Hey Digital Darlings,
In the digital world, it seems like the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the change column, we see paid social continuing to grow in importance (and value) among digital marketers. But in “same-same” news, paid search is still the reigning monarch in the vast kingdom of paid media–clutching its crown with a cool $88.8 billion to show for it in 2023. Buckle up as we sashay through the latest digital drama, from Google's generative jests to Meta's chatbot chitchat.
US search ad revenues hit a record high in 2023.
Paid search remained on top with digital advertisers for yet another year, accounting for $88.8 billion in ad revenues in 2023. That’s a 5.2% increase in revenue year over year. Despite the fact that paid search becomes more competitive and less transparent every year, it still drives better results than any other advertising channel. That said, paid search’s market share is slowly but steadily decreasing, thanks in large part to the rise of paid social. But paid social isn’t much more transparent than search, so I wouldn’t really call that a win… just a shift. In other paid search news…
Google announced generative AI tools for Demand Gen campaigns.
The new tools create image assets using prompts that you provide. If you already have visual assets that are performing well, you can also use the tool to generate similar image variations. This makes it easier than ever to create visuals for Discover and YouTube Ads, but eliminates the need for a real, human creative team, which makes me sad. It’s interesting that these generative image tools are only available for PMAX and Demand Gen campaigns – two of Google’s newest campaign types that they’ve been pushing heavily since their inception. It’s yet another indicator that Google wants to automate everything. Regardless, it sounds like a helpful tool, and you can check out Google's guide to start using it. Now let’s chat about GA4…
The shift from ‘conversions’ to ‘key events’ in GA4 is a game-changer.
‘Key Events’ is a new term Google invented to distinguish Google Analytics (GA4) conversions from Google Ads conversions. Key events are important events for your business like subscriptions or purchases. This article from Search Engine Land outlined all the shifts in tracking from Universal Analytics (UA) to GA4:
- UA used data based on sessions; GA4 uses data based on events.
- UA measured bounce rate; GA4 measures engagement rate.
- UA used cookies; GA4 uses modeling to estimate key events.
- UA let you set up to 20 goals; GA4 lets you mark up to 30 key events.
- UA provided data; GA4 automatically provides anomaly detection.
- UA reported what users did; GA4 generates predictive insights.
- UA used last-click attribution; GA4 uses data-driven attribution.
These shifts make it easier to measure micro-conversions and assign monetary value to them, and also get more detailed insight into your customers’ purchasing journey. I found it really helpful to see all the changes laid out plainly. You can read more about the impact of these changes here. In other Google news..
AI spam is winning the SEO battle.
John Gillham, founder and CEO of AI content detection platform Originality.ai, said Google is losing its war on spammy content, and that “not all AI content is spam, but I think right now all spam is AI content." His team has been tracking the amount of AI content showing up on Google search results. Last month, 10% of results were written by AI, and that’s after Google claimed to take down a bunch of spammy, AI powered sites.
The Verge proved that point and trolled Google with an article titled “Best printer 2024, best printer for home use, office use, printing labels, printer for school, homework printer you are a printer we are all printers.” They used Google Gemini to write this satirical product review, and the article is now ranking in the #2 organic position on the SERP under a search for “best printer 2024”. Hahahahaaaa. The Verge did the same thing a year ago when they published this article (also about printers) written by ChatGPT, which also ranked in the top organic search results. It makes me wonder if Google’s March core update, which was supposed to reduce unhelpful, low quality, AI generated content, had any actual impact. Next up, more strange media news…
Chase (yes, the bank) launched an advertising network?
I guess it was only a matter of time before the bank processing the funds for the massive media buys wanted in on a piece of the action, but this was a bit of a surprise even to me. They recently launched Chase Media Solutions, the first bank-led media platform. According to businesswire “Chase Media Solutions combines the scale and audience of a retail media network with the exclusive advantages of Chase’s first-party financial data, institutional credibility and precise targeting capabilities.” As a consumer, something seems weird about the intersection of banking privacy laws and data brokerage and, I’m not gonna lie, this freaks me out. But as an advertiser, this seems like a good opportunity, as Chase’s first-party data enables advertisers on their network to target consumers based on purchase history. If you want to test out this new media network, you can contact Chase’s team here. And lastly, we have to dish about AI…
Meta put its chatbot in our Instagram DMs.
Which is cool, but it’s like… ask me first?? You can use it like a search engine and ask the AI questions, using the same flow that you would to DM a friend. This is a pretty smart way to drive adoption, TBH… But what’s in it for Meta? Are they using us to test their AI, or are they coming for the search game? With TikTok being a growing portion of Gen Z’s go-to search engine, the latter seems likely. Only time will tell.
And there you have it, my loyal readers—another whirlwind tour of this week’s digital marketing landscape. From Google's AI antics to the unexpected retail maneuvers by Chase, the plot only thickens. Until next week, stay sharp, question everything, and keep your strategies as bold as your coffee and your data cleaner than your browser history.
You know you love me.
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