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With Google tightening its policies in November 2024—bringing immediate suspensions and permanent bans for non-compliance—staying ahead is crucial. But it’s not just about avoiding penalties; smarter bid management can help you maximize ROI and stay compliant. In this edition, we’ll cover what the new rules mean and share quick tips to make smarter marketing investments.

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- Pro Tips for Smarter Bid Management💡

- Google Tightens the Screws on Ad Violators🚀

- Key to Smarter Marketing Investments✨

- Top Reads - Real-Time News Right For You. 📚

- HTE Job Board- Get Your Dream Job With A Click! 🌟

Pro Tips for Smarter Bid Management💡

Google Shopping ads are a powerhouse for generating revenue, but to unlock their full potential, effective bid management is essential. Whether you're part of an in-house team or working at an agency, knowing how to fine-tune your bidding strategy is the key to scaling your campaigns and achieving sustainable profitability.  

With rising costs and an evolving ads ecosystem, the competition on Google Ads is fiercer than ever. To stay ahead, brands need to leverage the right strategies, tools, and insights. In this edition, we’ll break down everything you need to know about Google Shopping bid management— from the auction model to new campaign types and bidding tactics that drive better ROI.  

The Google Shopping Auction Model & Its Influence on Bids  

Google Shopping campaigns work differently than standard Search ads. There are no keywords involved; instead, Google relies on your product feed data to determine which ads show up. So, managing bids effectively requires understanding the key factors that influence auction results.  

The Role of Quality Score in Google Shopping  

Unlike Search campaigns, Quality Score in Google Shopping focuses on these critical aspects:  

- Product Feed Quality: Titles, descriptions, and attributes should be accurate and aligned with what users are searching for.  

- Accurate Categorization: Proper product classification ensures your ads reach the right audience.  

- Optimized Landing Pages: Ensure fast-loading, mobile-friendly pages with relevant product details to reduce bounce rates.  

Pro Tip: A well-optimized product feed combined with smart bidding ensures your ads appear more often—and at a lower cost per click.  

Crafting a Strategic Bidding Approach  

When it comes to managing Google Shopping bids, businesses can choose between manual or automated bidding strategies. Each has its own pros and cons, depending on your goals, budget, and campaign size.  

Manual Bidding  

If you prefer control over every aspect of your campaign, manual bidding allows you to:  

- Adjust bids based on individual product performance.  

- Lower bids on underperforming products while boosting budgets on higher-performing ones.  

Automated Bidding  

For larger product catalogs or campaigns with inconsistent performance data, automated bidding can be a game-changer. Strategies like Maximize Conversion Value or Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) use machine learning to adjust bids in real-time, helping you focus on your business goals. 

Google offers two automated strategies for Standard Shopping campaigns:  

- Maximize Clicks: Focuses on getting the most clicks within your daily budget.  

- Target ROAS: Aims to achieve a target return on ad spend while maximizing conversion value.  

Performance Max campaigns also provide additional flexibility with these bidding options:  

- Maximize Conversions: Prioritizes the highest possible number of conversions within your budget, regardless of their value.  

- Maximize Conversion Value: Focuses on generating the most conversion value within your daily budget.  

Bidding for New Customers  

Google Ads now gives you the option to differentiate your bids for new and existing customers. You can choose to bid higher for new customers or even bid exclusively for them. This feature helps brands strategically allocate ad spend toward customer acquisition, increasing the lifetime value of their audience.  

Mastering Google Shopping bid management is a continuous process that requires balancing product feed optimization with smart bidding strategies. Whether you prefer manual control or lean toward automated strategies, the key is to stay aligned with your business objectives and adapt as market conditions change.  

Should You Bid Higher for New Customers?

For businesses that rely on repeat customers, bidding higher for new customers may be a smart move. While acquiring new customers can be more expensive upfront, the lifetime value (LTV) of these customers often justifies the cost. This approach ensures you're investing in new buyers who are likely to make future purchases, creating incremental revenue over time.

However, for high-ticket products or items with long purchase cycles (like furniture or appliances), a different approach might work better. In these cases, you may want to select the ‘bid for new customers only’ option to prioritize acquiring new customers without spreading your budget across existing ones.

Ultimately, choose a customer acquisition strategy that aligns with your business model and goals.

Segmentation and Granularity in Bidding

Effective bid management requires granular segmentation of your campaigns and ad groups. A well-segmented structure allows for precise bid control, ensuring that your ad spend aligns with the performance of individual products or groups.

• Product-level bidding: Instead of setting bids at the campaign or ad group level, product-level bidding lets you adjust bids based on each product’s performance. High-converting products can receive higher bids, while underperforming products should have their bids reduced.

• Segment by profit margin or price point: Grouping products based on their profit margins or price points enables better control over ROI. For example, high-margin products can justify higher bids since they generate more profit per sale.

With the right approach, you can outbid competitors, keep costs in check, and drive sustainable growth from your Google Shopping campaigns. Happy bidding!  

Google Tightens the Screws on Ad Violators🚀

Google is set to roll out a new policy update in November 2024, focusing on clamping down on significant or sustained policy violations by third-party partners. The tech giant aims to maintain the integrity of its advertising ecosystem by introducing stricter consequences for non-compliance, particularly targeting those who facilitate or enable repeated infractions.

New Penalties for Third-Party Violations  

The updated policy introduces more severe consequences for any third parties—such as ad tech providers, marketing agencies, and app developers—who fail to adhere to Google’s advertising rules. The penalties include:  

- Loss of privileges related to using Google’s advertising services  

- Removal from Google’s third-party programs, such as the Google Partners program  

- Account suspension, with permanent bans from the platform  

One of the most critical aspects of the policy is that Google will suspend the offending party’s Ads account immediately upon detecting violations, without prior warning. Once banned, the party will no longer be able to advertise through Google’s platform.

Impact on AdSense, AdMob, and Incentivized Ads  

The policy also addresses specific practices within AdMob and AdSense that undermine the quality of user engagement. Apps or services that offer compensation or incentives in exchange for ad clicks, web browsing, or email reading will now be explicitly prohibited. Google Ads can no longer be placed on apps promoting these incentivized activities. Additionally, any app providing instructions or promoting these practices will be banned from the platform.

The Bigger Picture  

This policy update reflects Google’s ongoing efforts to combat fraudulent activities such as invalid ad impressions and clicks. By tightening the rules, Google aims to foster a more trustworthy environment for advertisers, reducing the likelihood of abuse or manipulation.

What to Expect Moving Forward  

The new policy has significant implications for third-party providers and app developers, as they must ensure full compliance to maintain access to Google’s ad platforms. Loss of access could severely disrupt ad campaigns, limiting these companies' ability to reach audiences. It remains to be seen how the broader advertising ecosystem will respond, but compliance will become a critical factor for agencies, ad tech providers, and developers working with Google’s advertising platforms.

Key to Smarter Marketing Investments✨

Marketing technology platforms play a crucial role in how customer data is collected, activated, and used to engage audiences. To make the most of these tools, marketers need to develop two key competencies: capability assessment and tool procurement. These skills empower marketers to select the right tools, guide procurement teams, and build seamless martech stacks that drive business outcomes.  

What Is Capability Assessment?  

Capability assessment involves evaluating martech tools to determine how well they align with business needs. Marketers with this skill can:  

- Identify tools and vendors that solve specific marketing challenges  

- Analyze how each tool fits within the existing martech stack and larger technology architecture  

- Evaluate the value of different tools to ensure they improve customer communication, engagement, and internal processes  

A strategic approach ensures tools not only solve problems but also work together smoothly, avoiding unnecessary duplication or redundancies.  

What Is Tool Procurement?  

Tool procurement focuses on building strong vendor relationships and ensuring the right tools are purchased. Marketers play an essential role in helping procurement teams (or their equivalents) by:  

- Ensuring that contracts include all essential features  

- Explaining how the tools fit within the larger martech stack and identifying where feature overlaps can be useful or redundant  

- Clarifying why specific platforms are necessary to achieve business goals  

When marketers actively participate in the procurement process, they ensure technology investments align with both the company’s needs and the evolving martech landscape.  

Why These Competencies Are Important  

By mastering capability assessment and tool procurement, marketers can:  

- Identify tools and vendors that create opportunities for better customer communication and efficient marketing processes  

- Collaborate closely with IT, procurement, and other stakeholders to ensure the right problems are defined during the evaluation process  

- Facilitate vendor relationships by involving relevant stakeholders on both sides, ensuring the process starts on the right foot  

While these competencies don’t require deep technical knowledge, they do demand a strategic mindset. Marketers should focus on understanding how martech capabilities support procurement and align with broader marketing objectives.  

Key Questions to Consider  

- Do the capabilities of martech platforms align with the organization’s objectives, and is the procurement team aware of this alignment?  

- Is there feature overlap across multiple platforms? If so, does it add value, or is it driving up costs?  

- Are the platforms’ capabilities clearly defined during procurement, and is the procurement team informed about which features are essential and which are optional?  

- Do these tools enhance customer communication and streamline marketing processes within the overall martech architecture?  

Next Steps for Marketers  

Marketers should actively participate in discussions about martech platform capabilities to ensure they align with how customer data is collected and used for activation, engagement, and conversion. They can guide procurement teams on which features must be included in contracts and how these features can benefit the organization.  

Collaboration between marketing and procurement is essential for demonstrating the return on investment (ROI) of new tools. This partnership ensures the company makes technology investments that support both immediate marketing goals and long-term business success.  

Investing time in mastering these competencies will help marketers build efficient martech stacks that grow with the business. With the right tools and strategy, they can unlock new opportunities, enhance customer experiences, and drive sustainable growth 🚀.

Top Reads📚

Election prediction markets are bringing in billions ~ 16 October 2024, Morning Brew

US tells Israel to improve Gaza humanitarian situation or risk military aid ~ 16 October 2024, Reuters

​​Google Just Completely Rebuilt Its Shopping Experience ~ 15 October 2024, Search Engine Journal

How customer-centric marketing fuels long-term success ~ 15 October 2024, MarTech

5 things that led to an Google HCU recovery  ~ 14 October 2024, Search Engine Land

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