PPCChat | Recent News And Announcements | 28th April 2020

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Hosted by Julie F Bacchini, this week’s PPCChat session focused on recent features and updates announced by all paid search platforms and what experts think about these changes.

Q1: What do you think about Facebook rolling back the forced CBO (campaign budget optimization)? Will this change anything for you?

 

I wish Google would give me ad group budgeting so needless to say I’m thrilled. More control is better. @CJSlattery

This will def change things for me! I have a client in the franchise world and I can now do single campaigns with geos by ad set, rather than 7-12 campaigns. $ per region is non-negotiable, so I’m pretty pleased about this! @JuliaVyse

I’m glad this is not being forced upon us, and that is not just my default stance on things being forced by platforms. It varies by client if having a bunch of things under one campaign makes more sense than a bunch of campaigns. I’d like to still decide that! @NeptuneMoon

We’ve seen some good results using min and max budgets. But there are still glitches in the system. We will probably stay with CBO for current campaigns and switch back for new campaigns. @AskYisrael

I’m ecstatic about it, will definitely save a ton of time not having to restructure everything. @DigiKat826

Decisions like this make me wonder who they asked for feedback in the initial phases. Didn’t the potential issues become apparent pretty quickly? Then FB wouldn’t have had to backpedal. @robert_brady

Choice is always good, overall, particularly in a field where the platforms seem to love forcing “improvements” on everyone! @MaltzPPC

These were my thoughts last week. I think it’s great to offer flexibility to advertisers as I have historically preferred ad group budgets but I get the logic behind CBO. Budgets should align with audiences. I’m mostly like what the heck is going on over at FB Ads? @Mark_from_MKTG

I liked CBO and was getting It to work across clients. Wasn’t perfect and nothing is but I just roll with the punches most days when it comes to ad platforms. @duanebrown

 

Q2: What do you think about Google Shopping announcing that they will now offer free listings for any business in the Shopping tab? Will this change anything for you?

 

It reminds me of the good old days, am I right? @MaltzPPC

Think it’s small potatoes. Don’t think it’s really going to move the needle on anything, just a good piece of PR for Google. Getting a few free clicks here and there will be cool, but Google is never going to give you something really valuable for free. @CJSlattery

What is old is new again. We don’t have any ecomm clients but I remember using Froogle back in the day. @Mel66

Yes! it’s now relevant for me to actually talk about GS with my toy client. Their budget is not infinite, so they focus on best roi which is Amazon. Now it’s worth actually getting a feed organized and set up. @JuliaVyse

This is huge for us. We have clients that were scared to use it before, and now we can show them how well it works. We have new prospective clients that are looking for help to set it up. All good stuff. @ynotweb

I think they want to take some initial searching share away from Amazon. In order to do that though, they need a lot more shopping results, hence this move… It is a “giveaway” to ultimately drive more ad revenue, IMO. @NeptuneMoon

</rant mode commence/> Can we all remember this was free 8 years ago. Now they’re repositioning the paid listings as a way of leap frogging the free efforts. This is all a farce, to help drive more demand to use paid version </end rant mode/>. Now for my fav hat. @JonKagan

From the screenshots, organic shopping is underneath paid. This is more likely to hurt search campaigns as it pushes them further down. So branded search will take a hit. A lot depends on how they position it and implement it across different devices. @AskYisrael

This is great for one of my ecomm clients who is just getting started on shopping and has been hit somewhat hard by the coronavirus. They can now test the waters for free while still keeping budget in the most profitable areas. @joshuadubs

I think it really is a move to get more people to actually use and find value in the Google shopping tab, which will in turn result in more shopping ad inventory. @Mark_from_MKTG

This is a HUGE thing for a lot of smaller retailers that may have been Amazon or Etsy centric before. @PPCKirk shared some initial data that this is driving .5% to 10% of Shopping campaign traffic for free…which can be significant AND a nice PoC for shopping ads. @DigitalSamIAm

I think it was a good thing Google offered this for free. It is good for them, because they get more feed data even from smaller merchants. It is good for merchants, because any free traffic is good. I just make sure all clients have surfaces enabled as a process. @lchasse

Free listings are cool. All you have to do is set up your Merchant Center/product feed. But that’s a challenging first step for many small ecomm businesses. @FindingAmanda

Big who-cares, but in general a good thing. Great for the folks who get the free traffic but I’d argue it’s super-low-volume as a percentage. Feel like it’s more a anti-trust play than anything else. @ferkungamaboobo

Shopping was free in 2013. A few clicks is not going to move the needle for our clients. PR more and I still think it’s a data play somehow. When Google gives something for “free”, they really want our data some how. We should want more then some ree clicks. @duanebrown

Worth reading what the folks over at @CommnThreadCo wrote about this: commonthreadco.com/blogs/coachs-c… @nickvitucci

 

Q3: What do you think about the Google Ads advertiser verification program? How do you envision this going for your clients/company?

 

Won’t be an issue for any of my clients fortunately. Just gotta do the paperwork. @robert_brady

Seems like it was coming regardless, and I’m more annoyed that Google’s move is likely to precipitate moves from Facebook + Twitter + LinkedIn, all of whom I trust less to handle it well. @DigitalSamIAm

I think the verification is going to be an absolute shitshow. And, you better believe Google has projections on how much money they’re going to net in terms of fat-fingered clicks from people clicking on the ad instead of the about this advertiser arrow. @CJSlattery

I don’t know enough about it yet. And I don’t get how the identity will filter through an mcc. often you have to make a new google account just to get access to different products so….truly unsure. @JuliaVyse

If you thought close variants clicks were trash, just wait for all the mistake clicks to start rolling in after this gets rolled out! @CJSlattery

Love it. Anything that helps the wild west be a bit more tamed is good. I’d love more info on processes from Google but that might be my lack of research. @ferkungamaboobo

I understand why they have to do it with political ads, and other sketchy stuff that goes on. Just another step to take when getting an account ready that folks will need to take. @lchasse

Mostly PR. It’s their way of showing they slightly care about the searcher, but not really. It’ll just give them more info about companies. @AskYisrael

It’s definitely going to be a hassle. @DigiKat826

Also not looking forward to the potential of wasted $ on accidental clicks from users trying to click the dropdown. @DigiKat826

I reserve judgement. It’s probably fine but might be problematic if we end up paying for those clicks. @Mel66

As discussed on @MarketingOClock I’m concerned about the placement of the “About the Advertiser” pop-up. Are people going to try clicking on that and accidentally click on your ad wasting money? This will likely be rare but the fact that it COULD happen annoys me. @Mark_from_MKTG

I think it’s a good idea in principle, but likely will have very messy implementation and lots of pain for good clients with limited actual effect. 6 months after it starts it will work. @armondhammer

The requirements are going to be a PITA to do for larger companies. They want someone’s ID associated with the account – yup driver’s license. That should be super easy to get from the CEO… And tax forms or corporate org forms. @NeptuneMoon

I may need to grab my tinfoil hat, because of the release’s mention about this not affecting Partners. While they’ve postponed until ’21, verification could still let them identify individuals who’re uncertified. They could leverage that info in a punitive way. @heyglenn

I think this is a chess move setting up a future policy for Google. For instance, narrowing down the local region of some advertisers. @ynotweb

Clients will hate it and ask why. Not looking forward to the paperwork but I’ll do what I can to help each client make it happen. @duanebrown

I think it could be a good thing, it will make us more credible in the long run. But there’s also a lot of potential to make our lives a lot harder. @jord_stark

Because the details around are so obscure…yeah, I got some feelings. @JonKagan

 

Q4: What do you think about the COVID grant programs announced by Google and Facebook?

 

I’m glad they’re doing it, but it doesn’t affect much for us. @JuliaVyse

For some companies, every dollar helps. But I’m sure you’ll have to jump through some intense hoops. @robert_brady

Still waiting for Google to let us know what their definition of SMB is. @Mark_from_MKTG

Small potatoes when you think about how much money each advertiser would really get. This is a major rounding error for G and FB. The large number sounds impressive until you do the math. @duanebrown

Too limited to be useful to my clients. @ynotweb

Glad they’re doing them, would love more info from Google. FB’s is kind of lame because it’s only to limited to large metros. @DigiKat826

On paper it sounds great, but until we see it starting to hit, gonna be skeptical up front. @JonKagan

Kinda being a downer, but it’s BS/PR and getting folks hopes up for nothing. I’d be happy for my clients if we get one, but I’d also be ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED if any client got it. @ferkungamaboobo

On paper looks like a great option, but sometimes, those things are too much work only to get rejected. I hope those brands that really need it can benefit from it, but healthy businesses shouldn’t be dipping in IMO. @RyBen3

I looked into the Facebook COVID grant program and it’s only available for businesses in certain locations, ie not mine. Doesn’t make a ton of sense to me bc… the internet? @FindingAmanda

I think it’ll move the needle about as much as the free clicks. Google could have done a big move to support their ecosystem by having a program directly for partner agencies but… why would they possibly want to support agencies? @CJSlattery

We will see how much this affects anything once Google actually releases the ad credits in May. @ynotweb

Agree with everyone on FB’s being weirdly geographically limited. Google’s is set up like like the lottery that you can’t really tell for sure if you’ve actually entered… So, they could be doing better/differently and actually helping struggling businesses. @NeptuneMoon

I think about the good a company the size of Google could do vs. what they will do. This is good, just kind of peanuts. They essentially sell a digital product so their actual cost is low and they could do more for advertisers (if they wanted to). @lchasse

Generally speaking, it’s a nice gesture…BUT it’s also always a little tricky when an auction company gives away free bids? @MaltzPPC

It’s a nice gesture, but meh. The stipulations/limitations (previous advertiser for Google, located near FB location) are annoying. But I’m not going to knock a company for helping out during this time. @DigitalSamIAm

 

Q5: What do you think about the new targeting options in LinkedIn – company growth rate and company category?

 

I’m into it! options like category make things easier for us. @JuliaVyse

LinkedIn targeting rocks. I hope they continue to give us tons of options. @FindingAmanda

Savvy move on their part. @MaltzPPC

Interested to check them out! Generally a fan of more ways to target…@NeptuneMoon

More targeting options is always a good thing. It helps us do our jobs and spend more wisely on behalf of our clients. Keep going LinkedIn! @lchasse

I haven’t used them yet, but I’m definitely very pro. LinkedIn has a ton of great targeting options and this is just one more way advertisers can deliver targeted offers that actually suit a business’s current needs. @Mark_from_MKTG

 

Q6: More Google Ads changes – web links in the formerly “call only ads”, columns can sync across accounts and shared budgets come to Editor – thoughts?

 

I’m in favour of all of these changes! some are things we’ve needed for a while, some just remind other platforms that we need up to date offline editors! @JuliaVyse

I’m still trying to figure out the “call ads” change…@MaltzPPC

I tweeted this earlier, but the call only ad is weird. Why not just have an “emphasize my phone number” toggle and put it in the headlines? As for shared budgets in Editor I say – about damn time. @NeptuneMoon

I mean, c’mon, call them what they are: call extensions. @JonKagan

Call ads… But updating the offline editor is always a nice thing though. Offline editor is so important for those of us who work in ads daily. @lchasse

I think it’s a good move to give advertisers more flexibility but I will probably never use it. @Mark_from_MKTG

I mean, for the Ads Editor changes, it’s about damn time. While I tend to be in favor of progress no matter how slow, eesh. Call ads are basically call extensions that have become ad units, but I guess good in the current environment. @DigitalSamIAm

 

Q7: Quora revamped their interface last week – have you used it yet? Thoughts?

 

Still have not ventured into Quora yet myself. @lchasse

Used the platform for the 1st time right after the change, pretty easy to use though. @DigiKat826

Quora is a great platform — definitely something I’d recommend taking some time to learn + use during this period. Their audience insights (free!) are also pretty nifty and have be helpful in identifying other audiences in Google Ads/FB Ads. @DigitalSamIAm

 

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