Breaking Digital Marketing News
News 3/18/2024 to 3/22/2024
This week: Google's spam update is complete, TikTok rolls out a new program for Creators, and LinkedIn introduces a way to sponsor organic posts.
Here's what happened this week in digital marketing.
1. Google March 2024 Spam Update is Complete
Although the March 2024 core update is still happening, Google announced earlier this week that the March 2024 spam update rollout was completed.
Google introduced three new spam policies
- Scaled content abuse
- Expired domain abuse
- Site reputation abuse
The first two went into effect immediately following the update. The site reputation abuse will not go into effect until May to give users the chance to clean up their act.
Google is working hard to combat spam and create the best user experience possible.
2. Do High-Quality Web Pages Get Crawled More Often?
Yep. That’s according to Google’s Gary Illyes. In a recent podcast, Illyes gave some insight into the crawl budget concept.
He said that Google crawls web pages based on a couple of algorithms.
The first one is the scheduler. That tells the bot which pages to crawl.
But then there’s something else. It’s based on “feedback from search.”
“If search demand goes down, then that also correlates to the crawl limit going down,” Illyes said.
So pages that have high “search demand” (that is, high-quality pages) get crawled more often.
3. What’s the Latest With Advertising on Reddit?
It’s free-form ads. They look just like user-generated content on the platform.
Think of them as native ads for Reddit.
Reddit recently announced the new ad type in a blog post. The company calls it “one of the best formats to launch a product, introduce a brand to a new audience or share a seasonal shopping guide.”
Unsurprisingly, the new format also enables you to engage with people in your target audience on Reddit. You can turn your ad into what Redditors call a megathread.
Also, you can use free-form ads with multiple media types.
4. How Much Is SGE Costing Publishers?
About $2 billion. That’s according to a study published by Raptive.
Why? Because AI could trigger a decline of as much as 60% in search traffic. That means fewer clicks to your landing pages.
Raptive conducted the study by comparing Google’s current results with search generative experience (SGE) results for 1,000 of the company’s most popular keywords.
The research showed that some keywords showed no SGE results. However, others showed results that included links to Raptive websites.
Raptive calculated the loss based on those results. For its 5,000-site portfolio, the loss amounted to a 25% drop in search traffic.
5. How Is YouTube Handling AI Content?
According to a new announcement by the YouTube team, you’ll need to disclose AI-generated content in your videos.
A new UI feature in Creator Studio displays a checkbox with this text: “is altered or synthetic and seems real.” You have to check that box if your video includes content generated with the assistance of an AI tool.
YouTube will let viewers know that it’s not real footage.
However, YouTube says that AI-generated scripts and other production elements don’t require disclosure.
6. How Is TikTok Rewarding Successful Publishers?
TikTok just rolled out a Creator Rewards Program. It’s designed to reward successful publishers on the platform.
In the announcement, TikTok says that content creators will get rewarded based on four metrics:
- Originality
- Play duration
- Search value
- Audience engagement
Also, TikTok launched a Creator Search Insights tool. It gives you stats on trending search topics.
Use that tool to beef up the “search value” metric in your content.
7. Does Google Consider Content Published in Bulk As Spam?
Nope. And that’s good news if you crank out lots of content on a scheduled basis.
The subject came up this past week on X. Somebody asked Google’s John Mueller if publishing articles in bulk triggers a spam alert to Googlebot.
“Content is generally not considered spam just from the way that you publish it,” Mueller replied. “Some sites switch on a big batch of awesome content, and awesome is awesome. Some sites publish small amounts of junk, and well, it's junk not because of how it's published.”
8. Is the Maximum Length for Instagram Reels Going to Change?
It looks that way. According to a Threads post by Justin Jarvis, some Instagram users are seeing a popup informing them that they can create Reels up to 3 minutes in length.
The previous limit was 90 seconds.
Meta recently reported that Reels views are up 20% year-over-year.
9. What Are the Latest Stats for X Usage?
According to a series of posts on X, 250 million people use the platform every day.
Here are a few other key stats:
- On average, users spend 30 minutes a day on X
- Daily average user time spent on X has grown 13% YoY
- Mobile time spent increased 17% in the last 6 months
- X sees more than 8 billion daily active user minutes on average
- DAU minutes have increased 10% YoY
- 1.7 million people join X every day
X uses those stats to claim its platform is “indispensable.”
10. How Would You Like to Sponsor Organic Posts on LinkedIn?
LinkedIn just announced that you can now promote content from any user via Thought Leader ads.
In the past, you could only promote posts from verified employees.
According to LinkedIn, 73% of decision-makers say that a company’s thought-leadership content is more trustworthy than marketing materials when it comes to assessing that company’s core competencies.
You can set up Thought Leader ads from Campaign Manager.
Homework
Spring has sprung. But before you check out those blooming flowers, take care of these action items:
- If you’re in the B2B space, think about using Thought Leader ads. You might reach people you’d otherwise miss.
- If you’re using AI to generate video content, be sure to check the appropriate box on YouTube.
- Think about using Reddit “native ads” on a subreddit consisting of people in your target market.
- Think about how you can use longer Instagram Reels to boost your brand.
News 3/11/2024 to 3/15/2024
A ban on TikTok might be coming, there's a new Core Web Vitals update, and TikTok is celebrating International Women's Month. Here's what happened this week in digital marketing news.
1. TikTok Might Be Banned
The US House of Representatives voted Wednesday to pass a bill that could lead to a nationwide ban against TikTok, one of the world's most popular social media apps. It’s not yet clear what the future of the bill will be in the Senate.
Here's what you need to know about the vote and what may happen next:
- Who Voted for the Bill: The House vote was 352 to 65, with 50 Democrats and 15 Republicans voting in opposition. In a rare show of bipartisanship, the measure advanced unanimously out of the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, and President Joe Biden has said he would sign the bill if it makes it to his desk.
- Why the Bill Passed: Lawmakers supportive of the bill have argued TikTok poses a national security threat because the Chinese government could use its intelligence laws against TikTok's Chinese parent company, ByteDance, forcing it to hand over the data of US app users.
- What the Legislation Would Do: The bill would prohibit TikTok from US app stores unless the social media platform — used by roughly 170 million Americans — is spun off from ByteDance. The bill would give ByteDance roughly five months to sell TikTok. If not divested by that time, it would be illegal for app store operators such as Apple and Google to make it available for download.
- Uncertain Future in the Senate: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer remained uncommitted Wednesday to the next steps in the Senate, just saying that the chamber will review the legislation. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, and the panel’s top Republican, Marco Rubio of Florida, urged support for the House bill, citing the strong showing in Wednesday’s vote. Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell, the chair of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, wants to create a durable process that could apply to foreign entities beyond TikTok that might pose national security risks.
- What TikTok is Saying: TikTok has called the legislation an attack on the constitutional right to freedom of expression for its users. China’s foreign ministry called the bill an “act of bullying.” In a video posted on X (formerly Twitter), CEO Shou Chew thanked the community of TikTok users, and said the company has invested in keeping user "data safe and our platform free from outside manipulation." He warned that if the bill is signed into law, it will impact hundreds of thousands of American jobs and take "billions of dollars out of the pockets of creators and small businesses."
- Opposition to Banning TikTok: Former President Donald Trump, who was once a proponent of banning the platform, has since equivocated on his position, while Democrats are facing pressure from young progressives among whom TikTok remains a preferred social media platform.
- Potential Antitrust Issues: The market for social media services is highly concentrated, which could make it hard for TikTok to even find a buyer that US competition regulators could accept, antitrust experts say.
2. Access to Consumer Data is More Valuable Than Ever
With third-party cookies on the way out, access to customer data is more valuable to brands than ever.
Over half (59%) of US digital retailers say that gathering relevant customer data to deliver a more personalized experience is a primary concern or challenge for them in 2024, per a December 2023 survey from Bolt.
In addition, 37% of US brands and agencies say their greatest concern or challenge for media investments in 2024 is having enough first-party data for targeting, activation, etc., per a November 2023 report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
By leveraging loyalty programs, brands can collect first- and zero-party data.
3. What’s the Latest With Core Web Vitals?
This week, Google officially replaced one of its Core Web Vitals metrics.
As of Tuesday, March 12, First Input Delay (FID) gave way to Interaction to Next Paint (INP).
If you’re unfamiliar with INP, it measures a web page’s responsiveness. It checks the latency associated with user interactions.
Specifically, it improves the measurement of how quickly your website reacts to user interactions including:
- Clicks on interactive elements
- Taps on interactive elements on touchscreen devices
- The press of a key on a physical or onscreen keyboard
This update, by the way, has nothing to do with the ongoing core algorithm change.
4. What’s the Latest With That Google Algo Change?
The Google core algorithm update is still rolling out. So it’s difficult to assess the full impact as of now.
However, alongside that algorithm update, Google started dishing out manual actions against spammy websites.
Barry Schwartz aggregated the X posts of several webmasters who noticed that some of their low-quality sites got completely de-indexed.
“I’m seeing AI spam sites getting fully deindexed left and right right now,” said Gael Breton, who runs the Authority Hacker website.
Another strategist, who said he monitors a collection of “horrible spam sites,” noticed that most of them had been completely delisted.
5. Let’s Clarify: What’s With the Simultaneous Updates?
So, as I noted above, the Google Core Update and the Google Spam Update went out simultaneously. That’s leading some SEOs to ask: “Why would Google release two updates at once?”
But that question really stems from a false premise: manual actions aren’t an algorithmic update.
So says Google’s Search Liaison Danny Sullivan: “We do generally try to avoid [overlapping updates], but we had both the core update and the spam update ready, and ultimately, we're going to push updates we think will improve the quality of search results. Manual actions aren't an update. New spam policies aren't an algorithmic update. So those aren't ‘updates’ that ‘overlap’ with the core and spam updates.”
Lots of folks still remember 2022 when the Helpful Content update rolled out at the same time as the Core update. Google received lots of complaints at that time.
6. Does Google Think This Is a Great Time to Double-Down on AI Content?
No.
Over on Reddit, an SEO pointed out that he’s getting hit by the latest core update. He wants to know how others are dealing with it.
One commenter replied that he’s just going to post more content to make up for the lost traffic. But he’ll post that additional content with the assistance of AI.
“I hope you're making a joke, because this is a bad idea,” replied Google’s John Mueller. “Instead of digging deeper, I'd look around for ways to build something up. Maybe that means discarding the site and building up something for the long run.”
7. Does Google Use Core Web Vitals in Its Ranking Systems?
Yep.
That’s the latest after months, if not years, of confusion about the matter. You can read all about it in Google’s “Understanding page experience” document.
In the past, Google included this cryptic paragraph in that doc:
There are many aspects to page experience, including some listed on this page. While not all aspects may be directly used to inform ranking, they do generally align with success in search ranking and are worth attention.
That’s been replaced with this:
Core Web Vitals are used by our ranking systems. We recommend site owners achieve good Core Web Vitals for success with Search and to ensure a great user experience generally.
So yeah, pay attention to your Core Web Vitals scores.
8. Social Media Posts Are Added to Google Business Listings
Google added a new section within its business listings in Search, showcasing recent social media posts from connected profiles.
Business owners should connect the following accounts:
- YouTube
- TikTok
- And X
These previews will auto-populate and will help generate more interest in your products or services.
If your Google Business listings aren’t up to date, add your social profile links in to take full advantage of traffic.
9. Meta is Updating Advantage+ and Shopping Ads
Ready to improve your engagement, drive more conversions, and deliver personalized ads?
Meta wants to help you give consumers “the confidence to make a purchase after seeing an ad.” by bringing new updates to Advantage+ Shopping Ads.
Here’s how they’re doing it:
- Advantage+ Creative Optimizations: Automatically optimized video ads to fit a 9:16 ratio and generate multiple ad variations dynamically
- Advantage+ Catalog Ads Update: Include branded videos or customer interactions, not just static images
- Hero Images in Catalog Ads: Upload a hero image and Meta’s AI will show people the best products from their catalog to drive performance
- Ecommerce Ad Options: Expansion of the Magento and Salesforce Commerece Cloud integrate
- Reminder Ads: Incorporate external links to new products or sales
- Promo Codes: Alphanumeric promo codes to reduce cost per purchase and increase conversions
10. What New Tools Is Reddit Offering to Marketers?
This past week, Reddit announced a new toolkit designed to help businesses reach more customers on its platform.
The toolkit is called Reddit Pro. And, in spite of that “Pro” bit added to its name, the toolkit is offered free of charge.
Here’s what Reddit Pro brings to the table:
- AI-powered insights
- Performance Analytics
- Publishing tools
- A dashboard
You can also use Reddit Pro to promote organic posts as paid ads.
11. What’s the Latest With Microsoft Ads and Copilot?
Microsoft Ads quietly extended Copilot integration to more advertisers.
Thomas Eccel made the discovery recently and posted about it on X.
Search Engine Land reached out to Microsoft for more info. The company confirmed that more people now have access.
If you’re unfamiliar with Copilot, it’s a tool that uses AI to offer suggestions related to improving your ads. It can recommend images, headlines, and descriptions.
12. Are You Wasting Ad Dollars on ‘Made for Advertising’ Sites?
According to a new report by Adalytics, thousands of companies run ads on Made for Advertising (MFA) websites.
MFA websites generally offer little in terms of user experience or helpful content. They’re designed solely to line the pockets of the website owners.
According to Adalytics, brands can have their ads placed on MFA sites via the following supply-side platforms (SSPs):
- Criteo
- Smart AdServer
- OpenWeb
And the following demand-side platforms (DSPs) interacted with MFA inventory:
- Roku OneView
- Yahoo DSP
- Google DV360
Be careful out there.
13. What’s the Latest Guide From TikTok?
This time it’s a guide on how to reach women.
Undoubtedly, TikTok released the 15-page guide in connection with International Women’s Day (March 8).
As is the case with other TikTok guides, it’s packed with stats and facts to help you take your TikTok marketing to the next level. Assuming that women are part of your target market, of course.
TikTok also shared three key themes that businesses should consider when trying to reach women:
- How women are connecting on TikTok
- How women use TikTok to learn more about themselves
- What authenticity looks like to today’s women
The guide offers plenty of details on each of those three themes.
Homework
Before you enjoy that Guinness for St. Patrick’s Day, take care of these action items:
- Check to see if your ads are running on MFA websites. Take corrective action if necessary.
- Consider using Copilot with one of your Microsoft Ads campaigns and follow the recommendations. You might see better engagement.
- If you market your business on Reddit, take a look at Reddit Pro. It’s free.
- Keep an eye on your analytics to see how the latest Google updates are affecting your rankings.
- Take a look at that TikTok guide about marketing to women.
News 3/4/2024 to 3/8/2024
This week: OTT subscription revenues are on the rise, Google releases a new Core Algorithm update, and Performance Max Campaigns are officially available on Microsoft.
Here’s what happened this week in digital marketing.
1. OTT Subscription Revenues Are On The Rise
According to eMarketer, OTT will account for more than half (53.5%) of US video subscription revenues by 2025, when it will reach $71.92 billion, according to our December 2023 forecast.
Beyond the chart:
- US OTT subscription revenues (including digital pay TV services such as YouTube TV and Sling TV) are on track to overtake traditional pay TV subscription revenues in 2025 for the first time, per our forecast.
- Traditional pay TV subscription revenues will continue to decline through the end of our forecast period in 2027.
- OTT subscription revenue growth will slow to single digits next year, as streaming reaches a saturation point, with subscription OTT viewers accounting for nearly three-quarters (73.8%) of internet users this year.
2. What’s the Latest Google Algo Update?
This past week, Google announced a March 2024 core update.
For starters, the new algorithm reduces unhelpful, unoriginal content in search results. That includes lowering the rank of web pages that look like they were designed for search engines instead of people.
Next, the update also reduces spam. It enables Google to take “targeted action” against abusive practices.
Google also tackles “scaled content abuse” in the core update. That’s a way to combat websites filled with spun or AI-generated content that’s meant to rank instead of helping people.
Be sure to check out the announcement for all the updates.
3. Do You Want Your LinkedIn Posts to Last for Months?
According to a recent interview that Entrepreneur conducted with LinkedIn editor-in-chief Dan Roth and director of engineering Tim Jurka, some of your best LinkedIn posts could surface for weeks or even months.
As you probably know, social media feeds generally show recent content. But is that what they should do?
No, says Jurka. Not everybody needs the same content at the same time.
Accordingly, LinkedIn is working on something called suggested posts. It’s an algorithm that recognizes what users need to see and surfaces relevant posts in their timelines.
Even if those posts are months old.
People who post evergreen content for B2B customers should do very well once this feature rolls out.
4. Is Google Violating Its Own Rules?
According to a new article from AdWeek, Google is paying publishers to use its AI platform to rewrite news articles.
The AI tool is in beta right now. So you probably won’t have access to it.
According to the report, though, Google is requiring the publishers to post a fixed number of rewritten articles per day to earn payouts.
But is this really just plagiarism without direct copying? And doesn’t this violate Google’s own rule about not publishing AI-generated content?
Some folks have noticed the hypocrisy.
“The nightmare begins — Google is incentivizing the production of AI-generated slop,” wrote Brian Merchant on X. “If you are a news outlet that has accepted this meager deal, and especially if you are publishing AI-generated articles without disclaimers, you should be deeply ashamed.”
5. What’s in the Latest Guide from TikTok?
TikTok is on a roll these days, releasing one guide or report after another.
The latest, called TikTok Trends Digest, shares info about the latest trends on the platform.
Better yet: the guide will be updated monthly. So be sure to check it out regularly.
“When it comes to defining trends on TikTok, there’s a difference between what’s trending now and being on-trend: we refer to these as ‘Trend Moments’ versus ‘Trend Signals’,” explains TikTok. “Numerous small Trend Moments make up a larger Trend Signal. Focusing on Trend Moments can be a challenge as keeping up with trending content requires a high level of reactivity. On the other hand, Trend Signals represent a more accessible entry point for brands to stay on-trend by building a solid foundation and understanding of trending content.”
TikTok also identifies the four elements that make up a trend:
- Message
- Hashtags
- Sonic identity
- Visual narrative
Finally, the guide offers actionable insights into how you can use the trends to your benefit.
6. A New Way To Automate Your Google Ads Management
It’s called “Solutions.” Google announced the new feature as a way to automate the management of your Ads account.
According to the write-up, you can use Solutions to quickly generate campaign reports. You can also use it to automate simple management tasks.
Google identifies the following benefits of using Solutions:
- Ease of use
- Customization
- Efficiency
- Accuracy
You can get started with it today.
7. How Do SEOs Feel About Google These Days?
The thrill is gone, apparently.
According to a new survey by Barry Schwartz, almost 68% of SEOs said they like Google less now than they did before.
About 25% said they like Google the same.
And a paltry 6% said they like it more.
“It just seems Google is not the company some of us once loved,” Schwartz says.
8. What’s TikTok Engagement Look Like to Businesses?
According to a new report by RivalIQ, the current average engagement rate for brand content on TikTok stands at 2.63%.
But that’s about half of what it was a year ago (5.69%).
The RivalIQ report isn’t alone. Another report by Emplifi found that TikTok post interactions dropped 26% from their high-water mark in 2022.
Finally, SocialInsider also has data showing that the average engagement rate for TikTok clips dropped 35% during the past year.
9. Performance Max Campaigns Are Available Worldwide on Microsoft
It’s available globally.
Microsoft announced that Performance Max campaigns are available worldwide as of March 5.
If you’re unfamiliar with Performance Max, it’s an automated campaign strategy that will help you land more conversions. You set up the goals and provide the assets then let Microsoft’s AI handle the rest.
And it’s designed for multi-format, cross-channel optimization.
10. TikTok Rolls Out New Ecommerce Feature
TikTok just rolled out an “Identify Similar Products” setting. You can use it to identify objects in your videos via AI.
Then, you can highlight possible product matches. And purchase them in the app.
Apparently, TikTok has been working on the feature for some time. Bloomberg highlighted it last month.
It doesn’t appear to be available to everybody just yet, though.
Homework
Spring is almost here. So before the warm weather hits, take care of these action items:
- Consider using Microsoft Ads Performance Max to automate some of your marketing campaigns.
- And think about using Google Ads Solutions as well.
- If you’re into marketing on TikTok, check out that guide on trends. Then, see how you can use those trends to boost your brand.
- If you’re in the B2B space, consider posting more on LinkedIn. Some of your content could surface for months.
- Pay attention to your rankings with the latest Google algo update.
News 2/26/2024 to 3/1/2024
This week: Chrome has a new plugin that can help you write, YouTube stole another page from TikTok’s playbook, and we unveil the worst content management systems.
Here’s what happened this week in digital marketing.
1. Want to Be a Better Writer?
Google just launched a new AI feature for Chrome users.
It’s called “Help Me Write” and it lives up to its name.
Using Gemini, the tool generates text based on the context of the web page you’re visiting. As an example, Help Me Write will generate solid marketing copy from a description on a product detail page.
It’s even smart enough to extract key features if you’re writing a review.
If you’d like to get started with Help Me Write, just head over to the Experimental AI section of your browser settings.
The tool is only available for English-speaking users on Windows and Mac PCs.
2. Is a New Search Update Rolling Out?
That may be the case.
Barry Schwartz reported seeing significant volatility in rankings on Friday. He also noticed quite a bit of online chatter among folks in the SEO community.
SEMRush pegged search volatility at 9.2/10 this past week. That’s considered “Very High” and also very unusual.
SimilarWeb went to 79/100 and Mozcast to 121/140 in volatility measurements as well.
Excerpts from the chatter:
Speaking of, is anyone seeing some major shuffling going on in the SERPs today? It's a Friday so of course Google is playing around again.
USA traffic continues to be whacked...starting -70% today.
In my case, US traffic is almost zero (15 % from 80%) and the rest is kind of the same I guess. Traffic has dropped from 4K a day to barely scrapping 1K now. But a lot is just bots since payment-wise, the real traffic seems to be about 400-500. And ... that's how a 90% reduction looks like.
By Sunday, everything had calmed down.
3. Who Decides Which Old Content Is Helpful?
You do.
In a recent Reddit thread, a questioner asked about a website that has plenty of old politics-related articles that are just 200 words. He said that they don’t get any traffic and they’re not relevant today.
He wanted to know if they’d cause overall site quality issues.
Google’s John Mueller chimed in as follows: “There is no upper / lower word count limit or target, so what's useful & helpful content is up to you to decide... You could also take a hybrid approach and move them into an archive section, make the section noindex, and let people still find the content through internal search (which also lets you see in metrics if the content is - on aggregate - still considered useful by your regular users).”
4. Will Google Ever Get Better at Rewarding Smaller Websites?
The company promises to do so.
This past week on X, HouseFresh.com CEO Gisele Navarro posted plenty of evidence about how bigger websites know all about the best air purifiers, cooling sheets, gifts for moms, and more.
At least, according to Google, they know all about those subjects because they consistently rank at the top of the search results.
After seeing the receipt-filled thread, Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan chimed in and said that he passed her concerns on to the Search team saying that he’d also like to see more diversity in the results list.
He also said that simply making a claim about a “rigorous testing process” and following an E-E-A-T checklist won’t guarantee a top ranking.
5. What Is YouTube Stealing From TikTok Now?
It’s called YouTube Collab. And it’s the same thing as TikTok Duets.
YouTube announced the Collab rollout this past week.
“Now, in addition to remixing with Green Screen and Cut, you can use Collab to record a Short in a side-by-side/split-screen format with eligible long-form videos and Shorts,” the announcement said.
Just select Collab from the Remix icon when viewing a video to get the ball rolling.
6. What’s the Latest Helpful Advice from Google?
Google just released a new video providing lots of great info about how Google Search crawls pages.
It’s hosted by Gary Illyes, a Google analyst who’s an expert on the subject.
In the video, Illyes highlights the importance of using sitemaps. If you’re unfamiliar with sitemaps, they’re XML files that make it easier for Googlebot to crawl the site and identify new content.
Illyes also advises website owners to make use of internal linking, ensure that pages load quickly, and avoid crawl budget exhaustion.
7. Which CMSs Show the Best Improvements in Core Web Vitals?
A new report highlights the Core Web Vitals improvements of six major content management systems (CMS).
Core Web Vitals, in a nutshell, is a set of metrics used to gauge the user-friendliness of web pages. It’s focused primarily on load times.
The report focused on how well the various CMSs performed in 2023.
Duda wins the grand prize with a whopping 76% of its websites showing good CWV scores.
Here’s how the rest of the pack fared:
- Wix (58.75%)
- Drupal (56.5%)
- Squarespace (54%)
- Joomla (46.26%)
- WordPress (39%)
Although WordPress finished last, the stats show that it’s improving noticeably.
8. What’s the Latest With Google Ads?
Google just announced the release of Google Ads API v16.
The new version:
- Adds new recommendation types
- Includes the ability to generate recommendations based on your settings
- Supports time-related segments
- Adds support for advertiser verification
In addition to other new features.
Keep in mind: to use some of the new features, you’ll need to upgrade your client libraries and client code.
Homework
Since you enjoyed a longer-than-usual February, you should have time to take care of these action items:
- If you’re using Google Ads API, take a look at that new version and understand all the latest features.
- Check out that new video on how Google crawls sites. You might learn something you didn’t know even if you’re a seasoned SEO.
- Think about how you can use YouTube Collab to promote your business in video.
- Consider using Help Me Write to become a better writer.
News 2/19/2024 to 2/23/2024
This week: Google offers pointers on how to diagnose ranking drops, YouTube rolls out a few new features, and WordPress users aren’t as happy as they used to be.
Here’s what happened this week in digital marketing.
1. Improvements to Performance Max Campaigns with New AI Features
Google is bringing Gemini models to Performance Max to help you build high-quality assets for your ads.
Back in November 2023, Google announced the launch of AI-powered asset generation and image editing.
Now, Google Gemini will be able to
- Generate copy for long headlines and sitelinks
- Add backgrounds that feature people
- Create new image options similar to successful ones
Moving forward, Google says asset quality and variety will be more important in determining the strength of your ads.
2. How Does Google Want You to Diagnose Ranking Drops?
Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, recently offered some pointers on what to do if your rankings drop.
Here’s the 5-point plan:
- Use Search Console to check Search Results from Performance
- Compare the last 6 months to the previous period
- Sort the report by Clicks Difference
- Look at the queries where clicks dropped the most
- See if you’re still in the top results
If you are still in the top results, Sullivan says that there’s probably no corrective action needed on your part.
He also went on to say that Google is always improving its ranking systems. That will account for some fluctuations.
3. SEO Study Finds New Correlations With Winning Websites
Next up, another interesting SEO study. Zyppy SEO did an analysis of 50 websites and found some strong correlations between features found on websites and Google algorithm update winners and losers.
Let’s remember, correlation does not equal causation, but there were some interesting findings.
Google update winners. Five websites features had a “strong” correlation among winners during Google algorithm updates:
- Usage of first-person pronouns (e.g., “me,” “I,” “we”). This was based on analyzing the first 1,000 words of text.
- Demonstrated first-hand experience. This was done either via description within the text or unique imagery or video content.
- Display of a cookie consent banner.
- Contact information appeared in the footer.
- Contact information appeared somewhere on the page but not the footer.
What do these all have in common? It all comes back to experience and, ultimately, credibility, which are both important factors Google wants to award.
4. Are WordPress Users Satisfied?
Some of them are. But an increasing number aren’t.
According to the annual WordPress survey, 63% of WordPress users agree that it’s better than other content management systems. But that’s a drop from 68% in the previous year.
The survey also asked users about the three best features of WordPress. The answer showed declines in:
- Ease of use
- Flexibility
- Cost
- Block themes
When respondents were asked to choose the most frustrating things about WordPress, they answered:
- Too many plugins
- Site editing experience
- Security
- Performance
Of all the things that need more attention, WordPress users chose performance as the top item.
5. Which Website Shows up Quite a Bit in Google Product Review Searches?
Surprisingly, Reddit.
According to a new study by Detailed where they analyzed 10 thousand product review-related queries, Reddit showed up a whopping 97.5% of the time in “discussions and forums” serp feature, and on average had 1.9 of three possible listings.
Reddit, for its part, calls the Detailed report “flawed and misleading.” But the company also said that it’s got plenty of legitimate reviews in subreddits so it’s understandable that Google would link to those threads.
6. And Speaking of Reddit, Google’s Announced an Expanding Partnership
Google is reportedly paying Reddit $60 million per year to train its artificial intelligence models (e.g., Gemini).
The search engine now has access to Reddit’s API, delivering real-time content from the platform.
This API integration will give Google access to fresher, more comprehensible information, helping users better understand Reddit content.
Google makes it clear that this new integration will not change the use of publicly available, crawlable content for indexing, training, or display within Google products.
Why we care. Reddit was already facing backlash among SEOs because Google appears to be favoring the platform in the Discussions and forums SERP feature. Reddit is even outranking original sources of content in some instances.
7. What Are the Latest Features Added to YouTube?
YouTube just announced three new features.
First up: product tagging in live streams. And when you tag products in live streams, YouTube will display a “Shopping” button so viewers can make a purchase.
Next: post only feeds. This is a way for Android and iOS users to display posts from channels you’ve interacted with in the past.
Finally, there’s Mobile video and Shorts uploads. Use that to complete the upload process entirely within the Studio mobile app.
8. What’s the Latest in Structured Data?
Google just announced that it’s offering support for product variants in structured data.
This will allow merchants to easily show more variations of the products they sell, and show shoppers more relevant, helpful results.
Providing variant structured data will also complement and enhance merchant center feeds, including automated feeds.
Specifically, you have access to three new properties:
- hasVariant - use it to nest product variants under the parent ProductGroup
- variesBy - lists the variant properties (like color and size)
- productGroupID - also known as the “parent SKU”
The new properties are also supported in the Rich Results testing tool.
9. Want Some Creative Pointers for TikTok?
If so, then you’re in luck. A new guide offers 34 pages worth of creative insights for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
The guide is split into three segments:
- Ideation
- Production
- Optimization
Each section not only offers helpful pointers but also links to TikTok tools that offer assistance.
And there are also some key tips to help you get the most out of the platform. For example, a section that tells you how to maximize impact within the first 3-6 seconds of the video.
You’ll need to provide an email address if you want to download the whole guide.
10. Want a Hack on How to Avoid Paying Apple Fees for Boosted Posts on Meta?
Meta just announced a way that you can avoid paying Apple fees for boosted posts on its platform.
In case you missed the news, Apple is now charging a 30% service fee on boosted posts purchased in the app.
So if you want to avoid that fee, just head over to your desktop and run the campaign from facebook.com.
Alternatively, you can go to instagram.com as well.
In fact, if you go to the website instead of the app even on a mobile platform you’ll avoid paying the fee.
11. What’s the Latest Threat to Google’s Search Dominance?
It’s OpenAI.
According to a recent report, OpenAI is working on a web search product powered in part by Microsoft Bing.
And that makes sense because OpenAI already has a web crawler: GPTBot. Further, Bing uses GPT-4 for search.
But will it prove strong enough to give Google a run for its money? History says no. Time will tell.
Homework
As we head into the last month of winter, take time to review each of these action items:
- If you want to run boosted posts on Meta, make sure you avoid the 30% Apple surcharge by going to the website instead of the app.
- Take a look at those creative pointers for TikTok. Even if you’re not into marketing on TikTok, you’ll find valuable advice for marketing in general.
- If you’re running an ecommerce site with product variants, use that product variant structured data.
- If you haven’t yet moved to GA4, do so yesterday.
- Follow Google’s advice on diagnosing ranking drops.