Google has officially rebranded its famed AdWords advertising service to Google Ads.
The rebranding was first announced back in June of this year, to better “represent the full range of advertising capabilities” that they offer to marketers across Search, Shopping, YouTube, Google Play apps, and more.
Here’s a quick look at the Google Ads rebranding and a recap of the new features that Google is offering marketers on the platform.
The rebrand is a better representative of the expansion in Google’s ad offerings over the years. The new brand is much more indicative of the many things advertisers can achieve with the expanding Google Ads platform.
-Josh Brisco, Senior Manager, Retail Search Operations
What is Google Ads?
Google Ads is the new branding for Google’s advertising service (formerly known as AdWords) that spans Search, Shopping, Display, YouTube, and more.
Starting September 18th, 2018, advertisers will notice that the familiar AdWords brand is now officially named Google Ads — complete with a new logo as well as new features that Google has rolled out incrementally.
New Ad Units, Audience Targeting, and Other Features
The Google Ads rebranding effort has taken place over the last six months as Google has introduced some big updates and new features.
These updates include:
- An entirely new AdWords (now Google Ads) interface
- Outstream video ads
- Responsive search ads
- In-market audiences for search ads
- Detailed demographics targeting
- Responsive display ads
- A new Google AdWords Editor
- Google Ads Optimization Score
Many of the new features are powered by Google’s advances into AI and machine learning, which was a major theme at this year’s Google Marketing Live.
A Focus On Small Businesses With Smart Campaigns & Bidding
Another focus of Google has been small businesses, and how their new, AI-powered advertising features make it easier for those with limited bandwidth and resources to get their campaigns up and running.
The addition of machine learning means that business owners can spend less time managing their campaigns and more times focusing on their business.
Two major features that Google is pushing for small business owners are Smart Campaigns and Smart Bidding.
Both are powered by machine learning and thus can require less input and management from busy marketers.