What do Google’s 'Enhanced Campaigns' really enhance?

Google’s recent announcement of ‘Google Enhanced Campaigns’ has provoked debate among agencies and brands alike.

When rolled out in Q2, campaign structure will be changed to enable targeting across devices (smartphones, tablets and desktops) within a single enhanced campaign. Within an Enhanced Campaign, bid multipliers can be used to adjust bids across locations, time of day and device types.

Google’s official reason for these changes is that they are in response to the way that users search in today’s multi-screen world, and they will make setup and management of campaigns easier for advertisers and agencies.

The most exciting new feature is that Cross Device Tracking is due to launch in Q2 of 2013.  Although details have not been released yet, it is widely anticipated that this will track users who are logged into the various Google products, such as Gmail and Google Maps. Cross-device attribution has been a hotly debated topic for many years, and a login-based system will provide some (albeit limited) concrete data to support, or refute, theories of media consumption and influence between devices, with implications on attributing credit across touchpoints.

However, some agencies and advertisers have reacted with dismay to the removal of search functionality that they have deployed successfully over the years.

Their specific concerns:

• It will no longer be possible to target by mobile operating system, device brand or model
• Tablets will be categorised with, and indistinguishable from, desktops and laptops, so it will no longer be possible to target, for example, only iPads, or to target desktops without iPads
• It will no longer be possible to run a mobile-only campaign. Mobile bids can only be a percentage of the desktop bid, on a bid multiplier ranging from +300 per cent to -100 per cent, set at the campaign level only. Default bids must be set for each enhanced campaign, which will be used for desktop and tablet devices.
• It will no longer possible to ‘opt out’ of running on mobile devices. A bid of -100 per cent can be set, but it is not certain that this would prevent the ad appearing, if this is for a longtail keyword with little competition in the auction.

These changes will have a significant impact for certain types of businesses. Let’s take the example of an online store that sells mobile and tablet accessories. This company targets its ads for Samsung Galaxy S III phone covers to appear only on the mobile SERPs of Samsung Galaxy S III phones running Android, to reduce wastage and deliver a strong ROI. But now the company's supposedly ‘enhanced’ campaign must be opted-in to target all devices, and the company will be unable to allocate greater budget, or higher bids, to target owners of Samsung Galaxy S III phones specifically. Indeed, the company will be compelled to waste budget on iPhone devotees.

Admittedly, this is a rather niche example. But many businesses have found differences in behaviour between, for example, iOS users versus users of other operating systems (iOS users tend to be more affluent, leading to higher average basket values) and between tablet and desktop users (with tablet conversion rates 20 per cent higher on average). Marketers will not enjoy as much freedom to tailor their strategies according to these factors.

It is more important than ever for brands to ensure that they provide a strong user experience for consumers across devices. Agencies should work closely with their clients to create plans for a smooth transition, with the aims of (1) maintaining current campaign performance and (2) applying the new reporting and bidding features to gain a competitive edge.

We should expect CPC (cost per click) for tablet and mobile devices to rise, since more advertisers will participate in these auctions than previously. Search queries from mobile devices and tablets continue to rise, and Q4 of last year saw the first ever decline in desktop queries. One thing for certain is that Google’s own business will be ‘enhanced’ by these changes.