What’s Next For Paid Search: 10 Predictions From Google

The title pretty much explains the concept of this article. In it, I'll be making some educated predictions regarding what will be trending in paid search in the year 2022.

We’re about to reveal our secrets for those who need a little help, or just want to make the most of the future trends in paid search.

PPC is now widely considered as one of the most effective ways to promote businesses across the various web and mobile platforms. It has a current average CPC (cost per click) of $4.

According to a poll, over 35% of all businesses are now using the PPC platform, with the number likely to climb by 2022.

Need for PPC

Small businesses that wish to sell their services or products online without having to spend a lot of money on SEO might benefit greatly from PPC marketing (PPC).

The truth is that even if you've spent thousands of dollars on SEO, it could be for naught because your competitors could outrank you at any time, especially if they're willing to pay more money.

You can be sure that your business will be at the top of the list if you use PPC because it is a more effective way of increasing traffic to your site and quickly converting it into potential leads.

PPC marketers spend a lot of time thinking about where the industry is going. We want to understand what will change, how our clients might be affected, and how we, as PPC consultants and specialists, can help our clients to stay ahead of the curve.

Without further ado, here are the top ten PPC trends you should be mindful of in 2022:

1. Automation

Due to the obvious difficulty of extrapolating, consolidating, and collating data from many sources, this is not a job that can be accomplished without the use of automation.

Similarly, in order to succeed, the planning, implementation, and analysis of scalable, data-driven campaigns across numerous channels and platforms would necessitate the use of appropriate processes and tools.

Advertising agencies in Dubai and around the world call for advertising automation. Investing in smart technology will enable digital marketers to gain an edge over their competitors, as well as businesses and brands to be more fluid and adaptable in their marketing.

Things are speeding up, which creates plenty of opportunities to automate our workflows. Whether it be natural language or new tools like Chatbots and AI assistants that can free us from mundane tasks and give us an opportunity to focus on creating strategic plans and building long-term relationships. Automation is here to stay for PPC marketers in the 2020s.

2. Utilizing First-Party Data

With the increasing consumer privacy concerns, we’re seeing a shift away from tracking cookies and pixels. In 2022, you may not be able to simply install a pixel onto your website to track conversions and backlink quality. These trends are great for privacy but challenging for marketers since they can no longer rely on pixels and cookies to track the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Digital marketers now have a new dilemma to deal with: How can they continue to track their ads and measure their results accurately when third-party cookies become taboo? The solution that’s gaining momentum is the use of first-party data.

This means in order to get a complete and accurate picture of your marketing efforts that don’t rely solely on expensive attribution companies, you will need first-party data tied into your ad networks.

3. Audience Targeting and Segmentation

Audience targeting and segmentation are the foundation of successful PPC campaigns and are essential for success. These two tactics allow you to focus on specific groups that fit your brand and target audience in mind.

With the rapid rise of programmatic ad buying, you can be sure that advertisers will be working with much larger and more similar audiences. The future will see more advertisers reaching out to target consumers based on location, demographic information, behavioral data, etc.

In an overcrowded advertising space, it is vital to ensure that your brands are showing up when their target users will be online, not just when they're searching for a term in Google.

That being said, it’s important not to ignore targeting by platform and device. If you want your ads to reach mobile users in your target demographics; make sure they show up at the right time and on the right platforms too.

4. Campaign Testing

Test, test, test. PPC isn’t an exact science, but you can use it to craft the best possible experience for your customers and prospects.

Experimenting with different elements of your ads helps you hone in on what really speaks to your audience. Search Engine Watch recently conducted a study of retail advertisers that found the number one element advertisers focused on in their search marketing was testing Expanded Text Ads (ETAs). The ability to target and optimize based on ETAs has been very valuable for retailers.

Reshape Ads should happen early and often. The more complex your Google Adwords campaigns become, the more you have to focus on testing – even if it can’t be directly tied back to ROI.

5. Diversification

While there are many different PPC trends that are currently taking place, one of the most important is diversification.

Paid advertising, like other marketing channels, doesn't operate in isolation, and the more ways you can diversify your company's growth channels, the more solid your business and brand will be.

It has always been important for marketers to include multiple channels in their marketing strategy, especially big brands that have the money and resources to test on as many channels as possible.

It's much easier today than it was before because of technology like AI and PPC Tools. Even though they can be expensive technologies, companies need to use them. We need new and tools like these to improve our multitasking ability.

Read Also, Advanced Pay Per Click Advertising Strategy for eCommerce Sites.

6. Responsive Search Ads

Here is our crystal ball that we're looking into in order to make future predictions: In 2022, we will have to expect big changes in the way of PPC advertising. The first change mentioned above is that Google is pushing advertisers to move away from expanded text ads and instead use their new responsive search ads.

Google Expanded Text Ads, or ETAs, were flashy but wildly ineffective for most advertisers. Even when advertisers modified their language to fit what Google deemed “effective” the result was usually worse than standard text ads in terms of click-through rates.

That meant ultimately, the advertiser was paying more for each click and fewer people were clicking on those ads in the first place.

In short, ETAs are a bit like the larger iPhone XS Max. They’re an ‘experience’ that some might appreciate but for many, including myself, once you go back to a regular size smartphone it feels… right. It means ETAs aren't even worth discussing in 2022 because they'll be fully natively responsive.

This is a great example of how the company predicts future trends. Expanded text ads are dying out, as everything goes responsive. Google has been pushing for responsive websites for several years now and it’s a trend that will continue to grow due to the popularity of mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.

7. Conversion Tracking

Conversion tracking is one of the most important factors in PPC optimization and measurement.

In the past, conversion tracking has been used to optimize campaigns based on clicks and page views. As we’re seeing a shift into an AI/RPA future, marketers need to be re-examining their ability to track conversions with pixel-based tactics.

Once marketers begin to adapt their tracking methods, they’ll see an improvement in their overall campaign performance to help drive anticipated growth for lead generation for the ad platform of their choice.

8. Shared Advertising Expenses

Small businesses must adapt to a new channel if they want to stay relevant, or even survive in the global marketplace. If your small business is not already in PPC and you are wanting to get started, now is the time.

Most will start with a Google Adwords campaign as it usually has the least barrier to entry, but we suggest taking a look at Bing Ads and Facebook Ads as well.

One trend that has started over the last few years and will continue for many years to come is the idea of small businesses banding together to leverage each other's strengths. With this trend, we are seeing more and more small businesses joining together with shared expenses and shared marketing collateral.

This trend is only going to grow in the coming years as the small business owner finds it harder and harder to compete with large brands and corporations that have hundreds of thousands of dollars to spend on marketing and PPC campaigns.

9. Return To Fundamentals

Regardless of whether you’re an experienced PPC marketer, you should pay attention to the trends that will shape the business in 2022. These include campaign basics such as keywords and bids and also emerging areas like voice search and conversational AI.

To understand how more advanced technologies like these can be used, you have to have a thorough understanding of the basics first. In other words, embrace the fundamentals before diving too deeply into what they might become in four years.

10. Being ready for sudden changes

We’re not going back to the stone age of search marketing anytime soon. If you want to stay on top of your PPC game, be prepared for anything.

Use the information shared in this post to keep abreast of what’s new and exciting in the world of PPC, and you won’t have to worry about being left behind. And if you want more information on emerging trends and industry changes happening now, come back this time next year and see how we fare then!

Advertising is changing at the speed of light: with all new areas of growth and new features coming out regularly, how can a marketer stop to lookup? If you're reading this article, then there is no doubt that you want to be successful in online advertising. Staying on top of these growing trends will not only help you prepare for PPC in 2022, but it will also help you be prepared for whatever lies ahead for PPC.

This is it for today’s blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it. Do share your valuable feedback in the comment section and you can always reach out to me if you have any questions about PPC.

If you run a business and you don’t focus on advertising just because you don’t have time, you’re missing out on a lot of potential leads and business. If you need assistance, contact Prism Digital, the best advertising agency in Dubai and our expert advertisers will help you devise a solid strategy that will set your business on course for increased visibility and immense business growth. See you on the other side.