Google Ads 2024 Review: Key Insights and Trends Shaping 2025

Google Ads has become a major tool for businesses to reach their target audience effectively. In 2024, Google Ads introduced many new features and updates that greatly impacted digital marketing strategies. 

These included advanced AI technologies, improved measurement solutions, and new campaign types, all aimed at helping advertisers connect with valuable audiences and achieve better results. 

As we look back on 2024, it’s clear that Google Ads has remained relevant and has set the stage for even more exciting developments in the years to come. Let’s take a look at the key highlights and top trends of Google Ads in 2024.

The evolution of search is opening up new avenues for advertisers

• Search has been transforming more and more, both in search queries and in the results one gets.

Earlier people asked for short questions but as days passed by, the questions kept getting bigger and the details people add to the question have become more particular.

This made the advertisers invest more in broad matches to match the diversity of searchers.

To catch up with this, Google brought in AI Overviews in Search. This will combine large language modules with Google’s core system to answer those complex queries. This update is available to over 100 countries helping out billions of users monthly in six languages.

• Similarly, Google’s visual search engine keeps growing in parallel. This was only possible using Lens that made it possible.

According to a Google report, it is said to have about 20 billion visual searches on Lens with one in every four searches being commercial intent.

To assist advertisers in reaching consumers within these new experiences, Google rolled out Shopping ads in Lens results worldwide and text and Shopping ads in AI Overviews on mobile in the U.S.

Tailored Shopping Discovery

• Another update that is worth keeping a note of is the reimagined shopping tab.

The updated Shopping tab experience includes a personalized feed for signed-in users, a dedicated deals page, and features such as Virtual Try-On. Yet this is live on mobile in the US.

Driven by Gemini models, the Virtual Try-On allows potential customers to see how clothing fits, moves, and stretches on real models of various sizes and shapes. This is achieved by combining images of diverse human models with product photos from the Merchant Center.

Brands with shopping feeds and the ones with the best quality images will automatically opt into the apparel try-on. This will be shown on both free listings and on Shopping Ads.

• While this update rolled out there came another one called Merchant Center Next and was available worldwide.

The new interface offers the same features as the previous version, along with additional capabilities like generated performance insights, personalized recommendations, and visual reports created using simple language prompts.

Create, Refine, and Scale Compelling Creatives

• Google brought in Creative Generation Solutions that helped businesses design and launch ads that can perform well and be consistent with their brands.
• Did you know, now in conversational experience for Search campaigns is now available in English, Spanish, French and German which is driven by Gemini models. This is a good helping hand for those newly commenced brands and businesses.

According to a report by Google Internal Data. US, the users engaging with the conversational experience in Google Ads are 63% more likely to launch search campaigns with “Good” or “Excellent” ad strength.

Google has thought this through so that advertisers can help their campaigns perform well from the start.

Advertisers have also made ongoing advancements in their Generative AI models and capabilities making it a lot easier to create a wide range of high-quality, on-brand image and video assets at scale.

• The asset enhancements feature for responsive display ads leverages AI to automatically adjust your ad by smart cropping to emphasize key focal points, text assets, and logo placements on relevant image areas, while also enhancing image resolution and sharpness. It can even animate static images to create more engaging ads.

• Google expanded the generative creative capacities to other campaign types too which would go beyond Performance Max.

• Image asset generation is now available in Performance Max, Demand Gen, Display, and App campaigns. It is powered by Imagen 3, Google’s latest text-to-image model, which creates sharper, more realistic images for your ads.

This year, Google enhanced image generation and editing capabilities. Advertisers can now upload image references to create multiple assets that align with the brand’s style.

Image editing is available across Performance Max, Demand Gen, Search, Display, and App campaigns. While building your campaign, you can easily modify your image assets by adding, removing, or adjusting elements, extending backgrounds, and resizing images to fit any size, aspect ratio, or orientation.

A small tip: To keep up with the trends, advertisers can create seasonal campaigns to make sure to keep up with the trend.

But remember that image editing is different from the Product Studio. In Product Studio advertisers can edit product assets in the Google Merchant Center and on the Google and YouTube apps on Shopify.

This also now allows you to upload reference images to create assets that match your brand’s visual style. Additionally, with image-to-video animation, it can quickly transform your existing product images into videos.

Video format ads

• Video assets for ads can be a bit challenging when it comes to the inventory options on YouTube.

The new video enhancements uses Google AI will automatically create additional flips and also create a short version of the brand video. But this is an optional feature, either you can make use of it or remove it. This will also verify the quality of the content before going live.

• Another feature that is available worldwide and is available in the Google Ads asset library is the Voice-over feature.

To use this, advertisers can simply add on the script and choose the voice and proceed to generate. This will create a voice-over for any YouTube ads and is available in more than 12 languages.

• Long content has been a long time go for YouTube advertisers but when it comes to reach short videos perform better.

Did you know, that YouTube Shorts have now reached 70 billion daily views, with 2 billion signed-in users each month? Additionally, Shorts views on connected TVs more than doubled last year.

• To ease access Google launched a brand QR code for YouTube connected TV. In this way, the audience can also view the products and services and opt for it.
• YouTube introduced Partnership ads by BrandConnect which is available now on Google Ads.

Enhanced Controls and More Transparency

• As we already know, AI has eased up the work in reaching the audience. With AI you can get better results for the business.
• In Search campaigns, brand inclusions let you leverage broad match while maintaining control over your brand’s visibility by targeting only relevant brand or related product searches.

Additionally, brand exclusions are now available for all match types and Dynamic Search Ads, giving you the ability to prevent your ads from showing up on certain brand-related queries, including variations and misspellings.

Performance Max updates:

• Now you can easily inform Google about your custom brand colour and font using Brand Guidelines.
• The usage of Campaign-level negative keywords are expected to be live in the upcoming days
• IP exclusions are now supported, and account-level placement exclusions also extend to the Search partner network.
• Now you can test the impact of the final URL that will let Google AI to set the most relevant landing page.
• With the help of Ad rank, advertisers can now determine which campaign performs well when overlapped
• Asset-level conversion reporting
• Impression share
• Demographic report

These are the areas where you can focus on in the upcoming year.

What to Expect in 2025: Google Ads Predictions and Tips

1. AI-Powered Campaign Management: Google is expected to further integrate AI into campaign management, optimizing campaigns in real-time and providing advanced insights. This includes enhanced Performance Max campaigns with detailed breakdowns of creative assets driving conversions1.
2. Video Ads Expansion: With the rise of short-form video content, YouTube Shorts and interactive video ads are predicted to become more prominent. These formats offer creative storytelling opportunities and direct interaction with viewers, driving higher engagement and conversion rates3.
3. First-Party Data Focus: As privacy regulations tighten, the use of first-party data will become increasingly important. Advertisers will need to rely on accurate conversion tracking and data integration to optimize their campaigns.
4. Conversational Search Optimization: User search behavior is shifting towards more natural, conversational queries. Advertisers will need to tailor their ad copy and landing pages to match these queries4.
5. Multi-Channel Strategies: Moving away from single-platform dependency, advertisers will adopt multi-channel strategies to ensure stability and reach across various platforms.

Tips for Preparing for the Changes Ahead

1. Embrace AI Tools: Familiarize yourself with AI-driven features and tools in Google Ads, such as smart bidding and AI-generated ad copy. These tools can save time and improve campaign performance.
2. Optimize for Conversational Search: Adjust your keyword strategies to include natural language queries and ensure your ad copy aligns with how users are searching.
3. Leverage First-Party Data: Focus on collecting and utilizing first-party data to enhance targeting and measurement accuracy. This will be crucial for maintaining campaign effectiveness amid stricter privacy regulations.
4. Experiment with Video Ads: Explore different video ad formats, including YouTube Shorts and interactive ads, to engage your audience more effectively.
5. Stay Updated: Keep abreast of the latest updates and changes in Google Ads by following industry news and attending relevant webinars or conferences.

By preparing for these trends and updates, you can stay ahead of the curve and ensure your Google Ads campaigns continue to perform well in 2025. 

Wrap-up

As we move into 2025, it’s important for advertisers to stay ahead of the curve by embracing these advancements. Leveraging AI and automation can optimize campaigns and save time. Focusing on video ads and mobile optimization will ensure better engagement with your audience. 

Utilizing first-party data effectively will be key in an environment of tightening privacy regulations. Additionally, adopting a multi-channel strategy will enhance stability and reach.

Staying informed about the latest trends and updates will help you make data-driven decisions and achieve your advertising goals. If you’re ready to take your advertising to the next level, contact us today, and let’s make 2025 a success!