Google Ads: what is it and what are its features

Google Ads: what is it and what are its features

Google Ads helps you connect with the right people, at the right time, with the right message.

Do you remember what advertising was like before Google? The big companies advertised on TV, in newspapers, magazines, billboards, and all OOH media. Small companies, on the other hand, prospected and advertised in small media such as neighborhood magazines, local radio stations, leafleting, PAP, and others. Some even got a channel as a billboard, but the scenario was not very democratic.

Google has broken this paradigm. Whether you are a small company or a micro-entrepreneur, you can compete for the same search engine space with large companies, taking into account, of course, several factors such as the amount of times you will appear, due to the high budget that large companies have for marketing. But I emphasize the importance that supported by good strategic planning, clear objectives, analysis and optimization, all companies appear in the same search media. Creating online ads is for everyone!

In this article we will talk about

  • What is Google Ads
  • Google Ads Features

What is Google Ads?

All the time, people use Google in search of information needed to perform their tasks. Google Ads is the digital advertising solution that helps you reach this audience and turn them into valuable customers by connecting with the right people at the right time with the right message.

Your sponsored links can appear in the Search Network, Display, Shopping, Youtube, Waze, and google partners, just when someone is looking for products or services like yours. You can also customize by filtering by keywords and/or location to get in front of the most relevant customers.

The Google Ads platform gives you access to a wide variety of online advertising products designed to reach customers at the most relevant time, so you can focus on growing your business while Google’s technology works hard to deliver the best results.

Managed Google Cloud

In short, people search for products, services, answers to their questions, information, and more on the world’s most famous search engine, Google. Which in turn makes an auction on top of the bids that companies are willing to give for a certain keyword. In that fraction of a second, ads appear in the top search positions, whether on the computer screen, smartphone or tablet. Those who have the best title, best copy for descriptions and ctas and use Google’s best practices have a better chance of clicking. It is important to note that your CTR, i.e. your click-through rate, counts for your ad to be shown in the first position. We realize from this that it is not just pay and “done”, it is necessary to be relevant even to paid search.

After the ads, Google delivers the most relevant organic results, i.e. those sites that rank best, i.e. do a great SEO job. But that is a subject for another post.

Google Ads Features

Now that you know what Google Ads is, I will dig a little deeper by talking about its features. By understanding this, you will be able to track your campaign more accurately, making sure that you don’t waste time (and money) on ads that don’t bring results.

Google Ads is very accurate and intuitive, but it is worth noting that it is not a user-friendly tool. So before I continue, I want to say that we are at your disposal to help you on your way. After all, who better to help your business grow on Google, than a Google Partner Agency?

Research Network

That classic search engine page is where the Search Network ads are displayed, which occupy prominent areas, usually in the first three or four positions, and also appear in the last positions of the page as well

In addition to this page, search results are also displayed on large portals such as G1, UOL, Terra, and also on smaller sites with internal search engines that are part of Google’s affiliate network, which is Google AdSense. But this is also talk for another postblog.

Advertising on Google’s Search Network is very interesting, because it is the place where people search for that keyword that has to do with your business, i.e. you have a chance to show your ad exactly when someone is looking for it. Isn’t that great?

Display Network

The Display Network has numerous partner sites, in addition to some of Google’s own, such as Gmail, Blogger, and YouTube, for example, that work with Google Ads. The ad can even run on mobile applications.

The advertiser that uses this network has a very large audience reach. And you can still reach him in several ways, through the channel that interests him most. These ads can be text, graphic, video, or rich media.

Possibilities

  • Create several types of ads: text, graphic, interactive, and video;
  • Run ads on sites that are relevant to the audience;
  • Show ads to customers who are probably already in the journey and or will enter.

Main formats

To serve ads on the Display Network, there are currently 42 formats. But we have brought here the formats that your ad must have in order to run in most of Google’s advertising spaces.

Video from Google Ads or Youtube Ads

Those who surf the web, consume content on Youtube because it is diverse and highly relevant, because it is a community that connects.

A third of the world’s population consumes Youtube content and adds up to billions of hours watched. That is why Youtube is today the second place where people search for information, second only to Google itself.

Try to count how many times you have looked up a tutorial to learn how to do something. We certainly lost count of the amount. This is what makes Youtube a great channel for ads, because at the same time that people looking for content and creators are on the platform creating, you can communicate directly with your audience.

We can see in this example, the areas that we can advertise on Youtube. In this case, in a video that talks about finances, the productivity platform company takes the opportunity to communicate with this audience

Below we can see the types of Youtube ads:

Graphics

  • Standard Banners
  • InVideo.

Video

  • True View
  • In-Stream standard.

Other Resources

  • Masthead and expansive homepage, which can be requested with the Google team
  • Rich Media.

Google Shopping

This type of ad is very good for companies that sell online. Mainly retailers and even wholesalers, because they are visual ads, which appear even before the search ads. This way your product photo is visible, as well as your price, title, store, so that right there they can already refine whether or not it makes sense to click on your product.

Below we can see an example of when we search for “organic straightening”, Let Me Be stands out in the first ads, competing with other big ones.

Advertising on Google Shopping is not that simple. The first step is to send the product data to the Google Merchant Center in the form of a data feed, usually in an XML file, or if your site is on pre-built ecommerce platforms, it automatically creates this feed and just links it. The Merchant Center is a bit picky about filling it out correctly, so it is good to check if it has approved the feed.

Soon after, a Google Ads campaign can be created with the Shopping target, and then it will use the information from the GMC Feed to run the ads. These ads can be created dynamically, and can be displayed on the Search Network and the Display Network, including being used in remarketing campaigns.

It is worth pointing out that in this type of ads we do not target by keywords, the search term has to do with the product description in the Feed, it determines how and where the ads will be displayed.

Campaigns for Apps

That apps are a trend no one can deny. Research conducted by Opnion Box in April this year, reveals that 58% of Brazilian Internet users have already performed in-app purchases. Besides the convenience of buying with a few clicks, because usually your card is already there, among others, the applications are a great way for the company to communicate with the customer.

Google Ads has specific campaigns for Mobile Applications in the Search, Display, and Youtube Networks.

  • Mobile app install campaign

The focus of this type of ad is to get the audience to download your App. We can promote your application on the Search Network, Display Network or YouTube.

  • Universal Campaign for Apps

This format allows you to advertise on the application download platform, Google Play. In Google Search, YouTube and other applications that will lead people to your app’s listing in the Google Play Store

  • Engagement campaigns with apps

These campaigns target ads to find people with an interest in your app’s content or get users who have already downloaded your app to use it again.

Remarketing

Particularly, the remarketing strategy is one of my favorites. These ads are the ones that appear after we enter a certain site that is tagged by Google’s Remarketing Tag. It captures the cookie from the device the user browsed on a particular site and inserts it into a remarketing list that is stored in the Shared Libraries of your Google Ads Account or even your Google Analytics account, if it is integrated. When creating a campaign, you can target that group of people to see a certain ad based even on their browsing.

Here are the types of remarketing that Google Ads offers:

  • Standard Remarketing

    Google displays ads to those who have previously visited your site by serving them on Display Network sites and apps.

    In the example above, we had entered the Super Plural site, and soon after, when entering the site Small Companies & Big BusinessIt was possible to see the ad in the space that the site allocates to the (GDN) Google Display Network.
  • Dynamic Remarketing

    This is my favorite within the Remarketing strategy, because it is the one that can be the most assertive possible. Dynamic Remarketing displays on Display Network sites and applications, the products or services that visitors viewed on your site, generating that very specific reminder, further facilitating the decision making and customer experience. Below we can see an example of Dynamic Remarketing that was shown to me on Youtube, because I particularly love sneakers and I follow Nike‘s releases on a weekly basis. Google Ads displayed exactly the models I viewed on the site

  • Remarketing to mobile devices

    This format is very interesting for those who have Applications for mobile devices, because it displays ads for those who have accessed your application or mobile site, serving them in other applications or sites.

  • Remarketing Lists for Search Network Ads

    Imagine doing remarketing, displaying a customized ad to that visitor who went to your site and did not complete a purchase. Such is this format. The user may receive an ad in the Search Network with the title: “Go back and complete your order that you left in your cart”. This draws even more attention to the user.

  • Video Remarketing

    People who have interacted with your videos or your YouTube channel can also be impacted again, while browsing YouTube and other Display Network videos, sites and applications.

Similar target audiences

Anyone who has ever advertised on Facebook Ads has probably used the Lookalike feature. This feature is very similar, but in Google Ads. That is, you can create lists based on similar characteristics of those who have already visited your site or shown some interest.

When creating a remarketing list, especially if you are just starting out and have low traffic, displaying ads to that list can be a way to reach new customers.

Mailing List Ads

This feature enables us to upload an email list and create specific campaigns for existing customers, for example.

It is worth noting that this feature is more restricted for users today. You are only allowed to use this feature with customers who have already invested a high amount in campaigns.

Call Only Campaigns

Your company doesn’t have a website? Your problems are over! With this type of campaign it is possible to generate phone calls instead of redirecting to a website.

This feature is also very good for those who have websites, but that depending on the moment and need of the user, he does not need to see the site, and already clicks directly to phone call on mobile devices.

Was this article helpful?

We have tried to explain in a few words the basics about making the ads management. We also want to prove that advertising on google is worth it . If you have read this far, and still have any questions, feel free to leave a comment and we will respond as soon as possible.

If you have never advertised on Google before and would like to try it out, read this post on how to create a Google Ads account.

See you next time!

Super Plural Team
Super Plural Team
superplural.com

We are a team passionate about Digital Marketing and Technology. We are spread across the continents of the world and united by the same passion: sharing knowledge and taking business to another level of results =)

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