Back to all resources

How Google Adwords became Google Ads

Key take-aways

Google Adwords has evolved into Google Ads — a new brand for Google's advertising capabilities that makes it easier and faster than ever before to create online ad campaigns that deliver valuable results for your business. Learn about the evolution of Google Adwords, the new Smart campaigns offered by Google Ads, and why there's never been a better time to take advantage of Google's market-leading technology to push your business to the next level.

1. What is Google Ads?

2. How did Google Ads evolve from Google Adwords?

3. What does the evolution of Google Ads mean for my business?

What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is an advertising service by Google for businesses that want to display ads on Google search results and its advertising network.

Try Google Ads now

1. What is Google Ads?

Google Ads is the new name for Google's range of advertising capabilities — on Google.com and across Google's other properties, partner sites and apps. These services are designed to help businesses and marketers connect with billions of people who are finding answers on Search, watching videos on YouTube, exploring new places on Google Maps, discovering apps on Google Play, browsing content across the web, and more.

The new Google Ads brand and solution will help businesses of all sizes choose the right solutions for their needs, making it even easier for them to deliver valuable, trustworthy ads and offer the best experiences for existing and potential customers alike.

Google Ads

Google Ads is Google's online advertising program. Through Google Ads, you can create online ads to reach people exactly when they're interested in the products and services that you offer.

Learn more

2. How did Google Ads evolve from Google Adwords?

Google Adwords was launched nearly 18 years ago, and the world has changed enormously in that time. Most people are constantly and quickly switching between activities like searching for products, watching videos, browsing content, playing games, and so on as they go about their day. Mobile is a huge part of everyday life, allowing users to get online anytime and anywhere. It's recognition of these shifts that led to the launch of Google Ads to replace Google Adwords.

Over the years, advertising with Google has evolved from helping businesses connect with people on Google Search to helping them connect with users at every step of the consumer journey through text, video, display and more. There are now more opportunities than there have ever been for businesses and marketers to reach consumers across a variety of channels, screens and formats.

While these developments are certainly exciting, they can also feel overwhelming and complex — especially for small business owners with limited time and lots to do. Google Ads improves upon the work of Google Adwords to help you make the most of today's online opportunities, and to provide the tools needed to help you achieve your business goals — whatever they may be.

Campaign

A set of ad groups (ads, keywords, and bids) that share a budget, location, and other settings. Campaigns are often used to organise categories of products or services that you offer.

Learn more

3. What does the evolution of Google Ads mean for my business?

With the launch of Google Ads comes a new campaign type designed specifically with small businesses in mind. Smart campaigns are the new default ads experience on Google Ads, and it's never been easier to begin your advertising journey. These new campaigns tailor the innovation and advertising technology that Google is known for to help business owners achieve their objectives without any heavy-lifting.

Research shows that for 90% of small business owners, the primary goal of advertising online is to get people to call, visit a store or make a purchase1. Smart campaigns from Google Ads put these objectives at the centre of your digital marketing efforts, and you can now create ads in a matter of minutes to begin driving real business results.

Simply choose your business goals — such as garnering phone calls from potential customers, attracting leads to your website, or bringing potential customers to your physical shopfront — when you set up your Smart campaign to get started.

From there, Google Ads will fine-tune your ads automatically to focus on the outcomes you care about most while you focus on running your business. Whenever you want to check in on your campaigns, your Google Ads dashboard displays information on their performance in an easy-to-understand format.

Whether you're a long-time Google advertiser or trying out online ads for the very first time, Google Ads is an exciting new offering with meaningful options for businesses of all kinds. It's never been easier or faster to set up a campaign and take advantage of Google's technology to achieve your business goals.

1 Google/Ipsos Connect, SMB Perceptions Survey, May 2018

Dashboard

A visual and customizable summary of your account's performance data.

Learn more

Share this with your network.

Do you think someone may find this useful? Let them know today.

Sign yourself up today

  • 1. Create an account
  • 2. Set your budget
  • 3. Write your first ad and decide where it's going to appear
0800 026 1709*

Or call today for account support from a Google specialist. 
Mon-Fri, 9am-6pm.