Meta’s New Features and Google’s Business Links

November 2024 brought a significant acceleration in the trend towards automated optimization within major advertising platforms. Both Meta (Facebook, Instagram) and Google continued to roll out features designed to simplify campaign management and enhance performance through AI and machine learning. While these automations promised greater efficiency and reach, they also underscored the critical need for advertisers and agencies to understand their implications, audit their impact, and maintain strategic oversight.

This month, we delve into Meta’s expanded automated media placement and Google’s new “Business Links” in Search, highlighting the evolving landscape where intelligent automation meets savvy human strategy.

Meta’s Automated Media Placement: Flexible Media

Meta’s ongoing commitment to AI-powered ad tools reached a new level in November 2024 with the introduction of “Flexible Media.” Building on their Advantage+ suite of tools, this feature aimed to automate how advertisers’ creative assets were used across various placements:

Automatic Media Adaptation: Flexible Media automatically selected and placed advertising media (images, videos) across different placements within Meta’s ecosystem (Facebook Feed, Instagram Reels, Audience Network, etc.). Crucially, it could even adapt media aspect ratios – for example, using a square image for a vertical placement if it deemed it would improve performance.
Goal: The primary objective was to leverage Meta’s AI to deliver the most effective creative to the right audience on the most suitable placement, thereby improving campaign performance and ROI.
Implications for Advertisers: While this offered immense convenience and potential for optimization, it also meant advertisers ceded a degree of creative control. Agencies needed to advise clients on providing a diverse range of high-quality assets that could perform well across various formats, and to closely monitor automated placements to ensure brand consistency and message integrity. It became vital to “feed the AI well” with diverse and creative content.

This move by Meta further cemented the trend that advertisers need to trust the platform’s AI, but also provide it with enough high-quality, adaptable input to work with effectively.

Google’s Business Links: Connecting Search to Local Engagement’

Google, ever innovating its Search and Ads ecosystem, began piloting “Business Links” in November 2024, a feature designed to create a more direct and dynamic connection between user search queries and local business interactions:

Dynamic Ad Targeting for Local: While specific details were still emerging, Business Links appeared to be a way for Google’s AI to dynamically pull information from Google Business Profiles (formerly Google My Business) and integrate it more deeply into search results and potentially ad formats. This could include direct links to services, booking options, specific product pages, or even direct messaging, based on user intent.
Enhanced Local Search Experience: The goal was to streamline the user experience, allowing them to take immediate action on local businesses directly from search results, bypassing additional clicks or navigation. This was particularly beneficial for service-based businesses or those with physical locations.
Implications for Businesses: This pilot highlighted the increasing importance of a fully optimized and meticulously maintained Google Business Profile. Accurate opening hours, services, products, photos, and customer reviews became even more critical for being featured effectively through these AI-driven links. It also signaled a potential for new, more direct conversion pathways from Google Search.

The Agency’s Role: Masters of Automation and Strategic Control

For digital marketing agencies, November 2024 was about striking a delicate balance. It meant leveraging the efficiency of automated features while simultaneously providing strategic guidance and meticulous oversight to ensure brand safety, message consistency, and optimal ROI. Agencies proficient in “training” AI with quality inputs and interpreting automated results were best positioned to help clients thrive in this increasingly automated advertising ecosystem.

Embracing automated optimizations is key, but doing so with informed strategy and vigilant auditing is the path to smarter, more impactful results.