Advertisers feel free to share their thoughts on all Google Marketing Live 2024 announcements.
There are mixed emotions surrounding many AI updates (Boris Beceric used AI to count the number of mentions of AI – 101). There were mixed feelings in between, with the Performance Max update getting a lot of positive feedback and B2B being overlooked upsetting others.
Below are some of the responses to GML 2024 from nine experts.
AI and automation
Amalia Fowler, Founder of Good AF Consulting:
“I was perplexed by the declaration that AI would not replace marketers, followed by the declaration that AI could execute marketing strategies. The ‘control’ talk felt like lip service. Some updates reflect advertisers' concerns.
“We are in the age of automation and AI. Naturally, machine learning requires a lot of training, and in the case of Google Ads, that requires a budget. This suggests that advertisers with minimal budgets should wait or allocate more funds to Google Ads, and that small businesses should carefully consider their marketing strategy from a holistic perspective.
“Many of the products mentioned require data from other places, such as retrieving text examples or leveraging feed creatives. Garbage in, garbage out.
“The update felt like a slightly more advanced version of last year's GML.”
Jeremy Krantz, Director of Paid Search, Compound Growth Marketing:
“The live Ai prototype felt like a rushed response to ChatGPT 4o, and everything else related to AI and pmax was highly anticipated.
“GML 2024 felt very underwhelming overall, especially from a B2B perspective. There were no surprises or unexpected things announced.
“At the moment we are once again being completely ignored, so I hope B2B gets some attention someday.”
Sarah Stemmen, Founder, Sarah Stemmen LLC:
“AI asset creation in Pmax is extremely powerful for rapid testing. We believe the real power of this feature is the combination of AI assets + asset level reporting.
Since AI Overview occupies a large space and presents numerous commercial opportunities, advertising on AI Overview was inevitable.
Delivery was unclear, and it seems Google still hasn't figured out how to do this.
When Google creates videos with Pmax, they turn images into videos, so isn't that essentially what they're doing?
To me it looked like a variation on an existing process, but maybe that's just my way of looking at it. I'd love to hear your thoughts on whether this is actually new or a different development. ”
Nava Hopkins, Brand Evangelist, Optmyzr:
“There are some updates that apply to B2B/Lead Generation: image to video ads, brand control, lookalike ads for demand generation that only require 100 users, profit bidding, ad serving with AI overview, etc.”
Niki Grant, Director of Partner Support, ClickTech Solutions:
“I think we all knew GML would be packed with AI updates, but features like Brand Guidelines are a step in the right direction for advertisers looking to jump on the AI wave and gain some control over their presence.
“The new visual format will be interesting as Google continues to diversify from the world of text ads, especially with Brand Profiles, which provide a new way to summarise a brand to customers. It's great to see something that looks truly different, rather than just a variation of what we're used to.”
“P-MAX’s profit optimization goals seem especially important as advertisers seek to optimize based on real-world revenue metrics rather than “media metrics.” We want to know how much data will be needed to achieve these goals, and whether small advertisers will be excluded as a result. ”
Lars Maatwerk (Founder of Maatwerk Online):
“this [Meridian] I don't think Meridian is for all advertisers. MMM is really “hard” and complicated, and I don't think the majority of advertisers can handle it. Agencies are OK. Big advertisers are OK. But SMEs? Not so much.
On AI summary content-tailored ads – ‘That was already known, right?’ This came to us at the time SGE was launched.”
Julie Friedman Bacchini (Founder, Neptune Moon):
This conversational AI is jarring. Only me?
Advertisers don't need “democratization of content creation.” What we need is an advertising solution that allows us to reach people who want to buy what we're selling.
That means Gen AI will still make mistakes. So don't be angry if you make a mistake on your account…
Google's Gemini AI cannot generate images of people or products, so keep this in mind. The example does not reflect this.
So, if human input is essential, how can generative AI predict performance before it runs?
Performance Max (PMax)
Fowler:
The most important thing for me here is the 100-person list of similar users, and the second most important is the brand control around PMax placements.
Scott Carruthers (Head of PPC at Journey furuter):
More insights on P-MAX – asset level reports and more (isn’t this what we’ve all been waiting for?!)
Link your YouTube creator account to your advertising account – Being able to promote your UGC is very important, and Google is lacking in this area compared to other platforms. YouTube ads are sure to get more attention with better links and creator support.
Baccini:
Asset-level reporting and YouTube exclusions are welcome additions to PMax.
10% improvement in partial matches? That bar was too low (check your query report).
Jill Suskin-Gales (Learn with Jyll, Google Ads Coach):
Search + PMax's “power pair” declaration is a great sales story, but it's clear that PMax is the way forward in this multimodal environment.
B2B and lead generation
Krantz:
Overall, GML 2024 was very disappointing, especially from a B2B perspective. There was nothing surprising or unexpected in what was presented.
Hopefully one day there will be a focus on B2B as at the moment it is being completely ignored again
Gales:
A ton of shopping and commerce announcements. As Harrison Jack Hepp already hilariously posted about, there's no bones about it for lead generation purposes or B2B advertisers.
Stem:
Virtual try-on and 3D product images are interesting because, although similar solutions already exist, in my opinion anything that improves the shopper experience is a positive thing.
I'm interested in virtual try-on and 3D product images to enhance the shopper experience.
If you're converting images into videos, isn't this essentially what's happening when Google creates videos with Pmax?
To me it looked like a variation on an existing process, but perhaps that's just my perspective. I'd love to hear your thoughts on whether this is actually new or a different development.
Gales:
How do you compete with TikTok Shop, Amazon, Pinterest, etc? Google Lens Search and Circle Search.
Grant:
While the development of shopping formats sounds revolutionary, it remains to be seen whether many advertisers outside of the biggest brands believe that AI-driven shopping formats will help them reduce production costs, or whether they feel like they're an obstacle that brings with them unseen nuances and impacts. In the meantime, it will be exciting to see how different brands use “stickers” in YouTube Shorts.
Baccini:
Will Shopping ads incorporate review text into the ad? Is there a way to control this?
Is last year's stuff acting like new? Especially the images and videos.
Overall, comments reflect a mix of cautious optimism about specific updates and significant skepticism about GML 2024's broader relevance and innovation, especially for B2B and small advertisers.
Why we care. While advertisers are happy with some of the new updates, they are beginning to tire of the frequent AI-driven changes. Smaller brands, in particular, are hoping for better updates and a clearer understanding of how these changes impact performance. This need has yet to be addressed.
