Shopping Ads
YouTube ads always benefit business owners; So Google keeps updating its advertising techniques. Google has once again added a YouTube update to the lineup. An update on bringing shopping ads to YouTube’s home feed and search results.
Over time, YouTube has become a preferred platform for users to help them with their holiday or festive shopping. Google took note of this idea and took a way to benefit advertisers. YouTube users will now see display shopping ads in the home feed and search results tailored to their interests. These ads are displayed above video results or as a carousel between videos on the home page.
How To Get In Play?
If you’ve selected the Display Network on YouTube, your Shopping campaigns will be more relevant to this new presence. It also selects your shopping campaign as a relatively new inventory on Discover. Earlier this year, Google announced that Showcase Shopping ads would be extended to Discover.
YouTube users will now see display shopping ads in the home feed and when conducting searches. Shopping ads are tailored to individual user’s interests. Advertisers who are already using Standard Shopping campaigns are eligible to show their ads on YouTube as long as they have opted into YouTube on the Display Network.
Other Updates to YouTube & Shopping Ads
This update marks one of many updates to both YouTube ads and shopping ads. It was recently announced that extensions can now be shown alongside YouTube video ads, which can be customized with various calls to action.
As Google explains, YouTube can show ads based on user’s interests.
To continue the Puma example, a user doesn’t need to type in “puma” to see an ad for running shoes—expressing an interest in running can show ads for Puma or other retailers that offer running apparel.
Like the Shopping ads that appear elsewhere across Google’s platform — including Search, Shopping, partner websites, and the Google Display Network — the YouTube Shopping ads will match to user’s interest not by using keywords but rather on the product details and information the brand submits through the Merchant Center.
Google Display Network — the YouTube Shopping ads
The idea of using YouTube as a new platform for display advertising comes at a time when other social networks like Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok are making it easier for users to buy products from their apps. Pinterest captures a shopper’s interest early in the journey, then tracks the path from visual inspiration back to purchase.
Advertisers using standard Shopping campaigns today and those who have opted for YouTube on the Display Network will be able to run YouTube Shopping ads immediately, Google says.
The new ads are just one of many changes YouTube announced today. It said its video ads will now be more interactive and provide users with actionable information such as store location, interest forms, and additional calls-to-action to help drive more conversions. It also releases site link extensions for TrueView for actionable ads that allow visitors to go to additional landing pages, like holiday listings, store hours, and more. These will arrive in the coming months.
Elsewhere on Google, Showcase Shopping ads are expanding to Google Images, where users can explore a brand’s larger selection of products. In May, Google announced plans to bring new ad products to YouTube, revamping the Google Shopping product following the shutdown and rebranding of Google Express.
As part of that big update, the company outlined a variety of ways to connect YouTube viewers directly with brands and products. Including Shopping Actions, which allow purchases from within Google’s platforms, and its highly visible Showcase Shopping ads through Shopping Actions.