Google, one of the pioneering leaders in online advertising, recently announced a series of AI-driven advancements to its ad offerings. At the Google Marketing Live event, Jerry Dischler, Vice President and General Manager of Ads, highlighted how the advertising landscape has evolved since 2013, moving from a mobile-centric shift to the current focus on leveraging artificial intelligence (AI).
AI at the Core of Google Ads
AI has played a crucial role in Google Ads for years, supporting advertisers in optimizing their ad campaigns and ROI. AI underpins many Google Ads features, such as Smart Bidding, and full-fledged AI products like Performance Max.
However, recent AI advancements are set to push AI to the forefront of ad operations, aiming to revolutionize decision-making, problem-solving, and creativity enhancement in advertising.
Simplifying Ad Campaigns through AI-Powered Chat
Recognizing the complexity of starting a new ad campaign, Google introduced a natural language, AI-powered chat feature within Google Ads. This feature allows advertisers to start a campaign by providing a preferred landing page from their website. Google AI then generates relevant keywords, headlines, descriptions, and other campaign assets. Advertisers can review and modify these AI-generated suggestions before launching the campaign, making the process easier and more efficient.
Supercharging Ads with Generative AI
In 2022, Google introduced automatically created assets (ACA) for Search Ads, which generated headlines and descriptions using content from advertisers’ landing pages and existing ads. The latest update supercharges ACA with generative AI, offering an enhanced ability to tailor Search Ads based on specific queries.
Generative AI offers a significant advantage in creating highly relevant ads. For instance, if a user searches for “skin care for dry sensitive skin,” AI will use relevant content to create a new headline like “Soothe Your Dry, Sensitive Skin.”
Performance Max: AI-Driven Success
Performance Max, a full-fledged AI product, has been instrumental in driving growth for businesses. On average, advertisers using Performance Max achieved over 18% more conversions at a similar cost per action. Google is set to boost this already effective tool by integrating generative AI into Performance Max, allowing for easy creation and scaling of custom assets.
Delivering New Ad Experiences with Generative AI
The recent Google I/O event announced the arrival of new generative AI capabilities to Google Search, promising smarter and simpler search experiences. As the future of Search evolves, the future of advertising will follow suit, opening new avenues for businesses to grow and showcase their brands.
The new Search Generative Experience (SGE) will experiment with Search and Shopping ads that integrate within the AI-powered snapshot and conversational mode. Furthermore, it will test new formats native to SGE using generative AI to create relevant, customized ads for every step of the search journey.
Privacy and Transparency in AI-Powered Ads
As Google pushes the boundaries of ad capabilities with AI, it also reaffirms its commitment to privacy and transparency. With third-party cookies set to be phased out from Chrome next year, Google is testing privacy-preserving signals from the Privacy Sandbox. These changes are designed to ensure businesses can continue reaching relevant customers and measuring results in a privacy-first digital environment.
This new era of AI-powered advertising aims to multiply the impact of businesses’ marketing efforts, backed by Google’s robust AI capabilities. As this new chapter unfolds, Google will continue its process of experimentation, testing, and seeking feedback to refine its offerings further. The future of advertising is here, and it is AI-powered.
