Google Ads news (GML recap): Power Pack, AI Max, Demand Gen and AI agents

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00:00All right, welcome back to the PPC Mastery podcast. Today I have the three musketeers for you again. Uh Thomas Eccel and Adriaan Dekker. I'm sure you you guys know who they are by now. Um so what we want to do today is go into the most important announcements and updates from Google Marketing Live 2025 and just see uh what we thought about the the developments in the BBC industry and where everything is going um you know obviously with AI and stuff. Um, but before we go into the into the updates and the announcements, Thomas, I'm wondering actually I'm curious. You went there in person in Dublin. How was it? Yeah. Um, it was a really cool experience. It was the second year that I was invited and uh like the whole scenery is really really exciting and amazing. Google puts a lot of effort in the event and you can really feel it. Um, they they rent the whole conference center in Dublin. um it's like three floors full of uh different rooms and product managers. So you can really also deep dive um in in the new updates. So that's really amazing because they fly in also all experts from from the US.

01:08They're working really closely at the products and uh yeah it was really amazing because it was two days packed of let's say Google Ads nerds um checking out all the updates um yeah talking to each other. So yeah, the first day we had the the live event that was broadcasted directly from Mountain View in the uh in the conference center in Dublin and then afterwards there was obviously a nice party. They rented the whole Opium Club and the Wheeler um um pup in Dublin. So like everyone was partying also there at night and then the next day um everyone went back again to the conference center and um we had nice um uh talks from for example the chief creative officer of Mr. least because obviously YouTube as we're going to hear today is going to be a big part of the future of Google Ads and later on we had workshops where you could select different topics let's say for example YouTube or AI or demand genen so you could talk to the product managers and really ask deep questions you had half an hour always on a round table so yeah the whole experience is amazing I really like this event um because yeah you can really feel that the effort um that Google puts in. Yeah. So really really nice cool uh cool experience to be there to be there in person. Uh Adriaan, we we need to find ourselves an invitation for next year.

02:38Yeah. So only big agencies that spend a lot uh are invited, I think. And uh yeah, I I still think that there's also a difference between Europe and United States, right? Mhm. Would be cool if you could go to the United States for the event. Um or if Genie would do a Europe tour, for example. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um all right, guys. So, let's just dive into the most important announcement. So, obviously everything was about AI. I think Bob did a um an export of the transcript and he checked how many times certain buzzwords were mentioned. I think AI was mentioned around 145 times. Um not really surprising. Um but Adriaan, maybe from your perspective first, what was your initial um yeah reflection and and and yeah, what do you think when you saw Google Marketing Live? Um and what product announcements, new features, updates, etc. really stood out to you?

03:38I think that even before it started, it was already different this year. Um they already announced like the channel insights for PMX and I was like oh you are announcing it before Google marketing live and the years before I think it was different. I think everything was announced just during Google Marketing Live in my eyes. Then also this year before the event even started there was a lot more hype. I think maybe because of this AI boom. Um I had the feeling that also a year ago it was not that big. You were a lot of people want to write about it, want to do a podcast about it, want to do uh events about it. So there was a lot more hype this year. I think um then when it started it it's always the same, right? They're just bragging for 20 minutes about the product and I think it's great. What I saw was that like they were talking a lot about AI of course what it can do, image creation, video creation, but also about the system that that they have YouTube that they have so many different uh data points that they can connect all together and then focusing on that they really are the only one who really understands the intent behind behind search queries and how it all works together and that they understand understand it from the beginning to the end. So you start with demand genen or YouTube and then you get a a special product checkout for example. So it was interesting uh to see how they did that and I think the biggest thing is the direction that they're going into. It's not really about the future that we're getting

05:16because we were already getting a lot of PMX uh new tools for PMX in the months before like the search terms like negative keywords like the channel insights a few weeks before. I think this event was more about the direction that Google is heading to. Uh and the most I think this the the small tool of AB testing shopping is really interesting in my eyes. Um that's something that you can actually do something with in the upcoming months when they make that available. So I think that is really exciting. Um they waited really long for this tool. I think maybe because they were scared that people would keyword stuff things or do weird images, but now that it's easier to create images with their tools also, I think they want to test this and launch this. So that's the biggest thing basically because you can really do something with that right now. Yeah, I agree. Um maybe also the hype was also because AI mode was announced uh the the day before. So there was a lot of buzz around, oh what is what is Google going to do now? Um you know because there recently you guys have seen it all over LinkedIn people are saying Google is dead, SEO is dead, Google Ads is dead uh because of all the LLMs, Chad GBT, cloud etc. Um so I think this is definitely an interesting direction for Google taking on those uh LLMs face on and then everybody must have been wondering like okay how does the new ad experience look like then with um with AI mode and I think they also dove into their plans for that on how they're going to monetize obviously they're going to

06:53monetize it they're going to find ways to to put ads in the new AI experiences um and I agree that the the GMC AB testing feature was almost actually one of the only really like tangible things that we can use and that we can uh that we can set up. That was one of my observations as well. It's like a lot of high over stuff and not really the nitty-gritty things that we were used to seeing uh at at at Google Marketing Live. And I think those things that's a thing of the past. I don't think in I don't think next year it's going to be different. It's all going to be big picture and more um towards uh fullfunnel thinking and uh obviously power pack. We'll get to we'll get to that. Um but more uh much less nitty-gritty controls except maybe on the demand genen side. Um so what about you Thomas? What was your initial um initial thoughts when you saw the things that were being announced? Yeah. So so honestly I was expecting somehow PMAX channel control. I don't know why. It was like a a wish that I had because I thought okay Google announced it for demand gen campaign. So they have the backend code to in order to also display it in the um Google Ads interface. So I was somehow hoping that PMAX channel controls would come. So that was like my big um moment that I was waiting for but it never arrived. Um also maybe because yeah PMAX campaign as as a campaign type itself is is made for to to go on all channels. Um, so I also had like interesting um speed talks with um Google Ads um account managers in Dublin where they they said no you don't need

08:30that. But I said yeah probably you can need it. Uh but yeah so in general I was also um not disappointed but I was waiting for something a big announcement a big update that didn't arrive like last year. Last year everything was a big update and something we've never heard. Um yeah so Google um obviously the the the channel reporting for PMAX was leaked already months before so everybody knew about it. Um but yeah in general um what I saw also is that um Google wanted to show really with the GML that they are the AI powerhouse that are not like giving in on perplexity chat GBT openai they're really they're really here and they created awesome products with VO3 imagine and so on and they really showed that AI is present in all kind of products that they have and uh Yeah, I think that's why the hype this year was quite big because everybody wanted to see how is Google reacting, how is Google reacting against all these AI newcomers um chasing Google. Uh but yeah, at the end Google showed presented that they are really the power AI company and they have everything to in order to shape the future again but this time with AI also.

09:48So um yeah, in general what I what I liked was for example the creator partnership ads um the integration Google Ads um because Google said they really want to push uh YouTube and everyone should use YouTube because you get better results and so it's it's it makes sense that they integrate um a partner tool creator partner tool direct in Google Ads where you can search creators you can see their audience you can see pricing and then you can call up with this creator um because then later on at Dublin I also was in a in a round table where they um deep dive a bit um further into creator ads what what is really a ad with a creator so like it's it obviously has a way better impact for the advertiser because normally when you watch a video of a creator you really trust them so there was also like a neuroscience project that I think 50% of uh viewers of a creator that are subscribed they really don't care if the creator makes ads or shows ads uh because they think they they own the creator something, you know, because they watch their their channel for free.

10:58So, they're really okay with ads and they also engage with these ads more. So, that's why I think creator partnership ads and this this new insights finder inside Google Ads for creators is a really cool update that I I really liked. Um because I also think yeah working with creators is uh is the future for video ads and yeah in general what I didn't expect or what I was very new for me was this new um acquisition goal for PMAX. I don't know that it was not really talked about a lot on LinkedIn but it's really stick in my mind and this is this acquisition goal for um reaching new potential customers um that are let's say uh for acquiring prospects where you have more also controls you can exclude for example people who search you on YouTube uh people who um are already your customers and you can really bid more for um for users that that might be prospects for you so that's a really cool beta in the in the campaign settings that I liked and uh yeah something else like the manen gets maps inventory that's also was a bit surprising for me because now I thought okay so the manen is really opening up more and more inventory so at the end it has the same inventory as pmax if we move on like that we got display this year now we got we will get maps inventory so yeah we're just missing search and we have like a pmax campaign again um Yeah. So, and also that I like that Google is now pushing AI overview ads. I think that was about time that they do it. So, that was bit

12:36exciting for me because we saw perplexities going with follow-up ads and media ads and now uh Google is going um is the second let's say company that shows ads in their AI inventory. And so, yeah, I really like that. Yeah, super interesting, man. And I think for demand gen this is this is I think from here moving forward we're going to see so much more from Google. uh we've seen more getting more granular controls on the demand gen side but I think like as you as you I think you also mentioned it Adriaan the first 20 minutes or so Google is just flexing their muscles and saying how big YouTube is and it's the biggest streaming service and kind of like um showing that they are the dominant force still and that they're not going anywhere. Um, and I think Bob made this observation. Um, usually it was more so about the search part of the search side of things and then YouTube was separate of the of that. But this year it really felt like Google wanted to show it as sort of an integrated thing. Um, especially now that we can also start seeing uh in the in the near future u video assets on search um yeah in in search results. So uh with your search ads they can actually now also show or soon video assets which is super interesting because then everything is going to become much more much more visual and then I think from there Google's going to push much more uh on on the discoverability of those channels of for example YouTube display etc. Um, and also now that they are making it easier for um for advertisers to create

14:15videos with a V3 or or other tools like that. So I think they're going to make it so much easier even more which have already tried with autocreated assets which kind of failed. Uh but now I think with these new tools they're are going to make it even easier for advertisers to really say yes to using that inventory. Um yeah, super interesting developments. Um Adriaan, do what other um features or announcements or anything else stood out for you from uh Google Marketing Live? Yeah, so to get back to Thomas because he said about creatorship ads, I also think it's interesting that you cut out like influencer agencies a bit because you can maybe directly select a creator then you can get more uh you can maybe spend more because they get less money. So yeah, I did a thesis about influencer marketing and then I know you had these agencies and you could ask them like, "Oh, this is my product. Which person is the best uh fit for this campaign?" And I think they're also cutting it out a bit right now and making it easier. So that's also an interesting thing. Mhm. Um yeah, other interesting things. I think what was interesting was like I said before is that they made this event not about PMAX or something and they did all the updates before already, right? And they still put them in the Google marketing live event, but they just announced them before. Um yeah and I think YouTube had had a a big influence again also with peak peak moments they were already announced two weeks before but then when you look into

15:53the Google marketing live updates you see them again. Uh same with like this is a question for Thomas did they really speak about uh that the mon gen would get maps because I just saw it afterwards in the overview. Yeah. So, they never really said it, but I saw it in like different Google Ads pages, like the official support page. Um, but it was not really set in that moment. Not not also not in Dublin and I think not in in Mountain View. Um, but yeah, so that's probably I think an update that will come like maybe Q3 or Q4. Um, so not really recent because normally they announce something that is available today. they say today it's available or in in this month but so that's why I think this update is coming maybe I don't know August September something like that but yeah they didn't really mention it but um yeah I think they they didn't mention a lot of updates like smaller updates um they just went with the big ones where they can also show themselves to show how how big they are um and yeah so yeah because there is like a page a support page where you have all the updates written and there are so many I've never heard about I've never seen on LinkedIn, never seen anywhere. So yeah, there's a lot a lot of new stuff. Yeah, I think uh for Google it's like uh sorry Adriaan, one one quick notice. I think they don't really do anything um by accident. you know everything is well thought out and also the PMAX channel reporting insights that were shared few weeks or few months before I think they did it on purpose to

17:30kind of create some goodwill and then you know with Google marketing live it's more like high over instead of going into the nitty-gritty details I think this whole event like there's everything is like scripted of course and and well laid out so I think everything is is done for a reason um so it is interesting to kind of look between the lines of of of what Google is doing. And I also me I noticed that they mentioned super often, we listen to your feedback. And I think that way they're also trying to win the the goodwill and and and you know because even PMAX channel reporting. Yeah. We listen to your feedback. But they should have built that 3 years ago. We've we've used Microscript for 3 years now. Exactly. Um and now all of a sudden they're starting to listen to feedback, which is obviously good, but I think they're using that to kind of Yeah. win the win the goodwill. Um but apart from that Adriaan I think you want just wanted to uh drop in something. Yeah, you also had like the bidding exploration uh new tool that that was interesting to see. Um that's just also like the direction they're going to like broader broader broader and they're still doing that. Um with with a better asset create with better asset creation tools and with better asset creation tools you can get more out of demand genen for example, but also with putting in the videos than in search and with those tools. It's all tied together. I think all these things that that it's the direction and then the tools that you get to use that direction and that's also my advice to get used to the prompts that you can use and to how to do YouTube and what's

19:10different in YouTube and how can I make good videos for YouTube because that's the direction that we're going into. So start learning more about those things. Of course, the fundamentals, that's the base, but look at the direction and which skills do I need for that direction and then you can have a a head start. Yeah, for sure. So, in in terms of direction, um, one one thing that I definitely thought was interesting was the new um sort of agentic actions thing. So, I guess we can call it AI agents. Um, and what I liked there's there's basically two parts of this. The first one is um a they call it agentic actions but just automated actions with AI for the consumer. So you can now try on uh different items, clothing and see how it looks on you after you upload an image. I think that is fantastic feature and I also hope that it's going to decrease return rates for uh for brands and it's nice for you as a consumer because then you can just try you upload your image and just try different t-shirts. uh genes, etc. But then on the other side, there's um uh agents inside of Google Ads that we can start to use to um help analyze data or find data points or just yeah have conversations like we would with ChatGPT to ask how the conversation is going. And I wonder uh what you guys think of it because I think in the beginning it's probably going to be a lot similar to uh a ars and and a lot of opticore things but I think as time progresses it's probably going to get much better. Um and then

20:48hopefully it would be super cool if we can actually uh program those uh those those agents uh according to your goals and your KPIs and and what is actually important to that specific accountant advertiser. Um, so I'm curious like Adriaan, what did you think of the of these AI agents inside of inside of Google Ads? And then we'll get to you Thomas. Yeah, I I always ask myself like why do why can't we just do prompts and that we get data out of those prompts and that we can optimize on it and finally now is the time. I think it's just like when you do a short prompt like which is my best campaign that that that's yeah it only states which is the best campaign but why is it your best campaign so you really need to think about the the context in all all of these things and I think that like when you're not good at writing prompts or you're you do not understand Google Ads or you do not understand how an offer or a landing page can um influence your campaign then yeah it's maybe a bad even a bad tool for you. So you really need to to understand things about the system about your offer about your landing page and why it's uh right now doing well campaign or why it's performing bad and how you can optimize it. So I would say you still need knowledge but it will help definitely.

22:17Yeah, super interesting point. What about you Thomas? What did you think about those uh new things? Exactly. So I I saw this AI, this Google Ads expert agent that is uh basically integrated in this um in this chat um chat window that pops up um when you're in the Google Ads account. Um, but what I had to laugh a bit when when they um announced it because you you saw like somebody texting and then um these AI agents basically sent out recommendations that you see in your recommendation tab for example it says yeah your target CPA switch to target CPA or uh remove conflicting negative keywords. So it's as for now it's a really let's say really basic AI I would say I think it feeds just data that comes from recommendation um like analyzes it and then restructures it and sends it over to you. So I think for now if you're an Excel Google ad specialist I think you don't you don't need it. Um, but I think it might become powerful if they I don't know change something in the in the algorithm for this AI agent makes them make them more complex, more intelligent. I think then it can be interesting. Um, but I don't think that right now it's uh it can really help you with working with Google Ads because I think we're really used to the manual work and we used to look at the reports that we normally go through every day.

23:47So I think it's it's not really now for now helping me to to get better or to increase um some tasks um in in time. But um I think since AI is moving so fast and we've seen it um in this GML compared to last GML, I think this year was all about AI and how fast it's evolving. I think this uh agentic support agent let's call it like that can really be powerful and I think it's also cutting um some jobs in the uh in the Google Ads support um where I worked also. So I think it's I think it's this these AI agents were made in order to like find fix problems for you that normally the support um did. So I think it's also going a bit in that direction and yeah as you said before the all these shopping experiences um where you can try on dresses for example as this as they show um that's I think it's a really cool feature because you don't uh yeah exactly you cut away returns that is normally always a big reporting problems for advertisers also which can then result in in wrong rowas in wrong POS so I think that's good but yeah as you said I think people will then also maybe just buy more and then yeah I don't maybe they they don't even needed it let's say like that um so yeah can might be boosting a bit uh like uh demand but yeah not always in a good way let's say like that but yeah and Google also made sure to to say that Google is your partner in driving business in

25:26Dublin they always said that we're your partner in driving business and with these new AI tools and AI overviews, they are creating more demand because people are now searching differently. They they're searching things they've never searched before and they can also now get things they've never got before. So they can they boost really demand and new product sales. So that's also really interesting and this whole check out um direct checkout in the Google let's say Google interface never leaving Google and never um going to the merchant merchandise merchant checkout page is also really an interesting um move um in the I sect of Google and yeah I think that's that's going to become very very interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I I agree what you said with um that AI is is changing so fast because last year I remember um I think it was also Google Marketing Live when Google announced product studio. Maybe it was I think I think it was last year or maybe maybe two years ago. I'm not sure. But at least they were talking about product studio and how cool this new AI is because you can easily like click an image or your your uh shopping ad and then click a new uh and get a new image as a background. for example, and that was the the beginning and we were all mind-b blown because oh man, now we can quickly test so many backgrounds for my shopping ads. And then if you fast forward 12 months and see where we are now and the video they showed with that was created with V3 um and the images that they are creating with im with

27:03Imagine and the AI agents that are now inside of starting to come inside of Google Ads. It's crazy and everyone always says it like yeah you start you need to start using the tools now because it might not be perfect yet but it is starting it is going to improve so fast and now if you look back then it really showed that that is truly the case. Um where in the moment you don't really notice it but then if you zoom out a little bit it's crazy how fast how fast it actually changes and the developments that you're seeing now. And if you're still stuck in what what worked, you know, 12 24 months ago, um then you are definitely behind on uh on on everyone else because simply it is changing so so ridiculously fast. Um that was uh yeah something that I that I noticed is just it's just crazy crazy how how fast those things are changing.

27:56Yeah, that's true. And normally if you if you test out new AI tools or any any tactics AI tactics and then in the in the beginning they don't work for you or you get frustrated then you you that sticks in your in your mind for forever if you never go back and test it. So I think AI is evolving so fast. So everyone who was struggling with AI platforms for example should go back now to them and test again because I think it really became better. Yeah, like the whole AI uh transformation is really good now. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. So, Adriaan, question for you. What do you think of the power pack? So, Google already got some crit got criticized because of like the power pair. There was a leaked email where they were talking about that they were just pushing the product.

28:48Um, so I think it was bold that they now announced the the the Yeah, I was like I was thinking like, okay, the power pair does not work, they will stop using it. This email got leaked maybe, but also it's such it's so they're so big and if they're going into that direction, one email will not change it. So, uh, I think it's just another way. They just love the Montgen like they love Pmax and they want everybody to use the Montgen and I think that's why all these updates all the updates normally are for the Montgen and Pmax and this is just again they were already heading in this direction where they want everybody to apply the MGEN and I still remember that when the product came out some advertisers I had wanted to test with it and now they're just basically going further are um pushing everybody to test with it and also maybe they're like in the in the waters with meta because with the view conversions coming and they just want that upper funnel traffic and I also think that like I said before everything connects together it's easier to create uh upperfunnel visuals right now with all these tools that are coming and then they're also creating better tracking uh better insights. So they have a goal. The goal is obvious more upperfunnel traffic. Uh they understand the intent better and they also can give us better tools to use these campaign types. So it's it's very clear. Yeah.

30:25Well, I think what was interesting about powerp pack is that um for everyone who is not aware, if you haven't seen it yet, it's performance max plus demand genen and AI max for search campaigns. So what was interesting is they used to say the power pair is performance max plus search campaigns but now they are making the um deliberate distinction that it's not search but it is AI max for search campaigns as part of the quote unquote power pack. So that is going to be their main thing moving forward for search. Yeah, I think that's an interesting one. But Jenny said like in the interview I think no it's just a tool. it's not a campaign type and now they just it now it looks like it's a campaign type but it's not a campaign type. So I think it should be like search but then like they need they they want everybody to use uh search AI in the future. I think. Yeah. Yeah. I think they they sunsets search campaign. So that's why they integrate it. Okay. It's AI max, but at the end everybody will I think we'll use it in the future.

31:34Yeah, for sure. Especially when when keyword match types as we know them go away and it's just AI max for search campaigns. I would assume that that is going to be the case somewhere in the next 12 to 24 months. not per se no keywords but only like super broad. Um yeah. Yeah. And at the end is this AI max for search. It's it's basically what what I studied about it. It's basically a I don't know kind of like a DSA campaign um feeds with broad broad signals broad match keywords kind of like that um or or kind of you can also say it's a final UL expansion with automated asset creation for example. those two things from Pmax just brought to a search campaign. So I think at the end and I think in the internal emails from Google that got leaked, they also call it um Pmax for search. Um but now but now they call it AMAX for search but at the end it's a Pmax for search campaign. So a PMAX that runs it's it's going to be the same if you have a PMAX campaign and then you see on channel reporting it's 100% spent on search. So I think that's a IMAX for search. That's how I I see it right now. Yeah. And that's also one thing that I um I I created in in the PBC. I created seven observations. So, not really I didn't really do a recap of the uh all the announcements. I really enjoyed that one that you created, Adriaan, like super fast, nice overview of every like small and big thing they talked about. And I had seven uh observations kind of looking between the lines. And I I my sixth one was Google is great at

33:12repackaging older features. So with as you said with AI max for search um they are bringing it as though it is this new big thing but as you said it's just same keyword targeting uh uh tech as broad match plus DSA. It has the autogenerated assets uh capabilities that DSA brings. And then again also the final URL expansion exactly like you said which is sort of similar to uh DSA. So it's just broad match DSA and autogenerated ads inside of AIMAX for search. Um but I do think that that is the first step for them because they cannot remove all keyword match types before they um kind of warm everyone up first. So I think that that is the first step step in their in their plan to uh go towards uh having no keyword match types in the future but they're bringing it as though it's like yeah new keywordless targeting um technology but it is a combination of the things that were already there. Um so yeah I guess Google's just really great at repackaging those things. Yeah, and I also think like if because um you can have a search campaign and then if you upgrade it to AI max then I think those keywords are getting in the back end like search fmes like that those search that you use in pmax. So I think the technology behind this is is is completely the same. It's like a pmax campaign at the end. Um, but I think it's I mean it's it's obviously a step in order to generate more revenue also.

34:45But I think it's if I were Google I would also kind of like go for in that direction because as as Google said 50% of the per of the searches every day are new searches and what what they see is the searches are becoming long tail long people are searching very differently because now you have AI overviews. So our exact match keywords that worked amazingly 2020, they might not cover anything anymore related to to the new searches. I think it makes sense that you go for for that technology, but obviously I'm also also a bit um afraid that the the irrelevant searches are are increasing again or like competitor searches are coming in again with a IMX for search. So I think also here we need to see how um how many negative keywords do I need um how much relevant terms are coming how much irrelevant terms. So it's I think it's a big question mark yet but I think the direction is is is understandable in my way because searches are really different right now than they used to be. Yeah. Yeah. And I think what is good is that we do still get the controls. So with AI Max for search, you can still it's one toggle and you turn it on, but you can still opt out of certain features if you don't want to use them. Um, which is which is kind of good, I guess. Um, cool. So, um, is there anything else that you found interesting from from Google Marketing Live?

36:17Yeah, just to get back to to the points that you were discussing like I think like for small companies when keywords will go away and they do not have enough data it's it's going to be really hard. So I cannot imagine that they will throw them out because if you do not get enough conversions how will small companies or companies with very long sales cycles perform. So I cannot imagine that that that will happen because that is al they are also spending still a lot of money I think so I cannot imagine that they will cut it out but they will definitely push everybody in that direction. Um and yeah the the other things that I that were interesting I think we already discussed a lot of things and they're all the same principles. I think it's interesting what Thomas said that broad match is getting more attractive I think and that that is because these queries are changing and Google in a lot of different presentations they are literally saying that searches are becoming longer and more complex. So yeah, for companies that say, "I did a broad match test a year ago. It was not good." They also somehow make broad match better, they say. And then they never tell us what they did. They just they just say, "Oh yeah, we did 90 Pmax updates and we got 20 more uh conversions right now for PMAX." Or they say, "We we did 60 the MOEN updates and the MONE is now 10% better." I never know how they did the research where it is for which companies. But they they are changing these products. Products

37:55are getting better. Broadmax is getting better. Uh so an actual an action step for advertisers that did test it a year ago, 6 months ago. These products are changing and test again, you know. And that's why making a test lock and then saying, okay, we tested this a year ago. Let's test it right now again. I would say look at look at how things are changing and test again. Yeah, great point and also what you said about um about keywords there. Um I definitely agree like the keyword has always been the backbone of what Google Ads is is all about. But I do think with the new AI mode where you can uh search much more conversationally, I think the search queries are going to become even more longtail. It's not even going to be like a search query. It's like how you use CHGBT, you know, it's like sentences sometimes or like super long sentences in terms of uh many words. So if you kind of look uh at it from that perspective when you are using AI mode, then the um understanding of what people are looking for, it becomes really important and you cannot capture that with a keyword. So, um, now it might sound like I'm like a little bit of Google propaganda, but I think that is definitely impossible to to capture that traffic with just a keyword. Yeah, I think it's like with with shopping ads, you cannot target keywords, right?

39:24You can only exclude them. And maybe we're going to something like that that you that say we we still give you control because like with shopping ads, you never know when when they get triggered, which with with what is a trigger. it should be in an intent to buy or to see a product. And maybe it's the same with AI overviews that only the system knows when it wants to show an AI overview and that we can only maybe exclude keywords like we have in shopping. I think it's already crazy that you can only exclude things in shopping, but it it is what it is. They just did that, I think. So maybe we're going to a future where you can only exclude keywords. Maybe that is the thing because Google says you never know when AI overviews get triggered. Yeah. Yeah. I think that would make sense. What Yeah. What for me also stood out I don't know if it was just in Dublin but or also in Mountain View um that Google was mentioning a lot Google Lens like that Google Lens has been skyrocketing.

40:26Good point. And um also that now the circle circle to um to click or circle to lens they call it for Android users are really is really popular for Gen Z audience and they they somehow I don't remember exactly this the stats but they say that 10% of the um of this of the the users of Gen Zed use circle to um circle to lens. So so that's I think interesting interesting product. I also use Google Lens quite often, but now they integrated Google Lens with AI overview. So you can really, for example, I take now a picture of you, Miles, because I like your watch. So I I just put the make the picture, circle your watch, and then AI overview shows me exactly the product, and right now I can buy it. Um, so I think that's a really amazing product also in order to again boost demand and boost sales for businesses. So that was also a strong uh um strong thing from Google to to tell us that Google Ants is also here and it's also very popular amongst the the younger audience and it's here to create um sales.

41:36Yeah, good point, man. I I totally forgot about that one. I think it's going to be big for for Google because uh actually this week I was in the in the backyard um when it was still sunny outside. Now it's shitty weather, but um my girlfriend and I were outside uh working on the garden and um we have this new um we're just starting to uh put more plants in there, make it a little bit more green and stuff. Um and so we have the the wall of the of our neighbors. Um we want to put more plants uh on it. And we bought one or two plants, but it was still kind of empty. So what my girlfriend did, she took a a picture and put it in ChatGPT like, okay, what can we do uh to liven it up a little bit more, make it more green, more plants, and then it reconstructed that image with um with the Chad GPT AI tool and then it gave more suggestions on, oh maybe you could put a ladder here and some hanging plants and stuff. That was really cool. So I think with Google Lens and how that is developing, I think Google can also capture that because you can ask for inspiration or maybe in your um in your living room you're thinking about okay maybe like uh what what what type of couch can I put here or what type of uh art can I put behind me on the wall or I think that's a super interesting tool u when it's being integrated with Gemini um giving us a lot of lot of opportunities. I think we sometimes forget all these systems and how they can work together and how they can serve uh potential customers for if for information for products for services.

43:13It's like we're in this podcast for like 40 minutes and just remembering, okay, we also have Google Lens, right? And to be honest, I was on vacation in Japan and I translated everything with lens. It's it's awesome. And then when I wanted to like what Miles said sometimes also I was with plants and which plant is it and then you will just uh put your camera on it and that's also like they also have maps you know that where they can just promote local stuff. Let's talk about local even how chat GBT going to handle local when Google just have Google maps and they can handle local stuff and if you put everything together the system like to be honest the first 20 minutes I thought it's bragging but then I was thinking like okay but it it is also like a crazy system and just saying that Google is gone and ch will take over Google has so many different companies and the only thing is that they cannot just release it because they're already the biggest. So they're just waiting on the competition and then inhouse developing things. That's my opinion.

44:19And that's exactly that's the point. I think uh everyone can say okay JBT will come after Google and kill it. But you have to imagine Google has how much? 100,000 employees and those 100,000 employees are brilliant minds and all the scientists they have for search, all the developers they have, they're one of the best in the world. So they will not let themsel u just be swiped away by any other AI platform. They have also the the budget, they have the money, they have the investors. So they will do everything in order to go against those threats. So I think it's Yeah, it's going to be going to happen. Yeah. And then especially once Gemini becomes the connection between everything as you said Adriaan if uh and I'm sure that on the back end that's exactly basically how Pmax works. they have everything is connected already by AI and by algorithms. But now for us front-facing consumers. Um everything is going to be connected as well like your your maps with your search and and and search history and um uh you mentioned the translations in Japan. Adriaan, I saw a clip um where um Sundar uh mentioned the new features in Google Meet which I'm which is insane. I'm going to have to try that out. You can have you can can have instant uh trans translations now when you're talking to someone in Google Meet in different languages with like a few seconds delay. This crazy just and then you forget like that is also Google. So we're always talking about you know Google Ads and YouTube and and demand gen. But yeah the whole Google infrastructure it's it's everything.

45:58It's insane. And and the thing is the whole infrastructure of Google like most of most of it is for free. Google Maps, Google Analytics, Google Meet, everything is for free. So you pay with data, you pay with data and so yeah, but everything is also for free. So that's also something that we always forget about Google. They have a amazing infrastructure making the life of millions better, billions better, but it's also for free. But obviously you pay for data. So you have to be also mindful about that. Yeah. Yeah. And yeah, it's crazy actually then. Uh oh, sorry. One thing that I wanted to note there is because everything is free. They know so much about us. They know where we go with Google Maps. They know who we are with. They know what we're interested in. Well, everything. And then once that is connected with Gemini, insane, but sorry, I interrupted you. No, exactly. I just wanted to say in in Dublin, there was also the the chief search scientist of Google. So he he talked about how search is evolving and uh he said like they're going to do everything to make search more natural like it kind of be is a like it's going to be a a interaction between humans and just like AI overviews with with AI overviews you can really now talk to like a human you can you can as I said before with Google lens point out something you want like in real life to say hey I like your t-shirt where did you buy it and now you do with with Google so the search is going to be very natural and then he reminded us that one of the biggest uh beloved features for search that he uh he created together with the team a long time ago it's kind of like AI is the what do you do you

47:36mean for example if you put in Google a search and then it comes up do you mean that you know so uh that feature is uh this was was obviously the first AI kind of feature um and it's it's still amongst us it's still in Google and it's it has been yeah made search also more natural so that was also So very very fun interview with him. Yeah. Cool. Awesome. Um okay guys, let's do a quick one key takeaway from Google Marketing Live just for yourself. What would you uh think was the key takeaway? Adriaan, let's start with you. AI. Let's start and start testing with it. That's that's fair enough. Fair enough. And you Thomas um yes I would say AI is here to in order to boost your business you need to need to know how to uh use it um don't be afraid of AI don't have for more of AI also that was also a point and um yeah that Google is integrating or kind of combining Google with YouTube a lot so um make the most out of YouTube um creator campaigns needs whatever and I think both together um can can boost your business. Yeah. Nice. Cool. For me it was also uh yeah obviously AI but um I guess how fast everything is changing and as you said Adriaan what what you're saying I 100% agree start experimenting with the tools just even if it's like a a VO like their their video creation

49:13tool just use it once and see what what the what the options are so you kind of are familiar and you start thinking about when you're working with video or maybe we can use VO for that and maybe you don't know how to do it yourself but you're starting to see the opportunities more um I recently started to experiment a little bit with replet and cursor AI just to to create some landing pages with AI and they are not perfect but it allowed me to see what the opportunities are and I think that with AI just experiment with it create your own prompts uh fail and then learn as you go I think that's probably the most important thing you can do right now in this um yeah age of AI that we are in um all right guys follow Thomas follow Adriaan on LinkedIn they are the best. Subscribe to their newsletters. Get everything they put out. These guys, these guys rock. And uh thank you for coming on, guys. Everyone else, thank you for watching, listening. Don't forget to subscribe and like, all that stuff. They also have YouTube channels, so subscribe to them. And we'll catch you in the next episode. Peace. You