In the dynamic world of digital marketing, keeping up with the latest Google Ads updates is crucial to getting the best performance from your campaigns. This year, 4 significant changes need your attention: Consent Mode, enhanced conversions, the sunset of Universal Analytics and the phase-out of cookies in Google Chrome
Here are the deadlines for implementing these changes without affecting your results.
Consent Mode – Mandatory from March 2024
What is it?
Consent Mode is an update that lets advertisers adjust how conversions are measured based on users’ consent to the use of cookies. This feature is essential given the growing focus on user privacy.
Deadline: March 2024
To keep using Google Ads without interruption and comply with privacy regulations, you must implement Consent Mode before March 2024. This will ensure your conversion data remains accurate and compliant with privacy laws.
Enhanced conversions – 2024
What are they?
There are two types of enhanced conversions:
- Enhanced conversions for web
- Enhanced conversions for leads
The first type improves the measurement of online conversions. It lets you send encrypted, anonymized user-provided data from your website. This data is sent when a user takes an important action (such as a purchase or sign-up) and is used to link that action to the user’s Google account that was active when they interacted with one of your ads.
The second type lets you track purchases leads make outside the website, for example by phone or email. When you upload lead information, this data, previously encrypted and anonymized on your website, is used to attribute completed actions (such as purchases or sign-ups) to your Google Ads campaigns.
Deadline: do it as soon as you can
Why is it essential? (though not mandatory, for now)
With cookies disappearing, it is harder for Google Ads to know when to credit conversions to the Google Ads channel. To simplify greatly, this system lets it identify, in encrypted form, the user who converted and attribute the conversion to Google Ads, which in turn lets the AI fine-tune the audience our ads are shown to and understand campaign performance.
Universal Analytics sunset – July 2024
What’s happening?
Universal Analytics data will no longer be available: say goodbye to comparing your visits, user behavior or acquisition channels, among other things.
Deadline: July 1, 2024
What does it mean if you have already migrated to Google Analytics 4 anyway?
If we want to keep our historical data, we need to migrate it. How?
- Export specific reports in the following formats:
- CSV
- TSV
- TSV for Excel
- Excel (XLSX)
- Google Sheets
- Use the Google Analytics API to export data to Cloud Storage and connect it to Looker Studio.
- Install the Google Analytics add-on for Google Sheets to archive your data.
Does it affect Google Ads?
Yes, if you use a Universal Analytics audience in your campaigns or ad groups, which you shouldn’t be doing anymore.
Cookie phase-out in Google Chrome – 2024
What will happen?
Google Chrome will stop storing third-party cookies by default, including advertising cookies, and of course this category includes Google Ads cookies.
Deadline: second half of 2024
The implications are clear: you will increasingly need your own customer data and feed it into Google Ads to build valuable first-party audiences, preferably dynamic ones. This is possible thanks to marketing automation tools that include CRM features.
Recommended actions
- Review and update your settings: make sure your Google Ads setup complies with these new policies before the dates indicated.
- Consult the experts: if you have questions about implementing these changes, consider consulting a Google Ads expert or a certified partner like us.
- Plan ahead: don’t leave the necessary updates to the last minute. Planning ahead can prevent campaign disruptions and optimize your performance.
- Save your historical data: at some point you will want to compare your results with previous years, so you need that data available.
- Turn on enhanced conversions: help Google Ads understand your leads and measure your campaign performance.
- Create your own audience segments: feed Google Ads with your customer database, segmented as finely as you can.
Stay informed
Remember that Google Ads regularly updates its policies and features. Stay up to date on the latest changes by subscribing to Google Ads’ official communication channels and taking part in advertiser community forums.
