Google Marketing Live 2024, an eagerly anticipated event for digital marketers and advertisers, concluded recently.
Despite high expectations, the event received mixed reactions, with many advertisers expressing disappointment over the lack of groundbreaking announcements and innovative solutions.
The event primarily focused on incremental platform updates rather than introducing new features or tools.
Google highlighted improvements in its AI-driven tools, particularly in ad targeting and performance analytics, aiming to make ad campaigns more efficient and effective.
Here’s what people have to say about this new Google Ads update.
Additionally, Google announced new privacy-centric advertising solutions to ensure compliance with global privacy regulations while still delivering relevant ads.
There were also a few new ad formats introduced to enhance user engagement across platforms like YouTube and Google Search, and further integration with Google Analytics 4 to provide deeper insights into user behavior and campaign performance.
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Despite these announcements, many advertisers felt that Google Marketing Live 2024 did not meet their expectations. Advertisers hoped for more innovative solutions to navigate the increasingly complex digital advertising world.
Some advertisers also felt that Google’s new privacy measures were insufficient to fully address their concerns, highlighting the need for more transparent and comprehensive solutions that balance privacy with effective ad targeting.
Additionally, the deeper integration with Google Analytics 4 was seen as a positive step, but some advertisers pointed out the challenges in fully leveraging these integrations due to the learning curve and implementation complexities.
Industry experts offered a broader perspective on the event, as mentioned on Search Engine Land. Amalia Fowler, the founder of Good AF Consulting, highlighted the confusion between Google’s stance on AI replacing marketers versus AI aiding in marketing strategy.
Amalia Fowler, founder of Good AF Consulting: “I was confused by the declaration that AI is not replacing the marketer later followed by AI being able to do marketing strategy. The ‘control’ narrative felt like lip service, but a couple updates do speak to hearing advertisers’ concerns. “We are in an age of automation and AI, and by definition machine learning requires volume to learn, which, in the case of Google Ads, requires budget. This tells me that advertisers with minimum budgets need to wait to use Google Ads or divert more funds to Google Ads and small businesses need to carefully consider their marketing strategies from a holistic point of view. “A lot of the products mentioned require data from elsewhere – pulling in text examples or leveraging feed creative. Garbage in, garbage out. “Updates felt like slightly more advanced versions of last year’s GML.”
Jeremy Krantz, director of paid search at Compound Growth Marketing, found the event underwhelming, particularly from a B2B perspective, noting the lack of surprises or unexpected announcements.
Jeremy Krantz, director of paid search, Compound Growth Marketing: “The live Ai prototype felt like a rushed response to ChatGPT 4o and everything else pertaining to ai and pmax was very much expected. “Overall GML 2024 felt very underwhelming, especially when looking at it from a B2B lens. There were no surprises or anything that was unexpected that was announced. “Hopefully B2B comes into focus at some point because as of right now we’re once again completely ignored.”
Sarah Stemen, founder of Sarah Stemen LLC, emphasized the potential power of AI asset production in Performance Max (PMax) for rapid testing but felt that the delivery was unclear.
Sarah Stemen, founder, Sarah Stemen LLC: “AI asset production in Pmax can be incredibly powerful for rapid testing. I believe the real power in this feature will be the combination of AI assets + Asset Level reporting Ads in AI overviews was inevitable, as overviews occupy significant space and present numerous commercial opportunities. The delivery came across unclear. It seems like Google doesn’t know how to do this yet. For turning images into videos when Google creates a video in Pmax, isn’t this essentially what’s happening? It seemed to me like a variation of an existing process, but perhaps that’s just my perspective. I would love to hear your thoughts on if this is actually new or another spin.”
Navah Hopkins, brand evangelist at Optmyzr, appreciated updates like image-to-video ads and profit bidding but noted that many features were not new.
Navah Hopkins, brand evangelist, Optmyzr: “There are several updates that apply to B2B/Lead gen: Image to video ads, brand controls, Demand Gen lookalikes needing only 100 users, profit bidding, and ads serving in AI overviews.”
Niki Grant, partner support director at ClickTech Solution, found the new visual formats interesting and noted that the profit optimization goals in PMax could be significant, depending on data requirements.
Niki Grant, partner support director, ClickTech Solution: “I’m sure we all knew GML would be full of AI updates, and features such as brand guidelines are a step in the right direction for advertisers riding the AI wave who still want to maintain some control over their presence. “New visual formats will be interesting as Google continues to diversify away from the world of text ads, in particular brand profiles, which offers a fresh way to summarize your brand to customers; it’s nice to see something that looks genuinely different rather than a variation of what we’re used to “Profit optimization goals in Performance Max sound particularly significant, as advertisers strive to optimize towards real-world bottom line metrics rather than ‘media metrics’; I’m keen to find out how much data these goals will require to function, and whether smaller advertisers will be sidelined as a result.”
Scott Carruthers, head of PPC at Journey Further, welcomed asset-level reporting and YouTube exclusions in PMax but expressed skepticism about other updates.
Scott Carruthers (Head of PPC at Journey further): More insights for Performance Max – asset level reporting etc (isn’t this what we’ve all been waiting for?!) Linking YouTube creator accounts to Ads accounts – being able to promote UGC is huge, and Google have been lacking in this area versus other platforms. YT ads are sure to gain more traction with better links / support of creators.
Jyll Saskin-Gales, Google Ads coach at Learn with Jyll, noted the emphasis on PMax as the way forward in a multimodal environment but echoed concerns about the lack of focus on B2B and lead generation.
Jyll Saskin-Gales (Google Ads Coach at Learn with Jyll): While the “Power Pair” proclamation of Search + PMax is a good sales narrative, PMax is very obviously the way forward in this multimodal environment.
The reactions reflect a mix of cautious optimism about specific updates and significant skepticism about the broader relevance and innovation of Google Marketing Live 2024, particularly for B2B and smaller advertisers.
While some advertisers are pleased with certain updates, there is a growing fatigue with frequent Artificial Intelligence-driven changes. Smaller brands, in particular, are looking for better updates and a clearer understanding of how these changes will affect their performance, a need that has not been fully addressed yet.
Moving forward, the advertising community expects Google to introduce more substantial advancements to meet the complex demands of digital marketing.
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