Welcome to Cultivative’s weekly roundup for all things PPC from around the web—everything you need to know right now about PPC!
At Cultivative, we’re all about making your life easier. We’ve gathered the top PPC news and innovations from around the web and getting it into your hands. Check out what we found this past week.
Three Key Trends from the 2021 Cyber Five
By Melissa Reilly and Thea Nicholson | Dec 2, 2021 | Merkle

“There’s still a lot of holiday shopping left this season, and advertisers can work to capture those dollars by showcasing options that circumvent supply chain issues, meeting shoppers where they are, and being targeted with ad spend. By adapting to this year’s unique challenges, retailers can close out 2021 strong and carry positive momentum into the new year,” write Melissa Reilly and Thea Nicholson. Three key themes that emerged during Cyber Five and shaped performance across digital, and will likely endure throughout the rest of the holiday season, are:
- The holiday shopping season is spreading out, with less concentration on the Cyber Five.
- Consumers continue to favor online shopping over in-store.
- Advertising costs remain sky-high.
The Optmyzr study on Responsive Search Ad performance: Statistics, insights & best practices
By Ashwin Balakrishnan | Dec 3, 2021 | Optmyzr

With Google Ads sunsetting Expanded Text Ads (ETA) on June 30, 2022, comes a host of questions about the performance of Responsive Search Ads, the need to display key information in your ad text, and how to manage the transition to PPC campaigns composed solely of RSAs. Optmyzr has published the results of their study on RSA performance, answers to some pressing questions about the transition, and advice on how to retain control of your search campaigns after June 2022. This year’s study of RSA performance covers 4,341 randomly chosen Optmyzr user accounts and answers questions like:
- Is RSA usage as common among advertisers as you think?
- How does RSA performance compare to that of ETAs?
- What effect do pinned headlines/descriptions have on performance?
10 Most Important PPC Trends To Know In 2022
By Danny Goodwin | Dec 6, 2021 | Search Engine Journal

Search Engine Journal reached out to 23 of the top PPC experts for their insights on the most important PPC trends that you should focus on in 2022 for greater success. Here are the top trends you need to know:
- Automation
- First-Party Data
- Audience Targeting & Segmentation
- Testing
- Diversification
- Responsive Search Ads
- Conversion Tracking
- Small Business Education
- Return To Fundamentals
- Be Ready For Anything
Five Major Updates in Google Ads You Must Know as a Digital Marketer
By Hiren Vaghela | Dec 6, 2021 | Hero Conf

Hiren Vaghela shares five major updates in Google Ads that can be helpful for your ongoing campaign optimizations, in case you missed them. They include:
- Google Ads Editor v1.8: Automatically Apply Recommendations, Review Performance Insights, and More
- Smart Bidding: The Smart Sales Platform to Accelerate Online and In-Store Sales
- New Ways to Optimize and Manage Conversions
- Display Campaigns Made Easier
- Easy-to-Understand Campaigns with Latest Budget Reports
The 10 Biggest PPC Stories of ’21 (& What to Do in ’22)
By Susie Marino | Dec 8, 2021 | WordStream

Google Ads threw a lot of curveballs at advertisers this year that they had to adapt to. Susie Marino covers the top 10 PPC stories of 2021—what happened, what the impact was, and how to turn each one into an opportunity. From the sunset of modified broad match in February to Expanded Text Ads becoming a thing of the past, Marino recaps the year and helps you prepare for the year to come.
Five Tips on How to Retarget iOS Users Who Opted-Out From Tracking
By Darko Dodig | Dec 8, 2021 | Hero Conf

Darko Dodig offers five tips on how you can retarget iOS users who opted out of tracking and minimize the update’s impact on your advertising campaigns, including:
- Segment your audience into Android and iOS users
- Add UTM tracking codes to your links
- Determine the eight most valuable pixel events
- Broaden your audience
- Employ customer and email lists for retargeting
9 Ways to Improve Your Facebook Ad Results
By Anna Sonnenberg | Dec 8, 2021 | SocialMedia Examiner

Suppose your Facebook ad campaigns need some new life and you are looking to improve conversions. In that case, Anna Sonnenberg shares nine ways to optimize your Facebook ad campaigns using new or underutilized native features on the platform. They include:
- Configure Prioritized Events to Focus on Primary Goals
- Set a Minimum ROAS
- Customize Facebook Ad Copy With Optimize Text Per Person
- Personalize Product Promotion With Facebook Dynamic Creative
- Fine-Tune Facebook Ad Elements With A/B Tests
- Retarget and Build on Engaged Audiences
- Attract Warm Leads With Facebook Lead Ads
- Nurture Warm Leads With Facebook Message Ads
- Serve Facebook Stories Ads
We hope you learned something new you can apply to your PPC business strategy. Let us know in the comments below what you want to start implementing. As always, we are happy to be a resource for your paid advertising needs. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
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