Let’s face it. Google owns us (mostly), at least when it comes to the proverbial “search” for information. Currently, they are sitting at 92% of all search market share, which is incredible when you really take a step back and think about it. We get all of our answers, all of our information and solve a large majority of our problems through one company. Not scary at all, right? I get asked this question all the time: “How do you feel about data mining and data management?” I feel strongly that the right protocols and measures should be in place to protect us, but I also love the convenience and amazing services that it provides.

We are always going to get advertisements. It’s a way of life. The majority of the next generation will purchase a product or service simply based on the fact that they saw an advertisement for it; to them this means it’s important and trustworthy. The next generation is basing all of its trust and value on popularity. Social Media is changing the way the world works and how companies are performing their marketing strategies. Becoming known before you are needed is always important, but being seen as an advertiser may be just as important, even for the little guys.

This is where Google Ads comes into the mix. If you are doing well organically, it is still going to provide a lot of value, but as the internet becomes more saturated, it is going to become a paid world, whether we like it or want it. Getting out ahead of this is going to put you and your company in a great position as we move into the next generation of marketing. Advertisements are the new normal, text ads and image ads are the new commercials of the digital age. Google is consistently rolling out better ad policies and getting more strict on spammy and unwanted ads to create a landscape where not only are advertisements relevant to what we want, but also building an ecosystem where the user gets what they need, the company sells the product benefits and everyone is happy.

I am very excited to start my work on the new optimization strategies for the 2020’s in voice search. It has been estimated that by 2020, almost 50% of all searches will be completed using voice commands through either Alexa, Google Home, the assistants on our smartphones and beyond. Everyone who has recently gotten a hold of their PPC campaigns and digital marketing strategies that transitioned from TV and Radio (Traditional Media) are going to once again find themselves in a whole new world of SEO or as some of us are calling it, “VEO,” Voice Engine Optimization. People are searching using their voice instead of typing, which initial studies have shown that it’s completely different, even though they are looking for the same thing. Does this mean that text ads and regular search are dying? Absolutely not, there will still be a marketplace for those that refuse to change to the new voice models and stick with their comfort zone in standard search.

We have yet to fully uncover how paid advertisements will look on voice searches. Will there be a model? Will Google look to capitalize on this? Absolutely, and there may even be a new campaign type to go along with it. I’m willing to bet that by the end of 2020, there will be a “Voice” campaign subtype in Google Ads (formerly AdWords) and it will be able to differentiate the way Google is used for typing vs. voice searching. Start thinking about how your customers might be searching for you this way and start documenting and surveying them about what they might use. Build a database so when the time comes, you aren’t scrambling to change with the masses. We know you just got comfortable with the new Google Ads interface and all the updates they have been putting us through. However, that is the name of the game and it’s not likely to change anytime soon.

Do you think Google is ever going to give us a chance to manipulate the odds in our favor? There are at least 2-3 different versions of the platform in use across different accounts constantly. If you have more than 20 accounts under management, I can almost guarantee if you go through each one and look at each setting, something will be different on one of those accounts. This is to evolve and stay with the times as we become more hungry for data and understanding how to push the capabilities of the program. Google has combined their express and regular platforms to increase retention and keep users from jumping ship on the account of it being too hard to understand. I expect more improvements in the future on automation and machine learning with bidding, ads, conversion tracking and more!

Remember that quality is the name of the game. Create content and information that solves the pain points of the audience and users that you are trying to reach. Test ads, change your calls to action, run ads with no calls to action, use different words and keep testing ads. I cannot stress the importance of this enough. Do you think your Dad goes to the same lake every weekend and uses the same lure to catch that fish, regardless of the time, the weather conditions and season, among other variables? Eventually, the fish would be coming up to the boat and having a beer with him because they would be on first name basis, but he would go home every weekend with no fish to feed his family. Don’t run an account that doesn’t bring any leads or sales back to your business. Thanks!