Google will migrate smart shopping and local campaigns to the Performance Max format before September
Buyers browse different sites, be it stores, social networks, video platforms or search pages, before finally finding the product they want and that meets all their expectations. In this way, it is necessary for merchants that their ad campaigns extend their reach, in order to cover in such a way the different channels in which users navigate. Based on this, Google has recently announced a change within its smart shopping and local campaigns that will become performance max campaigns for September of this year. This is Hubo, the 3PL operator that seeks to position itself within the European logistics market.
What are the maximum performance or performance max campaigns in Google
As Google explains, “they are a new way to access the entire Google Ads inventory with a single campaign whose ads are published on YouTube, the Display Network, Search, Discover, Gmail and Maps” . Performance Max campaigns use Google automation to help advertisers reach shoppers as they search for products. They build on local and smart shopping campaigns to deliver the same core features, while providing more valuable information for advertisers.
“Starting in April, you can start upgrading your local and Smart Shopping campaigns to Performance Max to access additional inventory and formats across YouTube, Search Text Ads, and Discover ,” Google explains. “Based on early testing, advertisers who upgrade campaigns from Smart Shopping to Performance Max see an average 12% increase in conversion value with the same or better return on ad spend ( ROAS )”
In addition, the new features of top-performing campaigns will help marketers reach more consumers across multiple channels. This is based on Google’s automation technology and the incorporation of a new catalog of ads on YouTube channels, Discovery and adding text ads in search. To the relief of advertisers, Google has confirmed that despite the format migration, the settings for pre-existing campaigns will still be in effect.
What will the migration process be like?
According to what was stated by Google in its announcement, the implementation of these changes will be done progressively, having started this past January. As we can see in the previous image, from January the new campaigns created will be under the maximum performance model. Similarly, local or Intelligent Shopping campaigns already in force will continue to be available without affecting their effectiveness.
Between the months of April and June, changes will begin to be made from current campaigns to maximum performance campaigns , keeping any results generated during their time in operation. First, in April, changes to Smart Shopping campaigns will be made with just one click. Then, in June, the option for local campaigns will be enabled.
Finally, from July to September, Google will proceed to change the smart shopping campaigns that have not yet been automatically migrated, while local campaigns will begin to be changed from August. In this way all campaigns should be available in the best performance model by September. Which means that they will be ready and available for the Black Friday and Christmas season this year.