THE TOP GOOGLE ADS UPDATES OF 2024 AND WHAT THEY MEAN FOR 2025
Google had a busy year in 2024, with almost every corner of the Google Ads platform receiving updates. Whether you’re a fan of these changes or not, it’s clear that keeping up with all the adjustments behind the scenes can be challenging.
Let’s take a look at the most significant updates to Google Ads in 2024 and explore what they mean for your strategy in 2025.
1. ENHANCED CONTROL OVER GOOGLE SEARCH CAMPAIGN PLACEMENTS
Google has made several updates to the user experience and ad placements, including Google Shopping searches via Google Lens and ads appearing in the Google AI Overview. However, for marketers, some of the updates are more technical and impactful for campaign management.
One key update is the introduction of brand inclusions, which help keep your branded search campaigns targeted to the right brands and limit them to only those brands. The catch? Your campaign must be opted into the campaign-level broad match setting. While I’m not a fan of using this for non-brand campaigns, it can be a valuable option for branded search campaigns, especially if you’re still able to utilize negative keywords to refine your targeting.
You can also use these brand lists as exclusions in your Dynamic Search Ad (DSA) campaigns, preventing your ads from triggering on branded search queries. This is particularly useful if you’re already utilizing a brand campaign strategy, as it helps keep your DSA campaigns more focused.
In terms of search query visibility, Google has eased up on the restrictions that prevent advertisers from seeing all search terms in their reports. Misspelled terms will now be grouped with their correctly spelled counterparts, offering a bit more transparency. Google anticipates that this will increase the visibility of search terms by about 9% on average across accounts. While it’s not a huge shift, any extra insights are certainly welcome.
And there’s more good news: negative keywords now also account for misspellings. As a marketer who’s had to add dozens of misspelled variations to my negative keyword list, this update is a game-changer. Instead of adding multiple misspellings, you only need to include the correctly spelled version, and Google will automatically block misspelled versions as well.
2. INCREASED TRANSPARENCY IN GOOGLE ADS PERFORMANCE MAX CAMPAIGN INSIGHTS
Google Ads has rolled out frequent updates to Performance Max campaigns throughout the year, but the most impactful changes focus on providing better insights and controls.
Now, advertisers have access to a variety of new insights that offer a clearer understanding of what’s working in your campaigns.
Whether you need to evaluate asset performance, track budget pacing, identify top-performing audience segments, or assess your impression share losses on search and shopping due to competition, there’s a dedicated insights section for each of these key areas.
Additionally, Google has provided more transparency into the once opaque Performance Max ad service.
With the new content suitability center, advertisers can now view placements for ads on YouTube and the Search Partner Network. Even better, account-level placement exclusions are now available, allowing you to block ads from showing on specific placements.
3. UPDATES TO DEMAND GEN AUDIENCE SIZE AND PLACEMENT CONTROLS
We were surprised to learn that fewer than half of small businesses are investing in social media ads across platforms like Facebook, LinkedInThere were several updates to Demand Gen campaigns in 2024, but two stand out as particularly impactful.
First, the minimum audience size for lookalike audiences has been reduced from 1,000 to 100 users. This is a welcome change, especially for smaller businesses. For too long, Google’s advertising controls made it challenging for SMBs to get started, but this update lowers the barrier to entry, making it easier for smaller businesses to take advantage of targeted advertising.
The second key update gives advertisers more control over their campaigns. With the introduction of creative preferences, advertisers now have the ability to choose where their videos will appear, instead of having them placed across all placements. This means you can better tailor your assets to the right environments, ensuring the content looks its best and delivers the highest impact.
and others.
With customers spending more time on social media, these platforms have become key for discovering new businesses. For example, TikTok is now the fourth most popular search engine, with one in 10 Gen Z users preferring it over Google.
By not leveraging ads on these popular social media platforms, Small Businesses are missing valuable opportunities to engage and convert customers where they’re spending most of their time online.
4. AI-DRIVEN IMPROVEMENTS FOR GOOGLE DISPLAY ADS
5. EXPANDED OPTIONS FOR UTILIZING FIRST-PARTY DATA
First-party data has been a major focus ever since Google announced plans to phase out third-party cookies in 2020. Despite multiple deadline extensions, Google reversed its position in 2024, confirming that third-party cookies will remain for the time being.
However, the importance of first-party data remains clear, and Google is continuing to enhance how it can be utilized.
In 2024, Google made two key updates to improve first-party data use. First, Google Ads Data Manager was simplified to centralize all data integrations, providing a single location to manage third-party platforms like Salesforce, Marketo, and HubSpot. This streamlines the process of enriching data with first-party insights.
Secondly, Google introduced confidential matching, allowing advertisers to use their first-party data in Google Ads while ensuring that the information remains secure. This update makes it easier to leverage your data for improved audience targeting and measurement without compromising privacy. It’s a win for both data security and marketing effectiveness.
6. NEW TOOLS FOR CREATING IMAGE AND VIDEO ASSETS ACROSS CAMPAIGNS
The latest updates bring significant improvements to asset and image generation across various Google Ads campaigns.
Creating new creatives has become much simpler with the introduction of tools for generating images and assets directly within the Google Ads interface. You can now easily edit existing assets like images and videos, allowing you to adjust visuals, enhance video content, and feature products differently than they appear in your Merchant Center Feed.
Additionally, Google Ads has partnered with third-party design platforms such as Canva, Smartly, Pencil, and Typeface, enabling seamless integration for easier asset creation and collaboration. This partnership streamlines the upload process and gives you more flexibility in your creative workflow.
HOW THIS GOOGLE ADS UPDATE WILL IMPACT YOUR BUSINESS IN 2025
Want to Read 5 Marketing Tips for Small Businesses?
Check out this blog post and see if your business is currently tackling these Top 5 Marketing Tips. If you have questions or find you need help in an area, reach out!
Like What You Read? Share It!
