Dive Brief:

• After 15 years and with the realization more searches are taking place on mobile devices than desktop or laptop computers, Google is making changes to AdWords.
• The changes will reflect a mobile-first, multi-screen marketing world that includes engagement on multiple devices throughout the day. The tech giant is calling these numerous short bursts of activity that include many web and app sessions “micro-moments.”
• The three areas of focus for the new AdWords include: making it about marketers and not the AdWords product; improving the data marketers receive; and simplified, but still powerful tools for marketers.

Dive Insight:

"This is for a multiscreen world and that means a lot of advertisers will be able to reach their users whether they are on YouTube, browsing on a tablet or if they're using Google Maps," Paul Feng, AdWords product management director, told Ad Age. "The goal is for advertisers to reach their consumer with a message, not because they understand the intricacies of search."

The changes to AdWords, including the three areas of focus, came after Google conducted research with a variety of marketers described as “large and small advertisers, from power users to beginners.”

"Consumers are more mobile than they ever have been before, moving seamlessly between devices and channels. What was once a tool that was designed to help advertisers place text ads is so much greater," Andrea McFarling, director of marketing at Adlucent, told Marketing Dive. "Google's new Adwords user interface aligns with the way consumers are researching and purchasing products--whether that's through paid search, YouTube videos, remarketing ads, and more. The hope is that advertisers will now be able to focus on their overall business goals instead of individual activities."

According to a Google blog post, changes to AdWords will continue to be optimized through 2016 and 2017 with selected users invited to take part in testing new features.