Google has added several new features to Google Ads in 2019, and enhanced many earlier features. Seven of the new Google Ads features that are relevant to PPC (Pay per Click) search campaigns are listed below. 

Using these new and improved Google Ads features in your Google Ads PPC (Pay per Click) search campaigns for your business in Dallas, Plano or Frisco will help to improve the performance of your PPC campaigns and increase the Click through rate (CTR). 

1. Responsive Search Ads (beta) in Google Ads:

Responsive search ads were introduced in Google Ads in 2018 and are still in beta. They allow you to create flexible ads with several different combinations of headlines and descriptions. This allows you to show ads with more relevant messages to customers. 

Google Ads will test different combinations of the responsive search ads on relevant search queries and determine which works best. This should help to increase ad relevance, campaign performance and your Google Ads quality score.

 

To add responsive search ads to your campaign:

 

Step 1. Go to Ads & Extensions > Click +

 

Step 2. Select Responsive Search Ad

 

Step 3. Select Campaign and Ad group. Add headlines.

 

Step 4. Add descriptions. Save ad.

 

Responsive search ads allow you to add 15 headlines and 4 descriptions on a single ad. Google Ads will then show the ads with 3 headlines and 2 descriptions in multiple combinations and in any order to match customer search terms. Each headline allows 30 characters and each description 90 characters.

 

If you want text to appear on every ad, you can pin that text to headline 1, headline 2 or description 1. To pin text to a specific position in the ad, you can select the pin icon to the right of the text. You can also pin 2 or 3 headlines to a specific position and they would be shown at different times in that position. However, pinning does limit the number of ad combinations and is generally not recommended.

 

For responsive search ads, Google recommends adding at least 5 headlines and 2 descriptions to increase the chances that your ad will show. 

 

Remember to use your popular keywords in your headlines, make your headlines and descriptions unique, focus on product & service benefits and use Call To Action(CTA). Make sure the content is not repetitive because headlines can be shown in any order. You can also use ad extensions with responsive search ads.

 

The benefits of using responsive search ads include :

• Ability to use more keywords in your ads
• Increase ad relevance because of more keywords to match search terms
• Adapt to different device sizes 
• Ability to compete in more auctions

 

When we used the responsive search ads on our Google Ads PPC campaigns, we saw a higher CTR.

 

A new feature was added in June 2019 to allow creation and editing of responsive search ads in the Google Ads mobile app. The mobile app allows you to monitor your campaigns and quickly create and edit the responsive search ads on the go. Previously, you were only able to pause and enable the ads from the mobile app.

 

Google does caution that since the responsive search ads are still in beta, you need to constantly monitor the performance of your responsive search ads. You should also have at least 2 expanded text ads in the same ad group with your responsive search ad.

 

 

2. Additions to Google Ads Mobile App:

New features continue to roll out to the Google Ads mobile app. 

• One of the new features is the Responsive Search Ads creation and editing feature mentioned above.  
• Another feature that was added is the addition, review and editing of negative keywords. This was only available on desktop before. 

The mobile app is available on Android and IOS.

 

3. Portfolio Bid Strategies Get Simpler in Google Ads:

Portfolio bid strategies are automated bid strategies to optimize bids across several campaigns. 2 new changes were introduced to portfolio bid strategies in June, 2019. 

 

• Enhanced CPC Portfolio strategies are being removed. 

You can now enable Enhanced CPC at the campaign level. All Enhanced CPC portfolios are being converted to Enhanced CPC campaigns later in 2019.

 

• Target Spend settings on Maximize Clicks campaigns are also being removed. 

This is being replaced by the Average Daily Budget for Maximize Clicks campaigns.

 

• In May 2019, Google also replaced Target Search Page Location and Target Outranking Share with Target Impression Share Bidding.

 

4. New Recommendations in Optimization Score:

 

Optimization score was introduced in August 2018. The optimization score ranges from 0-100% and gives you different recommendations to optimize your ad campaigns to improve performance. The optimization score is calculated in real-time and can be viewed on the recommendations page in the left menu of your Google Ads dashboard.

 

The Optimization score evaluates different factors of your campaign for improvement including:

• Bids and budgets
• Ads & extensions
• Keywords & Reporting

 

New recommendations added to Optimization score in May 2019 include:

• Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) and Target Impression Share to help you reach your goals with smart bidding strategies
• Bid Adjustment suggestions for Affinity audiences, in-market audiences and demographics.
• Seasonal budget recommendations to raise budgets when seasonal traffic increases are anticipated

Optimization score is not considered when calculating Quality Score or Ad Rank.

 

5. New Keyword Planner with Enhancements in Google Ads:

 

The new Keyword Planner was added to Google Ads in 2018. In May 2019, Google announced that they are retiring the old Keyword Planner.

 

The new Keyword planner has several enhancements:

• Ability to check 10 seed terms at a time
• Individual keyword trends 
• Ability to save keyword ideas to campaigns
• Competition rankings for keywords
• In- account status of uploaded keywords
• Plan overview for new keywords that have been added to your campaign. The overview changes based on match types, locations and languages.
• Daily budget suggestions in Plan overview

 

Step 1. In Top Menu, Click on Tools & Settings > Planning> Keyword Planner

 

Step 2. Discover New Keywords

 

Step 3. Click Get Results

 

Step 4: Clearly you can see Pediatric dentist is a better keyword in terms of

Avg Monthly searches

Competition

 

 

6. Enhancements to Call-only Ads in Google Ads

Call-only ads allow people to click on your ads in the mobile search results and call you directly from the ads. 

 

Call-only ads use the same phone numbers as your call extensions. Call-only ads are available only for search campaigns.

 

In Feb 2019, Google announced that they are adding additional lines of text to call-only ads.

 

When you create a call-only ad, you can now enter:

• Headline 1, optional but recommended (30 characters)
• Headline 2, optional but recommended (30 characters)
• Business name (25 characters)
• Phone number
• Description line 1 (90 characters)
• Description line 2, optional (90 characters)
• Display URL, optional (35 characters)
• Verification URL (URL of web page that shows your business phone number)

 

You can also use ad extensions on Call-only ads including location extensions, structured snippet extensions and call-out extensions.

 

Call-only Ad Setup

 

Step 1. Go to Ads and extensions > Click +

 

Step 2. Select Call Only Ad

 

Step 3. Select Campaign and Ad group. Enter phone number & information. Save ad.

 

 

7. Average Position Being Removed From Google Ads

 

 

Starting September 29, Google is removing the Average position column from Google Ads. Average position showed the relative position of your ad compared to other ads. As a result, all rules, saved columns, saved reports and filters that use average position will be affected.

 

Average position will be replaced by 2 new metrics that show the actual position of the ad on the search results pages. 

 

 

• Search Top Impression Rate

 

The search top impression rate is the percentage of your ad impressions that are shown above the organic search results.

 

• Search Absolute Top Impression Rate

 

Search Absolute Top Impression Rate is the percentage of your ad impressions that are shown as the first ad above the organic search listings.

 

Conclusion

 

Google Ads continues to evolve with new feature additions in 2019. We have seen many new features that have been added in 2019 to search, display and app campaigns. 

 

Some of the new Google Ads features that have been added this year include enhancements to Responsive search ads and Call-only ads; the new keyword planner; simpler portfolio bid strategies and optimization score improvements. In addition, the Google Ads mobile app continues to evolve so that we can keep track of our PPC accounts from our mobile devices.

These new Google Ads features are definitely improvements and you should be using them in your PPC (Pay per Click) search campaigns for your Dallas business to improve your Google Ads PPC campaign performance. 

Kash Data Consulting LLC is a Search Marketing firm specializing in providing Google Analytics training and services in Dallas, TX. Our Online marketing experts have significant years of practical experience in SEO, Google Analytics, Google AdWords, Social Media Marketing, Local Search Marketing, YouTube Optimization and Content Writing with WordPress CMS in Plano, Frisco, Allen and surrounding DFW Metroplex areas.

Click below to read how Kash Data Consulting LLC helped Kids Pediatric Dentistry to grow their business with Google Ads.

Case Studies

 

Written by Tanuja Mahdavi, MBA, digital marketing consultant & owner of Gold Mango Design LLC.
Gold Mango Design is a digital marketing and web design company in Plano, TX.

 

References

1. New Features & Announcements in Google Ads, https://support.google.com/google-ads/announcements/9048695?hl=en
2. About Responsive Search Ads, https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/7684791?hl=en

 

Related Links

1. https://www.datatechnologyllc.com/seo/adwords-by-google/
2. https://www.datatechnologyllc.com/google-ads-why-do-you-need-it-and-how-to-start-google-ad-campaign/