Ads Decoded
Google
Ads Decoded goes beyond the headlines to connect you with the people and teams behind Google Ads. Hosted by Ads Product Liaison Ginny Marvin, each episode brings you into the room for candid conversations about the mechanics and nuances of the platform - stripping away the jargon 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. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Mar 25, 2026 • 45min
Beyond the form fill: Mastering lead quality in the AI era
Lydia Azaret, Product Manager at Google focused on lead gen measurement and journey-aware bidding. Mimi Forsythe, Global Head of Lead Gen Solutions at Google building products and strategies to improve lead quality. They discuss mapping full online-to-offline customer journeys. They cover value-centric measurement, Data Manager for CRM connections, Enhanced Conversions for Leads, journey-aware bidding, and creative tactics to boost lead quality.
Mar 11, 2026 • 24min
Budgets, bidding & AI-powered campaigns: Best practices for 2026
Carlo Buchmann, a Google Ads product manager who builds budget and bidding tools, and Kristina Park, a Google Ads product manager focused on bidding strategies, discuss AI-era best practices. They cover launching Smart Bidding without heaps of data, using campaign total budgets and seasonality adjustments for promotions, Smart Bidding Exploration to find growth, and value-based bidding to optimize for profit.
Feb 25, 2026 • 37min
Search ads: How Google is reimagining experiences that drive value
Adam Bullock, UX lead who shapes on-screen ad experiences, and Abby Butler, product manager focused on Search Ads UI and asset-driven formats, unpack how Search ad design is evolving. They discuss how AI enables new ad formats and personalization. They explain balancing user trust with advertiser value. They cover why assets appear differently and the testing that guides safe rollouts.
Feb 11, 2026 • 47min
Is your Search campaign structure holding back performance?
Brandon Ervin, Director of Product Management for Search Ads at Google, explains why simplifying Search campaign structure matters. He discusses AI-driven consolidation, ad group theming, smart bidding data thresholds, and ad group-level geo controls. Practical tips cover safe migrations, budget sharing, and when segmentation still makes sense.
Jan 28, 2026 • 31min
What Google Analytics is doing to win back advertisers
Eleanor Stribling, Group Product Manager on Google Analytics who leads reporting and AI features, walks through GA4’s reinvention as an activation platform. She highlights AI-powered Analytics Advisor and predictive audiences. They cover data strength, tagging diagnostics, Data Manager and privacy, and new tools for budgets, diagnostics, and cross-channel activation.
Jan 21, 2026 • 34sec
Introducing Ads Decoded podcast by Google Ads
Questions about keyword relevance, AI-driven account changes, and what happens during learning periods take center stage. Conversations pull back the curtain on how ad mechanics and platform nuances really work. Short, candid talks aim to keep advertisers informed about product updates and practical ways to get more value from Google Ads.
Dec 9, 2025 • 16min
What was the #1 Google Ads launch of 2025? We ask our product experts to choose
Natalie Wertz, Product expert on Performance Max known for channel, asset, and search term reporting. She highlights Performance Max channel reporting and how asset and search-term reports boost transparency. Short takes cover smarter bidding experiments, measurement foundations for automation, and creative and data priorities shaping 2026 strategies.
Sep 15, 2025 • 36min
Unpacking The Power Pack
Charles Boyd, product lead for AI Creative at Google Ads, builds generative creative tools. Sylvanus Bent, product lead on search ads automation, focuses on AI-driven performance. They discuss automation and AI in ad campaigns. They cover creative variety as signal, pairing Search with Performance Max, new generative image tools, asset-level testing, and adopting a test-and-learn mindset.
Sep 3, 2025 • 32min
How to Drive Performance with Demand Gen
Sarah Hathramani, who leads Demand Gen product development at Google, shares how Demand Gen shifted from discovery to driving performance. She covers inventory expansion across YouTube, Discover, Gmail and Display. She discusses creative reuse and trimming tools, the impact of Merchant Center feeds on conversions, optimized targeting and Target CPC bidding for like-for-like social comparisons.
Aug 28, 2025 • 35min
Top Updates in 2025 & Deep Dives
Tal Akabas, a Google product manager focused on cross-channel automation and reporting, and Caren Zeng, a Google product manager specializing in search automation and generative creative, discuss AI Max for Search, channel performance reporting for PMax, differences between AI Max and DSA, new controls for brand and URLs, and advances in text customization and reporting insights.
