The top PPC trends for 2025 are largely a continuation of what shaped the industry last year, with AI and automation fueling many of the trends. This means that 2025 will see even more change and while this presents challenges for many businesses and advertisers, it’s also a great opportunity for growth and development.
What you can do is understand how best to navigate the recent trends in advertising, using them to your advantage so that 2025 is a success.
2025 PPC trends recap
Here’s a quick recap of paid search trends that will further shape the PPC industry in 2025:
- Further use of automation
- Less control for advertisers
- Product feed management
- AI-powered ad creation
- AI will boost Google Shopping
- Creative approach to PPC strategy
- Growth in video content
- Adopt smart bidding
- Privacy challenges for advertisers
- Advanced optimization techniques
- AI Overviews (AIO) ad placements
- The importance of Bing Ads
- Diversify with social campaigns
- Shifting search patterns
- Increase in image search
- Increase in voice search
- Keyword targeting is declining
- Demand for PPC experts
18 PPC trends for 2025
Without further ado, let’s dive in.
1. Further use of automation
The PPC landscape is increasingly driven by automation, which has been influencing everything from campaign structure, bid strategies and targeting, to content creation and the optimization of campaigns and there are no signs of automation slowing down.
“From video creation, to writing ad copy, to automatically adding keywords to campaigns, to audience targeting, and even to support – AI will be everywhere in 2025.” – Melissa Mackey, Head of Paid Search at Compound Growth Marketing
We expect even more automation in 2025 with the retirement of features that are often manually controlled and the development of existing tools that are already automated. For example, Enhanced CPC is being retired this year in favour of fully automated bid strategies and Performance Max asset groups continue to release new automated features.
If advertisers want to be successful in 2025 they will need to actively embrace these changes or risk being left behind and missing out on the latest advancements.
2. Less control for advertisers
The rise in automation means there’s been a significant shift in control, and advertisers might find themselves redundant in the traditional sense of campaign management. For 2025, features that once required hands-on management will continue to disappear or evolve, and operational data will likely become less accessible, as it has in recent times.
Unfortunately, this means PPC trends surrounding 'hidden features' in Google Ads, such as reduced visibility over search terms, being opted into features that broaden targeting, or the inability to test things at a granular level, will continue.
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Google Ads expert Thomas Eccel agrees, “Google Ads will continue to implement so called “hidden features” and opt you in by default, advertisers need to be cautious to not waste spend.”
To navigate this PPC trend in 2025, advertisers must be aware of these changes and again engage with them. They should also think about campaign management on a higher level—structure and campaign types—and consider third-party tools or features that bring back some lost visibility.
One advanced way of bringing in some added insight is running PPC scripts as a way to get more data on performance.
3. Product feed management
AI is transforming product feed management by bringing sophistication to automation, real-time adjustments, and customization. The use of advanced feed tools is a key way for advertisers to regain lost control within ad platforms, making it one of the top PPC trends for 2025.
Here are some of the main ways feed management tools can boost PPC performance:
- Control of ad spend – Have more control over how your advertising budget is spent by organising your feed so that it’s optimal. Prioritise products based on performance and business objectives and choose to include or exclude products from your campaigns at scale based on your criteria, which can be used to boost ROI.
- Improved product data quality – Feed management tools can highlight areas of improvement and recommend optimizations to feed attributes, and then action them. One example of this is how AI can assist in writing effective product titles and descriptions, writing highly relevant titles and descriptions for thousands of products in a matter of minutes.
- A/B testing – Improve your product feeds with experimentation and A/B testing, in order to find the best variation or combination of attributes, something that is limited within ad platforms and Google Merchant Center. For example, you could test the impact of including certain keywords within product titles, or test including the brand name at the beginning of the title versus the end.
- Real-time optimizations – Feed management tools take the manual work out of optimization with the ability to optimize in bulk, however, they also operate in real-time. This is hugely beneficial for providing searchers with an accurate and relevant experience, but it’s also great for getting the best possible return on ad spend.
- Mapping and categorization – quickly achieve your ideal structure with advanced product categorization and mapping. Mapping templates are often available and these can be duplicated across multiple channels. Product categorization is a great way to then structure campaigns, plus AI Categorization can assign all of your products to the correct categories.
Investing in a feed management tool like DataFeedWatch is more crucial than ever. Such tools not only maintain the health of your product feed but boost the performance of your shopping campaigns. This means the small investment in a feed management tool is worthwhile, making it a good choice for forward-thinking PPC marketing strategies in 2025.
4. AI-powered ad creation
AI has changed the way ads are created in two main ways: the first one is AI-generated content and ad copy, and the second is how ad platforms dynamically form and optimize ads for different placements and audiences.
These two are also beginning to merge, with ad platforms gaining the ability to generate copy and creatives on behalf of the advertiser, as well as stitch them together and optimize the delivery.
Meta Ads has recently started using AI to automatically enhance creative assets, allowing advertisers to automatically generate product or lifestyle images to provide greater variation.
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Google Ads suggests headlines, descriptions and ad assets, and assets can be dynamically taken from the websites. We predict it won't be long before Google begins to alter creatives and automatically develop them using AI, similar to how third-party AI tools work.
This could become a great opportunity for businesses to quickly and cheaply develop new creatives, although to be successful, quality control will be fundamental.
5. AI will boost Google Shopping
AI is enhancing Google Shopping, providing advertisers with handy tools like Product Studio for Merchant Center Next, which helps optimize shopping ads and campaigns.
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This is another way AI is powering ad creation in the PPC industry and for e-commerce advertisers that run shopping ads, this means help with:
- Generating scenes
- Increasing image resolution
- Editing backgrounds
- Generating product videos
More dynamic and innovative shopping ads will help boost performance through increased competitiveness and engagement. If you haven’t already started experimenting with AI tools specifically designed for Google Shopping, 2025 is the year to do so.
6. Creative approach to PPC strategy
In today’s increasingly crowded digital landscape, creativity in PPC has become essential. While formulaic strategies were once fine to use, the shift toward innovation and originality is now a critical PPC trend for standing out and achieving success.
This trend encourages thinking beyond the usual tactics, which are more accessible to everyone.
Instead, focus on your target audience and campaign objectives, and craft a strategy that speaks directly to their needs and preferences. This could include experimenting with unique ad formats, storytelling, or unconventional targeting – essentially whatever it takes to break through the noise and deliver impactful results.
A good example of a brand standing out with creativity in a crowded market is ClassPass, by offering £1 gym memberships for one month in their PPC ad copy. The majority of gyms offer a percentage discount in January or no joining fee, therefore the ClassPass offer is different and interesting in comparison.
7. Growth in video content
Video content has never been more popular and widely used. Reels have even made their way onto LinkedIn, which in the past had always had a more polished and professional feel compared with other social platforms.
While there is still a time and a place for all types of content, whether it is static or video, video will continue to dominate in 2025.
This is because it's easier than ever to create video content, and DIY and homemade-style videos are now regarded as showing authenticity. Helpful content creation tools also make it easy to create high-quality video assets quickly and cheaply.
If you haven’t already, now is the time to jump on this bandwagon and start experimenting with video content. Include a video in PMax and text a video asset in your shopping campaign using Google’s Product Studio. After all, video is a powerful and engaging way to communicate with your audience.
8. Adopt Smart bidding
The adoption of smart bidding strategies has become crucial in leveraging the full potential of PPC automation and machine learning. Smart bidding strategies are no longer a trend since they have been around for a long time, however, advertisers still resist them.
This will become harder as Google starts to retire manual bidding and makes smart bidding mandatory. Therefore, to ensure you can sustain success, don’t wait until manual bidding is retired to adopt smart bidding, instead make 2025 the year for switching over. This is an easy way to future-proof your PPC.
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With solid conversion data, smart bidding is fantastic at optimizing bids in real time and using advanced algorithms to maximize ROAS.
9. Privacy challenges for advertisers
Sarah Stemen, founder of Sarah Stemen LLC, says “The growing emphasis on privacy will push platforms and advertisers to adapt, with the burden of compliance likely falling more heavily on advertisers.”
Privacy rules have indeed tightened up over the past several years, something that was much needed. This shift towards more responsible data handling has been important, but it does make it more challenging for advertisers who rely on customer data to fine-tune campaigns.
For example, consent mode 2 requires users to opt in or out of cookies, and those that opt out prevent data from being shared with advertisers. It’s similar to how Safari blocks third-party cookies by default, again reducing the amount of conversion data made available to advertisers and ad platforms.
Heading into 2025, it’s crucial to take a close look at how you’re collecting and using data. Finding smart, privacy-compliant ways to gather as much insight as possible will not only keep you on the right side of the law but also help the performance of your campaigns that need data for effective and accurate optimization.
10. Advanced optimization techniques
As Google Ad trends move towards simplified campaign structures and automation, there is a greater need for advanced optimization techniques.
Advertisers must now go deeper with features like scripts, demographic targeting, and location overlays so that campaigns are streamlined and remain focused. I like to think of it as providing the algorithm with guidance and control so that optimization is even more focused.
Leaving it entirely to the platform would likely lead to a wasted budget and less optimal results. This is one of the PPC trends that’s worth exploring right now so that you don’t miss out on potentially achieving a better return on ad spend.
11. AI Overviews (AOI) ad placements
The quiet expansion of AI Overviews in recent times, formally known as Search Generative Experience, signals a shift in how ads are being placed on the search results page.
As this trend continues, it’s important to understand that AIOs can open up new avenues for ad visibility and engagement. It’s something that SEO marketers are already tackling and we expect this to soon reach the PPC industry.
Little has been made available when it comes to optimizing PPC for AIOs as of now, but it is worth keeping this on the radar for 2025.
As Elisabetta Nicoli, Paid Search Lead at Fox Agency, points out, AI Overview ads have started appearing on Google in the US, in particular for mobile searches and expansion to desktop and other global markets is imminent.
12. The importance of Bing Ads
Bing Ads has always been the little sister to Google Ads, and while it’ll always be smaller in many ways, it’s still impactful when it comes to results. Bing is the second largest search engine after Google and has in the region of 10% market share.
This means that even a small percentage of the market share captured via Bing Ads can have a large impact on overall campaign success, providing a valuable counterbalance to the competitive pressures on larger platforms.
Despite Google's dominance, advertisers are increasingly finding alternative ways to boost results and one of them is including Bing in their 2025 strategy.
13. Diversify with social campaigns
To follow on from the importance of including Bing in your strategy, and in the spirit of embracing a creative approach to PPC in 2025, consider advertising on social media. It’s a great way to complement Google Ads campaigns, reach new audiences and nurture customer journeys.
Meta Ads, in particular, is extremely advanced when it comes to creating shoppable experiences for consumers, with data feeds being an effective way to showcase products. Advantage+ campaigns are also supercharged for conversions in a similar way to Performance Max campaigns on Google.
However, beyond Meta Ads, all social platforms have advertising capabilities and depending on who your target audience is, they offer a highly targeted solution. This makes an omnichannel approach to advertising a key trend for 2025.
14. Shifting search patterns
The way users find information is evolving and this will be a top trend in the PPC industry in 2025. Search engines like Google still have dominance and Google will continue to be a verb (Google it), as well as a noun. However, this is something to watch very closely.
Younger generations are searching for information in alternative ways, such as on TikTok. YouTube is also a place where, increasingly, users search for answers to their queries. The rise of AI is also influencing how people search, for example, asking questions with CHatGPT instead of Googling it.
The following screenshots show popular searches on social media platforms TikTok, Instagram and YouTube:
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This change in search behavior, influenced by AI and the sheer volume of information that’s online, will likely reshape the PPC landscape. When the time comes, advertisers must adapt their strategies to move with these changes and view them as new opportunities.
15. Increase in image search
2025 will see an increase in people searching using images instead of keywords, whether it’s to identify items, products or brands, for research or to find similar alternatives. Image search is quick and due to intelligent recognition software, it’s accurate.
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Google Lens and Pinterest Lens are popular examples of tools that allow users to search using an image. It is possible to accompany image searches with keywords as well, to further narrow down the search results.
For PPC and digital marketing in general, ensuring images are both compelling and discoverable will significantly enhance your brand's visibility, engagement and performance.
16. Increase in voice search
As with image search, the rise of voice search is changing the nature of queries. Unlike image search where keywords are often not included, voice search queries are becoming longer and more conversational.
Adapting to this trend requires a shift in keyword strategy, favoring natural language and question-based content to align with how users are increasingly interacting with devices. In the example below, the search query is a really specific question that’s 10 words long, therefore the optimal search experience for this user is to quickly and accurately answer this question.
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Voice search is quick and convenient, especially in comparison to typing. It’s a trend that is growing in how we communicate as well with one another in general, such as sending voice notes on WhatsApp instead of messages.
PPC expert Hana Kobzová advises advertisers to start using longer tail keywords and question based phrases as a way to match conversational searches.
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17. Keyword targeting is declining
As the previous three trends suggest, keywords in the traditional sense are in decline. They are still a fundamental part of PPC search marketing, but as time goes on alternative ways of searching are becoming more popular. This trend will further shape PPC in 2025.
PPC platforms are responding to this by focusing less on keyword targeting and more on content relevance and context – consider Dynamic Search Ads, Google Shopping and Performance Max. None of these campaign types use keywords. Even the shift to using broad match and letting Google automatically find relevant searchers based on signals puts less emphasis on keywords.
Google Ads coach and Inside Google Ads founder Jyll Saskin Gales explains that “Keyword targeting is dead… a keyword today is only a signal about the types of queries you’d like to advertise on”. Jyll also predicts that more targeting will migrate to signals in 2025.
To continue to find success with PPC, advertisers need to adopt these new practices and update their strategy.
18. Demand for PPC experts
Even with advancements in automation, the complexity of managing PPC campaigns continues to grow. There are a lot of conflicting recommendations in the platforms themselves, as well as in online content and on sites like LinkedIn and X. This is making it tricky for businesses to know exactly what they should be doing to generate successful results.
This is placing more value on finding a PPC expert who knows how to navigate all of the changes, adopt the most optimal approach and optimize most appropriately. This will differ from one brand to the next.
The right mix of human insight and automated efficiency is crucial and we will likely see a rise in the demand for solid PPC expertise in 2025, and beyond.
Conclusion
The future of PPC demands agility, foresight, and a willingness to embrace new ways of working. All of these are non-negotiables when it comes to finding success in light of top PPC trends in 2025.