Let’s face it – pretty much everyone is glued to their phones and iPads these days. Even if we have laptops and desktop computers at home, we often connect our cell phones to our WiFi connection and browse through there, instead. Hence, it makes a lot of sense that more than half of the searches on Google are coming from Smartphones and tablets these days! With the shift toward mobile becoming more and more apparent with each passing day, it is opportune that Google AdWords has also jumped on the bandwagon and has rolled out new tools and features addressing this growing consumer shift to mobile platforms. Here are the four key changes Google has rolled out –
1. Expanded Text Ads – Instead of one 25-character header on mobile phones, now you have two 30-character headers. The description line has gone from two 35-character lines to one 80-character line. This is great because advertisers now have more room to explain their products and services, and even consumers can be certain about whether they really want to tap on to your Website or not. In early testing phases, advertisers reported an up to 20% increase in click-through rates with these changes.2. Responsive Display Ads – Google Display Network (GDN) has over two million publisher sites and apps which can help advertisers with different content shapes and sizes – a very useful tool! Input a few essential points such as headlines, descriptions, images and a URL, and Google’s tool will help develop a responsive ad automatically that will engage customers to match the look and feel of the content they are browsing. Pretty neat.
3. Bid Adjustments – Advertisers can now set individual bid adjustments depending on the device type – mobile, desktop and tablet. Now you can optimize with precision!
4. Bridging the Gap Between Online & Offline – Roughly 1/3 of mobile searches on Google are related to location. In fact, location searches are growing 50% faster than all other mobile searches. Keeping this information in mind, Google is bridging the gap between online and offline worlds. Local search ads are now going to be boosted on Google Maps – ads using local extensions will be showcased when customers are searching for businesses, such as with keywords like “mechanics near me,” “cafes,” etc. As more consumers are living their lives online, the opportunities for business to market themselves on mobile devices continues to grow, thanks to Google Maps’ new ad format. Business can even included pins to offer special sales and offers in these location based search ads!
It will be interesting to see if Google launches even more features for mobile marketers in the months to come. Watch our space for the latest updates to help you plan your digital advertising campaigns!
