Ginny Marvin says, “Advertisers have begun receiving claim notice emails related to a $22.5 million settlement in a class action suit against Google.The case, Google AdWords Litigation, Case No. 5:08-cv-03369-EJD, in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, stems from a 2008 claim that Google did not disclose that it placed ads on parked domains and error pages in violation of California’s unfair competition and false advertising laws.The advertisers sought restitution for the difference between what they paid per click versus what they would have paid had they... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Google, the internet’s biggest advertising company, may be building an ad blocker.The search giant plans to roll out a feature in the next mobile version of its Chrome browser that would filter out certain types of ads, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.Such a tool seems at odds with the company’s primary revenue source, but Google thinks that it could actually deter people from resorting to other blockers in the long run, according to the report.By targeting only the most disruptive ad formats — pop-ups, interstitials, and autoplay videos,... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Google has been ramping its efforts to tie clicks on ads to store traffic for several years now. On Wednesday, the search giant said it has tracked over four billion store visits as the result of ad clicks, up from one billion a little less than a year ago.Google extended the now two-year old store visits measurement program to ads on the Display Network in September 2016 and said it had statistically significant visibility into visits to 200 million stores globally. The company says it is now set to make store visits data available to thousands more advertisers due... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Google has been ramping its efforts to tie clicks on ads to store traffic. On Wednesday, the search giant said it has now captured over four million store visits after users have clicked on an ad, up from one billion a little less than a year ago, and is set to rapidly expand that number.In September, Google extended the now two-year old store visits measurement program to ads on the Display Network and said it had statistically significant visibility into visits to 200 million stores globally. The company says it is now positioned to make store visits data available... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Google has apologized repeatedly to outraged British brands and government groups that found their ads surfacing on hateful YouTube videos.better.The company announced a host of changes to its advertising systems on Tuesday meant to give brands more control over where their ads appear.The move comes after the Times of London set off a firestorm with reports that major advertisers were being featured alongside terrorist sympathizers, Nazis and other extremists on YouTube.Several big brands have pulled their ads from the platform in response over the past few days, and... [...]

Antony Maina says, “According to the latest report from research firm eMarketer, Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) are continuing to consolidate their hold on digital advertising. The firm says that total digital spending will increase by 16 percent this year to $83 billion. Google’s U.S. revenue from digital ads is expected to increase about 15 percent while Facebook’s is expected to jump 32 percent.The Benefits of Google and Facebook Advertising“Google’s dominance in search, especially mobile search, is largely coming from the growing tendency of consumers to turn... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Ads sold through Google have turned up in some pretty horrific corners of the web lately, and many big advertisers are outraged.The search giant responded to the growing uproar among its client brands on Friday with an unusual public apology and a promise to “do a better job.”“We’ve heard from our advertisers and agencies loud and clear that we can provide simpler, more robust ways to stop their ads from showing against controversial content,” Google U.K. managing director Ronan Harris wrote in a blog post.Google is the biggest advertising... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Google appears to be running a limited test for local inventory ads (LIA) on mobile that looks like a shopping ad-ification of the Local Pack.Spotted on mobile by Mike Blumenthal on a search for “engagement rings Buffalo,” the result shows a map with a couple of LIAs below it where local pack results would typically show. I have been able to replicate the result in the Google mobile app. Here the ads are for two different rings at two different Kohl’s locations in the area, signified by the respective shopping icons on the map above the ads. Clicking on either... [...]

Andy Beohar says, “Expanded Text Ads (ETAs), announced in July of 2016, are considered by most industry observers to be the biggest change to Google Adwords in 16 years.Google’s new ETAs provide for an increase of 50 percent more ad space. Plus, ETAs pack in a few other exciting features as well.Numerous strategies and best practices have been developed over the years for the standard text ad format, but unfortunately, most of these don’t translate to expanded text ads. And, businesses are now having to scramble to update their ads before Google stops supporting the old format in January.The... [...]

Andy Taylor says, “At the recent SMX East conference in New York City, Google’s Jerry Dischler announced a number of paid search updates that should roll out in the near to immediate future. Among them, two in particular stand to expand the footprint of Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA).Here are the changes you need to know about, starting with the most impactful.RLSA membership duration expanded to 540 daysSince beta testing all the way back in 2012, RLSA has been restricted to include only those users who visited an advertiser’s website within the past 180 days.This meant... [...]