-
Google Ads
Google Ads Q&A: Budget, Keywords, Search Network
January 18, 2023 • Matthew Umbro
Contributor Matt Umbro, a pay-per-click pro, responds to questions from Google Ads advertisers, addressing campaign budgets, keyword limits, Search Network tactics, growth, and more.
-
Google Ads
What to Expect from Google Ads in 2023
December 13, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
Based on popularity in 2022 and trends in the past few years, we can anticipate Google Ads' focus in 2023. Here are four likely themes.
-
Google Ads
Google Ads’ Settings for Max Performance
November 7, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
The setup of accounts and campaigns in Google Ads directly impacts results. We address dos and don'ts for the most critical settings.
-
Google Ads
New Google Ads’ Setup Streamlines Ad Creation
October 16, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
Advertisers no longer have to create ads and extensions separately. We explain.
-
Google Ads
4 Outdated Google Ads Tactics to Reassess
September 4, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
It's easy to forget the tried and true methods for Google Ads set-up. Here are four once-popular practices that still hold value today when tweaked.
-
Google Ads
New Google Tag Improves Privacy, Ad Management
August 14, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
Google's new all-in-one tag addresses the cookie-less future and streamlines Ads' management while continuing accurate data collection.
-
Google Ads
5 Steps to Prepare Google Ads for 2022 Holidays
July 11, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
Get more from Google Ads this holiday season by preparing early. Here are five timely tips from Google Ads guru Matt Umbro, addressing Enhanced Conversions, extensions, and more.
-
Google Ads
Use ‘Experiments’ to Test Google Ads
June 5, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads' Experiments is an underutilized feature to test (and improve) campaign performance. Pay-per-click pro Matt Umbro explains how to get started in this helpful piece.
-
Google Ads
4 Questions for a Prospective PPC Agency
May 9, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
Contributor Matt Umbro is a long-time pay-per-click agency exec. Here are four questions he would ask a prospective agency if the roles were reversed.
-
Google Ads
How Conversion Data Improves Google Ads Automation
April 12, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
For years Google Ads has migrated to automated, machine-learning ad management. But the performance of those automated campaigns is only as good as the conversion data. We explain.
-
Google Ads
Google, Microsoft Update Ad Extensions, Lead Tracking, More
March 15, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
The latest round of advertising-platform updates includes dynamic ad extensions, off-site lead tracking, and automated descriptions. The changes follow from Google's and Microsoft's emphasis on automating ad functions.
-
Google Ads
Benefits of Google’s Search Ads 360, Revamped
February 15, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
Google's updated Search Ads 360 is a big improvement. The interface is consistent with Google Ads. New features include easier cross-platform management, among others. We explain.
-
Google Ads
Setting Up Google’s Performance Max Campaigns
January 13, 2022 • Matthew Umbro
Google's Performance Max campaigns are the latest iteration in the company's emphasis on automation and machine learning. It's worth testing Performance Max despite the lack of reporting transparency.
-
Google Ads
Reviewing Google Ads Performance at Year-end
December 12, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
It's necessary at year-end to review pay-per-click advertising performance. As with any managed channel, you should expect growth, such as more revenue, transactions, or unique visitors, among other metrics. The review should include broader industry and economic developments.
-
Google Ads
Structuring Google Ads Campaigns for Success
November 15, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads has implemented many changes this year. Most involve more automation. The impact of these changes means advertisers may need to restructure their search campaigns.
-
Google Ads
Google Ads Updates Search Terms Report, Keyword Match, More
October 10, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads released a slew of updates in September to provide advertisers more clarity into ad auctions, performance metrics, and more. This transparency is welcome, especially as the holiday season is around the corner.
-
Google Ads
3 Optimizations for Google Shopping Campaigns
September 13, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
The benefits of Google Shopping are compelling. Advertisers consistently experience strong revenue, traffic, and return on ad spend while often paying less per click than standard search campaigns. Still, the performance of Google Shopping ads, like all ads, could plateau. Thus continuous optimizations are key to sustaining results.
-
Google Ads
Breaking Down Google Ads New ‘Strikes’ Policy
August 8, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads recently introduced a pilot program to combat repeat policy violations. Beginning in September, advertisers who continually violate ad policies will suffer consequences. The system will use "strikes" to assign penalties.
-
Google Ads
Understanding Dynamic Search Ads in 2021
July 13, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Ecommerce sites often have hundreds or thousands of product pages. Creating keyword-based ads in Google for each page is laborious and sometimes impractical. That's the purpose of dynamic search ads. Advertisers can tell Google which pages and themes to target on their sites, and Google will dynamically show ads for those targets from relevant search queries.
-
Google Ads
Google Ads Updates Performance Max, Customer Match, Product Feeds, More
June 8, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
In its annual Marketing Livestream event last month, Google addressed updates to Google Ads, among other topics. Only a handful of the updates could produce noticeable performance changes for advertisers. I'll review the most impactful updates in this post.
-
Google Ads
When to Auto-apply Google Ads Recommendations
May 3, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads is steadily incorporating machine learning into daily account management. Google recently introduced a feature to auto-apply its suggestions in the “Recommendations” tab, offering 17 types of auto-apply recommendations in three categories.
-
Google Ads
Understanding Google Ads Impression Share
April 5, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
I'm frequently asked by Google Ads advertisers how their campaigns compare with competitors. It’s an imprecise question. It could refer to performance, exposure, messaging, or more. The most relevant answer is typically impression share — the number of impressions your ads receive divided by the total available.
-
Google Ads
Changes to Google Ads Impact Campaign Setup
March 5, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Google has recently announced three changes that will force advertisers to rethink how they set up campaigns. The changes are: broad match modifier moving to phrase match, responsive search ads becoming the default ad type, the decision to not create alternative tracking identifiers.
-
Google Ads
5 Practical Uses for Google Ads Editor
February 4, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Many tools can help manage a Google Ads account. But the most effective, in my experience, is Google Ads Editor. It's an offline application to download an account and make bulk edits and additions. The tool has saved me days of tedious work by turning hours-long tasks into minutes.
-
Google Ads
4 Uses for Google Ads’ New Insights Tab
January 4, 2021 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads introduced Insights in late 2020. The new beta feature will roll out to advertisers in the coming months. Similar to the Keyword Planner, Insights provides advertisers a sense of trending keywords.
-
Google Ads
When to Apply Google Ads Recommendations (or Not)
December 3, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
The work of a pay-per-click ad specialist is seemingly never complete — more optimizations are always possible. Google Ads provides a recommendations tab to help. These include changes to core account components.
-
Google Ads
Understanding Google’s Smart Shopping Campaigns
November 2, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
I’ve written many articles in the last year that address Google Ads' automation. Used carefully, automation — bidding, dynamic copy, scripts — can free up time for strategy. In this post, I’ll focus on Smart Shopping campaigns for Google Shopping.
-
Google Ads
Google Ads Decreases Search Terms Visibility
October 4, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
In early September, Google Ads announced that the search terms report would disclose fewer user queries. The explanation from Google is to "maintain our standards of privacy and strengthen our protections around user data." The search terms report allows you to see the actual queries from users.
-
Google Ads
4 More Google Ads Scripts to Automate Tasks, Save Time
September 6, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
Google Ads scripts automate routine tasks. Last fall, I shared three such scripts that are helpful to me. In this post, I'll address four additional Google Ads scripts that automate tasks and save time.
-
Google Ads
‘Buy On Google’ Opens to All Merchants
August 5, 2020 • Matthew Umbro
Google Shopping has made its second significant change in the last few months. The first change was implementing free Google Shopping listings. The second is opening the “Buy on Google” program for all merchants, commission-free.