Week of Feb 3, 2025
16 changes logged the week of Feb 3, 2025, 2 high impact; 2 took effect. Open this week in the change history.
Google Ads
- Dating and Companionship certification deadline delayed to April 9, 2025; aggregators made eligible
Google pushed the date after which uncertified dating and companionship advertisers cannot serve ads from March 4 to April 9, 2025, and opened certification to content aggregators from February 25, 2025. Affects all dating and companionship advertisers globally. Source
- Philippines gambling policy expanded to state-licensed operators
Certified state-licensed entities, not only state-run organizations, may advertise online casino games, lotteries, bingo and sports betting in the Philippines from February 17, 2025. Source
- Healthcare policy allowed certified substance use disorder treatment ads in Canada
Advertisers holding LegitScript Addiction Treatment Certification and Google certification may promote recovery-oriented substance use disorder treatment services in Canada from March 2025. Source
- Gambling ads permitted in Angola for operators licensed by Instituto de Supervisão de Jogos
Google began accepting sports betting, online game and lottery ads from Angola-licensed operators that complete Google certification, effective February 18, 2025. Source
- New prediction model reduced Search ads leading to hard-to-navigate landing pages
Google introduced an improved ad quality prediction model that evaluates whether a landing page offers clear navigation to what the user wanted. Ads pointing to pages without an easy path to the relevant content are now less likely to show. Source
- Action required: conversion_environment parameter mandated for Offline Conversion Import for apps
Advertisers importing in-app conversions via Offline Conversion Import were told to add the conversion_environment parameter by September 30, 2025 so app conversions attribute correctly and app signals stay enabled in Smart Bidding for web campaigns. Source
- Keyword Planner gained an auto-organise option that sorts new keywords into ad groups
Selina Naomi Patel noticed a new auto-organise function in Keyword Planner that groups newly added keywords into ad groups automatically. No Google announcement was made. Source
Google Analytics
- GA4 cost data import simplified to require only source, medium and date
Cost data import now requires only source, medium and date; campaign_name and campaign_id became optional (but recommended for granular cross-channel reporting). Affects advertisers importing non-Google ad spend. Source
Microsoft Ads
- Remaining Smart Shopping campaigns were converted to Performance Max
Microsoft completed the automatic upgrade of all remaining Smart Shopping campaigns to Performance Max by the end of January 2025, with full tool-partner support available. Source
- Performance Max gained audience-segment and asset-level performance reporting
Advertisers could analyze Performance Max performance by audience segment and track individual asset performance, rolling out to all advertisers. Source
- Multi-format campaigns became the default way to create Audience ads
A single Audience campaign could combine native, display and online video formats under shared budget and targeting, replacing separate per-format campaigns as the default creation flow. Source
- Impression-based remarketing expanded globally, including China, with Editor support
Impression-based remarketing lists became available in all markets including China and were added to Microsoft Advertising Editor for bulk management. Source
- Eligible Dynamic Search Ads campaigns could be upgraded to Performance Max
A self-serve upgrade path let advertisers move eligible Search DSA campaigns to Performance Max; Microsoft cited an average 24% conversion increase at similar CPA or ROAS. Source
- Conversion value rules piloted to adjust conversion values by location and device
Conversion value rules let advertisers adjust conversion values in real time based on factors like location and device, across all campaign types including Performance Max. Listed as a pilot with a hand-raiser program in April 2025. Source
- Third-party impression trackers extended to display and video ads
Advertisers could add third-party impression trackers to display and video ads, previously supported only on native ads. Source
- Bulk location targeting added to new Search campaign setup
Advertisers could add location targets in bulk while creating new Search campaigns; the option was limited to newly created campaigns during setup. Source
Took effect this week
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