LAUGHS, LESSONS and new connections

Back from attending the recent Google Marketing Live conference in San Francisco, Richard Conway shares the sights and the lessons.

Some of my favourite aspects of my job are the events I get invited to. For me, relationships with people are one of the most rewarding things in life. This applies both to my family, and those I meet and connect with around the world – along with the subsequent shared experiences. 

That’s why I jumped at the chance when Google invited me to Google Marketing Live – an invite-only marketing event in San Francisco billed as a gathering of the best digital marketing minds from across the globe.

The conference was brilliant and filled with interesting people, new Google innovations, and even a little bit of secret stuff which I’ve been sworn to secrecy about. What I can talk about, however, is the new ad formats that Google has announced.

Gallery Ads for Search

These mobile-specific ads will show at the top of the search results, although they may later come out on desktop. They have a large swipe-able carousel that can expand into a vertical scrolling gallery if images are tapped. The ads offer:

• Four to eight quality pictures.
• A 70-character description for each image.
• Up to three headlines for the gallery (the most relevant will be shown).
• Payment via cost per click, or after someone has scrolled through three images or more.

Showcase Shopping Ads

These highly visual ads will be rolling out into Google Images, the Discover feed, and YouTube. They will comprise of a primary image with associated smaller images which can expand, in order to show multiple product offerings:

Discovery Ads

Due to be released globally later this year, these ads are built with top of the funnel consumers in mind. Discovery ads are created for mobile, and will be viewable natively in Google’s Discover feed (Android home screens, Google iOS app and Google’s home page on mobile devices), YouTube feed and within Gmail.

To utilise Discovery Ads, an advertiser only needs to create a Discovery campaign and upload their creative assets to it. Google will then use machine learning to combine them in the most effective way and deliver them to the 800 million users that regularly use the Discovery feed worldwide.

Google Shopping Ads re-imagined

The re-invention of Google Shopping involves a brand-new personalised homepage for shoppers, as well as personalised recommendations and filters based on previous interactions and purchases.

Looking to take on the likes of Amazon, Google’s official Blog states:

“People can buy confidently, knowing Google is there to help if they don’t get what they were expecting, their order is late, or they have issues getting a refund. With this new experience, we’re merging the best of Google Express with Google Shopping.”

Bumper Video Ads

Using machine learning again, Google will help to create six-second YouTube bumper ads from longer form content or other assets. This is geared towards removing one of the biggest problems advertisers face – creating video assets. This format will be able to learn how to put together the most successful elements on an advertiser’s behalf.

App Deep Linking

If a customer has an app already installed, Google will now allow deep linking from within a Google Ad. This means that rather than being sent to the homepage of the App, a customer will now be able to be directed to a specific place within the app – great for shopping apps.

These are six of the announcements during the two days, but I’ve really only scratched the surface – the event was full of lessons and fun in equal measure. Google really knows how to put on a good show, so much so that they arranged a private concert with Katy Perry (who incidentally started talking about Alexa by accident)!

Other than the incredible opportunities for learning, I also had the chance to make friends with some remarkable and interesting people – a guy who owns the largest digital agency in Romania, a few Aussies that are creating exceptional digital experiences, and lots of South Americans and Europeans. 

As always, it comes down to people, and the world of digital just keeps getting bigger as it creates new ways to connect.