Finally, there is an online advertising platform specifically designed to support small and local businesses that are looking to run search and other types of ads online.  

Google launched Smart Campaigns on Wednesday under the new Google Ads brand to help smaller companies and local businesses capitalize from online advertising and create “ads within minutes.”

The platform defaults into the Smart Campaigns for new advertisers. The campaigns are nearly entirely automated, from ad creatives to delivery optimization, and are based on the product or the service being advertised and the key performance indicators the advertiser sets such as tracking phone calls and website visits.

It seems simple to create tools for smaller businesses owners who may not have the knowledge to use Google Ads, formerly Google AdWords. In reality, this platform likely needed much more automation and artificial intelligence than any others that Google’s development team built because the campaigns are almost entirely automated, from creating ads to optimization based on products or services advertised.

Later this year, to support Smart Campaigns, Google will launch Image Picker, which allows advertisers to pick the top three images from a list of suggestions or upload their own. The platform also will let advertisers test a combination of the text and images to determine the results before the ad goes live online.