{"id":117421,"date":"2019-04-25T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-26T01:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/googles-local-omnichannel-takeover-and-what-it-means-for-your-paid-ads\/"},"modified":"2024-12-20T10:04:23","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T15:04:23","slug":"googles-local-omnichannel-takeover-and-what-it-means-for-your-paid-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dacgroup.com\/en-ca\/insights\/blog\/paid-media\/googles-local-omnichannel-takeover-and-what-it-means-for-your-paid-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"Google\u2019s Local Omnichannel Takeover\u2014and What it Means for Your Paid Ads"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Google continues to make moves in the local space, multi-location businesses must pay close attention to how these shifts will impact their marketing channel efforts. The days of siloed channel optimization and attribution are long gone (was that ever a good idea, anyway?), and if you haven\u2019t yet nurtured an omnichannel approach to marketing, Google is ensuring you will\u2014or else<\/em>.<\/p>\n

“Or else what?” you may ask. Well, advertisers that fail to embrace omnichannel may not realize the full impact and attribution of their marketing efforts, and won’t be able to optimize their programs against the full, intent-based customer journey. These changes are impacting advertisers as we speak, causing a swirl of confusion around shifting paid and organic metrics.<\/p>\n

So, where to start? Let’s walk through the updates Google has made over the last year that have led us to this cross-channel sea change.<\/p>\n

A timeline of local updates<\/h2>\n

Google has made a lot of noise about their support of the local space, a critical aspect of marketing that DAC has specialized in for years. Of course, every marketer has been privy to two significant shifts in the local space: the boom of voice assistants and the increasing prominence of the local map pack. But did you notice a number of under-the-radar updates happening at the same time? It seems Google had a plan all along for a big local omnichannel push. If you blinked, you may have missed it.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

It all started in Q2 of 2018, when Google offered its BETA called “Local Search Ads” as part of Search Partners. This was the first instance where paid ads were appearing in the map pack. Paid marketers were thrilled to better serve the intent of a local customer, but those managing local listings<\/a> and organic search<\/a> were left wondering how this change would impact channel performance\u2014and if it was just the first sign of Google monetizing the local map pack.<\/p>\n

Local Search Ads and Local Campaigns… What’s the difference?<\/h2>\n

Google tested into these local product iterations over time and essentially morphed their local search experiments into two similar-yet-distinct products.<\/p>\n

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    Local Search Ads<\/h3>\n

    Google Local Search Ads started out as promoted, intent-based ads in Maps, leading to the addition of six new local action metrics from Location Extensions to Google My Business (GMB) into Google Ads. This resulted in increased prominence for Location Extension details in ads, helping to push users to GMB pages rather than an ad click. We can now see in Google Ads, metrics from GMB including; click to calls, directions, website visits, other engagements (shared locations, saved), orders, menu views.<\/p>\n

    \"Example<\/li>\n

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    Local Campaigns<\/h3>\n

    Initially a keywordless, Search Ads-only BETA, Local Campaigns evolved into an omnichannel machine learning offering across Google’s platform (Display, Search, Maps, YouTube, Business Profiles) to promote reach and drive customers in store.<\/p>\n

    \"Example<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Decreasing paid metrics? Here’s what’s happening.<\/h2>\n

    Advertisers in the local space may be noticing a “decrease” in traffic, online leads, and calls over the past several months. But note the quotation marks: this is not a “decrease” at all. In fact, your paid performance is likely as healthy as ever\u2014you’ve just lost visibility into it.<\/p>\n

    With these updates, Google has given prominence to Location Extensions in paid ads, resulting in more clicks out to GMB. The system is moving towards automatically serving Location Extensions in ads, with a preference for street address and driving distance\/directions instead of the phone number. But it all depends on user intent: “near me” searches indicate someone needs directions or an address, whereas a “tire replacement” query may be better served with a phone number to make an appointment.<\/p>\n

    With this shift, paid advertisers may be seeing a decrease in calls as well as a residual impact to online leads because there is no way to attribute calls and leads that are facilitated by GMB rather than a paid ad. Advertisers will see more direct interaction with Google’s location-based services, such as Google Maps, yielding more store visits and overall phone calls but with decreased channel visibility.<\/p>\n

    \"Customer<\/p>\n

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