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Be Responsible, Be Useful, Be There: On the Ground at Google Marketing Live 2019

Mediassociates recently attended Google Marketing Live 2019. While there we got a preview of some of the products that Google will be rolling out this year. Here are some of the highlights:

BE RESPONSIBLE Privacy is a hot topic and Google addressed the issue throughout the event. While personalization matters, privacy is the priority, was a common refrain from the main stage and break-out sessions. There is an ongoing tension between delivering relevant, personalized ads and honoring an individual’s privacy requirements and advertisers are concerned how long-term funnel measurement will be impacted by the recent and future privacy changes (GDPR, ITP, CCPA in California).

BE USEFUL Stage time was devoted to a number of very cool new ad units. According to Google, over 50% of searches are done on a mobile device and this is only expected to grow. Inspired by carousel ads on Facebook, Google is rolling out Gallery ads, units that will show a gallery of images that relate to the search. Users will be able to swipe through up to eight images and can click through directly to purchase the product.

BE THERE Google announced that starting later this year, national and local TV inventory will be accessible through Video360, Google’s programmatic video unit. Streaming audio and podcasts are also becoming available with inventory available via Spotify, Google Play Music and other partners. This has the potential to help advertisers better understand a customer’s path to purchase and further erases the line between offline and online advertising. Attendees were cautioned that inventory will be limited at first, but it is expected to grow with demand.

We’re excited to see these innovations roll out in the coming months and weeks. As always, we’ll evaluate them and in partnership with our clients, decide if they will be additive to their overall media mix. Stay tuned!

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