As some of you may have noticed when logging into your (formerly known as) Google AdWords account recently, the tech giant has undergone some pretty extensive rebranding.
In fairness, it’s long overdue – the Google AdWords product has been around now for 18 years, and having recently undergone a facelift itself, it’s proved an ideal time for a brand overhaul.
What’s Changed, and Why
As an overview, AdWords is now Google Ads, while Double Click will be known as Google Marketing Platform and Google Ad Manager.
Looking at Google Ads specifically, the changes have been aimed at streamlining the user experience, while the interface itself has been redesigned to make it easier to navigate and quicker to load, all while offering more insights into what is actually going on within the account.
Take searches like ‘open now’ and ‘near me’, for example – two terms that indicate a specific desire to locate local services – and the data shows a 200% increase in related searches over the last two years.
Mobile searches are on the rise, too – a factor that has been addressed by making the new Ads experience easier to navigate while, with an eye on the long-term, ensuring the usability isn’t going to put off more businesses signing up to advertise.
A recent article on ADWEEK noted this as a driving force behind the changes, suggesting that digital ad spend will increase 18.7% this year in the US alone, rising to $107.3 billion USD.
Importantly, it’s also allowed Google to pave the way for what it calls ‘Smart Campaigns’. These, in time, will appear as the default mode for small businesses on the platform, the idea being that by allowing them to pre-select a desired outcome, Google Ads will be able to use machine learning capabilities to drive more of those specific actions from the outset.
