Google Ads migrated from accelerated campaigns to standard campaigns as early as October 2019. At the time, this change only applied to search and shopping campaigns. However, at the end of April 2020, standard display will become the only method of advertising in all campaigns, including display, video, application and hotel campaigns. Campaigns that are currently using accelerated delivery will be automatically transitioned to standard from May 1, 2020.
Two types of deliveries
So far, when deciding on an ad in Google Ads, you could indicate which type of ad delivery you want to use. There were two options to choose from:
1. Standard (default option) — when selected, Google optimizes campaign spending to reflect the types of user searches. The distribution takes place during the hours when the ads are scheduled to run and the budget is spread over the whole day. Thus, we avoid the possibility of quickly exhausting your daily advertising budget.
2. Accelerated — accelerated ad delivery is not as optimized for budget usage as standard delivery. As a result, your daily budget can run out early in the morning. Google hasn’t recommended advertisers to use this display option.
The Mountain View giant has long held the view that standard ad delivery is a better option for advertising campaigns with a limited budget, as it takes into account the expected performance of ads during the day. By choosing standard display, the advertiser won’t use up all available funds at the very beginning of the day. He’ll be able to reach potential customers evenly around the clock.
Accelerated advertising had its advantages…
Accelerated ad delivery could have had a positive impact on the campaign when it was used by an experienced marketer. Thanks to skilful campaign management, it was possible to direct advertising to users in a specific region or to a specific demographic group.
For example, ads targeted to audiences in the United States and displayed in an accelerated option could cause more people to see them from the west coast than from the east. So why did Google decide to completely opt out of these types of views?
…as well as indisputable disadvantages
Google noticed that accelerated delivery makes it difficult to make the most of your ad campaign budget and can reduce your return on investment. In addition, the cost per click (CPC), cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and cost per view (CPV) in YouTube ads can be much higher than when using standard delivery. The reason for this is the higher auction pressure in the morning, which is followed by higher prices.
In addition, Google indicates that changing the delivery mode from accelerated to standard will not only reduce the cost of impressions or clicks, but may also improve your clickthrough rate (CTR). In this case, there is no pressure to win the morning auctions.
Of course, with a limited budget and standard display we can’t be sure that the ad will be visible throughout the day, but thanks to the evenly distributed budget for all the ad display hours indicated in the schedule, we strive to maximize the profits from the campaign.
By using ad scheduling, you can increase or decrease bids for a Google Ads campaign. Google also suggests that you use the following tools to improve your campaign performance:
- Maximizing conversion value
- Maximizing the number of conversions
- Maximizing clicks
Thanks to this, you can be sure that your ad delivery won’t exceed your Google Ads daily budget, and that standard delivery will increase their performance.
How to launch standard delivery?
Those advertisers who haven’t done so yet are advised to switch to standard ad delivery themselves. To do this, change your budget implementation setting on the “Campaign Settings” page. Google also warns against the continued use of accelerated display in campaigns using external tools or scripts. This can cause serious errors in APIs and scripts.
At the end of April 2020, the scripts and both APIs will be programmed to prevent new and existing campaigns from using the accelerated delivery method. You can find more information about errors that may occur because of this here.
Considering the numerous benefits of standard delivery, it is not surprising that Google has decided to eliminate the possibility of accelerated delivery. It is worth starting the implementation of standard tracking for your advertising campaigns and familiarizing yourself with its possibilities to be prepared for the changes that will occur in April.
If you need help running Google Ads campaigns, Sembot is at your disposal! We can either help you set up your account or take care of your advertising campaigns as a whole. Use the contact section now and let us know how we can help you 🙂
