Google announced a new bidding update to Google Ads named Smart Bidding Exploration. Google said this is the "biggest update to bidding in over a decade."
Smart Bidding Exploration aims to pursue less obvious and potentially high-performing searches, giving advertisers the chance to appear in more of the moments where people are researching and discovering information on Search.
Google explained that there are new and "flexible ROAS targets". Google said "the same lender can now open itself up to bid on less obvious but potentially highly valuable queries more often, like [how to buy a home]." With that, advertisers can find new, qualified leads that the lender wouldn't have captured otherwise, Google explained.
The example given by Google is when a mortgage lender likely already bids successfully on high-performing, reliable queries like "mortgage" or "home loan” when advertising on Search. Google's systems know these queries will generally help them achieve their ROAS targets. But is the lender missing even more leads?
Do they perform? Google says so: "Campaigns using Smart Bidding Exploration see, on average, an 18% increase in unique search query categories with conversions and a 19% increase in conversions."
Vidhya Srinivasan, VP/GM of Google Ads & Commerce wrote:
This new tool builds on existing features like AI Max for Search campaigns, which ensures advertisers are eligible for relevant, intent-driven searches. Smart Bidding Exploration complements it by actively pursuing high-performing searches from a wider range of unique categories within your campaign.
Smart bidding is currently a global open beta.
For a full list of changes announced at GML, see here.
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