Into the Googleverse: What are the latest insights from Google and how can you use them?

There’s a lot going on with Google right now — new updates, cutting edge features, and countless event opportunities. By the time you’ve wrapped your head around one change, another one is already here. 

Attending every Google event or webinar to catch the latest trends isn’t always realistic. Luckily, our experts have been on the ground at some of Google’s latest events, collecting the key takeaways you need to know.

This is your Google playbook, giving you the insights, strategies, and actionable advice you need to not just keep pace, but drive real growth in today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape.

Global perspectives from Think Global NYC

Think Global NYC brought together leading minds to explore how AI, brand strength, and economic resilience are reshaping growth in the US market. 

The standout theme? Strong brands go the distance. 

Experts at the event revealed that powerful brands command double the pricing power, 9x the demand, and stay relevant for 4x longer. Not to mention, higher incremental sales and ROI compared to performance-only strategies. 

When brand and performance marketing work together, the impact compounds.

But how do you become a ‘strong brand’?

• Invest in brand equity: AI can’t replace the human trust strong brands earn – it can only amplify it.
• Blending brand and performance: Integrating the two yields growth across awareness and conversion. 
• Adopt predictive strategy: AI-led analytics can be used to forecast demand and guide budget allocation. 
• Prioritise health & trust: As consumer values shift, credibility and authenticity beat pure positioning.
• Be intentional: Get budget allocation right and build a multi-channel framework with data-led precision. 

Lead generation at Accelerate AI

The main message from Google’s Accelerate AI event? AI adoption isn’t optional anymore. But neither are strong foundations to support it. 

Building on learnings from Performance Max, Google has unveiled AI Max, an ad tool designed for smarter automation, deeper control, and stronger transparency. Marketers can test and optimise AI-powered campaigns with features like:

• Negative keyword control
• URL and brand inclusion/exclusion lists
• Exclusion of specific text assets
• Transparent visibility into ad copy and search terms

However, Google stressed that AI is only as good as the data it learns from. If we feed tools the wrong signals, they can’t perform effectively. Clean conversion tracking, accurate targets, and optimised landing pages are non-negotiable.

What can digital marketers learn from this?

Time is of the essence

Test AI Max early – because competitors already are. But remember, AI Max needs time to learn so allow two weeks before big campaign tweaks and analyse results after an 8-week trial. 

Use AI to enhance, not replace

While AI accelerates execution, human insight still drives strategy. You can balance control and automation with Google’s new transparency features.

The Google Partner Summit

The Google Partner Summit in Dublin reinforced AI as central to Google’s future — but not as a buzzword. Instead, the focus was on embedding AI into business and marketing operations to drive measurable impact.

Many brands are struggling to scale AI, due to unclear value, underestimated costs, and fragmented teams. Google is encouraging businesses to shift away from reactive mindsets and evolve AI experimentation to enterprise level execution. 

But rigorous measurement supports trustworthy AI adoption. With tools like Data Manager API, Google Tag Gateway, and AI Max, brands can balance performance and trust, unlocking better attribution and cross-platform insights.

How do we use this?

Shift from FOMO to FOMA: Trade ‘fear of missing out’ for ‘fear of missed advancement’ – experiment strategically and champion internal collaboration to drive scalable AI success.

Prioritise measurement: Leverage enhanced GA4 capabilities and new APIs for cleaner attribution and smarter cross-platform insights. 

Embed AI for impact: It’s time to move beyond automation and connect AI to business outcomes through AI Max and PMAX tools. 

Don’t overlook YouTube: Reassess its place in your paid campaigns and pair with new AI-driven creative formats for stronger ROI. IDHL offers opportunities to drive incremental reach using CTV outside of the Googlesphere through our extensive programmatic offering.

Reaffirm human creativity: Despite automation, authenticity still wins attention and remains vital for genuine brand connection. 

Rolling out Query Groups

Google has introduced Query Groups, a powerful Search Console Insights feature designed to make analysing search performance data simpler and more strategic.

Previously, marketers have faced a dozen different variations for a single user question: ‘how to make chocolate cake’, ‘chocolate cake recipe’, ‘best chocolate cake from scratch’. 

Now, Google’s AI automatically groups these queries together, combining variations, misspellings, and phrasing differences. We’ll be seeing this feature rolled out gradually over the coming weeks for properties with large volumes of queries, so keep an eye out! 

What does this mean?

No more endless options and valuable time spent tediously identifying the main user interest. Performance marketers get a high-level view of audience intent and SEO performance overviews at product range level, revealing the topics that matter most. Teams can quickly steer SEO strategy within AI tools and bypass complex URL or keyword filters.

The road ahead with IDHL

Google has made it clear that success lies in adaptation. At IDHL, we’re helping brands translate Google’s innovation into performance – building AI-informed strategies and driving measurable growth across channels. Get in touch with our team to turn these insights into action.