Social Media
Facebook May Soon Hide Total Like Counts on Posts, Mirroring Instagram’s Test
Amid testing of hidden like counts in seven countries on Instagram, Facebook is now also considering the same in its main app, according to reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong. As noted, Instagram began its test of removing total Like post counts for Canadian users back in April, then expanded it to Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand in July. The idea of removing Like counts on Instagram relates to that company’s broader focus on user wellbeing. The removal of public like counts, according to Mosseri, could reduce social comparison, and its associated negative impacts. The expansion of the program to Facebook would be a major step. Facebook, with 2.4 billion active users, is the largest social media platform in the world, by a significant margin, and while users have most definitely made their opinions known about Like count removals on Instagram, Facebook is going to hear a lot more about the same if it is extended to the main app.
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Facebook Highlights Page Stories in Feed Separate Panel, Expanding Opportunity for Brand Exposure
Facebook Stories may not have taken off the way Stories have on Instagram, but it is slowly gaining momentum. Facebook remains confident that Stories are the future of social sharing. And as such, the platform continues to test out new ways to promote Facebook Stories, and boost interest in the option. Facebook’s latest test sees it showcasing Stories from Pages, specifically, in a new, in-Feed panel. That could provide expanded promotional opportunity – already, the top of feed placement of Facebook Stories makes it a great potential option for getting in front of users, but a specific listing of Page Stories amplifies that even further. If you’ve been considering Facebook Stories for your promotions, or even cross-posting your Instagram Stories, this may be another prompt to get you moving in that direction – which is no doubt Facebook’s aim here, but definitely, it could prove valuable.
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YouTube Will Roll Out Abbreviated Subscriber Counts in September
After initially announcing the coming change back in May, YouTube has confirmed that it’s new, abbreviated public subscriber counts will come into effect next month. That makes sense from a consistency perspective, but it could also negatively impact some creators. That may lead to creators losing sponsorship opportunities, as they could be overlooked in favor of larger channels, despite their channel actually being much closer to parity. It’s also put the onus onto the creators themselves to share their actual subscriber count – channel owners themselves will still be able to view the full, real-time count in their analytics – but some may lose opportunities outright because of the shift. Worth noting too that the changes relate to YouTube’s API usage also, meaning that any app which uses YouTube subscriber counts will lose access to the full, detailed listing. That will impact analytics tools which display subscriber counts and changes over time. The actual impacts will be relative to each individual account, but it’ll be interesting to see whether there are any significant shifts because of the update, and/or opportunities lost due to altered perception.
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Facebook introduces new policies for political, social issue ads ahead of 2020 elections
Facebook has updated its ad policies for political advertisers and anyone running electoral or social issue ads. The new policies, which include new disclaimer requirements for political advertisers and updates to the company’s list of social issue topics in the U.S, were introduced on Wednesday and apply to ads on Facebook and Instagram. Beginning mid-September, any advertiser running political, electoral or social issue ads will need to give Facebook more details about their organization. Facebook is also updating its labels for political, electoral and social issue ads. Now, when a user taps the “i” icon that includes either the “Confirmed Organization” or “About this Ad” language, they will see the information Facebook has confirmed. For example, a “Confirmed Organization” label will show the EIN or FEC number provided by the advertisers. The “About this Ad” label will include the organization’s phone number and email address. These updates apply not only to marketers managing ad campaigns for political candidates, but also anyone overseeing ads for an organization attached to political causes that may be running social issue ads. As we near the 2020 U.S. election cycle, the number of political, electoral and social issue ads will only increase — which means more ad dollars being allocated to Facebook. Marketers responsible for running political, electoral or social issue ads on Facebook and Instagram will need to stay on top of the company’s ad policies to make sure their ad campaigns run smoothly.
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Daily Minute Master Series – September 5, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial 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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Daily Minute Master Series – September 4, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Facebook Updates Face Recognition Permissions to Provide More Control
Facebook is looking to provide more control and reassurance to users in regards to how it utilizes your image. In a new update, Facebook has announced that it’s removing its current ‘tag suggestions’ setting, which relates to the prompts it generates based on people it can identify in an uploaded image, and improving its face recognition permissions, enabling users to opt-out of the process with one click. Normally, when Facebook has made changes like this, it has continued to track such data, but kept it from public view when such settings are switched off. In this instance, Facebook says that when you switch off face recognition, it will delete your face ‘template’ entirely. That’s an extra privacy step – Facebook says that it has been working with privacy experts, academics and regulators in order to determine the best way forward with its face recognition technology.
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Facebook Begins Rolling Out Updated Desktop Layout
Facebook has now started rolling out the new experience to users, with a prompt notifying them of the change. The new layout aims to make it easier to navigate to your favorite elements, with tabs along the top of the screen, and a more compressed view. Given the rising use of more private spaces, it makes sense for Facebook to give them more dedicated focus, and to more clearly separate each, which may help boost engagement. The refresh also reduces the presence of the iconic Facebook blue color scheme, which could also be part of an effort to shift perception, leaving the more recent scandals behind and starting anew.
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Marketing
Google Search Console adds auto-DNS verification
Google announced that site owners can now verify their web sites with Google Search Console in a new way, auto-DNS verification. This works with a select number of domain name service providers and can help simplify the process of getting your website verified within Google Search Console. Google said the company has “collaborated with various domain name registrars to automate part of the verification flow.” There is now a new flow that “will guide you through the necessary steps needed to update your registrar configuration so that your DNS record includes the verification token we provide,” Google said. This will make the verification process a lot easier. Adding more methods to verify your web site in Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools helps SEOs, webmasters and site owners understand the health of their web sites in Google and Bing’s search results. It helps with communication, debugging, reporting and the necessary daily tasks any SEO takes for a website they maintain.
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HubSpot partners with Supermetrics, adding multi-portal analytics and reporting
HubSpot will partner with marketing data engine Supermetrics, a partnership that the company hopes will help address reporting challenges for its users. With the new Supermetrics partnership, HubSpot users can access, analyze and report data from across their HubSpot portals. Data can be imported and viewed in Google Sheets, Google Data Studio and Excel. The “manual” processes involved in consolidating siloed data can be a tedious, and often attested part of an organizational reporting strategy. HubSpot users should be able to consolidate their data with other marketing data for cross-channel analysis and reporting, thanks to Supermetrics’ data engine.
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Daily Minute Master Series – September 3rd, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Facebook May Soon Hide Total Like Counts on Posts, Mirroring Instagram’s Test
Amid testing of hidden like counts in seven countries on Instagram, Facebook is now also considering the same in its main app, according to reverse engineering expert Jane Manchun Wong. As noted, Instagram began its test of removing total Like post counts for Canadian users back in April, then expanded it to Australia, Brazil, Ireland, Italy, Japan and New Zealand in July. The idea of removing Like counts on Instagram relates to that company’s broader focus on user wellbeing. The removal of public like counts, according to Mosseri, could reduce social comparison, and its associated negative impacts. The expansion of the program to Facebook would be a major step. Facebook, with 2.4 billion active users, is the largest social media platform in the world, by a significant margin, and while users have most definitely made their opinions known about Like count removals on Instagram, Facebook is going to hear a lot more about the same if it is extended to the main app.
For the full article click here
Facebook Highlights Page Stories in Feed Separate Panel, Expanding Opportunity for Brand Exposure
Facebook Stories may not have taken off the way Stories have on Instagram, but it is slowly gaining momentum. Facebook remains confident that Stories are the future of social sharing. And as such, the platform continues to test out new ways to promote Facebook Stories, and boost interest in the option. Facebook’s latest test sees it showcasing Stories from Pages, specifically, in a new, in-Feed panel. That could provide expanded promotional opportunity – already, the top of feed placement of Facebook Stories makes it a great potential option for getting in front of users, but a specific listing of Page Stories amplifies that even further. If you’ve been considering Facebook Stories for your promotions, or even cross-posting your Instagram Stories, this may be another prompt to get you moving in that direction – which is no doubt Facebook’s aim here, but definitely, it could prove valuable.
For the full article click here
YouTube Will Roll Out Abbreviated Subscriber Counts in September
After initially announcing the coming change back in May, YouTube has confirmed that it’s new, abbreviated public subscriber counts will come into effect next month. That makes sense from a consistency perspective, but it could also negatively impact some creators. That may lead to creators losing sponsorship opportunities, as they could be overlooked in favor of larger channels, despite their channel actually being much closer to parity. It’s also put the onus onto the creators themselves to share their actual subscriber count – channel owners themselves will still be able to view the full, real-time count in their analytics – but some may lose opportunities outright because of the shift. Worth noting too that the changes relate to YouTube’s API usage also, meaning that any app which uses YouTube subscriber counts will lose access to the full, detailed listing. That will impact analytics tools which display subscriber counts and changes over time. The actual impacts will be relative to each individual account, but it’ll be interesting to see whether there are any significant shifts because of the update, and/or opportunities lost due to altered perception.
For the full article click here
Facebook introduces new policies for political, social issue ads ahead of 2020 elections
Facebook has updated its ad policies for political advertisers and anyone running electoral or social issue ads. The new policies, which include new disclaimer requirements for political advertisers and updates to the company’s list of social issue topics in the U.S, were introduced on Wednesday and apply to ads on Facebook and Instagram. Beginning mid-September, any advertiser running political, electoral or social issue ads will need to give Facebook more details about their organization. Facebook is also updating its labels for political, electoral and social issue ads. Now, when a user taps the “i” icon that includes either the “Confirmed Organization” or “About this Ad” language, they will see the information Facebook has confirmed. For example, a “Confirmed Organization” label will show the EIN or FEC number provided by the advertisers. The “About this Ad” label will include the organization’s phone number and email address. These updates apply not only to marketers managing ad campaigns for political candidates, but also anyone overseeing ads for an organization attached to political causes that may be running social issue ads. As we near the 2020 U.S. election cycle, the number of political, electoral and social issue ads will only increase — which means more ad dollars being allocated to Facebook. Marketers responsible for running political, electoral or social issue ads on Facebook and Instagram will need to stay on top of the company’s ad policies to make sure their ad campaigns run smoothly.
For the full article click here
Daily Minute Master Series – August 30, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Facebook Announces New Business Tools for Messenger Interactions
Facebook has announced a range of updates for its business tools on Messenger, adding in new lead generation automation options and appointment booking options in-stream. The biggest element of the update is the launch of Messenger lead generation templates, which Facebook first previewed at its F8 conference back in May. Tew lead generation flow, when integrated with your CRM, can provide more nuanced responses based on user feedback, and then track relevant leads for response at a later date – like when the desired item is back in stock. Another feature announced at F8, Facebook is now also adding integrated appointment booking options direct in Messenger. The option enables businesses to integrate their Messenger response flow with their existing calendar booking software, facilitating the full process within the app. Facebook is also updating its Standard Messaging response window for those using Facebook’s Send/Receive API to 24 hours only – as opposed to the current “24+1” setting.
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Google now showing competitor ads on local business profiles
Google has been slowly ramping local search monetization over time. It introduced local search ads in early 2017, which put ads in local packs, and began putting ads in local Knowledge Panels roughy two years ago. Now, the company is starting to show competitor ads in local business profiles. art of Local Campaigns, the ads are designed to drive visits to local businesses and retail locations. These fully automated units run across Google properties, including search, Maps, GDN and YouTube. There’s a sense that the GMB profile is “owned” by the business. However that’s not correct; it’s Google’s property, just as Facebook owns and controls local Facebook Pages. This is something that businesses should be sober about. However, Google must also be mindful of too-aggressive monetization of local. Some SEOs are saying this is such an example. It’s probably better that businesses can’t pay to remove these ads because that would be perceived as a form of “extortion,” something Yelp has been accused of — it’s advertisers don’t have competitor ads on their profiles.
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Marketing
Google Removes Some Filters from Image Search Results
Google appears to have removed the ability to filter image search results by “minimum size,” “exact size,” and “full color.” This change was made quietly, as there has been no official word from Google about removing the filters. Apparently, the filters are still available in the “advanced search” section which is accessed from the settings drop-down menu. However, the fact that the filters have been removed from the main UI is an indication they’re being deprecated. Google removing frequently-used features from image search is a pattern that hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down. Time will tell how many more features get removed from Google’s image search results in the future.
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Advertising
Bing Webmaster Tools allows site verification via Google Search Console
Bing has launched a beta feature that allows site owners to import their sites from Google Search Console to its own Webmaster Tools. After logging into Bing Webmaster Tools, site owners may be presented with an option reading, “Already verified on Google Search Console? Beta Skip verification by importing your site.” Although Bing’s share of the search market pales in comparison to Google, it is still the world’s second-largest search engine. For larger brands that are sensitive to the slightest of traffic fluctuations, having the tools necessary to address SEO issues as efficiently as possible may directly impact revenue. Being able to import your sites from Google Search Console decreases the friction (or inertia) involved with monitoring for those potential issues on a second frontier.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 29, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Pinterest Will Limit Search Results for Vaccine-Related Queries to Content from Official Health Outlets
After rolling out a ban on anti-vax content in Pins earlier in the year, Pinterest is now taking another step to halt the spread of vaccine misinformation on its platform, limiting its search results for vaccine-related queries to Pins from officially-recognized health organizations only. A search for vaccine information will now only surface results from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Center for Disease Control (CDC), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Vaccine Safety Net (VSN). That, along with the aforementioned ban on anti-vax Pins, will significantly limit the spread of any false information around the topic on the platform. Pinterest says that it’s taking stronger action because the anti-vax movement has become particularly damaging, with the CDC recently confirming that the U.S. is experiencing the greatest number of measles cases reported since 1992 – a virus that was declared “eliminated” in the region in 2000.
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Facebook’s Testing a New Screen-Sharing Option for Messenger
Facebook is testing a new Messenger video option which would enable you to share your phone screen in a Messenger chat, as opposed to using the camera. There’s a range of ways this functionality could be used – you could run real-time walkthroughs on-screen, quickly share a range of photos or videos from your phone, or discuss documents for work/study-related chat. The function would enable viewing of video content from beyond Facebook. Facebook already has communal video viewing options available (which are popular among video piracy groups), but this option would expand the capacity of the same to any video type that you can play on your phone. Set up a full-screen broadcast of the latest pirated movie, or other controversial content, and you have your own small cinema, with a group of your friends able to watch together and discuss.
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Marketing
Google moves to simplify, standardize content policies for publishers
Google is reorganizing how it presents publisher content policies, and standardizing its content policies and restrictions across AdSense, AdMob and Ad Manager. Google content policies will soon be divided into two categories: Google Publisher Policies and Google Publisher Restrictions. The Google Publisher Policies page will outline the types of content that cannot be monetized and the Google Publisher Restrictions page will outline specific content types that do not violate policies, but may not be appealing to all advertisers, such as alcohol or tobacco-related content. Brands and marketers have long been pushing for digital ad platforms to create more transparent and brand-safe environments. In the process, many of the content policies from ad platforms have been difficult to follow and understand for publishers — knowing what content cannot be monetized versus the types of content that can be monetized, but may not fit an advertiser’s branding standards. With this update, Google is making it easier for publishers to follow the rules.
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Advertising
Google Ads Introduces Seasonality Adjustments for Smart Bidding
Google Ads is rolling out seasonality adjustments for smart bidding for search and display campaigns. Smart bidding strategies set bids automatically to help advertisers improve the performance of their Google Ads campaigns. Smart bidding is already designed to take seasonality into account, but sometimes there are occasions outside of regular seasonality patterns when an advertiser may want to spend more on ads. Google recommends using seasonality adjustments only if major changes to conversion rates are expected, because Smart Bidding already manages seasonal events such as holidays. Seasonality adjustments are currently available only for Search and Display campaigns. Support for Shopping campaigns is expected later this year.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 28, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Facebook is Testing a New Listing of Post Reactions in Your Notifications Stream
Facebook is testing out a new way to highlight Reactions to your Facebook posts, with a new notification format within your Notifications listing that would display a small tile of the post, with respective Reactions overlaid. That could help spur engagement and response – for one, the more visual notifiers stand out, though you would expect the effect of such would diminish over time. But they might also show a Reaction you weren’t expecting, or signify posts that are seeing a lot of response. It would be a small addition, in relative terms, but you can imagine it having the desired effect – while for brands, it could help to highlight key posts that are sparking emotional response, and get you responding faster to maximize that engagement.
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Instagram is Developing a Separate Messaging App Called ‘Threads’
After shutting down its standalone messaging app ‘Direct’ earlier this year, Instagram is reportedly working on a new iteration of the same, which aims to put more focus on maintaining connection between close friends. According to The Verge, Instagram’s latest weapon on this front is a new messaging app called ‘Threads’ which will look to focus on building stronger, more constant connection between smaller, enclosed groups. The aim, as noted, would be to make Instagram more of a rival for Snap, in regards to keeping close friends more connected, as opposed to broadcasting in your main feed for all to see. That could help Instagram build stronger bonds with younger users – or it could, as Direct did, fall flat.
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Instagram is Doubling Down on Stories Ads
Instagram is literally doubling down on stories ads in a test that will show back-to-back ads to some users. Instead of showing the usual one ad between stories, Instagram is testing how users will respond to two ads from different brands. A spokesperson tells AdWeek that Instagram is simply gathering feedback for now, and the focus of the app will remain on the user experience. No further details were provided with regards to how many people are part of the initial test group.
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Marketing
Yelp adds new personalization features in bid to regain local momentum from Google
Yelp is betting big on personalization. Soon, new screens will allow users to select preferences and favorites that will be used by the company to offer better recommendations and personalized search results. Yelp says that it’s using reviews content, photos, business attributes and other data to match consumer interests and businesses or activities. Yelp says the new features will be rolling out soon to iOS users and in stages for Android users, with the “full experience” available early next year. The company also teases that these new capabilities are “the beginning of major product changes the company is undertaking to significantly evolve and improve the consumer experience.” Yelp faces intensifying pressure from Google and GMB’s increasing transactional functionality. The company needs to make changes that differentiate its experience from what Google is doing. It needs to regain growth and momentum or face an eventual sale, to private equity or someone else.
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Daily Minute Master Series – August 27, 2019
/by Corey PadveenSocial Media
Twitter Tests New, Larger Image Tweet Carousel Ad Format
Back in March, Twitter began testing a new carousel ad format for app install campaigns, which would give advertisers the capacity to add multiple, larger images to their collections. Now, Twitter is expanding its new carousel format to additional campaign types, and potentially even regular business posts. The new format includes a larger image panel, and a swipeable carousel stream. The post appears to have been created via an app called ‘Carousel-Composer’, though there’s limited information on the tool available. The new layout is more visual focused, and definitely stands out more in the Twitter stream. There’s no word, at this stage, on an expanded roll-out, but Twitter will be monitoring the results and assessing the next stages.
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Facebook’s Clear History Tool Could be Delayed in the US Due to Court Case
Here’s another interesting wrinkle in Facebook’s protracted release of its ‘Clear History’ tool, which will enable users to detach their off-platform activity from their Facebook data profile. According to Bloomberg, a US launch of the option could be delayed because it would potentially impact a pending court case in Texas. To be clear, Facebook’s off-platform activity tool has no US launch date as yet. Last week, Facebook rolled out the first stage of the tool in Ireland, South Korea and Spain, and Facebook will learn key lessons from that initial release before expanding the option to other markets, with no communicated plan for a US roll-out at this stage.
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Marketing
Google Search Console API drops more app features
Google announced it is removing some features from the current Search Console API. Most of these features are related to apps, specifically Android app search appearance types. Google also said that the Sitemaps API is no longer populating the indexing status of submitted sitemap files in the “Indexed” field. Assuming Google is still going to be developing towards the new Search Console features, expect a new Search Console API to come in the future. For now, those using any of the features (Install, App Universal and Opened) won’t be able to see data for those types going forward.
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Google testing highlighting content on-site based on the search result clicked
Google confirmed it’s testing a feature that takes the searcher from the search results page to a third-party site, then anchors them to that exact location on the site while highlighting that content. This is something Google originally did on mobile through the AMP cache, and is now being tested on desktop and Chrome browsers. Previously, this launched in 2018 for AMP mobile pages but now Google is trying it for Chrome desktop users as well. Essentially, the new feature no longer requires solely AMP content. With this, searchers may skip down past ads and/or call to actions to jump directly to the relevant content. SEOs should take measures to track if your site is doing this in Google search, and possibly replace your ads/call to actions in a more appropriate location.
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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.
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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 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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