Happy March! With spring almost here, Google Ads just launched their latest targeting update. We have summarized it below and suggest adding it to your “to do” list for your campaigns.
In short – content targeting is switching from “all needs to apply” to “apply separately” for topics, placements, and keywords.
Starting in March 2023, all content targeting will be simplified into a single “Content” page in Google Ads, allowing you to manage all your content targeting in a single view.
Additionally, to help you reach more potential customers, your ads will now show on content that matches any of the topics, placements, or display and video keywords you target. For example, an ad targeting a topic as well as a placement will be eligible for impressions which match either one.
This is a change from the current setting which allows your ads to show on content that simultaneously matches all of the topics, placements, and display and video keywords you target.
With this change, we recommend making sure “optimized targeting” is turned off or it will override your content settings trying to find additional people.
To change these settings, it is tricky to find. The setting can only be changed within each ad group. Once in an ad group, click on settings > ad group targeting (shown below.)
Another nuance about this update is that it’s not an option to turn this setting off when building a new display campaign, so once you create the campaign and publish it, you will have to then go into your ad group to update your settings.
We hope this helps when it comes to creating Google Ads campaigns and will assist in your targeting options. If you need assistance, contact us to learn more about how we can help.
