GDN Converts Text Ads to ‘Richer Text’ Image Ads

Google has added an awesome new feature to the Google Display Network(GDN) – it will now automatically convert text ads to image ads. Google explains: “Richer Text is the most brand-safe ad type within our text ads family. This ad type runs on text + image and image only inventory. A logo (from Google+) is paired with this ad layout to add further brand and aesthetic value. Please contact your account manager if you wish to provide an alternate image. Unlike Simple Text, publishers do not have control over the color of this ad type. Instead, the color is derived from the primary and secondary colors of the logo used by the advertisers.”

The following factors are part of the decision to convert a text ad to image:

• CTR
• Conversions per dollar
• Deep conversion rate
• Landing page dwell time

Across the Google Display Network and AdMob, text ads are optimized across three primary ad types: simple text, richer text, and native text. Google wants to choose how your ads render to optimize performance, because better performance for you = more revenue for Google.

Google Shopping

In most products, the manufacturer will provide a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN) to uniquely and completely identify a product in the global marketplace. Providing GTINs in your product data feed increases the likelihood that your offers are matched to the Google Shopping product catalog. This helps relevant, accurate results on Google Shopping; in fact, early experiments indicate that offers matched to the catalog receive up to 40% more user clicks than those that do not.

That’s why, as part of the 2015 update to the Google Shopping Products Feed Specification shared in June,Google refined the guiding principles and requirements around GTINs. Starting September 15, it requires Google Shopping feeds targeting Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or the United States to submit valid ‘gtin’ and ‘brand’ for all products when the ‘brand’ is a designated brand and the ‘condition’ is ‘new’. At that time, disapprovals are done  that do not meet this requirement or are submitted with invalid GTINs.

Integration of Search and Dictation in Google Docs

Big update is voice typing in Docs. This dictation feature is built upon Google's voice-recognition technology and will be available in 40 languages. Users can simply tap and start talking when they access Docs on desktop, or on Android and iOS devices.
Meanwhile, Docs will provide a "see new changes" button to let users see all the edits in a document since the last time they opened it. If users are working on a document with multiple people, their changes will be highlighted in different colors.
Aside from the above nifty enhancements, Google has also created new templates for Docs, Sheets, and Slides, a refreshed user interface for Forms and a new "explore" feature in Sheets that automatically generates charts out of the data in the spreadsheet.