Google AdWords becomes Google Ads.

Google recently announced that they are rebranding the various AdWords and DoubleClick offerings into three primary brands to simplify their services. You could say that change is long overdue, given it’s been 18 years since AdWords was first introduced to the world. So much has changed in this time and users have become more fluid, mobile is now ‘a thing’ and cross-channel user journeys are common place. Consumers have become more complex and Google are evolving their products to meet these changes head on.

Google AdWords will become Google Ads, DoubleClick advertiser products and Google Analytics 360 Suite will be moved to Google Marketing Platform and DoubleClick for Publishers and DoubleClick Ad Exchange are to be integrated into a new unified platform called.

Google also announced a new default campaign type for smaller businesses, which will be known as Smart Campaigns. The new format will help them build their ads and set goals more easily and allow them to get setup in minutes. The technology is built upon the AdWords Express interface and is likely to see further development over time. The driver here is both to simplify processes and enable small businesses to get up and running on Google without the need for dedicated marketing teams or even a website. Not that we’d recommend the later for most businesses as the experience is unlikely to be the best. There are some clear risks associated with this approach, however, putting campaign management in the hands of untrained users will increase the likelihood of mistakes and it’s likely that we’ll see some poorly performing campaigns as a result.

In summary, we can see Google trending towards unification whereby their search assets and analysis tools are being grouped into more seamless platforms with the ultimate goal of making planning, buying, measuring, and optimising more seamless. More of this please.