FLoC testing hits a snag in Europe; Wednesday’s daily brief
And, which is more difficult for brands, being authentic or conveying authenticity?
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YouTube experiments with automated lists of products detected in videos
Plus, enabling YouTube video playback directly within Twitter may help content creators get more views.
Zero-click Google searches rose to nearly 65% in 2020
Efforts to regulate Google aren’t making a dent. And, the pandemic may have resulted in greater overall search volume, but zero-click searches may rise even further as people become more mobile.
Why the FTC didn’t sue Google in 2013; Wednesday’s daily brief
Plus, everything we know about FLoC, and some good ole marketing humor.
FLoC is coming — Here’s what we know so far
Google has positioned its third-party cookie replacement squarely between advertisers and users, and both sides are worried.
Has automation actually changed the way you do your job?; Wednesday’s daily brief
Plus, Google goes organic with its hotel search listings
Google Ads mobile app adds custom and performance insights notifications
The updates can help advertisers keep tabs on the metrics that are important to them and notify them of significant performance changes.
Google will not build or use alternate identifiers to track users across the web
Google reiterated that its products will use Federated Learning of Cohorts to enable advertisers to target audiences.
Google adds familiar face as Ads Product Liaison; Wednesday’s daily brief
Plus, advice from European PPC pros on how to navigate Maryland’s new ads tax
Maryland’s ad tax is here, and advertisers should look to their European counterparts for how to deal with it
Last year, Google passed digital service taxes onto advertisers in the UK, Turkey and Austria, and it’s likely to do the same in the U.S. as well.
Ginny Marvin joins Google as its new Ads Product Liaison
In her new role, the veteran PPC journalist and former Third Door Media editor-in-chief will be helping marketers learn about Google Ads’ products and policies.
How to identify your products for Google
Manufacturers, retailers and publishers should use structured data and provide an accurate GTIN whenever possible.
Google set to deprecate Showcase Shopping ads on April 1
Previous Showcase Shopping ad layouts will be included in Product Shopping ad groups.
A few pointers from the pros during SMX Report; Wednesday’s daily brief
Plus, Google extends deadline for Partner Program requirements and Yelp releases new features to address new consumer behaviors.
Yelp’s Waitlist, analytics and POS updates aim to address shifting consumer preferences
Waitlist now supports takeout orders, and enhanced analytics may help managers evaluate how their restaurants are performing
Google brings Display ads to attribution reports as an open beta
Now, advertisers can see Display ads alongside search and YouTube.
Your thoughts on Google paying to link to news publishers; Wednesday’s daily brief
Plus, breaking down President Biden’s social media strategy
Google’s search choice screen had virtually no effect on search market share, perhaps by design
Auction participants say the model favors ad-heavy search engines and redirects their profits to Google.
Google might have to subsidize journalism, but not like this…; Wednesday’s daily brief
Plus, Microsoft is replacing CPC with eCPC by the end of April.
Google’s updated phrase match simplifies keywords and worries advertisers
What advertisers are gaining and losing under the new treatment, and what they can do to prepare for the rollout.
Google expands phrase match to include broad match modifier traffic
Broad match modifier will be phased out as part of the change.
Australia’s showdown with Google has profound implications for domestic businesses and other digital platforms
The proposed legislation could create an untenable position for search engines in Australia, and Google’s threat to shut down search could affect traffic and domestic businesses across sectors.
SEO community mourns Hamlet Batista, advocate for automation in SEO and beloved friend
RankSense’s Maura Loew shares what it was like to work with Hamlet as we reflect on his career and contributions to the community.
Contextual links in featured snippets may present new opportunities and risks
The change has SEOs questioning which sites will win and which will lose, but one thing is certain: Nobody is going to stop optimizing for featured snippets.
DuckDuckGo’s focus on privacy-minded users pushes it past 100 million searches in a single day
Although it’s a long way from being a Google competitor, DuckDuckGo’s business model may serve as a playbook for new search engines.
Halting campaigns shouldn’t be your only brand safety precaution
After the storming of the Capitol, some brands are going dark with their social media ads, but a rapid response workflow and diversifying channels can help them continue to drive business.
Selecting better KPIs for your business: What to consider and how to bolster your most important metric
It all comes down to what stage your business is at, its goals, and identifying the supporting metrics that can help you get there.
The Auction Insights Visualizer can turn your data tables into useful charts
The free, third-party tool can help you better understand how competitor behavior has changed over time.
SEO year in review 2020: COVID forces platforms to adapt their local and e-commerce offerings, and more
Even a pandemic couldn’t slow down developments in the search industry. Here’s our recap of the year’s most important stories and news.
Biased language models can result from internet training data
The controversy around AI researcher Timnit Gebru’s exit from Google, and what biased language models may mean for the search industry.
PPC 2020 in review: COVID leaves its mark on e-commerce and paid search
Platforms pivoted to accommodate advertising during a crisis and automation continued to be at the heart of paid search changes.
Google accused of colluding with Facebook and abusing monopoly power in new lawsuit
The lawsuit, filed by 10 state attorneys general, claims that Google made a deal with Facebook to curtail header bidding so that it could continue to dominate the online ad space.
Google uses augmented reality to let users try on cosmetics
Google will also be showing product recommendations from influencers in the mobile Google Shopping section and Discover feed.
What would it take for new search engines to succeed?
Neeva and You.com seek to pick up segments of users overlooked by Google, and with shifting user preferences and increased governmental scrutiny, there might be an opportunity.
Google: Page experience signals for ranking apply only to mobile
A new FAQ page answers questions about ranking, various site architectures, AMP and more.
Google’s new holiday gift guide is built to send users to Google Shopping results
The new microsite may help marketers get more exposure for their organic Google Shopping listings.
What to evaluate ahead of Google’s Page Experience update
The content you’re competing against, the AMP option, your organization’s resources and business requirements are all part of the decision.
How to get the most out of Google’s product Knowledge Panels
What manufacturers and retailers need to know to take advantage of product Knowledge Panels in search.
Microsoft Clarity, the company’s tool for visualizing user experience, is out of beta
The tool provides site owners with visual heatmaps, session playbacks, filters and metrics to help them improve their user experience.
What passage indexing and natural language processing mean for the future of SEO
Google’s recent updates provide SEOs with more freedom to focus on users instead of bots.