What Are Google Discovery Ads and How Do I Use Them?

Businesses aim to attract new customers to their brand at all times, and one of the most effective ways to do this is through powerful marketing and advertising. With so many online platforms used by consumers internationally, advertising on the internet can be a hugely advantageous way to bring in new traffic.

Google has recently launched a new way for brands to advertise to new customers across the Google Network. Google Discovery Ads were first introduced in May 2019 at Google Marketing Live, which then went through an extended testing period, and was officially put out to advertisers across the world at the beginning of 2020.

What are Google Discovery Ads?

Google Discovery Ads allow advertisers to reach up to 2.9 billion people across Google, Gmail, and YouTube with a single campaign. This can be done using a single ad or a carousel ad if advertisers have more than one engaging image as part of their campaign. The main advantage of these Discovery Ads is that they generate demand by showing customers something that they want or need before they even know it themselves.

The Discovery Ads that people see depends on topics or brands that individuals have shown an interest in across Google platforms, including Google Search, YouTube, Google Chrome, and the “minus one” screen on Android.  

Aside from millions upon millions of people using Google Search every day, Google claims that 86% of people online are actively looking for things to buy while online, whether browsing the web or watching videos. They also claim that over 90% of people online find new brands and products by utilizing the YouTube Watch Next function. This is why Google Discovery Ads can be so effective at spreading a brand’s ad campaign.

How do I Create a Google Discovery Ad?

Before you start to create your Google Discovery Ad, you should get together high-quality assets that you wish to include in your ad campaign, such as headlines, images, descriptions, and logos. You can even reuse assets of existing campaigns that have proved successful on other platforms.

When you start to create a new campaign, Google will give you the option to choose from 4 marketing objectives for your ad: ‘Sales,’ ‘Leads,’ ‘Website Traffic,’ or ‘No Goal.’ You will then be able to choose your campaign type and your target audience/s and your bidding strategy. You will also need to enter your daily budget, which should be an amount that will allow your campaign to reach a large number of people, but that you will still be comfortable with after your ad has been running for at least two weeks.

Then you can upload your assets and release your campaign, but you must comply with Google’s Personalized advertising policies.

Should I Use Google Discovery Ads?

Yes, if your goal is to increase brand awareness and get discovered. Google Discovery Ads allow you to engage with the right audiences by offering them something they have been looking for or never knew they needed, building up both traffic volume and awareness of your brand.

People scrolling through Google Discover are there to do just that — ‘discover’ something new to them. When you use a Google Discover Ad, you can help your target market do just that, while increasing traffic to your brand.

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