campaigns across Google’s ever-growing digital footprint. They’ll be able to reach more people, across more channels, and be more data-driven with their strategies.
Why was there a rebrand?
More than likely, one of the major motivations behind this change is the evolution of users’ online behavior and interaction. Google AdWords originally launched in 2000, before most people had high-speed internet, before anyone had a smart phone, and when Facebook was still a drawing on a Harvard dorm room window. Fast forward 18 years and we’re all carrying around computers in our pockets with lightning-fast connections to the internet and social media.
Another factor is Facebook cementing itself as a major challenger to Google’s digital advertising monopoly with its robust targeting capabilities and creative ad formats. Google is no longer the only game in town, and it needed to simplify its online advertising experience to help marketers reach their targets at every stage of the buying funnel.
How will the rebranding affect my campaigns?
Whether you’ve thrown a few hundred bucks into Google AdWords to give a stalled lead generation campaign a kickstart, or your monthly budget has a comma (or two) in it, you can now focus less on keywords and more on your audience.
It’s very telling that the branding has dropped the mention of “words,” and an obvious sign that Google wants advertisers to shift their focus to users versus keywords. The technology on Google’s new platform gives you more capability to measure and target by intent, and invest in channels that will provide the best results and get the most out of your budget. Here are four tips from Google’s blog that summarize the benefits:
- Stop chasing intent and start predicting what customers want.
- Leverage insights to reach the right audience.
- Make mobile experiences a business priority.
- Help customers turn intent into action in an omnichannel world.
Google may be the largest platform in the digital marketing world, but the one thing it has in common with its peers both big and small is that it’s constantly evolving. This rebrand is proof that Google is making a clear effort to improve their platform so marketers can improve their results.
