Paid Media News & Opinion #102

New data shows PMax CPCs stable but Search CPCs on the rise

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> What’s happening

New data released via Optmyzr, analysing 2,950 accounts from within their platform, has shown some interesting insights on metrics such as CPCs, CPA, ROAS and Conversion Rate for Q3 YoY.

Interestingly CPCs from Performance Max campaigns have only increased at a relatively modest rate of 6%, with conversion rate down around 3%. In contrast, Search campaigns have seen CPCs increase by as much as 22%, whilst conversion rate was actually up by 21%, which helped to compensate for such a large increase in cost.

Shopping campaigns have actually seen a decrease in CPCs, down 10% for both standard shopping campaigns, and by the same figure for manual shopping campaigns.

It’s difficult to say for certain why Search has been especially impacted, but we would hazard a guess that it’s due to the rise in use of Broad match, as well as how much broader “close match” has become for Exact and Phrase match. It’s likely you’re now in much more competitive auctions and keywords outside your usual remit, although to be fair to the data, the sharp increase in conversion rate suggests many will have experienced an improvement in performance.

> Why we care

It’s always good to be on top of the latest industry benchmarks, as it helps to put into perspective your own campaigns’ performance relative to what is happening outside of your control.

It’s also data like this that can lead into your strategy; for example, if you’re being heavily impacted by the big increase in search CPC’s, then this data might persuade you to try switching some of that budget towards PMax or Shopping campaigns, depending on your business and objectives.

Get ready for tighter Customer Match rules for Google Ads

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> What’s happening

With privacy regulations and restrictions now catching up with EU GDPR-levels across the world, Google has emailed accounts announcing new rules for Customer Match audience list uploads on Google Ads. This will be effective from 13th January 2025 and appears to apply to all accounts worldwide.

Google has specified that consent violations – such as uploading email addresses of opted-out users – and not adhering to creative compliance – such as targeting minors or using personal data to tailor ads in a negative way – could trigger account suspensions.

For accounts with multiple violations, these could add up to an account suspension. Suspensions can be sudden too, with no warnings or second chances.

> Why we care

Obviously, advertisers need to avoid ad account suspensions, so we recommend everyone who is currently exporting CRM data and uploading it to Google Ads, even through a 3rd party tool like Zapier, takes a moment to check over this and make sure everything is above board.

With the new rules in effect in just under 2 months, this should give advertisers enough time to take any necessary action. For territories with enhanced privacy restrictions, such as California or the EU, we recommend you prioritise this.

Seller and Product ratings can now show concurrently in Google Shopping results

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> What’s happening

Google has started showing both seller and product ratings together in shopping ad listings. Previously this was a case of “one of the other”, but Google has now made the change to allow both to be shared in tandem.

A quick recap on the difference between the two, as we’re aware that there is occasionally some confusion about the difference between the two; Seller ratings are essentially reviews of the entire store experience, while Product ratings are reviews specific to that individual item.

> Why we care

Both of these ratings are important considerations for the shopper. They want to know the specific item they’re searching for is well regarded, but equally they want to choose the best merchant to buy from who is going to offer them a positive customer experience. Having both present, with strong reviews for both, could help improve conversion rate positively.

You will also typically see an improvement in CTR through additional assets and extensions, simply because of the extra space and prominence this takes up in the listings, so the potential to show both is a real positive for advertisers and shoppers alike.

What else we've been talking about:

• YouTube unveils new tools to help brands tap into creator content & Shorts ads

• Google UI update – Demand Gen audience now seen as ‘signals’

• Google Ads Editor 2.8 launches with AI image generation

• Google debuts Sale Event promotion type in Merchant Center [for free listings in US only]

• Google’s Privacy Sandbox faces continued competition concerns

• How Domino’s built an always-on pizza marketing machine