Google Ads Is Killing Off Accelerated Delivery for Shopping and Search Campaigns [UPDATED]

Yes, it is true – Accelerated Delivery is going bye bye.

“Starting 1st October, accelerated budget delivery will no longer be available on Search campaigns, Shopping campaigns, or shared budgets.”

[UPDATE] The official sunset date has been moved to October 7th and any campaigns still using Accelerated Delivery will be automatically changed to Standard.

“Campaigns using accelerated will be switched over to standard delivery. We recommend switching to Standard delivery by going to your campaign settings page and changing your budget delivery setting. Setting search network campaigns/shared budgets to accelerated through 3rd party tools, Google Ads Editor or SA360 will result in ads being served via standard delivery.”

You can read the official notice in Google Support here

Google has said that Accelerated Delivery is being sunsetted due to its ineffectiveness for campaigns that are not flagged for “Limited by Budget”.

This is a pretty big deal!

Accelerated Delivery method, especially in Shopping campaigns, has been the golden standard set by and recommended by search marketers around the globe since the very beginning.

It has always been used to ensure that ads were delivered as often as possible within a set budget. If a budget was not substantial enough then it would be flagged with “Limited by Budget” status.

That has always been a clear indication that the budget should be increased – at least that was the #1 recommendation to resolve that kind of issue.

Other methods (while keeping Accelerated Delivery) included Ad Schedules, Smart Bidding, using negative keywords or bid modifiers (adjustments) for devices and locations etc.

Why is this happening now?

With Google’s emphasis on Smart Bidding and Smart Campaigns and all its new releases related to Shopping – it certainly makes sense that there would be some casualties along the way.

It seems they’ve done enough testing over the years to feel that Accelerated Delivery simply no longer provides enough of a benefit outside of the already mentioned use case.

As of the sunset date, retailers and marketers will have to rely on other ways to control spend throughout the day.

How can you prepare?

Well, as of now at least, you need not make any changes – but as of October Accelerated Delivery will be gone and all campaigns will be switched permanently to Standard delivery.

However, it is definitely a great time to get acclimated with some of the important management tools within Google Ads that Google is now suggesting in lieu of the axed delivery method.

Smart Shopping Campaigns

Its a good a time as any to consider making the switch fully to Smart Shopping campaigns.

As a fully automated solution, Smart Shopping takes all of the complexities out of creating and managing Shopping campaigns, albeit with a few caveats.

If you are thinking about making the switch, just review some of the info shared in that last article we linked to. Smart Shopping campaigns have some unique characteristics and behave very differently than standard or “traditional” Shopping campaigns.

Recommendations

Introduced in the New Google Ads interface, Recommendations is like an optimization scorecard for your campaigns and your account.

Google will present suggestions for improving campaign performance which you can implement directly from the UI – and now this includes the “optimization score (beta)”.

Often suggestions revolve heavily on squeezing the most out of every ad dollar so this could be a great tool in your arsenal once Accelerated Delivery is gone.

Ad Schedules & Bid Modifiers

Oldies but goodies – using Custom Ad Schedules and Bid Modifiers (or Adjustments) are great ways to minimize overspending in specific areas. 

Bid Modifiers are nearly universal, allowing you to manipulate your bids based on location, device, and even combine them with Ad Schedules! These should always be used as a standard best practice in optimizing Shopping campaigns.

Ad Schedules while helpful, are far less widely used, especially in the retail sector simply because many store owners want their ads running at all times.

But, for the smaller business owner, curtailing your budget to avoid overspending during non-peak times for shoppers can be incredibly useful and can improve overall ROAS.


Posted

in

, , , , ,

by

Tags: