How to Succeed with Google Discovery Ads

It’s official: Google has launched Discovery ad campaigns globally. “Discovery ads,” so dubbed because they are designed for Google users who might not be actively looking for things to buy, have already been adopted by True Interactive in our client work. In fact, we’ve seen higher conversion rates on Discovery campaigns than on traditional display campaign, which have translated into lower cost per conversion numbers. Read on to learn more.

What Are Discovery Ads?

Google Discovery ads are designed to appear exclusively on mobile devices, with the exception of those discovery ads showing in Gmail (these also appear on the desktop). As noted, they are called “Discovery ads” because they are designed for the “laid back” individual: someone who didn’t necessarily access Google with an intent to make a purchase. As reported in Adweek, this is in fact a receptive group: Google says that 86 percent of online consumers exploring the web or watching videos are also open to shopping ideas. That’s a sizable audience: according to Google, Discovery Ads can “reach up to 2.9 billion people across multiple platforms, including Gmail social tabs and YouTube’s Watch Next feeds,” all in a single campaign. As Search Engine Land points out, Discovery ads tend to be image-rich: advertisers can run a single image ad or a multi-image “carousel,” meaning an ad with multiple images users can scroll through. The ads may be similar to ones brands are already running on Facebook, which means advertisers can repurpose existing ad creatives.

On what platforms do Discovery ads appear? As one might guess, they occur on Google Discover (the new name for Google Feed). They also show up on Gmail, which The Drum reports enjoys more than 1.5 billion monthly users, and YouTube, cited by Forbes as the second-largest search engine in the world. Heavy hitters, in other words.

True Interactive and Discovery Campaigns

True Interactive has been an early adopter of the format for our clients. As noted, we have seen an increase in conversion rate and a decrease in cost per conversion. Why? For one thing, the ad format applies the power of the Google algorithm to target the right consumer. And the format has simply hit at the right time: mobile usage is increasing.

Some basics about our experiences and requirements follow here:

• Targeting: as with any regular Display campaign, we can use remarketing, in-market, affinity, custom intent and similar audiences.

• Bidding: these campaigns can only use automated bidding strategies such as Target CPA and Maximize Conversions.

• Ad Placements: ads can show on YouTube (mobile home feed only), Gmail (Promotions & Social tabs—as noted, ads are served on both mobile and desktop), and the Discover feed (iOS, Android Google app, and mobile Google.com site).

• Ad Formats:
  • Two options:
    • Single image
    • Multi-image carousel
  • Asset requirements:
    • Images: high-quality images are needed (they can’t be blurry) in either 1200 x 628 (landscape) or 1200 x 1200 (square)—preferably in both sizes.
      • Note that ads with call-to-actions inside the images will be disapproved. You can have Google include a Call-to-Action button in your ad by choosing one from Google’s predefined list (e.g., Learn More, Subscribe, Shop Now, Apply Now, Get Quote, etc.)

• Text:
  • Carousel requirements: one main headline (40 characters max), one main description (up to 90 characters), a business name (up to 25 characters), as well as one headline for each individual carousel card of up to 40 characters.
  • Single image requirements: at least one headline no longer than 40 characters (can include up to five different 40-character headlines and Google will optimize for performance), along with one description line of up to 90 characters long (can include up to five different descriptions of 90 characters each and Google will optimize for performance).

What You Can Do

What should your takeaways be? We recommend that you:

• Capitalize on this format.

• Monitor Google ad innovations on an ongoing basis and understand the powerful nature of Google and how it is evolving.
  • As we’ve blogged, Google draws on several advantages as it grows its ad business:
    • A massive user base that relies on Google across multiple platforms and apps.
    • A head start in using AI, with the specific aim of making advertising more effective—and smarter.
    • An established global presence that showcases how Google tailors advertising products in support of international ad campaigns.

Google has a good track record of recognizing needs, and creating products—Shopping campaigns with partners, for example, or location-based digital advertising—to meet those needs. That proactive stance will no doubt continue.

Contact Us

Eager to learn more about what Google might offer your brand? Contact us.