Google's New Ad Enhancements Come Straight From Facebook's Playbook
May 2019: Gallery Ads and Google's shift toward visual, card-based advertising showed search borrowing the language of social media.
Originally published on The VL Studios blog on May 15, 2019. Lightly edited.
Google's latest ad platform update, announced at Google Marketing Live, has started a conversation about the company's shift toward expanding its advertising real estate. The update introduced a new ad placement in the mobile app and a more prominent visual format called Gallery Ads.
Some see it as a drift away from organic search, and a potential reduction in the value of search engine optimization. But it also says something larger.
Search is learning from social
Like social media advertising, Google is moving toward a more visual pay-per-click model, and Gallery Ads are one example. The card-based interface is a reminder that content is king. With the rise of Snapchat and Facebook Stories, full-screen, personal and relatable content has taken center stage, and advertising platforms have had to adapt.
A visual storyboard of information
Gallery Ads seem designed to turn search results into a visual storyboard, woven together by card-like layouts and attention-grabbing ads. YouTube shows the same shift, presenting not only videos but also posts and short text updates.
Whether it's letting businesses publish posts directly to Google My Business and Google Maps, adding text and image updates to YouTube, or advertising with visual cards, Google is clearly determined to compete with social platforms by diversifying how it presents content. This week's announcement is a page taken straight from Facebook's playbook.
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