Dive Brief:

• Google announced in a company blog post a new "ad strength" metric that measures the relevance, quantity and diversity of ad copy. The metric is intended to help advertisers gauge the effectiveness of campaigns.
• Ad strength will be available in early September and in the responsive search ad platform in the next few weeks. In terms of ensuring strong campaign performance, Google suggests that advertisers use multiple distinct headlines, descriptions and other elements to help its machine learning features in producing a large number of ad combinations. Google recommends creating at least five headlines for responsive search ads and up to 15 images and five logos, headlines and descriptions per ad for responsive display ads. Ninety-one percent of mobile users made a purchase or planned to purchase that were served ads that they considered to be relevant, according to data in the post
• Google is also allowing advertisers to preview ad combinations as they are built and view reporting for headlines, descriptions and top combinations. As an example cited by Google, Apartments.com saw a 10% increase in clicks after creating ads that were more relevant at key moments in the rental process. ForRent.com, an Apartments.com site, had a 16% lift in clicks. 

Dive Insight:

Google's new ad strength metric looks to provide marketers with more ways to measure campaign effectiveness in real-time and also at a more granular level, examining the strength of individual ad elements including headlines, logos and descriptions. As more marketers automate digital campaigns at scale, Google is emphasizing the importance of diversifying these elements to create a sense of personalization that might resonate more with consumers.     

Marketing personalization at scale is growing more important to the industry, but is often an area where brands miss the mark. About half, or 48%, of consumers surveyed by Accenture said they have left a brand's website and purchased elsewhere after a poor experience. That figure marked a 40% increase over those who said the same last year. Ninety-one percent of respondents to the survey also said they are more likely to shop with brands that send them relevant offers and recommendations. 

The new features are additionally part of Google's efforts to tout its machine learning capabilities for marketers. Last month, the company unveiled responsive search ads that use machine learning to optimize creative assets in real time so that users only see the top-performing ad for their search. Advertisers that used machine learning to test out headlines and descriptions of their ads saw about 15% more clicks, according to internal data.