Google pushes out deadline parallel tracking for Video due to ‘global events’

You’ve got some more time to transition to parallel tracking for Video campaigns. The deadline has been moved to June 15.

Coronavirus-related delay. “Given recent global events, we wanted to give everyone extra time to make this transition,” Nicky Rettke, product management director for Google Video Ads wrote in the announcement Thursday.

How to opt-in. If you’re ready to switch parallel tracking, you can still opt-in now. In your Google Ads account, click “Settings” from the “All campaigns” view. Then go to “Account Settings” > “Tracking.” Switch on “Parallel tracking.”

Why we care. For advertisers using third-party click tracking solutions, parallel tracking helps landing pages load faster by processing the tracking separately from the page load. Video is the last campaign type to shift to parallel tracking. Google already requires it for Search, Shopping and Display campaigns.

Notable is the “global events” mention in reference to the coronavirus pandemic. This is a seemingly minor shift, but it’s indicative of the disruption the outbreak is causing for companies and employees at all levels.

UPDATE: Google has pushed the deadline to March 31, 2021.

Related:

• Coronavirus disrupts search, digital ad budgets
• Google Ads intros new URL parameter options ahead of parallel tracking deadline
• Parallel tracking, more custom parameters coming to Microsoft Advertising for improved tracking

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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.