For your daily dose of news, trends and updates related to the SEO, digital marketing, content marketing, PPC platforms and popular social networking sites.
Google’s Danny Sullivan affirmed that an algorithm update had taken this place last week. He stated-
“Our core algorithm is updated all the time. For major updates, we’ll continue to share about those on @searchliaison, as we have been. We haven’t had a major update of that nature, but we did have a smaller one this week.”
In a Google Webmaster Central Hangout last week, Google’s John Mueller suggested that website owners who have been affected by August core algorithm update should focus on content relevance. For dealing with such core algorithm updates, Mueller stated that it was not just about resolving specific issues. Instead, Google is more focused on the relevance of content to the queries of searchers.
On Tuesday Google announced that auctions conducted on search partner sites can utilize Smart Bidding rather than smart pricing once an advertiser has a conversion tracking set up.
Why is it important to you?
Google states that Smart Bidding can provide better performance since it includes contextual signals for optimizing bids for all auctions. Smart pricing, which has been utilized for manual bids for search partners, focuses on signals like keyboard lists or concepts which initiated the ad and the page type on which the ad was displayed.
In its 20th anniversary and future of search event, Google presented some new search features. While some of these features are new, some are either adaptions or expansions of already existing capabilities while some have either been borrowed or influenced by the products of competitors such as Snap and Instagram.
Ben Gem, VP of search presented a short historical overview of Google’s aim and methodology for organizing information. He then presented conceptual buckets shaping the next generation of search capabilities. These three “search shifts” are –
Back in 2016, Microsoft Bing embraced AMP to make searches faster, regardless of the device being used or the place you are in.
In a recent announcement Bing extended the released AMP viewer and Bing AMP Cache enabling AMP-enabled web pages to work directly from Bing’s mobile search results allowing Bing to provide faster mobile experiences to Bing users.
Bing has announced that it is closing down its anonymous submit URL tool which enabled anyone to submit any URL for submission within the Bing search index. Google closed down their public URL tool just a few months ago. Bing has stated that people can still utilize Bing Webmaster Tools in order to submit their own URLs.
Bing Ads has three AI-powered updates. These include performance insights, local recommendations, and a competition tab. Bing has mentioned that all these features are distinct to Bing Ads and are not provided by any other tools. The company has stated-
“Over the summer we spent time working with advertisers like you on three new capabilities which use AI and machine learning that to address needs that are currently unmet across the landscape of digital advertising tools.”
In an attempt to meet the needs of advertisers, these features aim at offering a collection of performance data and actionable insights.
In a recent announcement, Google rolled out the Shoppable Image Ads to facilitate the advertisers highlight their shopping ads on curated content from Google’s Publishing Partners. Google recently updated its Showcase Shopping Ads with Video functionality. While the previous retail search ads allowed multiple images for an ad, now the advertisers may use video(s) to make their ads look more attractive and help the shoppers discover better.
In a recent announcement Google moved Google partners feature to Google ads to provide a more stable and integrated experience. The Google Partners feature helps the users create and optimize ads that show up on the Google Search. Also enabling keyword strategy and budget planning. The feature, including badge status, have been moved to Google Ads, making the partners’ company badge and specialization status no longer available in the Google Partners account.
Facebook is helping advertisers in developing their holiday marketing strategies by coming up with new ad features in advance before the start of the season. Here is a summary of the new improvements which advertisers can utilize this holiday season.
New Overlays Specifically for Product Ads
Facebook is extending product ad overlays with new templates which are specifically designed for use in the holiday season. Now advertisers can utilize a Black Friday overlay for visual promotion of discounted products. Facebook states that there Black Friday and similar videos attracted more than 450 million views during Thanksgiving shopping weekend last year.
