
Accelerated ad delivery will be a thing of the past come May 1st. We all know your ad delivery determines how long your daily budget lasts within a day. Google has announced that you will no longer have the option to select accelerated ad delivery for new shopping or search campaigns. You will now only have the option to select standard delivery.
So what does this mean?
When you select accelerated delivery, Google knows to enter the ads of the campaign into every auction that your ad is eligible for until you hit your daily budget. When you run standard delivery ads, Googles knows to spread your budget out over the course of the day or whichever period you have scheduled your ads to run. When you select standard delivery you may be withholding your ads from some auctions for which they are eligible for.
Google offered an explanation as to why they are discontinuing this feature saying:
“[Accelerated delivery] isn’t effective for campaigns that aren’t limited by budget. And for campaigns that are limited by budget, this method can increase CPCs due to increased competition early in the day, or unintentionally spend most of your budget in earlier time zones.”
Typically, ad prices fluctuate throughout the day due to a number of reasons like level of demand. The greater the demand, the higher your cost per click will be. With accelerated delivery and being entered into every auction that you are eligible for until your budget runs out you greatly reduce your chances of capitalizing on low-cost opportunities throughout the day. This can hurt small businesses who are running adds on a limited budget.
Running ads on accelerated delivery can lead to inefficient budget allocation for people who are not meticulously managing their Google Ads accounts. However, running ads using this feature did have its merits. Say you are running a limited-time sale and you want to appear in front of your competitors’ prospects, then accelerated delivery would be a good method for you in receiving a high volume of clicks and impressions.
So what does this mean to you and the future of running ads with Google?
What many account managers have began to realize, with the sunset of accelerated delivery and many other indicators Google has ruled out means Google is wanting it’s advertisers to move more towards automation. With that being said, not everyone is happy with these changes.
If you are one of the many accounts managers who have been utilizing the ‘accelerated delivery’ feature we suggest using positive bid adjustments early in the day to compensate for the changes. If you have been using this feature to boost the visibility of your campaigns that have a low daily search volume, you may want to shift some of your budget to those specific keywords.
If you are running ads set on accelerated delivery they will automatically be switched to standard delivery.
Simplifying settings and automating optimizations has been a huge focus for Google recently. In 2019 Google launched Responsive Search Ads which help automate and recommend the best possible combinations of your ad copy.
At the end of the day, it is always important to stay up to date on the latest changes Google is constantly making.
https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/2404248?hl=en

Co-founder Custom Design Partners
Alexander Hatala is the co-Founder at Custom Design Partners. He specializes in e-Commerce operations, performance marketing strategies, and behavioral analytics.