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
Google Modifies Structured Data Requirements
Google has revised the criteria for reviewing structured data. Failure to adhere to Google’s structured data rules may result in a web page being ineligible for a rich result in search engine results pages (SERPs) for review relevant keyword searches.
Author Name in Google Review Snippets Must Be Less than 100 Characters
The author name of the reviewer must be fewer than 100 characters, according to Google’s review snippet structured data rules. According to Google, if it is more than 100 characters, your page will not be eligible for an author-based review snippet. The change to the documentation can be seen here, where Google noted under the author property, “The reviewer’s name must be valid. For example, “50% off until Saturday” is not a valid name for a reviewer.”
Led was Replaced with Owned in Google My Business Attributes
Previously, Google My Business categorized women-owned businesses as “women-led” and veteran-owned enterprises as “veteran-led.” Google has now synchronized them all by designating them as “owned.” As a result, they are now classified as Black-owned, Latino-owned, veteran-owned, and women-owned.
Google Has Updated the Criteria for Search Quality Raters
Google updated its search quality raters guidelines a year ago, and it has been updated again on 19th October – this time to expand on the YMYL category, clarify what constitutes lowest quality content, simplify the definition of upsetting-offensive, and the overall document has been refreshed and modernized with minor updates throughout. In truth, the previous document was a 175-page PDF, whereas the current one is just 172 pages.
PPC Related Updates And News
Microsoft Collaborates with Shopify to Help Retailers Increase Their Reach
According to the company’s recent release, “Shopify merchants can easily connect with shoppers on the Microsoft Search Network and Microsoft Audience Network with just a few clicks,” using the revised Microsoft Channel app. The Microsoft Channel app inside Shopify, which is now accessible in the United States and Canada, allows companies to appear automatically as product listings in the Microsoft Bing Shopping tab and the Microsoft Start Shopping tab for free.
Microsoft Clarity, the company’s free tool for helping website owners better analyze visitor behavior, will be linked with Microsoft Advertising as part of a trial program, the company revealed on Monday. Microsoft Clarity, which was first released as a closed beta in 2018, provides site owners with visual heat maps that illustrate user engagement, individual session replays, a dashboard to help them gain an overall understanding of user interactions, and filters to drill down on different types of interactions.
BigCommerce Has Been Added to Google’s Shopping Integrations
Google announced Thursday the launch of an interface with BigCommerce. Similar to Google’s prior announced integrations with Shopify, WooCommerce, GoDaddy, and Square, this agreement would allow BigCommerce merchants to advertise their items for free on Google, build ad campaigns, and monitor success analytics from their BigCommerce shop.
Social Media Updates And News
Facebook Has Introduced New Business Communication Tools
Facebook releases a slew of upgrades aimed at small companies, including audio and video chats in Messenger, live audio rooms, and other features. These changes arrive just in time for the holiday shopping season, which accounts for 20% of small firms’ yearly revenue.
YouTube SEO: Auto Chapters Are Now a Searchable Source of Metadata
In search, YouTube is now leveraging automatically produced chapters as a source of metadata. Previously, when ranking search results, only manually defined chapters were considered. This is a significant change for YouTube SEO practitioners since it can affect how your videos are ranked.
Instagram Collaborations: Join Forces to Increase Engagement
Instagram is releasing a new feature that allows users to share photos collaboratively as a “collab.” Each user receives engagement signals as a result of the collaboration. A Facebook official confirmed that the option to co-author material on Instagram for feed posts and Reels is being tested. Collabs provide a simple approach for users to reach new audiences while also developing ties with other producers.
Instagram Expands Business Demographic Insights
Businesses on Instagram now have access to demographic information on the people who see and interact with their content. Previously, Instagram Insights’ demographic analysis was limited to individuals who followed you. You can now view the demographics of every person you contact, regardless of whether they follow you or have ever interacted with your content.
The Most Recent Live Shopping and CTV Product Updates on YouTube
Tara Walpert Levy, Google VP of Brand and Agency Solutions, presented the newest live shopping and CTV product improvements from YouTube at Advertising Week New York. These announcements paint a clear picture of what’s to come in the world of streaming and commerce. In a post on the Google Ads & Commerce blog, Levy said that the epidemic accelerated both the moves to streaming and ecommerce.
“Facebook’s Aggregated Event Measurement is a protocol that allows online events from iOS 14 users to be measured.” According to Facebook’s help documentation, “Aggregated Event Measurement limits domains to 8 conversion events that can be prioritized for conversion optimization.” AEM assists marketers in determining and measuring the conversion activities that are most essential to them.
