Traditionally, advertisers have applied automated bidding to campaigns that target a single channel. For example, they might use a bid strategy that maximizes conversion value on separate campaigns for Search, Display, and Video. But there are limitations to this siloed approach.
The consumer journey is constantly evolving and getting more complex. With new ways to discover, research, and purchase, customers are engaging across an ever-growing number of channels. For example, during the 2021 holiday season, 54% of shoppers used five or more channels, like video and social media, to shop over a two-day period.2
It’s important for businesses to stay connected with customers throughout their purchase journeys, whether it’s the first YouTube video ad that creates the demand or the final Search ad that completes the purchase, or vice versa. But the number of surfaces that consumers use keeps increasing, and they move across them quickly and unpredictably, making it hard to stay on top of fast-changing shifts.
Not to mention consumers behave differently on different channels and there are nearly infinite placements to account for—whether it’s search queries on Search, websites and apps on Display, or feeds and videos on YouTube and Discover. It is increasingly difficult to keep pace with siloed channel bidding strategies that don’t work and bid together in unison to find you the best opportunities.
That’s why more advertisers are turning to AI to elevate and integrate their marketing across channels to engage customers more effectively. Cross-channel bid optimization allows you to scale the benefits of auction-time bidding across all channels to find the highest-ROI opportunities, no matter which channel they happen on. Cross-channel Smart Bidding delivers better performance for your business when it has the flexibility to invest your budget wherever it can find the highest-ROI conversions across a wider range of channels, inventory, and formats.
How bidding technology has evolved and improved over time
2. Google/Ipsos, Holiday Shopping Study, Oct 2021 – Jan 2022, Online survey, US, n=7,253, Americans 18+ who conducted holiday shopping activities in past two days.
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