Google’s AdWords programme has been a vital component of many online marketing strategies for some years now, so any modification to the way it works is inevitably going to make a splash with marketers. In the last few weeks, the company used its own Google+ platform to announce that a new release of the AdWords Editor had been made available. Version 11.3 adds a number of important new features, ranging from HTML5 ad handling to support for callout extensions. In a move that marketers have been calling for, there is also now support for TrueView video campaigns.
We’ll take a look at this last feature first, since it has been one of the most eagerly awaited upgrades to the AdWords Editor. The new release of the editor gives online marketers a much better way of engaging customers across a wide range of multimedia platforms, including YouTube. Interactive campaigns will be able to be precisely targeted to the correct audiences with a range of tools, including content exclusions. Although there is still no support for TrueView campaigns based on mobile app installs or online shopping, maximum CPV (cost per view) and other settings can be controlled.
Another important innovation in AdWords Editor version 11.3 is its embracing of callout extensions. These will allow you to target search ads more effectively by allowing you to accompany them with suitably tailored text. Whether you’re designing an ad group or an entire campaign, callout extensions broaden the amount of information that you can provide to your customers. You will be able to inform them about the services and products that your business can offer them, as well as offering further details about your company. This has the potential to encourage customers to investigate what else you have to offer, bringing you another avenue for profit.
With companies like YouTube increasingly switching over to HTML5 for video and animation, no marketing strategy can afford to ignore the technology, so the introduction of HTML5 ad support in the new AdWords Editor is very welcome and should make multimedia-focuses strategies much easier to plan. There are also a number of smaller, yet still significant, improvements in version 11.3; these include an option to mark out duplicate items that have been newly created, the expansion of the Meta Text tool to allow meta-words like “[online]” and new “Similar” and “Customer” list types.
