Google Ads changes in 2023: what Indian advertisers need to know

Google Ads changed significantly in 2023. Some changes were announced well in advance. Others rolled out quietly and Indian advertisers noticed them only when performance shifted unexpectedly. Here is a consolidated look at what changed and what it means for how you manage campaigns going forward.

Performance Max became dominant but controversial

Performance Max (PMax) was not new in 2023, but its role expanded. Google increasingly pushes PMax as the recommended campaign type, and for some businesses, it works well. For others, it has been a source of confusion and wasted spend.

PMax runs ads across Google Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Discover simultaneously. You provide creative assets (images, headlines, descriptions, videos) and Google decides where and to whom to show ads.

For Indian e-commerce businesses with large product catalogues and reliable conversion tracking, PMax can outperform standalone Search and Shopping campaigns by finding conversion opportunities across channels. For local service businesses or those with limited conversion data, PMax often spreads budget too thin and lacks the control needed to optimise effectively.

The main complaint from Indian advertisers is transparency. You cannot easily see which placements drove conversions within a PMax campaign. The reporting is aggregate and opaque compared to Search campaigns.

Recommendation: run PMax alongside a Search campaign for your most important branded and non-branded keywords, rather than replacing Search campaigns with PMax. Monitor the search terms that PMax activates and use negative keywords to prevent wasteful placements.

Broad match keywords improved

Google made changes to broad match keyword behaviour in 2023 that, according to many Indian advertisers' reports, genuinely improved performance. Broad match combined with Smart Bidding is now more reliable than it was in 2021 or 2022.

This does not mean abandoning phrase and exact match. But testing broad match on your best-performing keywords with Target ROAS or Target CPA bidding is now more defensible than it was. Monitor the search terms report closely when adding broad match.

Google Analytics 4 became mandatory

Universal Analytics (the old Google Analytics) stopped processing new data on July 1, 2023. Every website relying on UA had to migrate to GA4 or lose historical data tracking.

For Indian websites that made this transition late or poorly, there is likely a gap in data or misconfigured conversion tracking. GA4's event-based model is fundamentally different from the session-based UA model, and many Indian businesses did not invest in a proper migration.

If your GA4 is showing zero conversions or conversions that do not match your actual leads, check that your conversion events are configured correctly and that GA4 is receiving data from your website.

Responsive Search Ads became the only option

Expanded Text Ads (ETAs) were deprecated in June 2022 and became read-only. In 2023, all new ads in Search campaigns must be Responsive Search Ads. If you had paused ETAs that you planned to reactivate, those are gone.

For Indian advertisers who had high-performing ETAs that they were relying on, this was a real disruption. The shift required rewriting and testing all ad copy in the RSA format.

Automatically Applied Recommendations caused unexpected changes

Google expanded its "automatically applied recommendations" feature in 2023. Unless you actively opted out, Google may have been automatically applying campaign changes, including adding keywords, changing bidding strategies, or enabling new ad features, to your accounts.

Indian advertisers who did not check their change history may have experienced performance shifts caused by automatically applied changes they did not authorise. Review your account's change history in the Tools menu and disable any automatic recommendations you do not want applied.

Demand Gen campaigns replaced Discovery

Google renamed and expanded Discovery campaigns to Demand Gen in late 2023. Demand Gen adds YouTube Shorts placements to the existing Gmail and Discover placements. Creative now needs to include vertical video assets to take advantage of Shorts placements.

For Indian advertisers running awareness or consideration campaigns, Demand Gen campaigns accessing YouTube Shorts inventory is a meaningful update given the growth of Shorts viewership in India.

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