Daily Minute Master Series – September 5, 2019
Social Media
YouTube Announces Changes to Data Collection and Ad Targeting on Videos Aimed at Children
YouTube has announced a range of new measures to better protect children using its platform, reducing data collection on content aimed at kids, and the capacity for advertisers to target young viewers through ads on such content. These are significant changes, both for advertisers and content creators. Now, brands looking to reach younger users will not have access to the same levels of data they’ve had up till now, while for creators, losing notifications will likely be a blow to their awareness efforts. The noted four-month threshold is designed to give creators and marketers time to adjust their strategies in turn, but even with that lead time, the changes will be big. That said, they are likely necessary, given reports of how YouTube’s systems have been misused in this respect.
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Facebook Releases New White Paper on Considerations for Increased Data Portability
Facebook has released a new white paper on the challenges of data portability as it looks to establish a better way forward to provide choice for consumers who wish to take their information to another platform. Data portability has become a more significant consideration of late, with Facebook coming under more scrutiny over how it operates, and keeps users locked into its network. In alignment with existing regulations, and the shift towards portability, Facebook’s white paper outlines the various challenges in detail, seeking to prompt discussion from related groups. Data portability is an important element, and one that will only become more pressing moving forward, so it’s good to see Facebook looking to advance the discussion. Now we need to wait and see what other industry groups put forward in response to Facebook’s white paper, and where the focus turns to from here.
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LinkedIn Launches New Course on Building a LinkedIn Presence and Utilizing its Ad Tools
LinkedIn has launched a new course designed to educate people on how to make best use of the platform for brand-building and marketing, covering all aspects of LinkedIn’s on-platform tools. The course, titled “Marketing on LinkedIn: The Sophisticated Marketer’s Guide”, is available on LinkedIn’s LinkedIn Learning platform, which does require a monthly fee, though a free trial is available, if you want to check it out (note: LinkedIn says that this course itself is also freely available). With LinkedIn usage rising, and driving more referral traffic, it’s worth considering if and how your business can tap into that growth, and where LinkedIn might fit into your broader social media marketing strategy. And even if you don’t end up using these tools, the course still provides a good overview to help you make that decision, and may give you some additional considerations to think over.
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Marketing
Google selects canonical URLs based on your site and user preference
Google may select a canonical URL based on your site’s perceived preference and the URL that is more useful for the user, Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller explained on the September 9 edition of #AskGoogleWebmasters. Mueller explained. “We try to pick the canonical URL by following two general guidelines: First, which URL does it look like the site want us to use; so, what’s the site’s preference? And secondly, which URL would be more useful for the user? For all these, we consider the factors involved for each potential canonical URL and then pick the one where more things come together.” For all these, we consider the factors involved for each potential canonical URL and then pick the one where more things come together.” Using the rel=canonical attribute and consolidating your signals by standardizing URL and linking practices across your site helps you keep duplicate content under control and may also help to ensure that search engines point users to the pages you intended.
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