SEO 2021 in review: Endless updates, title rewrites, GMB becomes GBP and more
Despite facing a still-raging pandemic and a slew of updates, SEOs rose to the challenge. Here’s our recap of the year’s most important SEO stories and news.
Google Shopping is a service that lets users search for products online and compare prices.
Vendors can list products for free, with additional paid advertising options available. Product results are ranked based on relevancy, quality and spend (for sponsored listings).
Google Shopping was formerly known as Google Product Search until taking its current name in 2012.
We invite you to read our guides and tips for using Google Shopping, along with the latest news and feature updates.
Despite facing a still-raging pandemic and a slew of updates, SEOs rose to the challenge. Here’s our recap of the year’s most important SEO stories and news.
From the deprecation of broad match modified keywords to FLoC to RSAs becoming the default, PPC professionals dealt with a lot of change in 2021.
The new Competitive visibility report can help merchants get a more defined view of their reach across Shopping ads and free listings, who their competitors are and how visible their offers are compared to their competitors.
Merchants no longer have to manually figure out which badge is being applied to each of their items.
New Google Merchant Center policy now allows you to list your at-home results or lab results and over-the-counter test kits in both free and paid Google Shopping.
The bug was between 6pm PST on Friday Nov 12 through 3am PST Saturday, Nov 13.
Brands can now make any Video campaign more shoppable without having to create a separate Trueview for shopping campaign.
How to optimize the work you’ve been doing year-round and what to avoid ahead of the most profitable time of the year.
The company is expanding areas in its search results where deals can appear and making it easier for smaller retailers to showcase their promotions.
Plus, the secret to managing people is less management and more peopling
Instead of removal from Google Search, your products may still show up but the performance will be limited.
And holiday sales will break a new record as Cyber Week growth slows down.
Google now has integrations to show free product listings for GoDaddy, Shopify, Square, WooCommerce and BigCommerce merchants.
Health insurance ad formats for Microsoft Advertising...
Plus, why basic questions about search marketing never go out of style.
Plus, the case for zero-party data as we approach the end of third-party cookies.
While MUM was the highlight of the Google Search On event, more search changes were announced — some might generate a lot of interest for search marketers.
The new guide from Google gives e-commerce SEOs documentation they can take to clients and stakeholders to get their recommendations implemented.
Plus, Instagram tests ‘Map Search’ and last-minute holiday shopping SEO tips.
Plus more on Google search-related changes that you may have missed.
Starting on September 15, 2021, Google said it will begin to enforce the requirement of products having unique product identifiers in the merchant feeds for free listings.
Also Google said HTML title tags still used for ranking purposes.
Plus, the latest trends in local search: personalization and depth of content
From actionables to high-quality PPC management
Also Google Shopping bug and Google Ads campaign set up screen.
If your accounts or campaigns have been affected by this issue, it's critical to communicate to clients and stakeholders that this change is a glitch in their metrics, and not indicative of other issues.
There is no single tactic that works in isolation. The SERP is so highly dynamic at the moment, that aiming for, or banking on a single part of the SERP is likely to leave you vulnerable to traffic disruption if/when things evolve.
Conversion rate is a great indicator of the relevance of your product to the search terms it appears for.
Also, Target impression share in Microsoft Advertising grows.
More than 50% of North American back-to-school shoppers say they’ll check for in-store inventory online before heading to a store, according to Google.
Learn how top retailers have leveraged the rise of Google Shopping in search marketing, driving increased online sales.
And, PPC pros, say goodbye to the standalone Maximize conversions and Maximize conversion value strategies.
Promotions uploaded via Google Merchant Center are automatically surfaced to shoppers, regardless of whether the merchant advertises on Google.
Search Console changed how you debug some AMP URLs.
This Google integration means small retailers on GoDaddy will be able to reach an even wider audience to sell their products and services.
Plus, Broad Match Modifier goes away in July
Also, non-AMP content now in top stories carousel.
Google Merchant Center has a new policy for Inaccurate availability due to inconsistent availability between the landing page and checkout pages on your website.
Plus, tips for choosing the right event to speak at.
The integration with shopping partners like Woocommerce makes it even easier for retail and commerce partners to reach increased audience across Google's properties.