Google Marketing Live was yesterday, and the Google Ad team announced a ton of new AI formats, new ad tools, and changes to the Google Ads platform that are coming soon. The big items for me are ads in AI Overviews, new AI Shopping Ads, Brand Profile ads, and more AI tools to help you create your ads. But there was a lot, a lot of ad news announced and I will try to cover just the search stuff real quick for you all.
This is all summed up nicely in this Search Engine Land post and by Google in this announcement post. But here is my take:
Ads In AI Overviews
As expected, Google showcased ads directly in the AI Overviews. Google said it will "start testing Search and Shopping ads in AI Overviews for users in the U.S." This will "start with a small experiment in the U.S. and take a responsible approach, applying learnings from user, advertiser, and publisher feedback," Google added.
Google wrote that in "early testing, we’ve heard that people find the ads appearing above and below the AI-generated overview helpful."
You do not have to create new ads for this, as you would imagine, Google will just use the ads you already have set up. Google said, "Your ads from existing AI-powered Search and Performance Max campaigns will have the opportunity to appear within the AI Overview in a section clearly labeled as “Sponsored” when they’re relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview."
Here is what these ads look like:
Let’s say friends are renovating and they search for “short term storage.” Clicking an ad for a storage facility may lead to a dynamic experience where AI helps them figure out what they need. If they share details, like photos of furniture and their budget, Google AI could then recommend storage unit sizing and packing materials with a link to purchase on the website.
AI-Powered Recommendations Ads
Google has these new "AI-powered experiences that provide personalized recommendations," the company announced. The example provided was that it can "create a whole new way for customers to express demand where they can share more about what they want through multimodal inputs like photos and receive tailored recommendations." Google said these AI-powered recommendations ads will be tested with select advertisers in the U.S. over the coming weeks.
Here is what they look like:
Visual Brand Profile Ads
Let's get crazy big with ads at the top of Google Search with these new visual brand profile ads. Google said you can "highlight your brand's unique story with the visual brand profile on Google Search, showcasing your images, videos, and promotions." "Ads will continue to appear on the page along with the brand profile," Google added. This is rolling out in the coming months.
Here is what it looks like:
Shopping Ads with AI Visuals
Video highlights for ads: Google said video highlights ads are coming aater this year, for a small group of advertisers. This is to "introduce a new immersive experience in Shopping ads for select apparel and beauty categories. This experience invites shoppers to explore curated short videos from your brand, discover helpful customer quotes about a product, and browse additional brand offerings."
Virtual try-on in Shopping ads for both men's and women's tops. "This experience will help shoppers see how your clothes fit on a variety of body types to build the confidence to buy." Google said.
360 view will launch in the coming months, that will allow searchers to see a 360 view of your shoes from a Shopping ad. Simply provide a few product images, then Google AI will create a 3D spin of your footwear. Your Shopping ads will also become even more informative by automatically surfacing key product information from your website and positive highlights from customer reviews.
AI Ad Creation Tools
Then Google demoed a ton of AI built into the Google Ads platform to help you create your ads, from image generation to text generation. I am not going to go through them all in detail, links above or below for that but here are bullet points:
- Brand guidelines. Soon, advertisers can share their font and color guidelines in Performance Max, as well as provide helpful image reference points to generate new asset variations.
- Image editing. Google is introducing new image editing capabilities so advertisers can try adding new objects, extending backgrounds, and cropping to adapt images to any format, size and orientation. Additionally, retailers will be able to highlight their products from their Google Merchant Center feeds and take advantage of these editing capabilities.
- Image references and image recommendations. With Image references and recommendations, Google AI can help Pmax campaigns generate new creative variations that meet advertiser brand standards.
- Image Generation in your Brand Style. Now, within Product Studio, brands will be able to generate new product images that match their unique brand style. They can just upload an image that represents their aesthetic, add a prompt describing the scene and within moments Product Studio will generate campaign-ready content.
- Image-to-Video Generation. Product Studio will also give brands the ability to generate videos from just one photo. So, with just the click of a button, brands can animate components of still product images to create short videos or playful product GIFs for social media.
So what was new?
If you took last year's GML and played it alongside this one, it is like a twin. If you take out the AI, almost nothing was new.
— Lawrence Chasse (@lchasse) May 21, 2024
As @rustybrick would say "not new". I mean they literally talked about virtual try-on and watching people game as new, ummmm nope.
There is more and you can find all the news summed up in a nice bow with Google marketing talk over here.
Oh, there is also Shaq:
Was not on my #GML2024 prediction but hello @SHAQ ! #ppcchat pic.twitter.com/6P2SAMAhGG
— Brooke Osmundson (@BrookeOsmundson) May 21, 2024
When your pal @SPoulton gets called up by @SHAQ for a hug on the Google stage 😂😂😂 #GML2024 pic.twitter.com/ya9rTspS8f
— Kirk Williams (@PPCKirk) May 21, 2024
Header image credit to @MenachemAni
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