What Are Google Discovery Ads

February 13, 2024

What Are Google Discovery Ads | AIA Book in a free 30 minute strategy session

In today’s marketing landscape, it’s virtually impossible to escape the PPC campaign. While there are many services to help businesses promote their product or service, none are as popular and effective as Google Ads.

Even in the context of a global crisis, Google has managed to keep its advertising services active, even offering $800 million in ad grants to businesses to help keep them afloat.

But, it can be easy to get lost in the many different campaign types that Google Ads offers. With this service constantly being improved and changed, business owners understandably feel overwhelmed just trying to keep up.

In this article, let’s go over one campaign type that you might not have included in your marketing strategy yet: Google Discovery Ads.

What Are Google Discovery Ads?

Google Discovery Ads are a type of campaign designed to help businesses make an impact with their target audience. They are visually rich ads that are delivered through Google’s feed, such as:

  • Youtube app
  • Google app
  • Gmail app

The goal of these types of ads is to reach users at the most optimal time when they are ready to discover a new product or service.

By using machine learning, Google is able to identify your potential customers at the right time they are more open to clicking on or discovering new brands, companies, or products. As a result, Google Discovery Ads can help businesses reach goals such as:

  • Reaching new target audiences
  • Reconnecting with previous buyers
  • Scaling conversions to increase revenue

How Do Google Discovery Ads Work?

One thing that may seem strange about this type of ad is that optimisation and even targeting is automated, so the advertiser cannot clearly define parameters such as:

  • Frequency
  • Delivery method
  • Device targeting
  • Ad rotation
  • Placement
  • Changing the bidding strategies, etc.

Both bidding strategies and targeting options are automated, leaving advertisers instead to focus on other campaign optimisation efforts such as enhancing the ad creative.

Advertisers essentially provide creatives such as company logos, images, headlines, and description lines, and then Google will combine these creative and deliver the ads in Google Feeds.

Potential customers can view these ads in the YouTube app, Gmail app in the Promotions Tab, or the Google App.

What’s the Difference between Display Ads and Discovery Ads?

At first glance, it may appear as if both Display and Discovery Ads are rather similar, if not identical.

But the key difference between them is where the ads are delivered, and who is the market audience for the campaign types.

Google Display Ads are designed to drive action. They are also visually rich ads delivered on the Google Display Network, such as websites, apps, or Google Feed. But, they are more action-driven to encourage users to buy, book, download, and otherwise convert by visiting your landing page. This is similar to search ads, which are delivered to the search engine with the intent of getting a user to perform a specific action.

Google Discovery Ads are designed to help businesses who are looking for new potential customers and introduce them to the brand, product, or service they offer. The target, in this case, is dependent on user intent, as determined by Google’s own algorithm.

How Can You Optimise Your Google Discovery Ads?

Ads in the Google Discover Feed can greatly improve brand awareness, but how can you make sure you’re getting the results you want?

Well, Google provides some useful recommendations:

  • Use Target CPA bidding strategy to better control your costs;
  • Use location targeting to refine your target audience;
  • Use images that reflect your business really well;
  • Leverage this ad format to reconnect with previous shoppers;
  • Allow 2 weeks for a “learning period’ before making changes to your campaigns;

As with other types of campaigns run on the Google Network, it’s essential to create the appropriate strategy that will support your goals.

Google Search, Display Network, and the Google Discovery Feed are simply tools to allow businesses to connect with potential customers. How you use these tools is entirely up to the advertiser.

Need Help Setting up your Google Ads Campaigns?

The secret to a successful campaign is knowing which type of ad format best supports your goals. And Australian Internet Advertising is here to help Australian Business owners create successful ads that will take their company to the next level.

Regardless of whether you’ve created a Google Ads campaign before, our team can help you discover what this PPC system can truly offer you. Contact the AIAD team today on 1300 3047 640 for more information!

Billy P.

About The Author

William Polson founded Australian Internet Advertising in 2013 and has over 12 years of experience immersed in Digital Marketing.

With an in-depth level of digital marketing knowledge, William has been sort after by and worked for, many large national brands including Subaru, Blooms The Chemist, and Nova 96.9.

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