Google Shopping Campaigns Get Extended To YouTube

It’s getting to that time of year, isn’t it?

Michael Bublé wakes up from his cave.

Mariah pats her golden goose.

The Christmas ads start rolling.

Which, if we're honest, is probably a waste of time and money, since no brand has yet to top Robert Dyas’s 2015 campaign.

And lastly, the major platforms launch Xmas campaign features.

In terms of the latter, Google has kicked off an initial sortie for the Xmas budget grab, with the launch of a host of new video campaign features for YouTube.

Google has introduced Shopping ads to the YouTube home feed and YouTube search results, making YouTube more shoppable and extending the reach of existing Shopping campaigns. 

Google Combines Search, Video Viewing & More  

Since Google killed off the cumbersome AdWords brand last year, it has spent much of the last 12 months trying to integrate its various offerings and gargantuan datasets.

Fusing search, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, Google My Business, Google Merchant Centre, Manufacturer Centre and more, into one single marketing entity.

Shifting away from silos of old.

As such, now, people coming to YouTube to browse and research products may see visual Shopping ads, based on their interest.

Meaning if a consumer expresses an interest in running, they could see ads from retailers that offer running apparel, like PUMA, highlighting different products and prices. 

If you’re already using standard Shopping campaigns today and are opted-into YouTube on Display Network, you are eligible for this experience.

In the coming months, sitelink extensions, generally more associated with search ads, will become available for TrueView for action ads.

Making it easier for viewers to navigate to additional landing pages like your holiday catalogues, store hours, and more. 

According to Google, in a beta test with 30 advertisers, adding sitelinks showed a 23% increase in conversions.

Unlocking Commercial Intent In YouTube Video Viewing

The extension to Shopping campaigns aims to unlock latent commercial intent in YouTube search queries.

While YouTube is not renowned for being a high converter, when compared to other channels, Google has long maintained that users display shopping intent on YouTube just as they do on Google Search.

Nicky Rettke, Director, Product Manager, YouTube Ads, Nov 2019

“Nearly two-thirds of shoppers say online video has given them ideas and inspiration for their purchase. And more than 90% of these folks say that they’ve discovered new products and brands via YouTube.”

Sara Kleinberg, Director, User Experience at Google, Nov 2018

“In 2017, the term “gift” saw the highest YouTube search interest that it’s seen over the last five years. And in the past two years, watch time of “holiday shopping” videos have increased over 4X.”

On this basis, then, one could maybe point the finger at weak existing marketing solutions for YouTube’s notoriously high cost per acquisition (CPA), rather than a lack of user desire.

Which is not unreasonable.

Despite the explosion in online video consumption, especially on mobile, the current crop of online video ad solutions leaves much to be desired.

Hence the constant iteration from YouTube, Facebook et al.

YouTube Could Be A Sleeping Retail Powerhouse 

The launch of YouTube Fashion in September further indicates the platform’s growing retail ambitions.

With YouTube attracting the who’s who of A-List names in the space Louis Vuitton, Dior, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Alexander Wang, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Gucci and Alexa Chung

According to Statista, beauty videos, last year alone generated more than 169 billion views on YouTube. While YouTube claims the number of Fashion & Beauty channels on the site has grown more than 600% from 2014 to 2018.

After almost a decade in Google search’s shadow, YouTube is now starting to take off.

Due to how Google reports its quarterly results, no one really knows how big YouTube’s business truly is.

However, The New York Times puts it somewhere between $16 billion to $25 billion in annual revenue, eclipsing Instagram easily, and making YouTube big enough to crack the top half of the Fortune 500.

Whatever the true figures are, Google’s latest product launches should ensure that smart marketers have YouTube firmly in their plans for the final Q4 push.