Google AdWords has recently come out with a new update called Enhanced Campaigns that looks to make advertising across devices easier for businesses. This update is all about the context of the consumer: device, location, and time.
Google’s View
Before Enhanced Campaigns, AdWords users had to create a separate ad campaign to advertise on mobile devices. With the update, users only need one campaign and can select what devices they want a campaign to run on. Additionally, users will be able to adjust their bids from -100% to 300% based on device. So, for example, if a company wants to only advertise on static devices, it will set the bid price for the entire campaign, and adjust the bid on mobile devices to -100% to ensure there is no bid.
Users are also able to adjust their bid rate based on location of the consumer. This will give businesses the opportunity to focus on customers, either locally or globally, within one campaign instead of making separate campaigns for each target location.
Another feature of Enhanced Campaigns is the option for users to create an ad schedule, which will allow companies to adjust their bid price up or down based on the time of day.
With all of these features now available, AdWords is basically letting businesses make logical assumptions about what a consumer is looking for based on his or her search. For example, a person searching for pizza from home, using a laptop around lunch time is probably looking for pizza delivery. On the other hand, somebody who is downtown searching for pizza from their phone right after work is more likely trying to find a place for pick-up or that sells by the slice.
While some of the features are not entirely new, Enhanced Campaigns lets users edit and control all ad attributes in one campaign. Previously, if a company wanted to change the bid price for a particular area or time of day, they would have to create a completely new campaign specifically for that location or time. With everything now rolled into one campaign, businesses have more control over their ads and can reach their target market with much more ease.
What Is Really Happening
Google has been making a push to get an increase in pay-per-click advertising on mobile devices. For this reason they are updating all current accounts to Enhanced Campaigns on July 22 to include mobile whether the user wants it or not. If a user does not want to advertise on a certain device, they need to change it themselves or else their ads will automatically run across all devices.
Since Enhanced Campaigns was made available in February, both Adobe and iProspect have seen CPCs rise for the first time in two years. Adobe found a 6% increase across all devices while iProspect found increases of 12% for tablets, 14% for desktops, and 9% for smartphones.
Enhanced Campaigns has also lumped desktops and tablets into one category. This means that users will have to advertise exactly the same for both. On top of that, businesses will be able to view desktop performance and tablet performance separately. This is kind of cruel considering users will be incapable of changing their advertising strategy for one without affecting the other.
Like most new products or services, Enhanced Campaigns has many things to like and dislike. With the new update potentially having huge impacts on smaller businesses, it is best for AdWords users to learn the capabilities of Enhanced Campaigns before they automatically get updated on July 22.
