I ended up live tweeting while watching the latest Google Ads Expert Series – Welcome to 2022 (this event was livestreamed on January 13, 2022 and is available on YouTube here.).
I had intended to just do a blog post about the event, but my reactions to a lot of what was said in the program seemed to lend themselves to the live tweets. There was, as they say, “a lot to unpack” in this presentation. Definitely interesting to have some things casually confirmed like if you’re still using any broad match modified (BMM) keywords they are “losing value” in your account. The same thing will happen if you continue to run expanded text ads (ETAs) after July of 2022.
Some of the recommendations were ludicrous. Some of them were solid. They are now recommending just having a single responsive search ad (RSA) in your ad groups. And also consolidating the heck out of your structure, including running dynamic search ads (DSA) in the same campaigns as your non-DSA ads…
Here is the entire thread:
I just literally cackled while watching the Google Ads – Welcome to 2022 presentation.
They recommend checking your SQRs EVERY SIX MONTHS when using broad match + smart bidding.#ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
The recommend a minimum of 15 conversions in last 30 days to use their Golden Triangle (broad + RSA only + smart bidding) BUT 50 – 100 is actually better IF you want this method to outperform manual strategies.
My blood pressure is rising…#ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Good lord, it continues…
Poor RSA ad strength will result in lower impression share according to this presentation.
How should you handle that?
I kid you not – “get in touch with your Google Account Manager for help”.
WHO HAS A REAL ACCT MANAGER???????????#ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Here is the recommended account structure for 2022
Including anything going to the same URL should be in the same Ad Group, bus also use DSA in all your ad groups.#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/ffmmmerZXq
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Interesting presentation point – even though you can still run BMM keywords they have “lost value” so you should change them.
Recommending same thing for ETAs – they will lose value once we hit July 2022.
Only 1 RSA per ad group is recommendation. Goodbye ad testing.#ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Just confirmed that RSAs are “already dominant” if you have ad groups with both ETAs and RSAs.
This is not a big surprise, as we have all seen this happening, but interesting to hear it confirmed.#ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Here is how Enhanced Conversions work:#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/DRn98dUkji
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Not sure how you get higher conversion tracking levels without cookies or with Enhanced Conversions? But Google says you do?#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/8CBbFvAe8G
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
If you want to know more about how Google will be handling privacy (loss of cookies really) there is an event coming up specifically on that:#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/FBMpr7pozh
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Also claiming that broad match terms automatically figure out which geographic modifiers should match and which should not (first section of the image).
This it not true in my experience? How about you all?#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/ezPTiG2il1
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Time for a case study…
Interesting that it specifically has looking at SQRs as a task within this setup and testing period of only 43 days.
But sure, check your SQRs every 6 months, right?!?#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/X8zXH8a5Zi
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Here are some examples of Conversion Value Rules (which only work with smart bidding strategies but not tCPA or Max Conversions)#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/ICBi9B93xg
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Took a short break…
For Search and Display you can test out the conversion rules in Drafts & Experiments (cannot for Shopping, Smart Shopping or Performance Max).#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/Q83vRyFRdC
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
The quote in this case study is hilarious. Really read it.#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/j5GTpONj7Y
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
I have reached the Q&A portion at long last.
First Q is about exact match alongside broad?
A highlights – exact match will trump broad (then she says it will be “preferred” later in answer), so if you must use it put in separate ad group.#ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
In response to this comment, they basically say automated is just better.
I wish there were a qualifier in these statements like”our automated options often perform better”. Wish it were more nuanced because we know it does not work equally well for all advertisers.#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/rKyEAg5zMG
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
In a response to the question about what kinds of ads to have in ad groups (it is now recommended to have only 1 RSA and no ETA) he said that is essentially no big deal because RSAs outperform ETAs.
Again, I think most of us have accounts where not true. #ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Who had “we have 15% brand new search queries”on their BINGO card?
Score one for that at the 1:12:31 mark…#ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Definitive NO to this question that was posed – as in there are no current plans to merge the 3 remaining match types.#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/j0qc2YHEdL
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Google does believe that consent mode, enhanced conversions and customer match are GDPR compliant, but also recommends you work with your own legal resources “if you have concerns”about that. pic.twitter.com/ghVYdulrD8
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
You should apparently have your broad and exact match in the same ad group. They “learn from each other”.#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/NbN17d563J
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
They said they do not have plans to get rid of manual bidding. But they do not advise using it and “especially not on bigger accounts”.#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/jUi1vawi0G
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
Some undisclosed amount of additional data about RSA component performance is supposed to be coming in 2022.#ppcchat pic.twitter.com/3gJd9BZ2qH
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022
And, that’s a wrap!
I definitely need to go have lunch…
Hope the tweetstorm was helpful!#ppcchat
— Julie F Bacchini (@NeptuneMoon) January 14, 2022