What Google's latest Ads briefing taught me about staying ahead of the update cycle

This week I sat in on a Google Ads briefing covering everything landing on the platform between now and early next year. Some of it is confirmed, some is still working its way through rep channels, but all of it changes how we should be planning campaigns from here. 

Seed holds Google Premier Partner status, which means sessions like this one are part of how we stay close to the platform and what is changing on it. 

Here is what I took away and what it means for how we run accounts for our clients.

Display is folding into Demand Gen

Standard Display campaigns are being absorbed into Demand Gen next year. Anyone running Display at scale should have this on the radar now rather than waiting for the announcement to land.

View-through conversions arrive on Demand Gen

If you are bidding on max conversions or conversion value, you can now add view-through conversions, linking a video view to a later brand search so Demand Gen finally gets proper credit for the awareness it drives. This only covers Demand Gen and app campaigns for now, but it closes a reporting gap that has understated Demand Gen's real contribution for some time.

GA4 picks up social platform imports

You can now import data from Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, TikTok and Reddit straight into GA4, giving a proper single view of performance across platforms rather than switching between dashboards. LinkedIn and Microsoft are not supported yet, though Google says more platforms are coming.

tROAS and tCPA get sharper

The 17th August change means budget-limited campaigns will optimise properly to the target set in the account, making scaling far more predictable. If a campaign is overachieving its target, raise it to match actual performance. If it is underachieving, lower it. Leave it as is and the campaign risks entering fewer auctions than it should.

Ads move into AI Overviews and Gemini

Likely later this year, though nothing is locked in yet, Google is rolling this out one English-speaking country at a time, roughly 13 so far, with no confirmed UK date. Early days, but worth keeping in mind for anyone building AI Max or PMax strategy.

Three things worth doing this week

1. Flag any Display-dependent campaigns now so there is no scramble when the Demand Gen migration date is confirmed.
2. Check whether your Demand Gen and app campaigns are set up to capture view-through conversions, so Google finally sees the full picture.
3. Review budget-limited tROAS and tCPA campaigns ahead of 17th August and adjust targets to reflect actual performance before the change goes live.

Google's roadmap moves fast, and the accounts that benefit most are the ones we adjust ahead of the change rather than after it. 

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