Will we ever really know why Google does what it does from month to month and year to year? The answer is likely no. All we can do is roll with the punches, so to speak. We play with what cards they deal to us as they are dealt. With that said, are the changes to the Google Ads platform a benefit to us, or a benefit for Google? That could be answered in many ways by many people, including Google themselves. The question often asked about these changes to the Google Ads platform is: Is this any better than before?
What Changes Have Been the Most Different in The Google Ads Platform?
There have been so many changes within the Google Platform from year to year that this question could have lots of answers. With this most recent Google Ads platform, we could name quite a few changes that have made it quite difficult to deal with on a day to day basis. The two platforms appear to be complete opposites of each other.
Time is Money, and Your Time is Valuable
For something as minor as checking a Google Ads search terms report, there is clearly a difference in the ease of use on the users’ end just to get to that tab. It takes more than just seconds to find 10 other tabs that are now hidden or have totally shifted to a new part of the platform. As minor as this sounds, the result is that it requires spending more time. What should be time spent applying strategy and looking over data to optimize, is now used just to find simple tabs that were clearly found in the previous interface or platform.
So, one must wonder just who all these changes benefit. It almost looks like all the benefits are Google’s. There have been so many Google Ad platform changes — far bigger changes than imaged by the common user. Even more, with all the various changes to the platform, Google has also made a massive push for Automation with its new and ever-expanding automated functions within the new Google Ads Platform.
Is the New Google Ads Platform and the Google Automation Push A Coincidence?
When you look at the number of changes and the degree of changes that have taken place and pair them with the automation that Google has been hounding its users to start using, things can look kind of one-sided in who is actually benefitting from all of these changes. Because if they have done a complete 180-degree change on the Google platform, they know users are going to have a tougher time using the system as problem-free as they previously did.
In my opinion, they’ll think users will become frustrated with the platform and break down. Users will eventually opt to start using the heavily promoted automation part. In this way, they will not have the frustration of relearning the system. They also won’t take up more time than necessary in the Google Ads platform. This is just opinion of course but is not out of the realm of possibility.
Test Driving the New Google Ads Platform
Google recognized how big the platform transition was. They gave users a month or two to toggle from the old platform to the new one. This was something that felt like a “peace offering.” This was nice because you could see the huge difference in both platforms with just the toggle of a button. It also helped to get some optimization done versus having to hunt for simple functions in the new Google Ads platform. However, the forums, blogs, and complaints to Google began when they made the switch to the new Google Ads platform.
With all our comments and feedback to Google, we hope there will some impact. Hopefully, it encouraged them to think of the users regarding any future change. But in the end, it does look like Google wants as much of the optimization under their control and out of our hands. I hope this commentary was informative and was of use to you or your business.