by Laurie Sullivan @lauriesullivan, August 31, 2017

Google is preparing to run tests in which its platform will create variations of the brand’s existing AdWords ads and run them across its network.

The AdWords feature is designed to improve campaign performance by adding new variations of a brand’s existing ads to the marketer’s ad groups, but some agencies and brands feel they will lose control of their campaigns.

Beginning October 1, marketers will begin seeing alerts in AdWords and will receive a corresponding email each time the platform suggests new ads. Advertisers will have 14 days from the notification to review them. After this time, the ads will become live unless the marketer chooses to remove them.

“These ads will be created based on information you’ve provided in your existing ads, such as your headlines, descriptions, ad extensions and relevant information found on your ads’ landing page. You can edit, pause or remove ad suggestions at any point, though we recommend waiting until they have enough impressions to give you confidence in the ad group-level results,” per the document obtained by Search Marketing Daily.

The 14-day period is not long enough for some industries, such as financial services and pharmaceuticals. For example, it takes months to get ad-copy approval in the pharmaceutical industry because of medical regulations and requirements. The letter does provide an option for the brand to opt-out.

This concept is not entirely new. Overture, the shuttered ad platform by Yahoo — now Verizon Oath — created ads and then asked for approval from marketers who had to go into the system to change the wording before they ran. The goal was to improve click rates.

Sometimes it’s okay to discourage a click if you’re trying to qualify it, said Janel Laravie, cofounder of search agency Chacka Marketing. “Take a lesson from Overture — this could end poorly,” Laravie said.

Google is known for creating dynamic ads, taking headlines and body copy, and creating a variety of variations, but this beta takes ad creation a step further.

The company also ran a test in January. This is phase two of the test that addresses many of the concerns that brands and agencies had initially. In the first experiment, Google added ads without giving advertisers the ability to review them before they went live. Now they have 14 days to edit or remove the ads. Marketers also complained during the first phase of the test that they were not properly notified, so now Google sends an email and alerts them in the platform.

We always listen to our customers,” said a Google spokesperson. “We heard their concerns around the initial experiment and so we have developed this updated program to reflect those concerns.”

Machine learning is behind the potential new feature. Research shows that three to five ads per grouping increases impressions and clicks. Google claims it lightens time-consuming workloads for brands and agencies by automatically providing variations. It identifies the content the platform believes will deliver the best returns and the optimal return on investment.

MediaPost.com: Search Marketing Daily

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