Click Through Reads #79: Microsoft ETA's Expiring, Google Diagnostic Insights

Welcome back to another week of Click Through Reads! We’re back with everything you need to know about Expanded Text Ads from Microsoft, Google Diagnostic Insights, the latest version of Google Ads Editor, Bing automatic updates for shopping campaigns, and Instagram’s Creator Marketplace.

Grab a seat and let’s jump in to this week’s most exciting industry news!

Clock is Ticking for Expanded Text Ads on Microsoft

Like Google, Microsoft will soon sunset Expanded Text Ads (ETAs) in favor of their Responsive Search Ad (RSA) siblings. ETAs will still serve impressions on the Bing Ads network, but users will not be able to create or modify existing ETAs in any way after August 29, 2022, similar to Google.

Microsoft states users who switch to RSAs notice an 7% average conversion rate (CVR) improvement with no significant change in cost-per-click. It seems like a no-brainer decision to switch to them, yet it’s always unfortunate when a testing tool you’re used to is taken away.

Microsoft also clarifies that scheduled feeds and ad customizers will continue to serve like normal, but the ability to add or change them will be removed.

So, if you have a strong, tested ETA ad message that you want to serve to your customers, make sure you get it uploaded before it’s too late. There are less than two months left!

Google Releases Diagnostic Insights for Google Ads

In May 2022, Google announced that new features would be rolling out for the Performance Max campaign type. One of those features was diagnostic insights, which automatically identify issues with your campaign such as ad policy, billing, budget, conversion tracking, and more, ensuring that you correctly set up your campaign.  

On July 6,2022, Google announced that the this feature is now in beta form and available for Performance Max campaigns. Diagnostic insights are located on the Insights and Overview page of the Google Ads UI. Google said they plan to expand to other campaign types in the next few months.

The goal of diagnostic insights is to check campaigns and identify issues in a timely manner that may prevent your campaign from showing and getting conversions. If there is a problem with the campaign, Google will give you tailored recommendations under the progress bar in order to fix the issue. 

Google Updates Ads Editor 

Google made major updates to their new Google Ads Editor version 2.1. The new version provides helpful recommendations and allows advertisers to make updates that were not previously available. 

Top updates include: 

• Ads editor will share recommendations for your overall account, asset performance and asset group status. 
• Google will share additional support for recommendations, including setting a target CPA, setting a target ROAS, upgrading local campaigns to performance max, and use of display expansion. 
• When you copy & paste from cross-accounts, Google will show a warning list of all data types that won’t transfer from one account to the other. 
• You’ll receive an error button if you try to change or delete a shared budget. In the budget editing box, Editor shows the name of the bidding strategy when shown an aligned budget. 

Check out the complete list of new features and download the recent version here.

Microsoft Bing is Launching Auto-Updates for Shopping Campaigns 

On July 10th, Microsoft enabled automatic updates for shopping campaigns. This update allows Microsoft Merchant Center to crawl an advertiser’s website, gather price and availability data for the products offered, and make changes based on the provided data. 

For example, if there is a price change or availability issue, the information will automatically be updated in your ads. 

You can opt-out of these automatic updates, but if Microsoft detects your products are not up to date, your ads may not get approved. To opt-out, you can navigate to Settings > Automatic Updates > and turn it off in your Merchant Center account. 

Introducing Creator Marketplace, Where Brands Can Discover Creators to Collaborate With

Instagram has been testing new tools for discovering and reaching out to creators and is now launching a new creator marketplace on an invite-only basis to brands active in the US to help brands find creators to partner with. 

Using the desktop experience within Meta Business Suite, brands can filter creators by gender, age, number of followers, and interests. Brands can also:

• Filter for creators based on the demographics of their engaged audience, using filters including gender, age, interests, country, and city.
• See creators who have expressed interest in working with them.
• See creators who have tagged or followed them.
• See similar creators to those they've already found through the filters, and add creators to saved lists.

After discovering potential creators for partnerships, brands can use the creator marketplace to create campaigns and structured projects to share with creators that outline their campaign overview, the desired deliverables, compensation, and any additional information related to the creator project. Using the newly created Partnerships Message inbox, brands can send creators messages through the Meta Business Suite, and creators can respond and coordinate with them directly within the Instagram App.