It’s hard to escape the constant buzz around “AI” nowadays, reminiscent of the early days of “mobile” and “social media.”
In this nascent phase of the generative AI era, the realm of creativity is experiencing rapid advancements, particularly in advertising.
This trend was evident at Google Marketing Live this year, where new AI-driven creative capabilities were unveiled for Search, Shopping, Performance Max, and YouTube ads.
Feeling overwhelmed? You’re not alone. With the myriad changes and novel applications of AI in ad creativity, keeping abreast of the available options, understanding their functionalities, and tracking their evolution can indeed be challenging.
Desiring to retain control over your ad creatives? I completely understand that sentiment.
In this introductory guide, we’ll explore how these functionalities can bolster your distinct creative approach.
It’s crucial to bear in mind that the overarching objectives of these features are to:
- Aid in generating ideas and expanding pertinent ad creatives to connect with a broader audience.
- Streamline your workflow and conserve time and resources.
What they’re not meant to be:
- “Set-it-and-forget-it” campaign tools.
- Substitutes for your personal creative contributions and insights.
Marketers must apply their expertise to ensure that the generated creatives are accurate representations of their brand.
This is precisely why these features are rooted in your inputs, such as landing pages, manual assets, and keywords.
In the following sections, we’ll delve into each of the AI-driven creative features available in Google Ads today, discuss upcoming developments, and offer insights into how these tools can enhance your creative endeavors to boost performance.
Automatically Created Assets
To begin, let’s talk about automatically generated assets. When you activate the automatically generated assets (AGA) feature, it generates headlines and descriptions for your responsive search ads (RSAs) and Performance Max asset groups.
The goal is to complement your manual assets by offering additional conversion opportunities through the creation of more relevant ads for a wider range of search queries.
With AGA enabled, RSAs compile ad variations expected to yield the best performance using both your provided assets and the automatically generated ones.
As of February, automatically generated assets can utilize generative AI for advertisers with assets in English. We have plans to extend this capability to more languages in the future.
Campaign Types Supported: Search, Performance Max.
Generated Content: Text assets for responsive search ads and Performance Max asset groups.
Location of Settings: Located at the campaign level settings.
Timing of Generation: Assets are created after the campaign is launched.
Sources: Automatically created assets draw from your ad’s specific context, incorporating elements such as your landing page, current ads, and keywords within your ad group.
Reporting: In the asset report at the ad level, these assets are identified as “Automatically created” under the “Asset source” column. Additionally, combination reports encompass automatically generated assets.
Controls:
- Choose to opt in or out at the campaign level.
- Review and remove assets you no longer wish to use via the asset details report. Automatically, the system removes any assets created automatically that show low performance or if there are changes in the asset source.
Additional Information:
- Website content serves as the basis for generating ACA, emphasizing the importance of ensuring your website content is accurate, up-to-date, compliant with Google Ads policies, and adheres to relevant laws when enabling automatically created assets in your campaigns.
- Automatically generated assets are designed to complement, not substitute, your own headlines and descriptions. They can appear alongside your manual content and do not contribute to asset limits.
- Drafts and Experiments support ACA in Search campaigns. Automatically created assets will be visible in both the test and control groups. However, the control group will not display any impressions of automatically generated assets.
- Ad Strength ratings now reflect the inclusion of automatically generated assets in both responsive search ads and Performance Max campaigns.
- For further details on automatically created assets for RSAs, click here, and for Performance Max, click here.
Dynamic Assets
At the account level, various automated assets, previously referred to as extensions, are available, including seller ratings, automated locations, and extended headlines.
In this discussion, we’ll delve into the five dynamic asset categories accessible:
- Dynamic Image Assets
- Dynamic Sitelinks
- Dynamic Structured Snippets
- Dynamic Callouts
Campaign Types Eligibility: Most campaign types are eligible to display these assets across various ad formats and multiple campaigns.
Location for Settings: Navigate to Campaigns > Assets > Click on the three-dot menu icon > Access the Account level automated assets settings tab.
Asset Generation: Google Ads automatically generates and displays assets beneath your ad when it predicts that they will enhance your ad’s performance.
Source: Dynamic assets are derived from the content and images found on your landing page. It’s important to note that generative AI is not currently utilized for dynamic assets.
Reporting: Accessible from the Assets tab, where you can track the performance of your dynamic assets.
Controls: From the Assets tab, you have the option to remove individual dynamic assets that you no longer wish to display. Additionally, you can disable specific dynamic assets entirely at the account level (refer to the settings location mentioned above).
Additional information required for you to know:
- It’s important to utilize dynamic assets in conjunction with your manual assets, rather than substituting them entirely.
- Starting from March, dynamic assets have the capability to appear alongside your manual assets. For instance, if you possess only two eligible manual sitelinks, your advertisement can display two extra dynamic sitelinks, resulting in a total of four sitelinks being showcased.
- Evaluate the performance of your account-level automated assets, which encompass dynamic assets, by accessing the Assets tab.
- Further insights regarding account-level automated assets can be found here.
Asset Generation In Performance Max
This functionality is accessible when crafting or modifying your Performance Max campaigns. It empowers you to craft custom assets using text-to-text and text-to-image prompts.
Campaign types where this applies: Performance Max. It was globally launched in May for customers whose Google Ads language is set to English.
What it produces: Text and image assets.
Location of the setting: It’s optional during the creation of campaigns and when editing asset groups.
When assets are generated: This option is available when initiating new campaigns and asset groups, as well as when editing existing asset groups.
To begin, input your final URL (a webpage or a social media page) in the “Asset generation panel.” This will prompt the generation of a business summary, encompassing the products or services being promoted in the asset group and the unique selling points.
Subsequently, you have the choice to “generate assets” for scrutiny and editing before finalizing and publishing.
For text assets: Gemini models are employed to generate text assets based on your website.
Regarding images: The system draws assets from various sources, including your website and social channels, our stock image inventory, and those generated via AI. Additionally, you have the option to generate unique images using text prompts.
Autogenerated videos: These are crafted from the other assets within the asset group.
Exciting developments include image references, unveiled at GML this year. Soon, you’ll have the ability to specify the type of image you desire in a text-to-prompt format and then upload a reference image. This feature will generate original images aligned with the designated theme, style, and context. (Initially available in English.)
Reporting: Assets that you approve and publish will be reflected in your asset reports.
Controls: Throughout campaign and asset group construction, you maintain the ability to review, edit, and remove any assets before launching your campaign.
Please note that asset generation may not be accessible for websites linked to sensitive categories, non-English content, or those recently launched online. Additionally, there are content restrictions in place when generating images. For instance, the tools will avoid creating content featuring identifiable individuals or products with brand names and logos. Consequently, some requests may yield no results, while others might produce irrelevant responses. Further details on generated images can be found here.
Assets generated by generative AI undergo an Ads Policy review and may not receive approval. It’s imperative to review all assets for accuracy and compliance with Google advertising policies or relevant laws before publishing them.
To learn more about constructing asset groups using generative AI, click here.
Conversational Experience For Search Ads
Introduced in November, this chat-based feature harnesses the power of large language models to assist in the creation of new Search campaigns. It bears some resemblance to asset generation in PMax.
Campaign Types: This feature is applicable to eligible Search campaigns where the language is set to English.
Generated Assets: It produces keywords, headlines, descriptions, images, and sitelinks.
Location in Settings: The option becomes visible when you reach the “Keywords and ad” step during Search campaign setup, provided you are eligible.
Asset Generation Timing: Assets are generated during campaign setup.
Sources: The tool draws from your text prompts and landing page. Image suggestions are sourced either from your landing page or generated by Google AI.
Reporting: Approved keywords and assets will be reflected in their respective reports.
Controls: You have the ability to review and edit suggested assets created in the conversational experience for accuracy and to ensure they align with your brand voice. Additionally, you can input new prompts.
What else you need to know:
- Unavailable for domains within sensitive verticals or sub-verticals, such as sexual content and gambling.
- Utilize natural language in your chat and rephrase prompts if you’re dissatisfied with the response.
- Incorporating unique details to guide and inform the AI increases the likelihood of generating unique ad assets, distinguishing your ads.
- The AI may not always provide accurate suggestions. It’s essential to thoroughly review all suggestions before publishing.
- For further guidance on using the conversational experience, refer to this resource.
Coming Soon … AI Creatives News From Google Marketing Live
Brand Guidelines For Performance Max
Soon, with the introduction of brand guidelines for PMax creative assets, you’ll have the ability to define your brand colors either directly or by confirming the colors detected from your website. Additionally, we’ll strive to closely match the brand font identified on your website.
These guidelines will be implemented across auto-generated videos and responsive display ads, which are undergoing a modern makeover.
You’ll have the flexibility to review and adjust your brand guidelines whenever necessary. Currently in beta, brand guidelines will be gradually rolled out in the coming months.
AI Image Editor In The Asset Library And In Performance Max
Retailers in the U.S. will soon have the option to seamlessly integrate products from their Google Merchant Feed into the image editor within Google Ads.
The enhanced editing tools now offer functionalities such as cropping, background removal, color adjustments, and aspect ratio modification, along with the capability to generate additional variations of your assets.
To access the image editor, navigate to the Asset library within your Shared library under Tools when creating a new image.
Animated Image Ads For Shorts
Shorts will soon feature animated image ads that will be automatically generated from the images in your account, resulting in a more Shorts-native aesthetic.
For instance, by incorporating your feed into Demand Gen, the platform will have the capability to compile product images and animate them into cohesive ads.
Shopping Ads: 3D Spin & Try on
Introducing 3D Spin, a feature that enables you to showcase your products with 360-degree views in Shopping ads. Initially, shoes will be the primary product category supported by 3D Spin.
To utilize this feature, ensure you have high-resolution images captured from a minimum of five angles to assemble the 3D view. These visuals can appear in both Shopping ads and free listings. Further details can be found here.
Moreover, try-on ads, currently available for apparel in free listings, are now extending to tops. Users can opt to view apparel in this category on models of various sizes directly from the ad.
For optimal results, your images should be high-resolution, ideally sized at 1024 pixels or higher, with a minimum requirement of 512 x 512 pixels. Each image should showcase a single garment on a front-facing model or mannequin in a straightforward pose. Additional information is available here.
Ok, But Are “AI Ads” All Going To Look The Same?
Is it possible that all ads will appear identical if everyone adopts AI technology? It’s a valid question.
As we’ve discussed, the majority of these AI tools rely on your distinct resources as their primary input to guide their decisions.
This implies that the more distinctive your landing pages, current resources, and prompts are, the more the generated content will uniquely represent your brand.
Hopefully, this overview has provided you with a better understanding of the available options, where these tools are integrated into your account, and the direction we’re moving in with regard to ad creative capabilities. This should ignite your creativity and ultimately enhance the performance of your campaigns.
Original news from SearchEngineJournal