Social Media
Google Outlines Proposal for Improved Data Transparency Measures in Online Advertising
This week, Google has outlined the next steps its looking to take to improve online ad transparency, including measures to block digital ‘fingerprinting’, a more obscure tracking technique, and a new proposal for improved data transparency measures across the industry. In terms of fingerprinting – which utilizes device data to establish a unique identifier for each user, regardless of any privacy settings – Google says that this practice may help publishers and websites, by providing an alternative data funnel, but it doesn’t address key user concerns on data privacy. Google says that it is now advancing its efforts to restrict the use of fingerprinting, blocking processes within Chrome and its other applications in order to disincentivize the process. Google’s proposal to the broader industry, meanwhile, which it has published for discussion, outlines the measures which Google believes are key to solidifying the future of online advertising, including improved data usage transparency and controls.
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LinkedIn Launches New Insights Hub to Provide Additional Audience Insights
LinkedIn has launched a new element of its ‘Success Hub’ marketing data and insights platform, which aims to provide additional information on specific audiences and verticals, in order to help better inform marketing decisions and understanding. The new Insights and Research hub collects a range of LinkedIn resources into one place, while also mixing in few new, broad-ranging data insights. The main element of the new hub is the People Insights section, which enables marketers to drill-down a little further into key trends of note within specific sectors. This can help improve your marketing, not only by highlighting the key topics of focus, which you may want to explore in your content efforts, but also the key people to tune into, and the brands that are being followed by these professionals on LinkedIn. In addition to this, LinkedIn also provides new hub sections for Industry Insights and Advertising Insights, each of which is essentially a collection of LinkedIn blog posts and resources, which, again, you can sort by vertical. The aim of the new hub, according to LinkedIn, is to better enable marketers to target the right audiences on its platform.
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Marketing
What is ‘Google Screened’ and how does it differ from ‘Google Guaranteed’?
Google Guaranteed was introduced a few years ago, largely to boost consumer confidence in-home services providers appearing in Local Services Ads. More recently, this year, the company introduced another program for professional services, dubbed “Google Screened.” Businesses must also possess a star rating on Google of 3.0 or greater to be eligible. There’s no application fee for Local Services advertisers (in the relevant categories and markets). If Google decides to expand the program, there are dozens of available subcategories, including marketing and advertising services. To become Google Guaranteed, businesses must pass a background check and have their license and insurance details verified. Google Screened businesses must also pass a similar license and background checks (civil and criminal). Google Guaranteed or partner-screened status (HomeAdivsor, Porch) is a requirement to appear in Google Assistant results on the smartphone and Google Home devices. It will be interesting to see, going forward, whether Google Screened expands and whether Google makes it available (as it has with Google Guaranteed) to non-advertisers. And if it does, the next question is whether the company offers any rankings boost to pre-screened companies as a defense against fake local listings and spam — which is precisely what it’s doing with Google Guaranteed and the Google Assistant.
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You can now add custom JavaScript to AMP pages
Custom JavaScript can now be added to AMP pages, Google announced this week. The amp-script component can be used to enable user interactions, and to share code across AMP-enabled and non-AMP pages. The AMP team said this was one of the most requested features from developers using AMP. It enables web pages delivered via AMP to incorporate more of the interactivity features that JavaScript offers. Prior to this update, AMP pages have been mostly static, which limited its uses and forced publishers to compromise features for speed and potentially visibility in mobile search results.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 26, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Facebook Brings 3D Photos to Android Devices
Late last year, Facebook rolled out its group badges, little images and notes that appear alongside group member names within the comments section of group posts. Facebook has been slowly adding badges into Page interactions also, and expanding the signifiers available in order to highlight more prolific and engaged Page fans. The additions expand the options for badges beyond groups alone, and provide new ways to Page admins to better understand their Facebook fans. Facebook hasn’t made any further announcements on this element as yet, but it’s interesting to see the various Page badges popping up, and considering what other functionalities they could facilitate.
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Facebook Adds More Page Badges to Encourage Engagement
After flagging an expanded Android roll-out back in April, Facebook has this week officially announced that its 3D photos option will be made available on Android devices, and an expanded set of iOS smartphones. Facebook’s 3D photos, which add depth to still images by using the dual camera capacity of most modern smartphones, provide another creative option for your Facebook posts. And Facebook’s more advanced visual formats are already proving popular – Facebook reported last year that more than 70 million 360 photos had been uploaded to The Social Network. It’s another option to consider – and definitely, the 3D posts can help to ‘strop the scroll’ and grab people’s attention in feeds.
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Marketing
Google Introduces Relative Mobile Conversion Rate Metric
Google published an article detailing a conversion metric called the Relative Mobile Conversion Rate. It’s a ratio of desktop versus mobile conversion rates. This metric, first discussed in 2018, has now received an official introduction. It reveals gaps in mobile performance and provides an accurate reflection of conversion rates overtime. The metric is referred to as Rel mCvR. Google’s official blog post suggests it’s an important metric to monitor because it may indicate there are latent performance improvements if the mobile version is experiencing significantly less conversions than the desktop version. Google stated that the mobile version will consistently experience less conversions than the desktop because a greater percentage of mobile users are in the research phase.
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Apple’s WebKit outlines cross-site tracking crackdown, will block advertisers who try to bypass privacy rules
Apple’s WebKit team published its tracking prevention policy last week, outlining its stance against technologies designed to track user activity across the web. Falling in line with the company’s pro-privacy position, the WebKit Tracking Prevention Policy outlines the web tracking practices it believes should be limited by default. Webkit, the open-source rendering engine that powers Safari, aims to treat attempts to circumvent the policy as security abuse. WebKit said it will prevent covert tracking and all cross-site tracking (even when it’s not covert). This includes cross-site tracking, stateful tracking, covert stateful tracking, navigational tracking, fingerprinting, as well as all tracking techniques not currently known. Apple isn’t closing the door all the way, however. “We may alter tracking prevention methods to permit certain use cases, particularly when greater strictness would harm the user experience,” the document states. “In other cases, we will design and implement new web technologies to re-enable these practices without reintroducing tracking capabilities.” Apple’s policy certainly disrupts how user data is collected, how advertisers measure the effectiveness of their campaigns on Apple’s Safari browser on iOS and macOS devices. Additionally, advertisers may face further restrictions to audience measurement, analytics tracking and third-party authentication.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 23, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Google Outlines Proposal for Improved Data Transparency Measures in Online Advertising
This week, Google has outlined the next steps its looking to take to improve online ad transparency, including measures to block digital ‘fingerprinting’, a more obscure tracking technique, and a new proposal for improved data transparency measures across the industry. In terms of fingerprinting – which utilizes device data to establish a unique identifier for each user, regardless of any privacy settings – Google says that this practice may help publishers and websites, by providing an alternative data funnel, but it doesn’t address key user concerns on data privacy. Google says that it is now advancing its efforts to restrict the use of fingerprinting, blocking processes within Chrome and its other applications in order to disincentivize the process. Google’s proposal to the broader industry, meanwhile, which it has published for discussion, outlines the measures which Google believes are key to solidifying the future of online advertising, including improved data usage transparency and controls.
For the full article click here
LinkedIn Launches New Insights Hub to Provide Additional Audience Insights
LinkedIn has launched a new element of its ‘Success Hub’ marketing data and insights platform, which aims to provide additional information on specific audiences and verticals, in order to help better inform marketing decisions and understanding. The new Insights and Research hub collects a range of LinkedIn resources into one place, while also mixing in few new, broad-ranging data insights. The main element of the new hub is the People Insights section, which enables marketers to drill-down a little further into key trends of note within specific sectors. This can help improve your marketing, not only by highlighting the key topics of focus, which you may want to explore in your content efforts, but also the key people to tune into, and the brands that are being followed by these professionals on LinkedIn. In addition to this, LinkedIn also provides new hub sections for Industry Insights and Advertising Insights, each of which is essentially a collection of LinkedIn blog posts and resources, which, again, you can sort by vertical. The aim of the new hub, according to LinkedIn, is to better enable marketers to target the right audiences on its platform.
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Marketing
What is ‘Google Screened’ and how does it differ from ‘Google Guaranteed’?
Google Guaranteed was introduced a few years ago, largely to boost consumer confidence in-home services providers appearing in Local Services Ads. More recently, this year, the company introduced another program for professional services, dubbed “Google Screened.” Businesses must also possess a star rating on Google of 3.0 or greater to be eligible. There’s no application fee for Local Services advertisers (in the relevant categories and markets). If Google decides to expand the program, there are dozens of available subcategories, including marketing and advertising services. To become Google Guaranteed, businesses must pass a background check and have their license and insurance details verified. Google Screened businesses must also pass a similar license and background checks (civil and criminal). Google Guaranteed or partner-screened status (HomeAdivsor, Porch) is a requirement to appear in Google Assistant results on the smartphone and Google Home devices. It will be interesting to see, going forward, whether Google Screened expands and whether Google makes it available (as it has with Google Guaranteed) to non-advertisers. And if it does, the next question is whether the company offers any rankings boost to pre-screened companies as a defense against fake local listings and spam — which is precisely what it’s doing with Google Guaranteed and the Google Assistant.
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You can now add custom JavaScript to AMP pages
Custom JavaScript can now be added to AMP pages, Google announced this week. The amp-script component can be used to enable user interactions, and to share code across AMP-enabled and non-AMP pages. The AMP team said this was one of the most requested features from developers using AMP. It enables web pages delivered via AMP to incorporate more of the interactivity features that JavaScript offers. Prior to this update, AMP pages have been mostly static, which limited its uses and forced publishers to compromise features for speed and potentially visibility in mobile search results.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 22, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Instagram Debunks Viral Hoax Regarding Rule Change in Relation to Photo Re-Use
The claim that Instagram might suddenly change its mind and make ‘everything you’ve ever posted’ public, including private messages, is not only not happening, it’s not legal without a significant change to the platform’s terms – which you, as a user, would have to explicitly agree to. While you do grant Instagram some usage rights of your content within the platform’s Terms of Use, there is also this specific note within its qualifiers. It’s not the first time that Instagram, and parent company Facebook, have felt the need to make official statements on these random hoax posts. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri has specifically explained that there is no truth to this. People have shared this update, and are sharing it, including high-profile users with verified profiles, adding further weight to the rumor. Basically, if you see a post claiming that you need to re-post something for legal purposes, that’s not true, and not how the process works. If it seems a little fishy, or the wording and presentation looks not quite right, it’s probably a lie. ‘But there’s no harm in just sharing it’, I’ve heard people say. I mean, sure, if you don’t mind potentially being tagged as a future scam target because it lets the scammers know that you’re gullible. Sure. No harm at all.
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YouTube Will Remove its In-App Messaging Option Next Month
After originally launching its chat option back in 2017, YouTube has now announced that it will remove the functionality next month, in order to put more emphasis on public sharing via comments, posts, and YouTube stories. YouTube’s new focus appears to be Stories, and staying up with the next big social sharing shift. YouTube Stories is still only available for users with over 10k followers, but it looks to be where YouTube would prefer to drive attention – at least for now. So, as we did with Google Allo earlier this year, we now bid farewell to YouTube messaging, another casualty in the digital attention war. He never even stood a chance.
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Marketing
Traffic from Image’s Swipe to Visit feature now appears in Search Console
Visitors that arrive on your pages via Google Image’s Swipe to Visit feature are now accounted for in Search Console under the new “AMP on Image Results” search appearance, Google announced Wednesday. Image search is one way publishers can draw traffic to their websites and Swipe to Visit may make it easier for users to move from Image search results to your pages. Having Search Console data on how users arrive on your site can help you optimize for their journey and inform your SEO and overall business strategy.
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Advertising
Google rolls out maximize conversion value smart bidding strategy
The newest smart bidding strategy in Google Ads’ lineup, maximize conversion value, is now available in all Search campaigns. First announced at Google Marketing Live (GML) in May, maximize conversion value aims to optimize for the greatest conversion value within budget. Google says maximize conversion value uses historical campaign data and the searcher’s contextual signals to determine the “otpimal CPC bid” at auction time. To use or test out maximize conversion value, you’ll need to be using transaction-specific values or have set conversion values for the conversion types you’re optimizing for from the Conversion page under Tools. As we noted in May, manual bidding is still available in Google, but it’s largely de-emphasized and missing some capabilities. With the proliferation of smart bidding strategies, it’s important to understand how each is designed to work and which goals, settings and metrics best align with each.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 21, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Facebook Finally Launches its ‘Clear History’ Tool, Starting in Ireland, South Korea and Spain
Facebook has finally announced the initial rollout of its promised ‘clear history’ tool, which will enable users to see the websites and apps which send Facebook information when they use them, remove that information from their account, and turn off Facebook’s ability to store the same going forward. The tool will give users more capacity to manage how their data is utilized by Facebook and advertisers.The new option is being launched, with users in Ireland, South Korea and Spain getting first access to the functionality, ahead of an expanded push. The functionality will also have some level of impact on Facebook’s ad targeting tools. How much of an impact, exactly, will be dictated by how many users take up the option to delete their history, but Facebook warned marketers back in May that the implementation would lessen its capability to provide in-depth tracking for advertising purposes.
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Facebook Looks to Launch WhatsApp Payments in Indonesia
At the Libra launch event in June, Facebook clarified that India was not part of its initial rollout plan, which may, in part, be due to concerns around cryptocurrency from Indian regulators. Instead, Facebook has since switched focus to WhatsApp Pay, which it’s now planning to roll out to all of its Indian users toward the end of the year. And while Facebook waits for Indian regulators to assess WhatsApp Pay, Reuters has reported that WhatsApp is now also in talks with multiple Indonesian digital payment firms over plans to offer WhatsApp Pay in that market as well, potentially reaching another 100 million users. Which would be good for WhatsApp, helping it to build its eCommerce capacity, and good for Facebook overall. But it also leaves a question mark of the viability and potential of its Libra currency. Facebook will likely still push ahead with its plans, and the implementation of WhatsApp Pay could serve as a good precedent for regulators, and example which shows that Facebook can be trusted in this respect. But it may also spark a re-think of Libra, and the way it’s used. If it’s not going to be accessible in Facebook’s largest user markets, maybe it’s not as valuable as Facebook may have initially hoped.
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LinkedIn Outlines its Improving Efforts to Eliminate Fake Accounts and Spammers on its Platform
This week, LinkedIn has outlined its evolving efforts to detect and remove fake profiles, which can be used to make connections, and then steal personal contact info from unsuspecting users. Given the professional focus of LinkedIn, it seems like it would be less of a focus for misinformation campaigns in particular, but as noted, there are numerous known LinkedIn scams which involve fake profiles making connections in order to steal personal information, and gain insights into your LinkedIn network. So while it may seem less of a focus, LinkedIn is actually just as susceptible to such use as other platforms. In this sense, it’s good to see LinkedIn improving its systems, and working to better protect its now 645 million member base.
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Marketing
Bing Webmaster Tools adds Domain Connect verification integration
In order to make it easier for some webmasters to verify their web sites with Bing Webmaster Tools, Bing added support for verification through Domain Connect. This allows those using 1&1 IONOS, GoDaddy, Media Temple or Plesk easier access to verify their web sites with Bing Webmaster Tools. Google also did some forms of automatic verification for Google Search Console and has worked with domain name providers to make it easier. But Google does not work with Domain Connect. Making it easier to set up a verified site with Bing Webmaster Tools will mean more web site owners will be able to use the tools. This will lead to more reporting, more debugging and more informed site owners. It will help sites find indexing and ranking issues faster and give site owners more access to advanced search engine reporting.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 20, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Twitter Launches 6-Second Video Ad Bidding, Providing New Options for Video Marketers
Twitter is launching a new video ad option in the form of 6-second video ad bidding, which will see advertisers only charged if and when their video ad is in view for six seconds. According to EyeSee, which conducts studies of audience engagement based on advanced eye-tracking technology, 3 seconds is actually the hot spot for video ad recall and response. That should, theoretically, mean that Twitter’s new 6-second bidding option will be more than enough time to ensure optimal response. To clarify, video advertisers will still publish their on-platform video ads as normal, but this new option will enable them to choose to only be charged when their video is viewed for 6 seconds. The idea is that this will provide a more flexible option for advertisers, enabling them to optimize for completed views, while also putting more reliance on Twitter’s system to showcase their content to relevant audiences who are more likely to watch.
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Reddit Previews Coming Live-Streaming Capacity in New, Week-Long Project
Reddit is looking to get in on the live-streaming action – though it’s doing so in its own, unique way. Late last week, a new Reddit called r/pan began sharing cryptic messages. The series of posts have ended up being the precursor to what Reddit’s labeling its version of the Public Access Network (PAN), which will enable Redditors to broadcast, in real-time, on a dedicated PAN channel. Reddit says the option to broadcast is coming to all users this week, but it’s rolling out in stages, so some users will have it before others. The addition makes sense, from a functional standpoint, but it also seems destined for controversy, with Reddit being more open to questionable content, and welcoming of related discussion. Reddit has long sought to distance itself from editorial interference in what users discuss on the platform, with no ID requirements and profiles being optional on the network. The initial r/pan experiment will run for a week, giving users a glimpse at Reddit live-streaming, and providing Reddit with insight into what it will need to do to stay on top of content issues.
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Marketing
Voice assistant usage now at ‘critical mass’ as Google Assistant crowned smartest
A new estimate from eMarketer pegs the number of monthly users of voice assistants at roughly 112 million, up from 102 million in 2018. The firm characterizes this as “critical mass,” although it still represents a minority of internet users (40%). By 2021 eMarketer says about 123 million people will be using voice assistants at least monthly. More voice search and engagement happens on smartphones than smart speakers, which eMarketer says are used by 77.6 million people. Separately, last week, Loop Ventures released its latest comparison of virtual assistants. The study found, “Google Assistant was once again the best performer, correctly answering 93% and correctly understanding all 800 questions. Siri was next, answering 83% correctly and only misunderstanding two questions. Alexa correctly answered 80% and only misunderstood one.” The report also expressed surprise at the continuing rate of improvement in accuracy. Ultimately Google Assistant is in the strongest position and will likely become the dominant voice assistant, with corresponding advertising and commerce implications for marketers and brands. An open question is whether or how much voice will eventually supplant traditional search on mobile devices.
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Advertising
Google Ads to remove accelerated ad delivery option next month
Google Ads announced a coming change to ad delivery options that will start September 17. The accelerated delivery option will be removed and standard delivery will be the only option for Search and Shopping campaigns, as well as for campaigns with shared budgets. Any Search or Shopping campaigns and shared budgets using accelerated delivery will be switched over to standard delivery automatically by October 1. Google says, the way that accelerated delivery works can make it an inefficient option. Google recommends choosing the maximize conversions or maximize clicks bidding strategies to indicate your performance priority for campaigns that had been using accelerated delivery. And, of course, use ad scheduling to manage when your ads are shown and bid adjustments to increase and decrease bids during certain times of day. (Though Google’s ad scheduling only takes your account’s time zone into account.)
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 19, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Facebook is Removing its Group Chats Feature to Limit Spammers
Facebook has announced that it’s removing the group chat functionality that it launched in October last year, which was designed to facilitate more intimate discussion between group members, separate from post comments. As noted by TechCrunch when the feature was launched, group chats are able to host up to 250 group members, who are not necessarily connected as friends, but are connected through a group. The problem here is that as people become increasingly protective of their more intimate messaging, they may not be overly happy that some random stranger who they’re tangentially connected to via a group is able to send them a direct message via this option. That’s only speculation – Facebook hasn’t provided any further clarification on the update beyond the above note, though it did provide some additional pointers to help members and Page admins manage the change.
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Facebook Marketing API to get ‘Special Ad Category’ field for housing, employment, credit advertisers
Facebook is adding the same Special Ad Category field it rolled out in Ads Manager in July to its Marketing API next month. The update, which is designed for marketers and developers running housing, employment and credit ads, limits the set of targeting options to keep marketers from running discriminatory ad campaigns. Facebook’s efforts to end discriminatory advertising practices impacts any marketer running housing, employment or credit related ad campaigns. Advertisers that don’t select the Special Ads Category run the risk of their campaigns being terminated on the platform. Once the Special Ad Category is selected, some detailed targeting options will no longer be available, such as demographics, behaviors or interests. “Special Ad Category” advertisers will also not be allowed to exclude any targeting options. The decision was part of a settlement Facebook reached with multiple civil rights groups that charged the company with allowing discriminatory ad campaigns to run on the platform.
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Instagram to Crack Down on Fake Stories Views
Instagram is reportedly working on a solution for the wave of inauthentic story views that has spread throughout the network. TechCrunch reports the influx of fake views is related to a new tactic where spammy accounts are “watching” stories to appear more real and gain new followers in the process. This growth hack sprung up after Instagram began cracking down on bots and paid likes and followers back in November. The types of accounts responsible for fake story views range from Russian models, to social media agencies, to public figures trying to grow their presence. Instagram confirms to TechCrunch that it’s aware of fake story views and is working on ways to reduce the activity. The solution will involve implementing new measures specifically for stories. Instagram did not not offer any further details. Eventually Instagram will have measures in place to thwart this activity without users having to clean up the spam on their own.
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Marketing
Google My Business adds bulk review management
Google has added the ability to see all your reviews across multiple listings on a single page. You can see this within Google My Business reviews section at https://business.google.com/reviews. This is available in location groups with 500 or fewer locations, but is not available for organization accounts. This can be very useful for those who manage more than one location or listing. You can quickly see all the reviews under your Google My Business account, and you no longer need to click into each individual listing to see its reviews. This should save you time and help you find and report on important reviews sooner.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 16, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Facebook Adds New Booking and Reminder Prompts to Movie Ads
Facebook is rolling out two new options for movie ads on its platform – reminder prompts for movies you’ve registered an interest in, and direct booking options to streamline the process. Now, when a movie ad appears in a users’ News Feed, they’ll have the option to tap on an ‘Interested’ CTA button. When they do, they’ll get a reminder in their notifications listing when the movie is released, which may help spark more people to head to the cinema. The other new option comes via search – when users go looking for a movie on Facebook, they’ll now be able to view a new detail page, where they’ll also be able to book tickets directly. The new movie ad tools will be available in the US and UK, facilitated through partnerships with AMC Theaters and Regal Cinema. With News Feed ads at their peak, it’s interesting to see how the company is branching out, and looking to provide advertisers with new opportunities.
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Facebook Reminds Advertisers and Developers that New Targeting Restrictions Come into Effect Soon
Back in March, Facebook announced that it would take stronger action against discriminatory ad targeting by removing a range of targeting options in certain business categories in order to stop businesses using its ad tools to limit audiences in an unfair manner. Facebook’s changes relate to housing, employment and credit ads, each of which has been found to be have been used by some advertisers to exclude certain groups. The changes to these ad categories began rolling out last month, while a new Special Ad Category field will be available in Facebook’s Marketing API in September, enabling third-party ad tools to comply to the new process. Facebook says that all developers which want to facilitate Facebook ad creation must implement the Special Ad Category restrictions by Dec. 4, 2019, or their ads may be paused for non-compliance.
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Twitter’s Testing a New Content Filtering System for Message Requests
Twitter is testing out a new filtering option for Direct Messages which will be applied to your ‘Additional Messages’ or those received from people you’re not following. If Twitter’s system detects potentially offensive material within your additional messages, those will be sent to a new, separate section, which users can either opt to view or not. It’s the latest in a range of new tweet tests – Twitter’s also testing out new topic-based streams, the ability to subscribe to individual tweet reply threads and the capacity to move around your uploaded photos via drag n’ drop UI. It’s a small change, but it makes a lot of sense, and could have significant impacts for vulnerable users. The DM filter is currently being tested with a subset of users.
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Google doesn’t pass PageRank on nofollow links. Here’s why you still see them in GSC
Despite showing nofollow links in Search Console, Google does not transfer PageRank to those links, explained Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller. They do not pass PageRank, even if you see them in your GSC Link Report. “However, it’s still a link on the web, and users may be using those to reach your website,” Mueller elaborated, concluding, “And so, in Search Console, we decided to show these as links together with other links pointing to your site. Similarly, if you were to use the disavow links tool, those links would no longer be passing any signals, but would continue to appear in the Links Report in Search Console.” Misunderstanding the nature of the links that appear in your GSC Link Report can lead to a skewed interpretation of your PageRank, which may also lead to an inaccurate assessment of your site’s overall SEO.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 15, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
LinkedIn Sales Navigator will now surface more content for sales teams to share
LinkedIn Sales Navigator released product updates on Wednesday, adding more features for discovering and managing leads, a redesigned Help Center and an integration with its content-sharing app Elevate. LinkedIn first launched Elevate — an app designed to help users curate and share content on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook — in 2015. Now, Sales Navigator users who also use the Elevate app will receive alerts on their Sales Navigator homepage when new content is available. Users will be able to access the content without having to log into Elevate, and then share it on LinkedIn as well as Twitter and Facebook. LinkedIn says more than 1.3 million lead and account lists have been created in Sales Navigator. For marketers managing B2B campaigns, this latest update will benefit their content strategy efforts, helping them push more content to their sales team. On the sales side, the update offers more functionality with improved lead discovery and management features.
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YouTube Expands Super Chat Creator Payment Option to More Regions
YouTube is expanding its Super Chat live-stream tipping option, which provides an additional revenue stream for live-stream producers on the platform. Super Chat enables live-stream viewers to pay to have their comment featured more prominently in a chat stream. Originally only available to YouTube streamers in 40 nations, YouTube is now expanding the program to an additional 19 regions. YouTube hasn’t revealed the usage numbers for Super Chats, but various streamers have used the option to raise significant amounts – of which, YouTube takes a 30% cut. Most platforms have been investigating ways to generate revenue from live-streams, and incentivize creators. YouTube’s Super Chat system is more specifically based on how the process is used by Chinese streamers, where live-streaming is now a multi-billion dollar industry. It doesn’t seem like it will cause the same type of shift in the online content space in western regions, but as more streamers get access to the option, it helps to grow YouTube’s content and revenue stream, while providing additional opportunities for the next crop of video stars.
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Twitter Begins Testing its New Direct Message Search Tool
The platform has now begun official testing of its new direct message search tool, providing a means to locate specific message threads within your Twitter inbox. The functionality, at this stage, is limited to searching by display name, not by message content, which seems fairly limited. But it’s something, and it’s something that many users have called for – and as you can also see, the search results show individual and group message threads that each user is mentioned in, which will also help. The addition could be of particular value for brands which provide consumer help handles on the platform, which often primarily operate via DMs. Now, you’ll be able to more easily locate relevant users to respond to with relevant updates and clarifications, streamlining the process.
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Facebook Rolls Out New Privacy Model for Groups With Only 2 Settings
Facebook is introducing a simplified privacy model for groups, reducing the number of settings to just two. Going forward, Facebook groups can either be set to “private” or “public.”Facebook is introducing a simplified privacy model for groups, reducing the number of settings to just two. Going forward, Facebook groups can either be set to “private” or “public.” When a group is set to “public” anyone can view the members of the group and see all published content. When a group is set to “private” only group members can see who is in the group and what they’re posting. In addition to these privacy settings, group admins will have control over how their group is found. Admins can specify whether or not the group can be found in search and other places on Facebook.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 14, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
YouTube Updated its Algorithm in July, Upsetting Many Creators
According to Bloomberg, YouTube updated its algorithm in early July to boost the visibility of “quality” children’s content. As a result, some channels received a spike in viewership while others saw viewership decline. This update is important to be aware of for anyone who produces content for kids. The report indicates YouTube updated its algorithm in an effort to appease the FTC. YouTube did not communicate the update to creators, who are struggling to make sense of it. Some channels that produce content for children saw a major drop in viewers, while other channels producing the same type of content saw a major increase. Bloomberg speculates the update is targeting certain types of channels that create animated content for children solely for the purpose of racking up views. It would make sense for YouTube to target channels that are exploiting its algorithm. However, other channels producing higher quality content for kids saw their traffic take a hit as well. So creators are at a loss as to why the changes were made and how to recover from them.
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LinkedIn launches Audience Engagement Insights with addition of 5 new marketing partners
LinkedIn is launching a new Audience Engagement Insights category as part of its marketing partner program, and adding five new third-party analytics platforms that integrate with the LinkedIn Audience Engagement API: Amobee, Annalect, Hootsuite, Ogilvy and Sprinklr. Marketers on LinkedIn will now have a broader view of what works on the platform with access to audience discovery insights, content recommendations and industry benchmarks. And with the five new integration partners now available to deliver those insights, many marketers will be able to choose a platform they may already be using.
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Facebook was in Talks to Acquire Houseparty, According to New Report
This week, The New York Times has published a new article which digs into questions around Facebook’s rising dominance, and how the company has sought to acquire competitors in order to maintain its position – raising eyebrows among regulatory groups. Late last year, Facebook was in advanced talks to acquire multi-participant live-streaming app Houseparty, which was launched by the makers of former live-streaming hype leader Meerkat back in 2016. Facebook sought to get the upper hand on potential competitors, and make acquisition offers for them in the early stages of any such rise in popularity. Facebook clearly saw Houseparty as another potential threat in this respect. Group video chat hasn’t yet caught on as the next big thing, which seemed to be Facebook’s key concern, but it’s interesting to note the lengths that Facebook went to in order to eliminate a potential competitor, and further solidify its dominance.
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Marketing
Google Search Console Now Reports on More Types of Structured Data
Google is adding three more types of structured data to the rich results report in Search Console. Search Console will now report on the following types of structured data: Product Markup, Sitelink searchbox markup and Unparsable types. Now, owners of e-commerce sites can use Search Console to easily check if Google can read all of their product markup. In addition, they can quickly identify which sets of markup contain errors and begin troubleshooting immediately. Google mentions that only the ability to report on these types of structured data is new. The issues being reported on may or may not be new.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 13, 2019
/by Corey PadveenMarketing
Hotels can now add services, amenities in Google My Business
Google My Business added support for hotels to login to Google My Business and update the hotel’s services and amenities details. Google provides a summary of a hotel’s amenities that customers can view from Google Search and/or Google Maps. You can edit this information in your dashboard if you find any of it to be factually incorrect. Google is becoming the go-to-place for searchers to look to for hotel reviews, pricing and details. It is important that you keep the hotels you manage up-to-date and accurate, so that a hotel customer doesn’t get upset that the information they saw on Google doesn’t match the actual hotel’s accommodations. It is also important to keep your hotel’s details accurate by you taking the lead and controlling what is shown within Google.
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Ecosia says it will boycott ‘search choice’ auction on Android in Europe
Berlin-based search engine Ecosia says it will not participate in Google’s “search-choice” auction for Android devices in 2020 in Europe. Will other engines follow its lead? Earlier this month, Google announced that it will introduce a new “choice screen” in Europe for Android users in 2020. The screen will appear during set up and ask users to select a default search engine. Google plans to use an auction, as it does with comparison shopping engines in Europe, to determine which search engines to present on the choice screen. The three highest bidders will appear, along with Google, as options for users. Google anticipates search choices will vary by country, with Google always present as a choice. Ecosia believes that it is unethical for a company with a dominant market position like Google Android to discriminate access to it. By artificially limiting user options, Google is creating scarcity where there is none. This will unnecessarily increase costs for alternative search engines, and will keep new entrants from growing market share. Whether or not there are 4 or 14 options for users to choose from, Google would still likely retain most of its current usage in Europe, because of its brand strength versus rivals. This is the central challenge for regulators, which are trying to “unbundle” Google and Android: how to give Google’s competitors more visibility (and viability). It will be very interesting to see whether other search engines align themselves with Ecosia or decide to participate in the auction. Applications are due in mid-September.
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Prepare to say goodbye to average position in Google Ads on September 30
Google announced Monday that it will begin sunsetting the average position metric the week of September 30. In lieu of average position, Google says advertisers should transition to using the position metrics— search top impression rate and search absolute top impression rate — introduced last year. These indicate the percentage of impressions and impression share your ads received in the absolute top (the first ad at the very top of the page) and top of page (above the organic results) ad slots. Now, we have about 6 weeks to fully absorb the repercussions of the change and implement updates to any reporting, rules or scripts that use average position.
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Advertising
Google Ads’ Optimization Score Now Includes Shopping Campaigns
Optimization scores in Google Ads will now include shopping campaigns as well as search campaigns. Google Ads will assign an individual score to each campaign type, and provide a combined score at the account level. Scores for shopping campaigns range from 0% to 100% – a score of 100% means the campaign is optimized to perform at its full potential. This update comes with new recommendations that are specific to shopping campaigns, such as switching to Smart Shopping campaigns and adding seller ratings. According to Google, advertisers saw an average increase of 10% in their conversion rates after increasing their account level optimization score by 10 points.
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