Explore every episode of the podcast Ads Decoded

Is the keyword dead? Do you really need to restructure everything for AI? And what’s actually happening during those learning periods?

You’ve got questions about Google Ads. Ads Decoded gets you the answers.

Join Ads Product Liaison Ginny Marvin as she brings you into the room for candid conversations with the people and teams behind Google Ads. No jargon, no fluff - we're going beyond the headlines and getting into the mechanics and nuances of the platform to reveal how things actually work. Tune in for practical insights to help you navigate change, be in the know about new and upcoming products, and ultimately get more value from Google Ads.

Subscribe to Ads Decoded on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts to get alerted when new episodes drop.

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For our final episode of 2025, host Ginny Marvin sits down with six Google Ads product experts to hear their personal picks from a year packed with new launches and features. From Charles Boyd’s deep dive into Nano Banana Pro in Asset Studio to Natalie Wertz’s breakdown of Performance Max Channel Reporting, we reveal the tools that stood out most to the people working on them. You’ll hear why Smart Bidding Exploration beats simply lowering ROAS targets and why three different leaders all landed on the exact same data-driven priority for 2026. Tune in to discover if your strategy is built on a strong foundation or if you're just playing ""whack-a-mole"" with your optimization.

Check out the recap of the year’s biggest new AI innovations in Google Ads: https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/16756291

Find Ginny at www.linkedin.com/in/ginnymarvin/ and @adsliaison on X

Learn more about the products and features in this episode →

Channel reporting: https://business.google.com/us/accelerate/resources/articles/google-ads-tutorials-channel-performance-reporting-in-performance-max/

AI Max: https://business.google.com/us/accelerate/resources/articles/ai-max-for-search-campaigns/

Analytics Advisor: https://business.google.com/us/accelerate/announcements/google-ai-advisors-agentic-tools-to-drive-impact-and-insights/

Demand Gen: https://business.google.com/us/accelerate/resources/articles/create-convert-demand-with-demand-gen/

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Ready to master Google's Demand Gen campaigns? In this episode, we'll share the latest updates and best practices to drive performance, including the recent expansion of inventory options, the importance of optimizing product feeds, and the nuances of targeting and bidding strategies.

We'll break down how to effectively use Demand Gen campaigns as part of your broader AI-powered marketing strategy to get the best results. Plus, we've got answers to top questions from the Google Ads community with Google’s own Ginny Marvin.

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Let's face it, the transition to GA4 wasn't easy. If that hurdle has left you feeling disconnected from your data, this episode is the re-introduction you need to help turn Google Analytics from complicated chore to strategic advantage.

It’s time for a fresh start. Over the past year, a ton of new features and capabilities have rolled out to help advertisers get more out of Google Analytics. That includes more ads reporting capabilities. But what’s really exciting is that Google Analytics is becoming an activation engine for your campaigns – across your marketing mix.

In this episode of Ads Decoded, Ginny Marvin sits down with Eleanor Stribling, a Group Product Manager, Google Analytics, for a candid reset. We’re moving past the migration headaches to reveal what GA4 actually is today: an activation platform for predicting, planning, and enabling your next media opportunity. 

Also in this episode:

Why ‘Data Strength’ is your new competitive advantage

The measurement audit: Is your setup firing on all cylinders?

Feature spotlight: ask questions and get insights from your data by chatting with Analytics Advisor

Community Q&A: Why don't my Google Analytics and Google Ads data match?

Want Ginny’s key takeaways and tips from this conversation? Subscribe to the Ads Decoded newsletter: https://goo.gle/4ryu6uV

Find Ginny on LinkedIn at https://goo.gle/4aFEw4I and on X as @adsliaison - https://goo.gle/3N2Q22r

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Hyper-granular campaigns used to be the gold standard. But in 2026, holding onto that legacy structure might be your biggest hidden cost.

Host Ginny Marvin joins Brandon Ervin, Director of Product Management for Search Ads, to discuss why simplifying your Search campaigns is the key to unlocking the full potential of AI Max and Smart Bidding. Learn how to stop chasing keywords and start capturing intent across the entire customer journey.

Want Ginny’s key takeaways and tips from this conversation? Subscribe to the Ads Decoded newsletter.

In this episode, we cover:

Aligning your campaign structure with your business goals, not just keyword permutations

How to sandbox your restructure on lower-priority campaigns first

Using ad group-level geo-targeting and brand exclusions to steer performance without segmentation.

Community Q&A: AI Overviews eligibility and how autocomplete impacts matching.

Want Ginny’s key takeaways and tips from this conversation? Subscribe to the Ads Decoded newsletter: https://goo.gle/4ryu6uV

Find Ginny on LinkedIn at https://goo.gle/4aFEw4I and on X as @adsliaison - https://goo.gle/3N2Q22r

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Ever wondered why the text asset you meant as a headline is showing as a sitelink? Or why Google introduced a button that lets users hide ads on Search? 

Changes to how text ads show up - especially as AI experiences like AI Overviews and AI Mode drive a total reimagining of Search - can make advertisers feel out of step with the mechanics of their campaigns. So in this special episode of Ads Decoded, we’re pulling back the curtain on the design and testing process behind these new ad experiences on Search. Join host Ginny Marvin, Abby Butler (Ads UI Product Manager) and Adam Bullock (Search Ads UX Lead) as they discuss the "ecosystem balance" between user trust and advertiser value that guides every change that makes it to the results page.

In this deep dive:

Testing for trust: The specific data points and rigorous vetting process required to move a new format from hypothesis to global rollout.

Beyond the click: Why optimizing for user agency (like the new "hide" button) actually builds the long-term trust necessary for better advertiser ROI.

Asset variety is key: Why you shouldn't get hung up on the impressions of a single asset, and focus on asset breadth to meet the specific intent of complex, conversation-driven queries

Want Ginny’s key takeaways and tips from this conversation? Subscribe to the Ads Decoded newsletter: https://goo.gle/4ryu6uV

Find Ginny on LinkedIn at https://goo.gle/4aFEw4I and on X as @adsliaison - https://goo.gle/3N2Q22r

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Getting your bidding and budget dialled in has always been a vital part of campaign success, but it takes on new significance in the era of AI. The strategies and settings you use do more than manage spend - they’re how you signal your business priorities to the system, so it can more effectively deliver on those goals.

Join host Ginny Marvin as she sits down with Kristina Park and Carlo Buchmann, Google Ads product managers who specialize in budgets and bidding, to discuss modern best practices and the new capabilities AI is unlocking in these areas.

We cover:

Smart Bidding ‘cold starts’: Why you no longer need lots of conversion data to launch new campaigns with confidence.

Mastering fixed-budget events: How campaign total budgets and seasonality adjustments can maximize your promotions.

Finding growth: Using targets to scale with efficiency.

Want Ginny’s key takeaways and tips from this conversation? Subscribe to the Ads Decoded newsletter: https://goo.gle/4ryu6uV

Find Ginny on LinkedIn at https://goo.gle/4aFEw4I and on X as @adsliaison / https://goo.gle/3N2Q22r

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From tracking fragmented online-to-offline user journeys to navigating conversion windows that can stretch for months, lead gen marketers face a set of challenges that are uniquely complex. In this episode of Ads Decoded, we’re looking past the simple form fill to discuss how practitioners can master lead quality in an era of signal loss and AI-driven consumer behavior.

Join Ads Product Liaison Ginny Marvin, Mimi Forsythe (Global Head of Lead Gen Solutions) and Lydia Azaret (Lead Gen Measurement PM) as they break down the steps needed - from lead scoring to data hygiene - to enable your campaigns to deliver high quality lead volume.

In this episode:

-The offline gap: Why mapping the full lead-to-sale journey is foundational to driving performance with Google AI.

-Value-centric measurement: How to implement proxy values and lead scoring to tell the bidder what "good" looks like.

-Data Manager: Navigating the one-stop hub for connecting CRMs and first-party data.

-Tactical must-dos: Understanding the nuances of Enhanced Conversions for Leads (ECL) and Google Tag Gateway (GTG)

Want Ginny’s key takeaways and tips from this conversation? Subscribe to the Ads Decoded newsletter: https://goo.gle/4ryu6uV

Find Ginny on LinkedIn at https://goo.gle/4aFEw4I and on X as https://goo.gle/3N2Q22r

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Conversational shopping in AI Mode. Virtual try-on. Agentic checkout. Business Agent on Search. Google Lens in YouTube Shorts. Shoppable CTV. 

The secret powerhouse behind them all? Your product data. It’s no longer just a list of SKUs; it’s the high-resolution infrastructure for the next era of retail.

In this episode of Ads Decoded, host Ginny Marvin is joined by Firas Yaghi, Global Product Lead for Retail Solutions, and Nadja Bissinger, Group Product Director for Retail on YouTube. They separate the hype from the strategic essentials, discussing the practical steps retailers can take now to deliver high-performing ads across Search, YouTube and new AI-powered experiences.

In this conversation:

-The product feed as foundation: Enriching your data with lifestyle images and rich descriptions to power multi-modal discovery.

-From competing to compounding: Why it’s time to stop viewing campaign types as competitors and use a surround sound-style approach. 

-The signal shift: How Lookalikes have changed from rigid targets to multi-dimensional signals that give the AI the flexibility to find your next best customer.

Want Ginny’s key takeaways and tips from this conversation? Subscribe to the Ads Decoded newsletter: https://goo.gle/4ryu6uV

Find Ginny on LinkedIn at https://goo.gle/4aFEw4I and on X as https://goo.gle/3N2Q22r

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For a long time, creator marketing was seen as a "big brand" awareness play or best suited for retail businesses. If your focus is on performance, B2B, or lead generation, creator content might not have been in your toolkit - until now. In this episode of Ads Decoded, host Ginny Marvin is live from the YouTube NewFronts stage with Melissa Hsieh Nikolic, Director of Product Management for YouTube Ads. They dive into how Google is making it easier for brands of all sizes and across sectors to integrate authentic creator voices directly into their performance campaigns within Google Ads and DV360.

They cover:

-The trust factor: Why creators help drive meaningful results for businesses across every industry - including finance and healthcare.

-Finding your match: How to use AI-powered search in the Creator Partnerships hub in Google Ads to identify the right YouTube creator for your brand, no matter how "niche" your business might be.

-Creative freedom vs. rigid specs: Why the magic happens when brands trade strict editorial scripts for a creator’s authentic voice.

-Measuring success: Using Brand Lift with Search Lift and Conversion Lift studies and unified organic/paid reporting to prove performance 

Want Ginny’s key takeaways and tips from this conversation? Subscribe to the Ads Decoded newsletter: https://goo.gle/4ryu6uV

Find Ginny on LinkedIn at https://goo.gle/4aFEw4I and on X as https://goo.gle/3N2Q22r.

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