Industry Updates

This month’s paid advertising update covers key developments from Google Ads, from quiet pricing changes to smarter AI reporting and the return of local card-based ads. These shifts continue to blend automation, AI visibility, and local presence, shaping how brands compete and connect with customers.

How to read this blog

Each section includes:

• What’s happening: The latest development or change.
• Why it matters to your business: The real-world implications for visibility, costs, or ROI.
• Action steps: Practical ways to adapt or take advantage of the change.

Local Card-Based Ads Return to Search

What’s happening:
Google is reintroducing card-style ads within Search results, designed to link directly to your Google Business Profile. These interactive ad cards highlight local information, like opening hours, directions, photos, reviews, and offers, directly in the search interface.

Why it matters:
This marks a renewed focus on local intent and AI-powered discovery. These ads pull heavily from your Business Profile data and related assets. That means if your local listings, imagery, or reviews are outdated, Google’s AI may showcase incomplete or inconsistent information to potential customers.

Google’s broader strategy is to use its AI systems to surface the most complete and reliable digital presence across ads, organic listings, and local search. If your online footprint isn’t polished, your visibility (both organic and paid) may suffer.

Action steps:

• Audit your Google Business Profile, ensure contact info, opening hours, and imagery are accurate.
• Add posts, offers, and product highlights regularly to feed fresh data into Google’s AI systems.
• Maintain consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) data across all directories and platforms.
• If you’re part of our Prism digital presence optimisation, this is already being monitored and enhanced for you.

Google Quietly Raised Ad Prices – Court Orders Transparency

What’s happening:
Reports confirmed that Google quietly increased ad prices between 5% and 15% using internal “pricing knobs,” which were presented to advertisers as normal auction fluctuations. A recent court ruling now requires Google to disclose these pricing adjustments, providing more transparency into how costs are determined.

Why it matters:
This discovery highlights that ad price increases may not always be driven purely by competition; they can result from Google’s internal optimisations. While future transparency will help, volatility is likely to continue as Google balances revenue growth with advertiser retention.

Action steps:

• Review CPC, CPA, and ROAS trends over the past 3–6 months. If you’ve seen unexplained cost increases, this could be a factor.
• Consider diversifying spend across channels (e.g., Meta Ads, LinkedIn, Microsoft Ads) to avoid overexposure to Google pricing shifts.
• Regularly monitor budget pacing and maintain clear performance benchmarks to detect anomalies early.

Google Ads Introduces Text Guidelines for AI-Generated Copy

What’s happening:
Google has launched Text Guidelines within its ad creation tools to give advertisers control over how AI writes ad copy. You can now define tone, specify preferred phrases, restrict certain words, and set prompts that guide the AI toward more brand-aligned output.

Why it matters:
AI copywriting is becoming a key feature in Google Ads, but without guidance, the tone and messaging can drift. These new guidelines ensure AI-generated assets reflect your brand voice, compliance standards, and audience expectations.

Action steps:

• Create a clear AI copy brief within Google Ads to set tone, phrasing, and banned terms.
• Audit existing campaigns to identify where AI-generated assets are active.
• Monitor performance metrics (CTR, Quality Score, Conversion Rate) to evaluate whether AI-led variations outperform manual copy.
• If compliance or brand consistency is critical, consider locking headlines or descriptions while testing AI-generated alternatives.

AI Max Reporting Expanded to Keyword Level

What’s happening:
Google Ads now includes new visibility for AI Max traffic sources directly within the keyword performance page. Advertisers can see what proportion of traffic is driven by:

• Broad Match keywords suggested by AI
• AI-expanded landing pages (traffic from automatically matched URLs rather than traditional keyword triggers).

Why it matters:
Until now, it’s been difficult to pinpoint how AI automation affects your traffic mix. This update introduces greater clarity into what portion of your performance is truly keyword-driven versus AI-expanded, giving advertisers more insight and control.

Action steps:

• Review the new AI Max indicators in your keyword reports.
• Compare performance between AI-driven and manually defined keywords.
• Where AI-generated traffic is underperforming, refine your targeting or use negative keywords to maintain relevance.
• For strong AI-driven results, consider allowing broader automation, but track results closely to maintain quality.

Google Launches Monthly Demand Gen “Drops”

What’s happening:
Google has launched a new Demand Gen Monthly Drop program, rolling out feature updates designed to improve targeting, measurement, and creative options. The September Drop introduced several key features:

• Conversion Lift Reporting: Compare conversion performance across platforms to measure incremental gains.
• Omnichannel Bidding: Unified bid strategy to optimise performance across Google surfaces.
• Local Offers and Promotion Assets: New ways to integrate time-sensitive promotions directly into ad creatives.

Why it matters:
Demand Gen campaigns are becoming Google’s bridge between upper-funnel awareness and direct conversion. These updates help advertisers understand incremental performance, not just click-based attribution, and run more cohesive omnichannel campaigns.

Action steps:

• Enable Conversion Lift experiments to measure real performance impact.
• Integrate local offer assets to support seasonal promotions or store-specific campaigns.
• Monitor each month’s “drop” for relevant feature updates; these will arrive faster than traditional Google Ads releases.
  

Promotion Mode Introduced for Campaign Budgets

What’s happening:
Google has added a Promotion Budget Mode for Performance Max, Search, and Shopping campaigns. This allows advertisers to set ramp-up periods, gradually increasing spend ahead of major campaigns or retail events.

Why it matters:
Instead of instantly raising budgets (which can cause volatility and waste), Promotion Mode enables smoother scaling. This helps the algorithm adapt efficiently, learning before your peak period begins, improving performance consistency.

Action steps:

• Use Promotion Mode to ramp up budgets 1–2 weeks before high-demand periods like Black Friday or holiday sales.
• Align budget ramps with creative updates and promotional messaging.
• Monitor learning phases to ensure campaigns reach stability before major spend periods.

New “Labs” Tab in Google Ads Interface

What’s happening:
Google has introduced a Labs tab within the Ads interface, a new section where advertisers can access beta tools, experimental features, and missed growth opportunities identified by Google’s systems.

Why it matters:
This change reflects Google’s increasing use of predictive recommendations to guide advertisers toward new tactics. Early adopters will gain access to new campaign formats, automation features, and insights before they become standard.

Action steps:

• Check the Labs tab regularly for new experiments or recommendations.
• Test features cautiously, applying learnings to your broader strategy.
• If you’re working with us, we’ll review Labs insights during performance reviews and assess suitability for your campaigns.

Looking Ahead

October’s updates reinforce Google’s focus on AI-led automation, transparency, and connected local ecosystems. The key themes are clear:

• Your digital presence now fuels both paid and organic visibility.
• Automation offers growth potential, but requires ongoing oversight.
• Transparency and reporting improvements will reshape how advertisers evaluate performance and cost efficiency.

Staying agile, with regular reviews, cross-channel testing, and AI-readiness checks, is essential to maintaining competitive performance.

If you’d like to discuss how these changes affect your campaigns or strategy, please contact hello@fingo.co.uk.