Developments, updates, and announcements; here's what stood out to us this week.
Google's New Goal-Optimized Campaign Type
This week we saw Google unveil a new campaign type that is "goal-optimized." This campaign type will use machine learning to automatically optimize ad delivery to reach set goals. It combines dynamic remarketing and standard Shopping display units to deliver ads across Google properties, as well as the greater ad network.
Read more about it in Search Engine Land's post.
Amazon Stops Bidding on All Google PLAs
After consistently bidding on PLAs in 2017 (after originally being late to the party), Amazon halted all PLA bidding on April 28, 2018. Strangely enough, Amazon's marketing budget grew 40.6% in the first quarter, so this isn't regarding a lack of funds. Something to note, however, is that Amazon wasn't aggressively bidding on any PLAs - there was little difference between the categories where Amazon bid on keywords and those in which it didn't. Did they stop for good? Was it because of Google Shopping Actions? We're not sure, but analysts are considering various possible factors.
Digital Commerce 360's post further documents the situation.
Walmart's Website Redesign
We knew it was coming, but we never imagined this old dog would learn such a new trick. Walmart's new redesign had us stunned, skeptical, and then further impressed. Large images, minimalized navigation, clutter reduction, emphasis on personalization, gratuitous use of white space, and more; the new UI has it all. Only time will tell if they stick with such a minimal design, but for now, Walmart seems to be sticking with the bold transition.
Econsultancy's post on the matter goes into more detail and raises some valid points.
Shopify Unite 2018 Announcements
Earlier this week, Shopify held it's third annual partner and developer conference in Toronto, Ontario. Here the beloved ecommerce platform announced a plethora of improvements. These advancements aim to create value for merchants in three ways: simplifying business management, expanding reach, and accelerating time to value. From their new automation platform, Shopify Flow, to Dynamic Checkout, Shopify pulled out all the stops this year.
Shopify's recap post does an amazing job summarizing everything you need to know.
