Week of Apr 28, 2025
19 changes logged the week of Apr 28, 2025, 2 high impact; 4 took effect. Open this week in the change history.
Google Ads
- Channel performance reporting announced for Performance Max, in open beta globally by Google Marketing Live
Performance Max gained a channel performance report showing how the campaign delivers across Search, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, Display, Search partners and Maps, with a campaign-level summary and channel diagnostics. Announced April 30 as coming in a few weeks and confirmed in global beta on May 21. Source
- Ads Transparency policy updated to show payer name alongside advertiser name
Google began displaying the payment profile name as the payer name for verified advertisers in My Ad Center and the Ads Transparency Center in May 2025; from June 2025 advertisers could edit the displayed payer name from the advertiser verification page under Billing. Source
- Demand Gen review page gained automatic video generation in horizontal, vertical and square formats
A new section on the Review page of Demand Gen campaign creation offers to generate videos when none has been added. Google builds horizontal, vertical and square versions using the first three headlines as on-screen text, with adjustable brand colours and font plus crop and trim controls. Source
- Asset-level reporting expanded to impressions, clicks and cost across Performance Max, Search and Display
Asset reports, previously limited to conversion metrics, now include impressions, clicks and cost, and the enhanced reporting extends to Search and Display campaigns in addition to Performance Max. Source
- Performance Max search themes limit doubled from 25 to 50 per asset group
The maximum number of search themes per Performance Max asset group increased from 25 to 50, rolling out gradually across accounts. Google's 2025 highlights page later confirmed the new limit. Source
- On-device conversion measurement expanded to use de-identified app event data for iOS App campaigns
Google extended on-device conversion measurement for iOS App campaigns to use de-identified, temporary app event data, improving optimisation and reporting without sending granular data off device. Announced May 2 as coming soon and confirmed rolling out in beta at Google Marketing Live; SDK support arrived in June 2025. Source
- Integrated Conversion Measurement announced for App campaigns with third-party attribution partners
Integrated Conversion Measurement (ICM) is a new protocol for App campaigns that delivers more real-time, comprehensive reporting by aligning Google Ads with third-party app attribution partners. Announced as coming soon. Source
- Google tag gateway for advertisers launched to serve Google tags through the advertiser's own infrastructure
Google tag gateway lets advertisers route Google tags through their own CDN, load balancer or web server without re-tagging, improving measurement resilience. Launched with a one-click Cloudflare integration; Fastly and Google Cloud CDN to follow. Google reported an 11% uplift in signals. Source
- View-through conversion weighting control added for Display and Video campaigns
Advertisers can set the weight of view-through conversions between 1% and 100% for Display and Video campaigns. The setting mainly affects All conversions reporting, though viewable-impression Display campaigns can optimise toward them. Source
- Google tested a Shopping ads layout resembling an image pack instead of the carousel
Sachin Patel spotted, and Brodie Clark documented, a desktop Shopping ads design that looks like an image pack and expands to reveal more ads. Google did not comment. Source
- Industry-specific verification help articles reorganized
Google restructured its industry-specific verification articles for organization and readability. No change to verification requirements. Source
- Shopping ads started showing merchant favicons; Ads Liaison confirmed an experiment
Sachin Patel shared screenshots of favicons next to products in Shopping ads. Ginny Marvin confirmed it was an experiment to show favicons in Shopping ads. Source
- Measurement and data source diagnostics made available across Google ad products
Google introduced diagnostics that check whether tags and data sources are set up correctly across several Google ads solutions, surfacing issues that weaken conversion measurement. Source
Merchant Center
- AI-powered natural-language product filtering rolled out on the Merchant Center Products page
Merchant Center Next gained a "Search for products" box that turns plain-language queries (for example, "Nike products not approved") into filter chips on the Products page. Filtered views also export correctly when downloaded. Source
- Merchant API launched Order Tracking and Issue Resolution sub-APIs and raised page size to 1,000
May 2025 updates added the Order tracking sub-API (shipping estimates and fast-shipping listings), the Issue resolution sub-API (diagnostics and support actions as in the Merchant Center UI), OmnichannelSettings, LfpProviders, GbpAccounts and OnlineReturnPolicy resources, a ProductsUpdate method for partial product updates, and increased maximum pageSize from 250 to 1,000. Source
Microsoft Ads
- Bing rolled out a two-row Shopping ads layout with a "See more" expander
Bing began showing two rows of Shopping ads at the top of results with an option to expand for more products. Source
ChatGPT Ads
- Shopping results with product cards and buy links launched in ChatGPT search; no ads, merchant feeds planned
OpenAI began rolling out a shopping experience in ChatGPT search with product recommendations, images, pricing, reviews and direct links to buy. OpenAI said results were chosen independently and were not ads, and that it planned to introduce merchant product feeds. Source
Search Console
- Search Console API and bulk exports stalled at April 22, 2025 data
The Search Console API, BigQuery bulk exports and third-party tools stopped receiving data after April 22, 2025 for roughly a week while the web interface stayed current. Source
- Google disabled a URL hack that exposed desktop vs. mobile Discover performance data
A URL parameter trick let site owners view Discover Performance data split by desktop and mobile before Google closed it, signalling that a device breakdown for the Discover report was in the works ahead of Discover on desktop. Source
Took effect this week
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