Google Ads
Search Engine Land is your premier source for Google Ads news, strategies, and in-depth content. You’ll find a variety of up-to-date and authoritative resources, including the latest news, tactic-rich tutorials, and the latest data to help you work smarter and make better decisions that boost your ROI.
Mastering Google Ads for maximum ROI
Google Ads is a powerful tool for driving targeted traffic, generating leads, and increasing sales — but staying ahead in paid search requires more than just a basic understanding of campaigns. Search Engine Land equips you with actionable strategies to optimize ad performance, reduce wasted spend, and maximize your return on investment.
Discover insights on everything from mastering campaign types like Performance Max to leveraging advanced strategies and features like audience targeting, responsive search ads, and bidding strategies. Whether you’re managing large-scale accounts or running ads for a small business, our resources are tailored to meet your specific needs.
What you read here is written by our experienced in-house team, alongside subject matter experts from leading agencies and top-performing brands across various industries
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Google opens Conversion Lift to Search and Performance Max
Google is making incrementality testing more accessible by opening self-serve Conversion Lift measurement to eligible Search and PMax campaigns.
Google Ads adds new AI Max columns for deeper campaign analysis
New AI Max reporting columns give advertisers more visibility into targeting, location and brand settings across their campaigns.
Google Display migration to Demand Gen: How to protect your ad budget
Demand Gen removes familiar Display controls. See what changes, what to audit, and how to limit wasted spend after migration.
Google Ads can now calculate Target ROAS from profit margins
Google Ads’ new Target ROAS calculator uses profit margins to help advertisers set bidding targets around profitability.
Top PPC tactics to try for all levels of AI adoption
Whether you’re using AI for insights, as a campaign copilot, or to automate tasks, these tactics can help you get more from your campaigns.
Google Ads loosens business name rules for some advertisers
Google is giving eligible advertisers more flexibility to use recognized brand names that don’t exactly match their destination domains.
Microsoft Advertising adds HubSpot integration ahead of holiday season
Microsoft latest updates help lets advertisers connect campaigns to revenue, scale B2B targeting and test changes with less manual work.
Google location asset requirements: What you need to know
Wrong address? Missing location? Disapproved asset? Here’s where to look before changing your Google Ads setup.
Google expands cross-channel conversion reporting to app campaigns
Advertisers can now include app conversions in performance and attribution reporting while managing their attribution independently.
Is your Google Ads account ready for Q4?
Black Friday isn’t the time to discover problems with your tracking, product feed, or margins. Here’s what to sort out beforehand.
Why Performance Max isn’t a YouTube ad strategy for ecommerce
YouTube can create demand that Search and Shopping can’t capture. But it needs creative and measurement built for how the channel works.
The August 17th Post-Mortem: What Google’s Smart Bidding update really changed
Join us on October 15th where Mike Ryan shows how Google’s August 17 update reshaped ROAS, CPCs, budgets and advertiser behavior.
Google tests a new look for mobile ad sitelinks
Google is testing a redesigned mobile ad sitelink layout that makes individual links darker, clearer and more prominent.
Microsoft Ads API adds deeper search reporting and more PMax controls
Microsoft’s latest API update gives advertisers deeper search-to-landing-page insights, device exclusions for PMax and more.
Google Ads API v25.2 adds competitive benchmarks and PMax upgrades
Advertisers are getting more data and control across competitive benchmarking, PMax, Search bidding and creator insights.
Google tests bigger Local Services Ads
Google may be giving local advertisers more visibility possibly meaning a growth of investment in its pay-per-lead ad business.
Google Ads adds IP address and timestamp matching to Customer Match
Google Ads adds IP addresses and timestamps to Customer Match, promising stronger matching and new privacy considerations.
When more PPC budget doesn’t equal more leads
If search is carrying your lead generation strategy, increasing spend won’t replace the awareness and trust built across other channels.
How to use Google Veo to create video ads for PMax and Demand Gen
Turn existing creative assets into short-form video, with tips for image selection, formats, messaging, and performance measurement.
How much of your Google Ads conversions come from AI Max?
Combine AI Max expanded matches and landing page matches to measure conversion contribution and identify campaigns worth investigating.
Google expands AI Brief and adds deeper AI Max reporting
Advertisers are getting more ways to guide AI Max and see exactly how its automation shapes Search ad journeys.
Google Ads reframes Smart Bidding learning around 50 conversions
Google now says Smart Bidding learning can take up to around 50 conversions or three conversion cycles.
Google Ads rolls out AI video dubbing in Asset Studio
Google ads now allows select advertisers to localize video campaigns across 33 languages and locales without costly reshoots.
Google Ads’ Smart Bidding update appears to have ended bid suppression
New analysis suggests Google’s Aug. 17 Smart Bidding update is driving higher CPCs and lower IS for budget-limited campaigns.
Google Ads tests Product Value Optimization for AI bidding
Google Ads’ new beta lets advertisers adjust product values to steer automated bidding toward their most important inventory.
Google Ads is showing advertisers how their spending compares with peers
Google Ads’ new Spend Benchmarks report shows advertisers how their budgets and clicks compare with similar businesses
AI Overviews and paid search: When to fight, influence, or generate demand
Classify queries by intent and AI visibility to decide where to bid, influence the answer, or shift budget to demand generation.
Google Analytics launches customizable Dashboards
Google Analytics has launched customizable Dashboards that bring key metrics and visualizations into one report.
Advertisers report Google Ads credits being revoked after spending
Advertisers report Google Ads promotional credits being invalidated after they’ve already spent budget to qualify for them.
Google Ads data shows query length shift post-AI Mode
Longer, more specific searches are gaining impression and conversion share, while short queries continue to lose ground.
The availability heuristic: 7 ways Google Ads can steer your decisions
What gets your attention in Google Ads can influence where you spend, what you change, and how you judge performance. Here's what to watch.
Manual vs. automated Google Ads campaigns: How to allocate your budget
Balance scale and control by matching automation to conversion volume, account maturity, and performance needs.
The 11x ROAS account that lost money on every order
High ROAS can mask negative contribution, weak incrementality, and costly inventory decisions. Here's how to measure what really matters.
Google tests traditional Search campaigns in AI Mode
Google is testing exact and phrase match Search ads in AI Mode when users show clear, direct intent.
Limited Ad Serving: Why Google Ads suddenly show less often
Google can limit ad serving without disapproving your ads. Learn what puts accounts at risk, how to spot a limitation, and how to appeal.
What your Google Ads hour-of-day report doesn’t tell you
Smart Bidding sees the auction-level signals your hourly report can’t. Know what you’re giving up when you cut an hour.
Google AdSense to change how it counts impressions: Begin-to-Render
This change is happening on February 17, 2027 and will result in a change in total impressions.
Google expands Demand Gen with messaging ads, travel tools and AI video creation
Google's Demand Gen tools aim to shorten the path from discovery to conversion while making it easier to scale creative across campaigns.
Moving from Google Display to Demand Gen: What you’ll lose and gain
New inventory and AI-powered creative come with trade-offs. See which controls and capabilities change in Demand Gen.
Google Ads API Developer Assistant gets major AI agent upgrade
Google Ads API Developer Assistant v4.0.0 brings specialized API dev, troubleshooting and reporting tools into AI workflows.