We hope you are in good health. Here are some of the major SEO news updates of the week you need to know:
Search Related Updates And News From Major Search Engines
News Related to Upcoming Core Web Vitals Update
This new Google algorithm update puts the main light on user experience. Three Core Web Vitals (CVW) metrics – Largest Contentful Paint, First Input Delay, and Cumulative Layout Shift – will assess critical elements of user experience, which include visual stability, loading experience, and interactivity.
Google Adds 3 Features For People Who Want to Travel Again
Google adds new features to help people plan their next trip as search trends show a renewed interest in travel. According to Google reports, searches for hotels reached a 10-year high in April 2021, as did a search for “where can I travel” and “travel restrictions by country.” In addition, Google adds more travel restriction details, like whether people need to quarantine upon arrival or proof of test results or immunization records.
Google’s Product Reviews Algorithm Update For Creators
Google says that the product reviews update is not a core update. But, in the announcement, it says that Google’s advice for core updates also applies to the product reviews update. Core updates are about Google taking a more qualitative look at a page or a site to determine its authority and relevancy.
Google Adds a New Feature to Report an Indexing Issue Directly to their Search Team
One can access this feature in the footer of the URL inspection help document and indexing coverage report document. Google is “currently piloting this in the US only, and it should be fully available in the US within a week or less,” the company said.
Google Drop Q&A on Google in Search Results
A Google spokesperson says that this will not impact the Google Question Hub feature, but this will impact the ability of users to contribute answers in Google Search when people submit their questions. Google says that users who submit answers will be notified to download their contributions via Google takeout.
Google Adds New Details To Robots.txt Specifications Document
Google adds new supporting details to the robots.txt specification document. Jamie Indigo explains that the latest additions include explicit details on the files for IDNs, IP addresses, and port numbered hostnames. Jamie posts the details on Twitter, saying, “Robots.txt docs are full of new delights”.
PPC Related Updates And News
Quick Match Rates Available For Customer Match Lists in Google Ads
When advertisers upload a customer list, Google will now display them the estimated match rate the company announced yesterday. Match rate data is available for previously uploaded customer lists as well. “Advertisers who uploaded two types of customer information saw an average list size expand of 28%, and with three types, they saw an increase of 35%.”
Google Ads Will Set a First-Party Cookie Through the Global Site Tag and Google Tag Manager
Google says it is taking steps toward protecting privacy, which means a heavier reliance on first-party data. Google further announces that they’ll be updating the global site tag and the Google Tag Manager to set a same-site cookie on advertisers’ web domains to help improve how conversions will be attributed back to ads.
Google Ads Earns Up 32%, And Microsoft Bing Ads Earns Up 17%
The Microsoft earnings release says, “search advertising revenue excluding traffic acquisition costs increased 17%.” Microsoft’s stock is down −6.08 (2.32%) in pre-market trading. On the Google side, Google notices a 32% lift from $33,763M in the Quarter Ended March 31, 2020, compared to $44,684M in the Quarter Ended March 31, 2021.
Google Releases a Latest Version of the Google Ads API
The Google Ads API will allow you programmatically interface with your Google Ads accounts so that you can automatically bring in reporting to your own stack or build in procedures to automate your ad creation, change your bids or bidding strategies and more. The API allows developers to interact directly with the Google Ads platform.
Social Media Updates And News
Pinterest Expands its Partnership with Shopify to 27 Additional Countries
Pinterest’s is expanding its partnership with Shopify worldwide, giving 1.7 million merchants the ability to turn products from their e-commerce store into shoppable pins. In addition to expanding its Pinterest app to 27 countries, Shopify is connecting support for multiple products feeds and the ability to market products via dynamic retargeting ads.
Instagram Announces New Ways for Creators to Make Money
Instagram plans to launch new features to help content creators earn multiple streams of revenue. Creators can generate income through Partnerships with brands, Selling merchandise and Recommending affiliate products. By keeping all revenue-earning activity within Instagram, the company can charge service fees.