Privacy & The Google Marketing Live Keynote (2022)
In 2022, it’s no secret that privacy and tracking are one of the hottest topics in market. This one issue presents more and more challengers to advertise when it comes to understanding where conversions are coming from, whilst protecting user privacy.
Google holds a 92% share of the world’s search market. In this year’s Marketing Live Keynote, they were extremely clear about how seriously they take their responsibilities when it comes to maintaining user privacy and keeping data secure.
We are in an age where users are increasingly concerned about where their personal data is going, and how it’s being used. In the advertising world, those managing complex campaigns are seeing more and more scepticism from users when it comes to personalised ads and what that really means for the user.
For this reason, Google is introducing additional features to help users understand their own privacy personalisation and better manage the data they’re sharing. For businesses, Google is focusing on delivering better conversion measures that allow ads to reach the correct audiences and begin to rebuild the trust between users and personalised digital advertising.
Privacy for Users
In the marketing keynote, Google was very clear in outlining its privacy commitments to customers.
- They never sell your personal information
- Ad personalisation does not include sensitive information
- Ad personalisation is also not based on the content you create or the files in your online storage
- Google protect privacy and data on behalf of their users
For Google, the priority is building a resilient approach that allows businesses to reach potential customers in new ways, without compromising the trust built with its users. They see this as preparation for the future of digital advertising, where data security and privacy will, unsurprisingly, be key.
My Ad Center
To help users understand and have more control over the ads that they see on YouTube, Search and Discover, Google is creating My Ad Center.
This functionality will allow users to opt in or out of ads and ad categories according to what they prefer to see. This might mean hiding ads for things like alcohol and gambling, or whitelisting categories that are of particular interest and seeing more content related to these.
The Ad Center will also help users to better understand why they are seeing certain content and will give them insight into their ad profile. Google hopes this will help to build trust between businesses that advertise with Google and the customers that they serve.
What Does This Mean for Businesses?
Businesses hold a lot of responsibility when it comes to protecting customer data, and Google acknowledges that to maintain trust, they must work to ensure that ads work as intended for the benefit of both users and companies advertising with Google.
PPC partners are well aware of how these changes to how users view privacy are impacting the advertising industry, and are taking extra measures to ensure campaigns are optimised and converting as they should be.
Privacy Sandbox
Google’s Privacy Sandbox is an initiative to develop new API technologies as a replacement for third-party cookies, without sacrificing user privacy.
Whilst still supporting essential marketing for online enterprises, the goal is to protect user privacy while sustaining the open web.
Google’s intentions to get rid of third-party cookies by 2022 has been the source of much discussion in the marketing world, and many PPC pros are keeping an eye on this development to help best advise customers on Search and other paid advertising.
Google will be expanding their testing of interest-based advertising (and remarketing) using these Sandbox APIs. We feel that it’s likely that Google’s development teams still have a lot of work to do here, and we are eagerly awaiting any and all updates to help you understand what they mean for advertisers.
Customer Match
Customer match was designed to help advertisers to re-engage customers through the Google network. In the marketing keynote, Google announced that they were introducing new customer acquisition through customer match. This will mean that you can weight the importance of conversions to prioritise finding new customers for your business. This is especially useful when your customer lifetime value is naturally high.
Conversion Modelling
Conversion modelling helps businesses to make data-driven decisions that really matter, and Google wants to help transform this data into insights that impact campaign success.
To do this, they will focus on three key areas:
Coverage – By expanding browser coverage and offering businesses new model types, Google hopes to give marketers a more well-rounded view of the customer journey. This leads to better ads, improved targeting, and helps improve conversions for businesses.
Accuracy – Google is investing in modelling that is both more accurate and better quality. This is to help identify conversions and actions that previously might have slipped through the net. Increased accuracy means that advertisers can make better decisions when it comes to campaign management and reporting on conversions.
Consistency – To achieve consistency, Google is ensuring this high-quality coverage and accuracy is available to both Ads and Analytics users to help create a consistent marketing approach that works for businesses without sacrificing user privacy.
To take advantage of these new conversion modelling options, you can contact us here to arrange a discussion about where paid advertising can take your business.
Data-Driven Attribution
Data-driven attribution credits conversions based on how individuals interact with your ads and choose to become customers. It analyses which campaigns, keywords and ads have the most consistent input into achieving your business objectives. Data-Driven attribution is now available regardless of conversion volume.
Data-driven attribution is also now the default for most new conversion actions, simplifying the process for advertisers and making it easier to get started with basic campaigns.
Google Tag Improvements
Google announced the introduction of simplified tagging to help businesses better monitor conversions. In the new system where the Google Tag will replace the Global Site Tag, marketers will have more control over adding, editing and monitoring tags without having to put significant effort into editing code or setting up complex conversion tracking.
Google hopes that this will provide businesses with the opportunity to better track customer journeys and conversions despite the extra privacy measures in place for users.
Enhanced Conversions for Leads
Google has provided an early rollout for their enhanced conversions for leads through some of their partners to test how effective it can be for businesses. Advertisers will be able to access lead funnel reports to see how their funnel is performing and how the qualified and converted leads from ad campaigns are impacting the wider sales funnel.
So, What Do These Updates Mean?
It’s quite clear that Google wants to get ahead of the curve when it comes to new concerns and trends about user privacy and data. To achieve their goals of protecting users, they are offering advertisers even more ways to track conversions and ensure that any PPC campaigns are optimised to reach the right audiences in safe and transparent ways.
To discover how your business can get ahead of the curve when it comes to paid advertising, contact us today.