A Succinct OpenMoves Vision for Google Ads in 2025

The Google Ads platform has fundamentally changed over the last 36 months. Some changes have been subtle and ongoing, others dramatic and singular. Moving into 2025 OpenMoves aims to present and provide a modern vision to Google Ads success and optimization in the new paradigm Google has created.
Focusing on Data Quality and Google Ads Data Integration
- Smart bidding is mandatory for success in Google Ads
- Modern Google Ads managers are managers of data flow across platforms
- Successful data integration is the less celebrated but more tangible “AI” of GAds
- Within the OpenMoves methodology, we MUST:
- Adopt conversion optimized bidding strategies for all campaigns
- Drive data integration between CRMs and backend systems into Google Ads
- Bid to the lowest-funnel outcome possible
- Measure GAds in-platform with the native GAds pixel
- Implement Enhanced Conversions
- Within the OpenMoves methodology, we SHOULD:
- Incorporate value-based bidding where possible
- Implement Consent Mode where relevant
- integrate GA4 conversions as Secondary actions
- Integrate Google Search Console data into GAds
Building Smart Performance Max Strategies
- Performance Max campaigns are a pillar of Google Ads success
- In 2025, OM clients must try to make PMAX work
- Failed PMAX efforts should be revaluated with better optimizations
- PMAX must bid to a real business outcome to really work
- PMAX must incorporate EXCLUSIONS in various ways to really work
- PMAX creative must be carefully executed with high production value
- PMAX must be analyzed off-platform using GAds scripts for true insights
Building Modern Search Strategies
- Search campaign implementation methods have changed “slowly but surely”
- In 2025 there is a new vision for search campaign success
- STAG not SKAG: build efficient single topic Ad Groups
- Test broad match – optimize until it works – exclude, negate, bid to business outcomes
- Get smart about brand search, PMAX/brand search overlap, brand search incrementality
- Use portfolio bidding to enforce CPC caps on automated bidding strategies as relevant
- Use portfolio bidding to create liquidity across campaigns as business conditions allow
- Reduce/remove overlapping, redundant, duplicative keyword variations: less is more
- Build the right conditions, and let Google find the queries (but watch closely)
Avoiding Persistent Traps: Focusing on Underlying Media Quality
- We wrote about this in another blog post in more detail
- Google Ads still has persistent traps of bad underlying media quality
- Google Search Partners: generally subject to exclusion unless data proves otherwise
- Google’s “Expanded” audiences: generally excluded
- YouTube Kids: generally excluded
- Mobile Apps: generally excluded
- Unknown ages: evaluate with clarity – see recent scrutiny on this point
- PMAX: as noted above, requires off-platform analysis to audit media quality
- Search queries: as noted above, broad match adoption means more caution on queries
- Garbage in, garbage out: tracking the wrong actions, Google buys the wrong media
Getting Smart with RSAs and Ad Strength Scores
- This study from Optmyzer was highly revelatory from OM’s perspective
- Google’s Ad Strength score is a weak metric that measures adherence not performance
- OM will find the middle ground between Google’s guidance and industry findings
- We will fill all available headlines, descriptions, and assets
- We belive in the general idea of messaging diversity, powered by AI
- We know clients struggle with this: “I searched our keyword and the ad looked weird”
- We will not fear headline pinning despite costs to Ad Strength
- We will not fear short headlines
- We will lean into sentence case writing
Understanding Google’s AI Serp Integrations for Google Ads
- Google launched AI Overviews in May 2024
- Implementation has been volatile but expect continued/expanded AIO presence in 2025
- AIO is another step towards “zero click” content, a trend that will continue in 2025 as well
- Strategies relying on informational traffic from Google will suffer greatly from AIO
- Google answers the question without giving a click to anyone
- AIO shows primarily for informational content – not transactional content
- Google will deemphasize AIO in transactional queries *until* it has monetized AIO well
- Google will TEST monetization of AIO vs Not until AIO creates net ad revenue gain
- For buyers: AIO is fine, even good. Like all Google products, it’s an ad platform at heart
- There is no “AI” campaign type: Search and PMAX do/will power ads in AIO
- Ads in AIO are live now, mainly for Shopping, with more refinements coming in 2025
- Google’s Gemini model is the AI engine powering AIOs
Understanding the Bing AI Opportunity
- ChatGPT’s search feature is important and is powered by Bing’s index
- MS CoPilot is deeply embedded across MS products and also runs on Bing
- Current / future organic results from these important tools rely on good Bing indexation
- Future monetization of these platforms likely will run through Bing’s ad platform
- We feel this AI momentum from Microsoft puts more value on Bing Ads and SEO in 2025
Summarizing: OpenMoves Views on Winning Google Ads in 2025
- Pass deep-funnel, real-business outcomes to Google Ads as conversions
- Make PMAX work for your business, use sophistication across multiple factors
- Build modern search campaigns with efficient structures, broad match, good bidding
- Avoid Google’s bad media traps: buy good underlying media only
- Write response search ads that balance Google’s guidance with marketing sense
- Understand the impact of Google’s AI SERP features on traffic volume and type
- Take another look at Bing organic and paid strategies given the AI opportunity
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