Google is in the process of making a number of major changes to its platform. Ignoring the changes is not an option for most advertisers, as these will affect campaign performance if you don't attend to them. Same-Meaning Close Variants Google has progressively broadened the scope and keywords and what search queries can trigger them. This included making "close variants" mandatory back in 2014 and adding "word-order" matches in 2017. Last fall you'd think the sky was falling when Google [...]

Google offers an ever-growing list of bidding strategies. Unless you're a seasoned pro it can be difficult to understand why or where you should use one over the other. All things being equal, don't we all want to "maximize our conversions?" The answer is, not exactly. In today's article, I'll run through all available (and one upcoming) bidding strategy, explain how they work, and when you should consider it for your campaign. Note: This article was updated on April 6th, [...]

Google just completed its annual Marketing Live event for 2019. Each year they announce a swath of new Google Ads (and other ad products) features that are upcoming or launching immediately. This year the unstated theme seemed to be adding more inventory and placements. Shortly, advertisers will be getting access to: Discovery Ads - large format mixed content ads that will appear in Google News Feeds Gallery Ads - large format mixed content ad that will appear at the top [...]