SearchCap: Cortana For iOS & Android, Google AdWords Reports & AMP Ranking Boost

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

• Google Now Taking Sign-Ups For AdWords iOS App Beta
  Dec 9, 2015 by Ginny Marvin
  Advertisers can apply now to start testing the iOS version of Google’s AdWords app.

• Google “Play Dreidel” Search Returns Digital Version Of Hanukkah Spinning Toy
  Dec 9, 2015 by Amy Gesenhues
  Skipping usual holiday-related search decorations this year, Google created a digital dreidel and Santa Tracker to show its holiday spirit.

• Setting Up Google Analytics Enhanced Ecommerce Using Google Tag Manager: A Step-By-Step Guide
  Dec 9, 2015 by Digital Marketing Depot
  Learn how GA Enhanced Ecommerce can help you understand user behavior from promotional impression to purchase. Get insight into how visitors first find products on your site, how many items they add or remove from the cart before checkout, and which product suggestions are effective. This guide from MoreVisibility will show you how to measure […]

• Google+ Follower Counts In Search Ads Sunset
  Dec 9, 2015 by Ginny Marvin
  Social ad extensions will no longer show in AdWords text ads.

• Google Search Will Integrate AMP Pages In Feb. 2016, May Get Ranking Boost
  Dec 9, 2015 by Greg Sterling
  Fast-loading pages using the AMP format will arrive early next year, may be designated as “Fast” in search results.

• Google Adds Reporting Features For AdWords Flexible Bid Strategies
  Dec 9, 2015 by Ginny Marvin
  Updates offer status annotations for flexible bid strategies, more performance reporting.

• Microsoft’s Cortana Digital Assistant Comes To iOS & Android
  Dec 9, 2015 by Danny Sullivan
  On non-Windows devices, Cortana is more limited in functionality and predictions.

• New Insights: The Consumer Journey For Electronics
  Dec 9, 2015 by John Cosley
  What does the path to purchase look like for those making major electronics purchases? Columnist John Cosley of Microsoft shares key insights from the company’s research on the topic.

• Six Steps To AdWords Conversion Tracking Bliss
  Dec 9, 2015 by Matt Lawson
  Conversions in AdWords have evolved a lot in recent months. Columnist and Googler Matt Lawson covers what you need to do to take full advantage.

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• CampaignChain Launches Its Open Source “Cockpit For Digital Marketing”
• Google Touts “AMP” Momentum: We See 16,000 New Pages Each Day
• Facebook Bows To Publishers, Will Serve More Ads In Instant Articles
• 41 Loyalty Marketing Ideas
• How To Have A Great Relationship With Your Link Builder
• Thanksgiving Weekend 2015: The Stats That Mattered
• TrueView For Shopping: Making YouTube The Next Big Shopping Destination
• Site Redesign & Migration Tips To Avoid SEO & UX Disasters
• Airbnb Voted No. 1 Best Place To Work On Glassdoor’s Annual List Of Top Employers
• AdSense Mobile Text Ads Get Another Facelift
• How To Get Google Review Links After The G+ Update
• Stop Using Desktop Conversions For Mobile Search: 6 Strategies To Help Drive Mobile Calls
• 4 Questions Marketers Must Answer To Extend Holiday Sales Success
• Email Deliverability Requires New Solutions To Old Problems In 2016
• MarTech Today: Emotion Tracking, Email Facial Recognition & Updated TrustRadius
• Yahoo Announces It Will Spin Out Main Business Rather Than Alibaba Assets
• Top 10 YouTube Ads Of 2015: Clash Of Clans Ranks No. 1, But Mobile Is The Big Winner
• TV’s Top Twitter Moments Of 2015: Kanye, Super Bowl & The Walking Dead
• Oracle’s Responsys Adds Machine Learning-Driven Personalization Via Boomtrain Integration
• Forecast: Digital Spending To Surpass TV In US Next Year, Globally By 2017
• Pinterest Acquires The Hunt & Pext To Boost Ad Tech, Commerce

Search News From Around The Web:

Link Building

• How to do a 30 Second Manual Website Audit, semrush.com

Searching

• Search Challenge (12/9/15): How often do we write… this?, SearchReSearch

SEO

• A week after the hijacked search results, Medium
• Google: Videos On The Hottest New Site Technology; Accelerated Mobile Pages, Search Engine Roundtable
• Large Influx Of Google Manual Actions This Week?, Search Engine Roundtable
• No Brainer Tip: Spamming Google, Don’t Put All Your Sites In One Search Console Account, Search Engine Roundtable
• SEO Trends 2016: 44 Experts On The Future Of Organic Search Success, momentology
• What happened to my rankings!?, Yoast

SEM / Paid Search

• Advanced AdWords Budget Script, PPC Hero
• Digital Content Next Research Indicates 33% of Consumers Likely to Try Ad Blocking Software in Next Three Month, Digital Content Next
• Google AdWords To Enable AdWords Account Names Consistency In January 2016, Search Engine Roundtable