SearchCap: Google hotel ads, Bing testing icon, reviews impact ranking & more

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 Posts adds ‘call now’ button
  Jul 12, 2018 by Barry Schwartz
  The new option within Google My Business lets you include your phone number as a call to action.
• Google brings Hotel Ads into the Google Ads platform, updates feed management hub
  Jul 12, 2018 by Ginny Marvin
  A new Hotel Ads campaign type is currently in beta.
• Google shows ‘People also search for’ suggestions in ad results, too
  Jul 12, 2018 by Ginny Marvin
  The feature has been showing in paid search results for several months.
• Do Google reviews impact local ranking?
  Jul 12, 2018 by Joy Hawkins
  Based on her research, contributor Joy Hawkins thinks reviews may play some part in how a local page ranks. Here is a case study that shows her findings.
• Ex-Googler John Giannandrea takes charge of Siri
  Jul 12, 2018 by Greg Sterling
  Apple has merged Siri and its machine learning groups under Giannandrea’s leadership.
• Bing is testing an ‘open in new window’ icon in the search results
  Jul 12, 2018 by Barry Schwartz
  While you can set your search settings to open all search results in a new window, Bing is testing an icon that lets you do that for each individual search result.

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

• You’ll love what the MarTech agenda has to offer
  Jul 12, 2018 by Marketing Land
  Come join the community of marketing leaders who are harnessing the marketing, technology and management trinity to drive digital transformation and achieve results. At MarTech®, you’ll get 55+ sessions, presentations and keynotes featuring more than 30 experts, product demos from dozens of vendors, structured and unstructured networking and much more.

• Twitter testing Promoted Trend Spotlight ads that give brands space atop the Explore tab
  Jul 12, 2018 by Amy Gesenhues
  Disney is the first advertiser to launch a campaign using the new ad unit.
• Where will Facebook’s growth come from? Instagram
  Jul 12, 2018 by Brian Handly
  Contributor Brian Handly shares research that reveals the surprising sophistication SMBs are employing in their advertising on Instagram.
• YouTube’s Copyright Match Tool finds videos uploaded without the creator’s permission
  Jul 12, 2018 by Amy Gesenhues
  The first batch of creators to get access to the new tool will be limited to channels with more than 100,000 subscribers.
• IBM, Mediaocean announce blockchain consortium to tackle what’s wrong with ad tech
  Jul 12, 2018 by Barry Levine
  The effort, expected to launch by the end of this year, will track transactions on real-time programmatic platforms.
• Facebook receives $664,000 UK privacy fine, which could have been $1.9B under GDPR
  Jul 12, 2018 by Greg Sterling
  A US FTC investigation could also bring billions more in potential penalties.
• Twitter is removing locked accounts from follower counts
  Jul 11, 2018 by Amy Gesenhues
  The company says most users will see a slight change in follower numbers, but users with a large number of followers may see a more significant drop.
• SMX Advanced 2018 Session Recap: Maximizing the Impact of Online Video Ads
  Jul 11, 2018 by Joe Martinez
  Thinking about adding video advertising to your marketing mix? Contributor Joe Martinez shares the video marketing tips he picked up from the Online Video Ads session at SMX Advanced.
• Facebook to begin testing new ‘Highlights’ feature that lets users save Stories
  Jul 11, 2018 by Amy Gesenhues
  Facebook’s Stories Highlights will display as a horizontal scroll bar on a user’s profile.

Search News From Around The Web:

• 11 Big Changes Coming to Google Ads: What You Need to Know, Wordstream
• 5 Tips for Back to School PPC Campaigns, PPC
• Can Negative Brand Mentions Affect Your Website’s SEO & Rankings?, CognitiveSEO
• Do Your Google Keyword Rankings Suck? Do This., GotchSEO
• Google Confirms Chrome Usage Data Used to Measure Site Speed, Moz
• Learn How to Improve Your Landing Page Experience Factor for Better Quality Scores, Adalysis
• The 6 Types of Reviewer (and How To Deal With Them!), BrightLocal

Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author

Debra Mastaler

Debra Mastaler is an internationally recognized authority on link building and is an OMCP Certified Link Building Trainer. Based in Washington DC, Debra is also a columnist for Search Engine Land, has written for or been featured in numerous tech publications and is active on the search marketing conference circuit as a speaker and trainer. Debra serves as a judge for the Landy Awards and is the President of Alliance-Link.com. Connect with Debra on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay in touch.