Google Discovery ads can now use your 4:5 social image assets

Google announced updates for Discovery ads Tuesday. There is now a 4:5 portrait aspect ratio layout that showcases Discovery ad images more prominently in feeds. Google is also rolling out updates to audience selection workflow for Discovery campaigns, which run across YouTube, Gmail and the Discover Feed.

4:5 images. If you’re running social campaigns, you may already have 4:5 assets for Facebook and Instagram feed and Stories ads. Now you can use those assets in Discovery campaigns.

The recommended specs for portrait images are 960 x 1200 with a minimum requirement of 480 x 600. Note that you’ll still need to have at least one landscape and one square image available for Discovery ads. Google automatically selects the image format based on a number of factors.

Discovery ads audience workflows. Google will soon show the estimated conversion volume lift estimates when “Audience expansion” is enabled during campaign set up. Google says it’s internal data shows audience expansion for Discovery ads on average yields a 52% lift in conversions at a comparable CPA. It’s designed for new customer acquisition.

There is also now some reporting for audience expansion. You’ll find it in a new “Total: Expansion” row at the bottom of the report on the Audiences tab in the Google Ads UI. That shows performance metrics from audience expansion above the audiences already applied. It’s available at the ad group, campaign and account levels.

Additionally, advertisers will be able to exclude audiences, such as existing customers, during campaign set-up rather than having to exclude them after the campaign is created.

Discovery ads for lead gen. Google extended lead form extensions to Discovery and YouTube campaigns in August. Below is an example of a Discovery ad with a lead form extension showing in Gmail. Google says the BF Goodrich lead gen campaign repurposed social campaign assets and saw 30X more leads at a similar conversion rate compared to its Search campaigns.

Discovery ads tips. Discovery ads are powered by machine learning, which means they need time and data to optimize performance. Google suggests setting the daily budget “at least 10 times the value of your target cost-per-action (CPA) bid and wait for at least 40 conversions before making changes.” That typically means waiting two to three weeks before making changes to Discovery campaigns.

Update 12/4/20: This article has been updated to reflect that there is now line reporting for audience expansion performance.

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About The Author

Ginny Marvin

Ginny Marvin was Third Door Media’s former Editor-in-Chief (October 2018 to December 2020), running the day to day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin writes about paid digital advertising and analytics news and trends for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.