Table of Contents

03 Introducing the New Google Advertising Landscape

05 5 Trends That Will Impact Google Advertisers

• 06 How to Manage the Responsive Search

Ads Transition with

• 09 Leveraging the Power of AI with

• 13 Embracing Automated Ad Solutions

• 16 Amazon’s Presence in Google Auctions

• 18 The Impact of Privacy Restrictions

20 2022 Google Predictions From the Experts

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3
Introducing the New Google
Advertising Landscape
Launched in December 2002, Google Shopping has officially reached its
19th birthday. The service underwent some name changes over the years—
Google Product Search, Google Products—as well as more than a few
updates to the service itself, of course.
Of those updates, perhaps the most impactful and noticeable is that Google
Shopping ads are now everywhere—Google Search, Google Search Partner
sites, Google Images, and the Google Display Network (Gmail, YouTube, and
Google Discover). Their priority placements and extensive reach speak to
their value and importance for advertisers and consumers alike, within the
Shopping tab and far beyond.
In 2021, Google also introduced a variety of changes in automation
and technology, privacy updates, and new data insights.
In the following guide, we partnered with Adalysis (a PPC management
software for Google Ads & Bing Ads) and Yotpo (an ecommerce marketing
platform with the most advanced solutions for customer reviews) to take a
closer look at the latest innovations for Google advertising compared to last
year. We also highlight the issues most likely to impact advertisers in 2022
and how marketers should prepare to stay ahead of the competition.
“Given the growth of commerce, Google continues to find new
opportunities to highlight products through Shopping ads. They have
expanded inventory through enhancements to Shoppable video, a new
deals experience, further promotion of in-store inventory, and integration
with more campaign types and Google properties. In order to streamline
management and drive success with these different formats, it’s
essential for advertisers to understand the best ways to use automation

As the evolution of Google’s landscape continues to take shape, we know and machine learning as we head into 2022.”

the future success of businesses advertising on Google will require testing

new approaches and strategies in preparation for a major shift in the
Evan Kirkpatrick
Google landscape. VP of Shoppable Media at Tinuiti

“Advertisers have to increase their creativity when it comes to the

campaign selection and approach they take on Google in 2022. With all
the changes in automation, data availability, and insights over the past

Bonus:
year, what worked last year may not work the same way in 2022, so savvy
advertisers will be testing new campaigns, new approaches, and new
workarounds in preparation for a change in control or campaign type.
WHAT TRENDS WILL SHAPE GOOGLE IN 2022? BE
At the other end of the spectrum, less adventurous brands will wait and
ON THE LOOKOUT FOR OUR EXPERT PREDICTIONS*
hope their previous successes translate over into a new landscape.”
THROUGHOUT THIS EBOOK!
*Note: All predictions have not been confirmed, denied, or provided by Google.

Patrick Hayden
SVP, Acquisition Media at Tinuiti

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5 TRENDS THAT WILL IMPACT
GOOGLE ADVERTISERS

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1. How to Manage the RSA Transition
Google Ads standard text ad format is being sunsetted in July 2022. That will leave
Responsive Search Ads (RSA) as the only text ad format available to use in search
PERCENTAGE OF CPI WINNING ADS BY LAYOUT
campaigns. This is a highly controversial topic. Some advertisers dislike RSAs for
various reasons ranging from lack of brand messaging control to the ads having 2 BENEFITS

a tendency to have higher CTRs but lower conversion rates. Other advertisers 16%
have fully embraced RSAs.

Responsive Search Ads are an ad format where you give Google several headlines MIXED CTA
& FEATURES 2 FEATURES

and description lines. Then Google tests various combinations to find out which 24% 7%
is ‘best’ for your account.

“While it seems your choices might be limited, they are not, and you do
2 CTAS
have choices in how you manage the RSA transition. Your comfort level with
Google’s automation vs. your need to control your messaging will play
2%
MIXED BENEFITS
a significant role in how you manage your RSA strategy.” & FEATURES MIXED CTA

15% & FEATURES

36%
Brad Geddes
Co-Founder, Adalysis

The issue with RSAs is that machine learning doesn’t always understand context,
CPI = COST PER INSTALL
so we can often end up with ads that have multiple calls to action or an ad that
doesn’t reflect the purpose of the search. Adalysis has performed multiple studies
looking at how ads perform if headline 1 is related to the keyword, and then a
mixture of calls to action (CTA), benefits, and features are used within an ad.

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A mixture of calls to action and user benefits generally results in a higher
conversion per impression (a metric that combines CTR and conversion rate)
than other combinations.
When creating RSAs, ensure consistency in the number of ad line themes, such
as ad group-related, benefits, features, and calls to action for your RSA assets.
For instance, you might create 3 ads related to the ad group, 3 calls to action,
and 3 benefit statements. Being consistent in these numbers has led to better
RSA results.
You also can pin one or more lines to a specific headline. For instance, you can
write two calls to action and pin them both in headline 2. That means you let
Google serve any of your assets as headline 1 and headline 3, but one of the
two lines you pinned will be used in headline 2.
This potential control, along with Google’s machine learning, has led to several
different transition types (which we will discuss below) that advertisers are
undertaking in moving to RSAs.
THE RSA CAMPS
Note: There is a spectrum of how much comfort brands have with letting GGL do all the driving. We
broke them down into several different groups and explain what a potential approach for each might
be to help guide your RSA strategy.
I Trust Google Completely. The I Trust Google camp will have the easiest
transition. Just create a bunch of themed ad lines and let Google figure out
what to show. Google won’t tell you the conversion rates or CTRs for any single
ad layout, so you are handing your ad messaging control over to the black box.
We see a lot of agencies and smaller advertisers fall into this camp.
Trust Google Somewhat. This group is going to create its assets and pin
multiples in a few headline spots. For instance, they will create 2-3 headline 1s
related to the ad group and pin them in position 1. Then they will create 2-3 calls
to action or benefit statements and pin them to position 2. This group will let
Google play within those specified parameters. This group understands their
ads well and wants to use a combination of their own copywriting plus machine
learning.
Trust, But Verify. This group will start with the “I trust Google completely” or “I
trust Google somewhat” approach to let Google play a little or a lot with their
ad messaging. With RSAs, the only stat you get about how an individual ad
is shown to a searcher is impressions. Therefore, this group will take the top
impression ad and create a new RSA with a pinned headline 1, 2, and 3. They
can then test the top impression ad versus the Google controlled RSA to see if
Google favors CTR, conversion rate, or some other metric in an ad group. This
group is gaining momentum and might end up as one of the most popular in-
house options.
Control Freaks. Control freaks will create RSAs and pin every line. They will
essentially turn RSAs into Expanded Text Ads, so they have full messaging
control. We see many advertisers fall into this camp. They are most common
in highly regulated industries, have a brand or legal team that reviews all ads, or
are so sophisticated about their advertising that they are learning and testing all
the time. This group knows more than Google about messaging their audience.
This option is also by far the most time consuming.
WHICH CAMP ARE YOU?
“None of these camps are better or worse. They are just different options. We’ve
seen advertisers do well and poorly in each camp,” Geddes says.
“If the control freaks aren’t testing their messaging or changing it with the
times, they do poorly. If the control freaks are regularly testing and watching
messages, they often outperform Google’s machine learning. If the “I Trust
Google” group gives Google poor assets or needs to pre-qualify users, they
end up with poor conversion rates as they are getting the wrong types of
customers.”
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When Google first launched RSAs, it was widespread to see them decrease
the ad group’s performance due to high CTRs, low conversion rates,
and other factors.

Over the past few months, Google has made positive strides in improving
RSAs, and accounts that did very poorly with them initially have seen some
better results lately.

But not everyone is seeing great results, and the performance of RSA remains
mixed across accounts.

As you consider your ad planning for next year, decide what RSA camp you will
fall into as this will dictate your ad strategy for 2022 and significantly impact
your workflow and performance.

RSAs are here to stay. The way you handle them is up to you. You have options
and control if you want to manage the ads yourself. However, you first need
to determine how much you trust Google and how much work you want to do
yourself to have a successful ad strategy and achieve the results you want
from your account.

“In 2022, I predict that Google and Microsoft are going to put some
serious work into responsive ad types. Responsive Search Ads are one
thing, but I wholly expect channel providers to continue to work on more
malleable ad types to ensure relevant messages to users.”

Aaron Levy
Head Of Paid Search at Tinuiti

Source: Google Support

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5 TRENDS THAT WILL IMPACT
GOOGLE ADVERTISERS

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2. Leveraging the Power of AI:
Reviews & Ratings
As more companies double down on ecommerce due to the surge of online
shopping, businesses are now facing a much more competitive landscape—one
that requires thoughtful, innovative, and community-centric strategies in order
to win customers. With so much choice at their fingertips, shoppers are turning
to Google more than ever before. This leaves brands with a challenge: how
do they stand out among brands that likely have greater resources and brand
awareness?

It’s crucial that brands improve the discovery process, maximize brand
awareness, and cultivate brand authenticity. Recent innovations in ecommerce
now enable smaller and challenger brands AI-based features and products
powered by a trusted Google Reviews partner. Let’s take a closer look at how
brands win on Google, the impact of partnering with a Google Reviews partner,
and how AI-powered reviews play a significant role in enhancing customers’
online shopping experience.

HOW BRANDS ARE BUILDING TRUST WITH GOOGLE REVIEWS

& RATINGS: INCREASING SITE TRAFFIC BY INTEGRATING REVIEWS
AND USER GENERATED CONTENT

One standout feature on Google is the ability to display customer reviews

in organic search results. By adding customers’ voices to a brand’s online
presence, brands are more likely to develop consumer trust and accelerate
community engagement. The ability for brands to display their best-rated
products with beautifully integrated AI-powered user-generated content, such as
product photos or videos, strengthens emotional connections between brands
and potential customers.

Source: Search Engine Journal

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Some added benefits of AI integrations include smart filters and search by BOOSTING GOOGLE ADS ROI THROUGH UGC
ratings, which allows customers to easily sort through relevant reviews that fit
Another way brands can build trust online is through ads that feature user-
their needs, ultimately empowering them to buy with confidence. Additionally,
generated content. Yotpo found that ads featuring UGC have a 3x higher CTR
brands can analyze data collected from customer reviews, creating a feedback
than ads without it. It’s no surprise that many online shoppers who use search
loop between brands and their customers. With this data, businesses gain
and social media to make purchase decisions tend to ignore promotional
actionable insights that provide a deeper understanding of how customers feel
messaging that doesn’t include content from real customers or isn’t backed by
about their products and brand.
the brand’s community.
Another way to drive traffic and increase on-site engagement is through
For example, Yotpo was able to increase ROI by implementing UGC with
a dedicated product and site reviews page. Off-site and mobile reviews
Stories & Ink, a skin-care brand for people with tattoos. Stories & Ink was able
consolidated onto a dedicated SEO-optimized page provide more content
to take advantage of cross-product synergies between reviews and UGC. This
for search engines to analyze. Brands that collect reviews with a trusted
AI-powered integration displays new consumer-generated content on their
Google ads partner provide important information about their brand’s online
site, increasing conversions from visitors who engage with Visual UGC by
engagement, sentiment, and more to Google. Google can then crawl and index
255%. Further, Stories & Ink grew its online presence by cultivating a customer
reviews so they show up in SERPs, or Seller Ratings & Product Listing Ads.
community and promoting customers’ shared photos and video reviews in ads.
Trusted Google Reviews partners, such as Yotpo, have the unique capability of
Since partnering with Yotpo, Stories & Ink boasts an impressive average of 28
increasing SEO, boosting organic traffic, and making Google ads more effective.
customer photos per product.

“Customers expect brand experiences that are convenient, mobile, and

instantaneous. So brands that are agile enough to meet these customer
expectations will be set up to win in 2022 and beyond. Having an
integrated mobile strategy for Reviews and Ratings is key to making it as
easy as possible for brands to garner social proof from customers, which
can ultimately help build trust, transparency, and increase conversions
from the brand’s community.”

Erika Kwee
Product Marketing Manager, Yotpo

Source: StoriesAndInk.com

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CONTINUALLY INVESTING IN AN AI-POWERED REVIEWS SOLUTION

By investing in AI-powered reviews solutions, brands can collect more

reviews through effective engagement channels, such as SMS and email.
This is particularly useful as there is a major shift toward mobile-first online
shopping, and the expansion of ecommerce into applications not traditionally
visualized for buyers, namely Shopify’s recent partnership with Spotify.

Likewise, investing in engagement channels such as SMS provides a

personalized touch that fosters brand trust and community. These channels
help push your customers’ voice to the front of organic search results through
seamless website integrations via innovative cross-product synergies.
AI-powered reviews integrations also provide brands with custom reporting
and APIs for straightforward analysis processes, such as gathering more
detailed consumer sentiment surrounding reviews and ratings.

For instance, Leatherman focuses on leveraging reviews to educate and

empower their customers’ purchasing decisions through Yotpo’s Smart Filter
widgets and AI-powered Smart Topics. With filters such as “quality” and
“comfort,” Leatherman allows its customers to search for specific product
features and qualities that are important to them. These specific AI-based
tools also promote cross-product synergies, such as integrations with UGC.
By leveraging over 22,000 reviews, Leatherman observed that shoppers are 48%
more likely to return to their site after seeing reviews via UGC.

Source: Yotpo Case Study

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5 TRENDS THAT WILL IMPACT
GOOGLE ADVERTISERS

13
 Search Display Network

3. Embracing Google’s
Automated Ad Solutions
In 2022, we expect Google will continue to emphasize the integration of smart campaigns and
ad types that utilize machine learning to target ads to users across the Googleverse (including
Google Search, Google Shopping, YouTube, Gmail, Google Display Network, Google app, etc.)

Having an intelligent campaign architecture—such as performance-based product

segmentation, a clear understanding of overarching goals, and flexible reporting and data
management solutions—will all be key factors in successfully harnessing these campaigns.

“Automated campaign types are here (love them or hate them) and have proven
themselves, when executed strategically, to be value-adds to advertising programs.
We are only at the tip of the iceberg when it comes to automated campaign types and
the incremental value outweighs the resistance/doing nothing approach. But it’s up YouTube Gmail
to the advertiser to be forward thinking about leveraging these solutions to not only
improve performance but get a leg up on the competition.”

Patrick Hayden
SVP, Acquisition Media at Tinuiti

In 2020, Google introduced Performance Max campaigns as a new way to buy Google ads
across YouTube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps from a single campaign. According
to Google, Performance Max campaigns “complement your keyword-based Search campaigns
to help you grow performance across Google’s full range of advertising channels and inventory.”

After strong beta results, Performance Max campaigns rolled out to all advertisers in November
2021 and were deemed by Google as, “the next generation of Smart Shopping and Local
campaigns,” which will both upgrade to Performance Max in 2022.

The total data reported on a ‘Smart Shopping’ campaign encompasses

Source: Google Support
performance across all of these placements and ad types.

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 “With the continued march toward automated campaigns types
(Performance Max in general, and Shopping included within Performance
Max), practitioners’ main value will increasingly be on how to leverage
these and other more automated solutions strategically within existing
channel mixes. The time is now to embrace the automation,”
Josh Brisco
VP Growth Media at Tinuiti
Smart Shopping is an effective tool to help brands get started advertising
their products on Google. Whether you have an important promotional event
on the near horizon, or simply want to see if Smart Shopping might be the
right campaign choice for products that haven’t been performing well in your
standard Shopping campaigns, there is plenty of room to strategically test
the impact of adding automation and a display component.
Some of the Smart Shopping campaigns Tinuiti has tested have proved to
be more effective than standard Shopping ads. Most involve segmenting
products across multiple Smart Shopping campaigns, allowing us to set
separate goals for each subset of products.
Here are some examples of segments that proved successful:
• The recent performance of each product, which we typically segment
into four groups—products that are top performers (aka ‘Winners’),
products we want to Increase visibility for, products that have
performed poorly and we want to Suppress, and then Everything
else—we call this the WISE strategy.
• The price point of a product and whether it’s competitive compared
to the market, which allows us to focus on products we know to be
most likely to succeed at that point in time.
• The relative margin of each product/brand/product type, so that we
can set unique ROAS goals and budget for each grouping.
Although we have seen varying success of these campaign types depending
on performance, we have seen cases where using the WISE strategy
improved our KPIs compared to standard shopping accounts.
For example, when we were trying to improve the efficiency of a particular
account, WISE helped cut costs by more than 50%, while reported conversion
revenue only saw a 15% decline. In another example in which we wanted
to push for more volume, we saw costs actually decrease by 1% while
revenue increased by more than 33%. Last, in an account in which a brand
was getting zero traffic regardless of how high we manually set a bid, we
increased visibility to a point where it drove 11% of total sales within all
Shopping campaigns.
“Smart bidding strategies have become much more sophisticated over
the years. We’ve seen performance improve and know that these bidding
options will only become more important over time. So it’s time to start
using them to your advantage and get comfortable with them now
rather than later.”
Josh Brisco
VP Growth Media at Tinuiti
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5 TRENDS THAT WILL IMPACT
GOOGLE ADVERTISERS

16
4. Amazon’s Presence in
Google Auctions
Amazon is most retailers’ single biggest competitor for Google ad impressions,
so its absence from auctions on Thanksgiving 2020 led to a relatively strong
year-ago sales comp for that day.

But in 2021 we saw a different story play out, as Google advertisers faced
greater competition from Amazon for Google ad impressions during the Cyber
Five period. According to Tinuiti’s Research Team, Amazon’s share of Google
text and shopping impressions began to ramp up in the week leading up to
Thanksgiving, hitting a peak on Black Friday.

So, what can advertisers expect to see in the future from Amazon’s presence
in Google auctions?

While we can’t be entirely sure, it is likely Amazon will continue to play a larger
role in Google Auctions, particularly during high shopping periods, like Q4.

“Taking a look at recent trends, it’s clear that Amazon is now reestablishing
itself as a dominant force in Google Shopping auctions across many
product categories. Changes to the auction such as adjusted ad
placements can have an impact on advertiser impression share, such
that there might be movement in impression share values without
any change in advertiser strategy. However, comparing Amazon’s
impression share to the median Tinuiti competitor over the start of 2021,
it seems clear that Amazon’s recent surge indicates it is becoming more
aggressive in ad auctions relative to its many competitors.”

Andy Taylor
Head of Research at Tinuiti

Want to learn the latest on Amazon’s presence in Google auctions?

Be sure to check out Tinuiti’s Quarterly Benchmark Reports, now available here.

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5 TRENDS THAT WILL IMPACT
GOOGLE ADVERTISERS

18
5. The Impact of
Privacy Restrictions
In 2021, privacy restrictions limiting or preventing the collection of third- Additionally, Tinuiti’s Consumer Privacy Trends Report provides actionable
party data through cookies have made first-party data even more valuable to data for marketers in the fast-evolving, privacy-first world. This report offers a
marketers than ever before, and for good reason. path forward based on survey data from more than 2,000 U.S. consumers who
shared their attitudes and behaviors surrounding online privacy.
“Trust and transparency are going to be key to the future of marketing.
Google is taking privacy seriously and your ability to collect Download our report here to learn more about:
consented first-party data became that much more valuable
• Universal skepticism about online privacy and what consumers are
with enhanced conversions.”
doing to protect themselves

• Varying opinions on targeted ads and which platforms can be trusted

Nirish Parsad
Marketing Technologist at Tinuiti
• How consumer trust differs depending on shopping category

First-party data has the fewest restrictions around its use. It’s also the most
reliable because you know it’s been collected from your own customers and
contains information relevant to your brand and your market.

At Google’s Live Streaming event in 2021, Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM, Ads Buying
Analytics and Measurement at Google, said, “I’ve talked to many of you and I
know just how daunting it seems to make this fundamental shift away from
cookies and other identifiers. The reality is our industry is changing and right
now is the time to do the hard work of preserving the future of measurement.”

At Tinuiti, we know how challenging it can be to keep pace with the rapidly
changing privacy landscape while accelerating performance, which is why we
created our Privacy Hub - “The Future of the Web” to inform on the newest
restrictions, cookies, IDFA, first-party data, and all things privacy from
our Tinuiti experts.

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20
 2022 Google Predictions
From the Experts
We asked our leading industry experts what trends
they predict will shape Google in 2022.

From better reporting tools for creative to the latest in ad

technology, take a look at their responses in our recent blog post
and let us know what you think in the comments!

READ THE POST

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