Digital Industry Updates
At Embryo we keep a log of key industry updates within the digital marketing landscape. The updates cover changes with Google and algorithms and platforms that affect SEO, PPC, as well as social platforms such as Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
If you would like to contribute, then please contact h.middleton@embryo.com or e.murray@embryo.com.
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Google Shopping API deadline
Google’s Shopping API cutoff, requiring migration to the new Merchant API is becoming urgent, as old API versions will soon stop supporting Shopping and Performance Max campaigns.
How it works:
Older API endpoints will be dismissed, meaning campaign delivery for Shopping and related assets can fail if the Merchant data feed isn’t migrated to the new API standards.
What’s the benefit:
Completing the migration ensures uninterrupted paid‑click delivery for Shopping and PMax campaigns dependent on product feed data, and helps avoid issues with ad disapprovals or loss of catalogue synchronisation.
Microsoft adds customer acquisition goals & PMax enhancements
Microsoft Ads has introduced new customer acquisition goals and improved visibility for Performance Max campaigns.
How it works:
Advertisers can now choose Performance Max goals focused on new customers, get clearer measurement insights, and expand audience targeting on Google Ads.
What’s the benefit:
This gives you more control over who your paid clicks are driving, especially when targeting new buyers vs. existing audiences, making PMax more strategic rather than purely automated.
OpenAI introducing ads in ChatGPT
OpenAI is preparing to introduce ads into ChatGPT, marking a major shift for marketers who’ve so far relied on organic visibility within AI platforms. Brands will now need paid strategies alongside AI optimisation, with ads clearly labelled and kept separate from sensitive topics. As conversational AI becomes a new discovery channel, marketers must rethink how they show up – blending trust, relevance and paid visibility in AI-driven journeys.
Read moreGoogle introduces ads within AI shopping experiences
Google has begun integrating paid ads into its AI-driven shopping and conversational tools, allowing personalised offers to appear during AI-assisted product discovery.
How it works:
Ads appear when AI detects shopping intent during a conversation. They use your existing Search, Shopping, and Performance Max campaigns; no new campaign type needed. As users narrow their questions, relevant offers like discounts, bundles, or free delivery can automatically show up in the AI experience.
What’s the benefit:
This creates new high-intent touchpoints beyond traditional SERPs, but also reduces visibility into exactly where ads are appearing. Marketers may see incremental conversions but will need to closely monitor performance shifts, as these placements are not always clearly segmented in reporting.
Microsoft expands Performance Max search themes
Microsoft Advertising has increased the number of search themes allowed in Performance Max campaigns from previous limits to 50 per campaign.
How it works:
Advertisers can now input a broader set of intent signals to guide Microsoft’s automation. Search themes act as directional prompts rather than strict targeting, helping the algorithm understand which queries and user intent it should prioritise when serving ads.
What’s the benefit:
This gives advertisers greater strategic influence without fragmenting campaigns. It is especially useful for brands with wide product ranges, seasonal demand, or multiple service lines, allowing automation to scale while staying aligned with commercial priorities.
Google adds display dynamic remarketing in Google Analytics
Google has launched an update which allows Google Ads customers to serve dynamic remarketing ads based on data from Google Analytics. Google said, “This feature allows advertisers to transfer dynamic attributes, such as product IDs or price values, directly to Google Ads for dynamic remarketing campaigns. This eliminates the need to manually define and map parameters, simplifying the setup process and enabling more dynamic and relevant ad experiences.”
If your Google Ads and Google Analytics accounts are linked and you have data sharing enabled, Google Analytics will automatically share the dynamic data with Google Ads, enabling businesses to use it for better targeted remarketing efforts.
Learn more about dynamic remarketing data in GA4Adobe move to acquire Semrush
Adobe is acquiring Semrush for roughly £1.6 Billion, a move that signals where SEO and digital marketing tools are headed as AI-driven search reshapes discovery and visibility.
The acquisition aims to combine Semrush’s search-intelligence capabilities with Adobe’s content and marketing stack which will help brands handle both traditional SEO and newer GEO channels.
As AI-powered search gains traction, the deal underscores a wider consolidation trend in the industry as marketers want unified platforms that track visibility across both classic search engines and AI-driven answer engines.
Google Search Console adds branded queries filter
Google has announced that they’re rolling out a new filter in Search Console which will allow us to filter branded queries in Performance reports. Allowing users to check the brand/generic ratio of search visibility and clicks without having to use regex.
This feature will give marketers clearer visibility into how much traffic is driven by brand, and also a sneaky insight into what Google believes is your branded terms (as you cannot specify them within the filter).
It is not yet rolled out into every property, and it cannot provide retrospective filtering, so we can only see this from the date it is available in the property.
Google Merchant Centre update
GMC is now showing priority diagnostics only. This could mean advertisers might miss non-critical issues from flagging. However, the good news is that you can switch off filters to see all diagnostics. The new system update will now only highlight urgent problems, so it will be important for users, as it could lead to overlooked issues.
Find out more
Combination tabs are now live in Pmax asset groups.
Combination tabs are now live in Pmax asset groups. This new feature in Google Ads provides transparency into which combinations of headlines, descriptions, images, and logos are performing best for your Performance Max asset groups. This will allow you to see best performing creative mixes, understand the AI ad assembly process and optimise for future assets. This gives more insights into performance. In essence, this helps you to better understand what resonates with your audience and how to improve them.
See Google help
