Paid Media News & Opinion #146

TikTok Ads is getting a new Travel Ads solution

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> What’s happening

TikTok Ads are introducing Travel Ads to help connect potential and in-market travellers with brands. The campaigns will use either single video, catalogue video, or catalogue carousel ads and be powered by the Smart+ AI-powered campaign type.

Ads will showcase hotels, flights and destinations in engaging formats, leveraging one of the fastest-growing verticals on the platform. 66% of users say the app is helpful for travel inspiration, according to TikTok.

For single videos, a main (hero) video can be served alongside a smaller UI carousel element, which will display dynamic attributes from a connected catalogue (such as name, image, price, and more).

More information on catalogues for Travel can be found here. Flights and Hotels are currently available, as well as Destinations in beta.

> Why we care

TikTok has become a huge source of discovery and inspiration across verticals, especially travel. These new ads will combine the power of engaging, personalised, dynamic creative with strong AI-powered targeting and delivery through Smart+.

This could prove dangerous for Google and Meta’s current market share on travel discovery and conversions.

TikTok also mention the use of “travel-first” intent signals, which will be sourced from TikTok’s algorithm that does a great job of understanding the interests, preferences and behaviours of users. The result: we’re likely to see highly optimised and relevant campaigns that deliver good engagement and ROI.

Finally, TikTok also claim users are 2.6x more likely to book after searching on the platform, positioning TikTok across both organic and paid as a key channel for travel/tourism brands looking to drive conversion.

Pinterest is rolling out “Top of Search” ads

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> What’s happening

Pinterest is rolling out a new “Top of Search” ad format, placing brands in the first 10 results of search and in Related Pins for high-intent queries. Early tests show positive results from a CTR perspective, with Pinterest reporting a 29% CTR lift and a 32% increase in new clickers.

Alongside this, Pinterest is expanding Local Inventory Ads and launching Media Network Connect to help retailers link in-store availability and first-party data directly into Ads Manager.

> Why we care

Many ad platforms have invested in campaign types that allow brands to secure a prominent position, which is a good option specifically for upper and mid-funnel campaigns. The focus on CTR as the key metric suggests it is more for awareness and website visitors rather than conversions at this stage, but is all viable traffic that can then be retargeted to and pushed further down the funnel.

Specifically to Pinterest, there’s a key stat that 96% of all searches on the platform are unbranded. This is very interesting in this context, because it does suggest that most traffic would be exploratory and open to new solutions, so is nicely aligned with trying to acquire new customers.

Google Ads introduces Performance Max reporting upgrades

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> What’s happening

Google Ads has announced a round of updates to Performance Max (PMax) campaigns, introducing bulk reporting, ROI columns, deeper diagnostics, and expanded segmentation to help advertisers better understand and optimize performance across Google’s full network.

The updates aim to make Performance Max more transparent and actionable, enabling advertisers to pinpoint what’s driving conversions and where optimization opportunities lie across Search, Display, Discover, Gmail, YouTube, and Maps.

The updates include:

• Advertisers can now break down asset-level performance by device, time, network, and conversion type.

• Bulk reporting and downloads available at the account level for faster analysis.

• Cost metrics added to channel visualizations, offering a direct look at spend efficiency.

• ROI columns for more transparent performance measurement across networks.

• Segmentation by conversion action and ad event type, such as engaged-view conversions on YouTube.

• New diagnostics, flagging issues like limited serving due to restrictive bid targets or missing assets.

> Why we care

Performance Max has been both powerful and frustrating, offering unmatched reach and automation, but limited transparency into what’s actually working behind the scenes. These latest updates try to help demystifying the campaign type.

Advertisers can finally drill down into performance by asset and channel, revealing which creatives, audiences, and placements are actually driving ROI. That level of granularity makes it far easier to make data-driven creative and budget decisions rather than relying on high-level summaries.

With ROI columns and cost metrics now integrated into visualizations, marketers gain a clearer link between spend and outcomes. This helps in reporting to stakeholders, forecasting more accurately, and justifying future investment in Google’s AI-driven campaigns.

The new diagnostic indicators, such as alerts about limited serving due to restrictive bid strategies, could help advertisers quickly troubleshoot performance issues and avoid inefficiencies before they impact results.

Since Performance Max automatically spans multiple Google surfaces, having the ability to segment by conversion type and event offers clearer attribution. Advertisers can now see, for example, whether YouTube’s engaged views or Search clicks deliver stronger downstream conversions.

What else we've been talking about:

• Google Ads tests new Labs hub for experimental features

• OpenAI is staffing up to turn ChatGPT into an ad platform

• Google Ads to enforce new requirements for Message assets

• Pinterest Ads cost data comes to Google Analytics

• Meta to launch no-ads subscriptions in the UK

• Google Ads tweaks default conversion goal behaviour

• Meta will use your interactions with its AI tools to improve ad targeting

• Meta phases out automated ads in favour of Advantage+

• Reddit publishes Holiday marketing guides

• LinkedIn renames ad campaign elements