There are 3.5 billion Google searches per day. In fact, Google properties account for approximately 92% of the US search engine market share. The second most popular search engine, Bing, holds only 3% in comparison.
Still need convincing on Google’s effect? If you can compel potential customers to simply interact with your Google Business Profile, there’s more than a 50% chance that they’ll visit your website.
Now that you can see just how crucial Google is for your business, would you be interested to know that big changes are coming? Despite these changes being for verification, they will naturally boost your Ads, affecting your return on investment. It should also be noted that complete listings are 7x more likely to get clicks than those left unfinished, so the way you are creating your Ads really does matter.
Cookies?
Cookie policies and data captcha; businesses have been faced with new ways to keep them and their customers safe from data breaches. The lasting effects of the 2018 bug exposure for 52.5 million Google+ users has perhaps made the identification process for a business clunkier and more difficult. So, to make setting up Google Ads faster, Google will be streamlining their Advertising Identity and Business operations verification process in March 2022. This is great for businesses to focus on getting their Ads out there, and offer Google users more protection against illegitimate businesses.
A new ‘About your business’ section will be created as the first step to the program. You will be given 30 days, before your account gets paused, to answer a few basic questions related to your Google Ads account. As a sneak peak, some of the questions asked will regard your billing country or business address advertised on the Google Ads platform.
Thankfully, Google ads have extended their timelines for verification. If your Google Business is set up already, you will be notified via email and an in-account notification when you have been selected for the Advertiser verification program. Once you’ve been chosen, the Identity verification must be completed within 30 days, with another 30 days to complete all the requested verification. This has shortened the time immensely from before, as business operations caused extra administration stress.
Let’s Dive In…
We mentioned cookie policies before; Google is looking to improve transparency with their customers. Information about your Google Ads accounts and ad campaigns will be publicly available. From then, when a user sees your ad, they can view some basic information such as your business name and location. According to Google Customers Insights, the “near me” phrase usage increased by more than 200% over the last two years. It may seem obvious, but having your business location and information on display is important in gaining trust in potential customers.
Be mindful that new security criteria may affect the success of your Google ads. If you are advertising in a brand or a business industry susceptible to abuse, fraud, and scams (such as travel, customer or technical support services and financial services), this check will be a priority to you. Another thing to note is when your account may be immediately paused. This could be because: your ads suspectedly violate the Google Ads policies, including, for example, misleading representation or unreliable claims about your business. It sounds a bit picky but once the Advertiser verification program is completed, the campaign performance will improve. To read more about google ads, check out the blog here by our marketing agency Surrey.
More than 5% of people simply seeing your business come up on Google will book an appointment, send a contact form to request more information, or make a purchase. So you can get your ads running as quickly as possible, you can monitor your status and progress of their verifications, and view failure reasons under the Billing and Payments settings tab in your Google Ads account. Don’t worry, Google will remind you to check this.
A lot of information? We know. Luckily, these revised timelines and updates will ease the experience on March 31, 2022 with a gradual increase over two months. It may be a lot to wait for, but we’re pleased that Google is taking that extra step to keep businesses secure, a bit simpler.
Get In Contact – Marketing Agency Surrey
Need help on your Google Business Profile? Get in touch with our marketing agency Surrey by emailing us at howdy@wearethunderbolt.com