Google showcased a raft of new AI-powered ad products to ease media fragmentation challenges at Google Marketing Live in Sydney.
From AI creative asset generation controls, immersive ads experiences, visual storytelling features to improved measurement controls.
As 57% of Australian consumers use more than five platforms, across an average of seven touchpoints, in a single customer journey, these AI tools allow advertisers to address the complex and evolving consumer behaviour, Google Australia managing director Mel Silva said.
“We see a future where AI will supercharge the entire advertising lifecycle, from assembling your creative, to running your media, to measuring results," Silva said.
"Think of it as an ‘all-at-once’, growth and efficiency flywheel. That’s our vision for what AI could do for advertising."
Targeting tools
Asset-level reporting will be introduced to Performance Max (Pmax) Ad Strength, so advertisers can see conversion metrics for each creative asset to help them understand what is resonating with their customers.
Shopping ads will appear at the very top of the results on Lens searches where a business can offer what a consumer is looking for.
Demand Gen, which helps advertisers drive conversions on Google surfaces including YouTube, Discover, and Gmail, will roll out to Google Display and Video 360 later this year. This will allow advertisers to be even more targeted with campaigns, delivering outcomes faster.
Advertisers who improve Performance Max (Pmax) Ad Strength to Excellent see six percent more conversions on average — and those using ‘Power Pair’ (a combination of Search and Pmax campaigns) had seen a 27 percent increase in conversions due to improvements driven by AI, Google Australia head of performance solutions Rick Gove said
"Our new era of AI has enabled a new era of Ads solutions that are uniquely, and powerfully positioned to help you meet your customers’ expectations of relevance, and drive profitable growth for your business," Goves said.
Creative tools
Two new features would be introduced to Product Studio later this year, making it easy for advertisers to create visuals that perfectly match a unique brand style, and an image-to-video model turns images into eye-catching video.
Virtual Try On will soon be launching in ads, letting shoppers view how your clothes look on real people of different shapes and sizes.
Universal Dubbing is a multi-modal tool that works across voice, text, and image to help advertisers translate their creative into over 16 different languages through automatic captioning and dubbing, and is now available in Australia.
3D shopping ad formats would be introduced, allowing shoppers to see products in a 360 degree view.
Google Australia head of creative partnerships Victoria Berthinussen, said humans alone can’t generate creative at the volume, velocity, and variation required to meet consumers’ expectations of relevance.
"It’s a tremendous drain on creative resources, taking time away from higher value work like focusing on breakthrough creative ideas or better understanding your customers’ needs," Berthinussen said.
"We want AI to alleviate that problem, and empower you to be more creative than ever.”
Measurement tools
Google Ads Data Manager is now available in Australia and simplifies the process of bringing sources of first-party data together in one place.
Measurement Diagnostics is rolling out within Google Ads and Campaign Manager. It will analyse sites to tell where there is missing data or big opportunities to boost campaign performance, and guide step-by-step through the process of how to fix it.
This year, for the very first time, Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) will be incorporated into Google Ads. It limits how data can be used while bringing new transparency to the process.
Generated Insights and Reports provides a quick report of your data, instantly providing the cuts required with visuals. This will soon be available in Google Ads, Search Ads 360, Campaign Manager 360 and Merchant Center Next.
The Iconic saw a 96 percent increase in sales with a 31 percent improvement in Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), Virgin Australia saw twice the number of bookings, at the same CPA as their regular search campaigns, and Telstra increased their online orders by 29 percent while decreasing their CPA by 16 per cent.
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.