Google’s Performance Max launched in 2021 is a goal-based campaign that enables advertisers to access their Google Ads Inventory from a sole campaign. It helps find more converting customers on channels such as Search, Discover, YouTube and Gmail easily and has been created to supplement one’s keyword-based search campaigns.
What it does is use Smart Bidding to drive the efficiency of performance depending on a business’s goals, in real-time spanning various channels. To do this, Performance Max amalgamates Google AI (Artificial Intelligence) Technologies in areas such as bidding, audiences, creatives, budgets and more.
The newest technology in Google’s Performance Max sees agencies and brands creating and testing assets. The generative AI technology will be delivered in Beta format to US customers.
Testing the waters
Advertisers have perennially found creating, testing and scaling assets to be some of the most challenging areas of their campaigns. So, ahead of the holiday season when new ad campaigns need to break ground as quickly as possible, Google Performance Max’s latest technology has made its debut to help marketers and advertisers work out their media choices.
Marketing Dive says that 54% of shoppers used 5 or more channels when shopping during two days of the 2022 festive season. This means that advertisers need to produce assets quickly and efficiently.
As such, Beta testing has gone well for the new technology in its early stages, improving efficiency and resource management. So, what advertisers now need to do is to provide the URL of their product landing page to produce the assets required for a campaign, rather than designing text and images separately.
According to LinkedIn, the new search themes by Google will allow for the gaps in information to be filled in one’s ad campaign.
Ease of use
Google says that the new app sees customers being able to edit images directly in Google Ads via its AI technology. This means that variations of the usual images can be tested, allowing clients to experience more creativity on existing images and campaigns.
Google says that all customer accounts will be able to access image editing in the weeks to come through the Google Ads asset library. The technology also offers shareable previews for all assets.
It is exciting indeed to note that new headlines, descriptions and images can be created in real time on top of existing ones. The image editing feature enables the testing of variations of existing and new images. Therefore, this becomes a cost-effective creative resource where the generated assets will be a springboard to new creative concepts.
Pitfalls
The use of AI more or less always leads to a discussion about ethics, and this is no different. The worry is that the new AI application could create harmful content that could unintentionally produce false information. To mitigate this, Google says that its AI principles and practices will apply to the creation of assets, with SynthID invisible watermarking done to identify these as generated images.
In addition to this, are the recent concerns about the inventory quality, transparency and the performance of advertisements of Google Performance Max. This is something that users will have to navigate as the app is based on the customer’s Key Performance Indicators or KPIs, thereby focusing on the goals of their respective KPIs.
Google also guarantees that customers will be able to review the generated assets before they are rolled out in a campaign.
Benefits
If it hasn’t been made clear already, this technology will make asset creation more efficient, and effortless and will allow for performance-driven optimization. Therefore, while multiple variations of assets will be generated, performance data will also suggest new assets that may perform well, thereby boosting the effectiveness of the campaign.
This removes the weight of the manual creation of assets and removes time constraints, leading to lower costs and better output.
All one needs to do is enter prompts and descriptions of their envisioned assets to have AI generate a range of options from which customers can choose their desired campaign.
Advertising for the future
As AI-driven technology becomes more easily accessible to marketers and advertisers, the sky’s the limit for creativity.
In 2024, it will be interesting indeed, to see how these technologies are leveraged to change the advertising landscape from the expected and mundane to something vibrant, innovative and bold.
(Anouk De Silva)