10 Biggest & Best PPC Features Of The Year

Can you believe that the end of the year is already near? With so many changes in the ad system, it’s easy to pass the time.

2022 will remember the welcome (and unwelcome) changes not only to the Google Ads and Microsoft Ads platforms but also to the new features of the upstream channels.

With more PPC platforms available to advertisers, it’s hard to keep up with all the changes!

That’s why I’ve broken down my picks for the 10 best new PPC features and developments for 2022, spanning as many platforms and campaign types as possible.

1. Google Ads: No more expanded text ads

While other platforms continue to add additional variations and options, Google continues to slowly eliminate search advertising options.

While it was announced in 2021, Google officially ended expanded text ads on June 30, 2022. Search ads are now dominated by the responsive search ads format.

Why is this a big deal?

For advertisers, the lack of control was a huge setback—especially for any regulated industry that needs legal approval of all copies. In addition, many advertisers saw their ETAs perform better than RSAs.

The silver lining of ETAs is that it has forced marketers to rethink their messaging strategy.

Because of the breadth of title and description options, Google can mix and match to deliver the right message, at the right time, to each user.

This means removing redundant copy from RSAs and turning it into an opportunity to generate more targeted messages for each keyword attribute.

Another benefit of moving to RSAs is increased ad impressions.

In a May 2022 study by Optmyzr, it was found that RSAs showed 2.1x more impressions compared to ETA-only ad groups.

2. Microsoft Ads: Video ads for the first time

Microsoft continues to make progress on ad marketing share in 2022.

With the expansion of Microsoft Audience Network, they officially launched video ads only last month. While video ads were beta tested in 2021, they are now generally available in the following areas:

• United State.
• Canada.
• United kingdom.
• France.
• Germany.
• Australia.
• New Zealand.

From a marketer’s perspective, this allows you to reach your audience where you may not have been able to reach them before.

According to Microsoft Recent stats:

• 39% of users watch videos on MSN but not YouTube.
• 57% of users watch videos on MSN but not on Facebook.

Another benefit of extending your video strategy to Microsoft Ads is that you don’t have to start from scratch.

Repurpose existing video ads on YouTube or other placements to save time and resources. Just make sure the audience intent is the same if you’re repurposing this content.

3. YouTube Ads: Audio Takes Center Stage

After the end of beta testing, Google has officially announced that audio ads will be available to all advertisers in October 2022.

This is a huge win for advertisers who are trying to reach their target audience in a different way based on how they use YouTube.

Google Audio ads are served to users who specifically listen to music on YouTube.

Marketers may want to use audio ads instead of video for music listeners because those users are most likely not actually watching what’s on their YouTube screen.

Another big step for audio comes in the form of Podcast placements.

Google rolled out this feature in October as well.

You may be wondering, what does this have to do with YouTube ads?

Podcast placement on YouTube is available for audio and video ad formats.

4. Facebook Ads: New Tools for Small Business

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, Facebook (now officially Meta) has been in the news a lot this year.

While the news around the Meta mainly revolves around consumer-facing issues like privacy and content standards, Facebook introduced new features for advertisers this year.

In May 2022, Facebook Announce new tools specifically for small businesses and small businesses. These tools include:

• Messaging and chat features.
• Lead generation and customer acquisition tools.

In messaging and chat features comes a new ad model.

Facebook creates ads that can run on both Facebook and Instagram, and they are generated directly from the business WhatsApp Business app.

This ad type helps expand the business-consumer relationship by encouraging interaction through messages.

To support this feature, Facebook has determined that more than 70% of consumers want the option to communicate with businesses in a more conversational way.

New lead generation and customer acquisition features include:

• Quote requests on Instagram.
• Filter leads using instant forms.
• Creative flexibility.
• Gated content.
• Partner integration.

From an advertising perspective, the most relevant comes within bid requests and restricted content, in my opinion.

With the constant need for first-party data, creating a gated content ad is a great way to capture basic user information, like email, so you can interact with them in the future.

5. Instagram Ads: Provide ads powered by artificial intelligence

Some of Instagram’s most popular PPC features come from new ad formats.

As this platform becomes more shoppable, Instagram has released a new AI-powered ad called “Multi-Advertiser Ads”.

This ad format will highlight ads for different businesses based on consumer behavior and engagement within the app.

While not necessarily an ad format that marketers can set up, this AI-powered format takes your existing ads and uses its algorithm to get your brand in front of market shoppers.

6. TikTok Ads: New ad placements are in search

In March 2022, users first identified a new “sponsored” ad placement among the top 4 user search results:

It’s important to note that this ad listing is still in beta, and TikTok has not set a public trading schedule for all advertisers.

So why is this PPC feature such big news?

TikTok has been a haven for users to discover content on countless topics.

Now with the search feature, advertisers will (hopefully soon) be able to target their ads more precisely based on user search.

TikTok has become, in a sense, its own kind of search engine. This placement is another reason to test out this ad platform if you haven’t already.

7. Pinterest Ads: Shoppable Product Pins with WooCommerce Extension

Although Shoppable Pins are not new in 2022, a new feature added in July 2022 made it much easier for merchants to create ads. on me 3 million merchantsto be more precise.

The Pinterest for WooCommerce extension simply makes selling your products on Pinterest easier to set up.

So how does it work?

This new extension converts your entire product catalog into the Pinterest Shoppable Product Pin format. Catalog listings are automatically uploaded to Pinterest, eliminating the need for manual uploads.

If you are using WooCommerce to power your online shopping website, you don’t want to miss this feature.

8. LinkedIn Ads: Improved campaign manager interface

Although LinkedIn has introduced new ad formats and targeting options, I think the biggest advantage is the new one campaign manager user interface.

LinkedIn has heard the cries of fellow marketers about how inept it once was at running campaigns and reporting performance.

The new interface promotes left-side navigation, mimicking other platforms like Google and Microsoft Ads.

The left-side navigation includes easy-to-find sections, including:

• Plan.
• Announce.
• Exam.
• analyze.
• assets.
• Account settings.

The second biggest interface improvement feature allows you to switch between multiple accounts more easily.

Marketing Agency Alike, Rejoice!

9. Twitter Ads: Dynamic product and group ads

Another social platform that has been in the news countless times in 2022? Twitter.

Like Meta (Facebook), while most of the hype has been about the management change and its lingering effects, let’s not discount the new PPC features it brought to advertisers in 2022.

If you are in the e-commerce business, this one is for you.

Introduced Twitter Dynamic product ads (DPA) and group announcements earlier this year.

DPAs for Twitter Ads work similarly to Facebook or other automated platforms. Advertisers who use an existing product feed management platform can easily integrate it with Twitter.

With DPAs, you can either retarget users based on engagement or prospect new customers with relevant product ads.

Collection ads are also a form of product advertising to display scrollable product images in an advertisement, accompanied by a main static image.

10. Apple Ads: Expand ad placement inventory

Last but not least, Apple ads.

It’s no secret that Apple has been honing its user privacy standards and requirements over the past few years.

Limitations of marketing measurement have made it difficult for advertisers to accurately demonstrate the success of campaigns.

While measurement and visibility were top of mind for marketers, Apple officially announced its expansion of ad placements available in the Apple App Store in November 2022.

The new positions include inventory for:

• Today tab ads.
• Product page ad placements.

Expanded inventory in Apple advertising is important because it allows users to discover businesses rather than focus on “research”.

Many brands have been restricted by Apple ad inventory in the past because user searches could only drive demand.

With Apple doubling its available ad inventory placements, marketers can expand outreach efforts specifically to its iOS user group.

What’s Next?

2022 was the year, right? What does all this mean for the future of PPC?

2023 will definitely bring many updates for PPC platforms, some for better or worse. Stay tuned for all the latest announcements and developments throughout the year.

Have you adopted any of the PPC updates for 2022? What are your predictions for the top PPC features in 2023?

More resources:

• Google Ads: 4 Strategies for Optimizing Your Nonsense PPC Campaigns
• New Google Ad Insights feature and 7 tips for competitive advertising research
• The biggest PPC trends for 2023, according to 22 experts

---

Featured image: TierneyMJ/Shutterstock