Technology News and Industry Knowledge

Beginning in July 2022, advertisers will no longer be able to create new ETAs or edit existing ETAs in Google Ads according to an announcement. “Your existing expanded text ads will continue to serve alongside responsive search ads, and you’ll still see reports on their performance going forward. Additionally, you’ll be able to pause and resume your expanded text ads or remove them if needed. You’ll also still be able to create and edit call ads and Dynamic Search Ads,” said the announcement. We’re continuing to expand this story as we learn more. Why we care. This is the latest move that Google is making to push automation through their ad products. The announcement says that, “15% of search queries every day are new searches we’ve never seen before” and therefore “Automation is key to keeping pace with these trends.” Many advertisers do use RSAs well, but they also like having the control and capabilities that ETAs offer. The future phase-out of ETAs means advertisers are moving...

A partnership with the role-playing tabletop game, which saw its best sales ever in 2020, looks to provide a family friendly story focused on teamwork. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/nerds-packaging-unlocks-candy-themed-dungeons-dragons-adventure/605835/

Your final chance for industry-wide recognition , awesome social buzz , and a hefty boost to company morale is fast approaching: The 2021 Search Engine Awards entry period closes at the end of this week — Friday, September 3 at 11:59pm PT to be exact! There’s still time for you to submit your application — especially because the submission process is faster and easier than ever . But before you begin that entry, take a moment to meet the judges , a fabulous panel of experts across the SEO and PPC spectrum… … and look over their first-hand advice for what makes a winning SEO or PPC campaign, and thus, a winning Search Engine Land Awards application . Azeem Ahmad For me, a successful campaign starts at the end. Yes, you read that right. What I meant by that statement is that for any campaign to be a success, you have to absolutely decide what the measure of success is, and what success looks like for you. Jumping in without clarity often leads to more harm than good for the bu...

Search Engine Land’s daily brief features daily insights, news, tips, and essential bits of wisdom for today’s search marketer. If you would like to read this before the rest of the internet does, sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox daily. Good morning, Marketers, and how do you use cross-organizational data? Sharing data between SEO and PPC has probably been one of the easier silos for search marketers to break. It’s pretty simple to go check how your paid search advertising is going and use that data to improve your SEO ( check out how Lily Ray did it here ). And PPC experts can do the same of SEO data. But one thing I rarely hear search marketers talk about is data-sharing across the organization. Once a company I worked with told me about how they used their call recordings to improve their SEO and PPC. Not only were they adding in the FAQs to their site that came in over calls, but they figured out where their “leak” in the funnel was. The company was driving a to...

The new campaign coincides with plans for Wynn Resorts to spend $100 million on WynnBets during the upcoming football season, per Bloomberg. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/wynnbet-teams-with-ben-affleck-shaq-as-online-sports-betting-heats-up/605831/

The P&G brand's latest environmental push features a talking washing machine and TV spots with Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/tide-extends-turntocold-campaign-with-nfl-partnership/605834/

The brand has recently expanded into other segments, including hard seltzers and frozen flavored icicles, in a bid to capture more young drinkers. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/ab-inbevs-natural-light-enters-vodka-category/605836/

Last week, Google had one of its typical reporting issues where we thought maybe the data was delayed due to some pipeline bug. But it turns out the data that was lost, is likely gone forever and won’t be backfilled in the Search Console performance report. The statement. Google posted a statement saying that between August 23rd and August 24th “an internal problem caused a data loss in Search and Discover performance during this period. Users might see a significant data drop in their performance reports during this period. This does not reflect any drop in clicks or impressions for your site, only missing data in Search Console.” Lost data. John Mueller of Google said this means that “it looks like this is really data loss and won’t be back-filled.” Performance report. The Google Search Console performance report is a report many marketers rely on to see how much visibility and traffic Google Search sends a site. It shows you impressions, clicks, average position in searc...

You may be feeling confused and more than a little frustrated after Google’s recent title rewrite update, but why is Google rewriting titles, and what can we learn from it? Dr. Pete explored over 50,000 <title> tags to find out.

On Saturday, Google Search Advocate John Mueller clarified that the changes the company has been making to titles in the search results have no effect on rankings. No — John (@JohnMu) August 28, 2021 “This just changes the displayed titles, it doesn’t change ranking or takes [sic] anything different into account,” he elaborated . Why we care This means the titles you wrote may still be taken into account by Google when it ranks results. So, don’t stop optimizing your titles just because they may change in the search results. If your clickthrough rates have taken a hit, you can use a third-party tool to check whether Google changed your titles and if it did, it may be worthwhile to experiment with a new title. If, on the other hand, your clickthrough rates have improved, you might want to make note of how Google changed your title for future reference. That having been said, Google makes ranking changes very often, so you may experience rankings fluctuations, but they w...

Six major agency holding companies made enterprise-level buys, while the smart TV maker's direct ad business tripled average revenue per advertiser. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/vizio-secures-100m-in-upfront-commitments-amid-shift-to-ctv/605769/

On August 24, Google confirmed that it changed how it creates titles for search result listings. The confirmation came roughly a week after search professionals began noticing such changes — in the interim (and even after the confirmation), SEOs raised concerns about how these Google-altered titles may affect their traffic. Unfortunately, title change information isn’t available in Google Search Console or Google Analytics. So, SEOs have turned to third-party tools to see whether their titles are being changed. Below is a list of tools you can use to check for title changes and instructions on how to do so. Ahrefs. Title changes can be checked in Ahrefs, although it is a manual process. You can check for changes via historical SERPs in Site Explorer > Organic Keywords 2.0. Image: Ahrefs. Since this method shows a list of search results for a given keyword, toggling the “Target only” switch (as shown below), which only shows the snippet from your site, can help you get to t...

The enterprise solutions provider is folding into Wunderman Thompson Commerce and will serve as a broader "hub of AI expertise" at WPP. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/wpp-names-chief-ai-officer-as-part-of-deal-for-satalia/605660/

Keyword research is one of the most fundamental practices of SEO. It provides valuable insight into your target audience’s questions and helps inform your content and marketing strategies. For that reason, a well-orchestrated keyword research strategy can set you up for success. Are you looking to improve the way you’re conducting keyword research? Join experts from Conductor as they deliver a crash course on keyword research tips, tricks, and best practices. Register today for “ Choose the Right Keywords With These Research Tips and Tricks, “ presented by Conductor. The post Choose the right keywords with these tips and tricks appeared first on Search Engine Land . Via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1BDlNnc

The effort from the 75-year-old toy brand focuses on TikTok and Instagram and directs fans to SoundCloud where they can create their own take on the tune. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/slinky-makes-social-media-debut-with-search-for-new-jingle/605766/

Review platforms, like Google and Yelp, enable local businesses to expand their online visibility and establish credibility through customer reviews — two important aspects of marketing that SMBs may otherwise struggle with. Over the last few years, maintaining an accurate online presence has gone from being an important marketing tool to being a lifeline for local businesses. In fact, platforms like Google and Yelp churned out a slew of new features last year in response to the coronavirus pandemic, enabling businesses to rapidly communicate business hours or service changes to their customers. Unfortunately, bad actors may seek to harm a business’s online reputation through fake reviews or by crowding them out with fake listings. While Yelp and Google both have extensive systems and policies to fight bad actors, there are important distinctions that every local marketer should be aware of, and knowing them can help frame your expectations for each platform as well as enable you to...

Search Engine Land’s daily brief features daily insights, news, tips, and essential bits of wisdom for today’s search marketer. If you would like to read this before the rest of the internet does, sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox daily. Good morning, Marketers, and we need to work on our communication. I just hopped off a call with the SMX SEO committee and one takeaway I got from the lively conversation we had is that search marketers don’t always get communication right. Whether it’s in the form of setting expectations for clients and stakeholders from the beginning or reporting what’s going on in our campaigns and accounts.  We all know the key to solid communication is knowing your audience and knowing what matters most to them. Your CEO cares about top-level metrics. Your tech team cares about the details and specifications. And your associate cares about how they can best do their jobs. This conversation had me nodding my head and thinking of PPC expert Am...

A series of national spots and regional sportsbook ads look to show consumers how to "make every moment more." source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/fanduel-bets-on-mainstream-audiences-with-first-national-campaign/605736/

The fast-casual salad chain brings an out-of-home campaign to New York City, where it will also be giving away merchandise signed by the tennis star. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/sweetgreen-celebrates-naomi-osaka-partnership-with-us-open-campaign/605696/

The SEO industry has a large problem: an overwhelming lack of resources and available talent. This becomes more apparent at the enterprise level, where data sets are vast, dense, and complex, making it difficult not only to make sense of the data but to act on it. Not to mention the numerous SEO tools are advanced and great at pointing out issues to SEOs, but lack the ability to actually “do SEO.”  Automating SEO allows marketers to reduce the time from data to insights to action, so they can implement faster and see results. The number one challenge we hear from enterprise SEOs is getting things done.  In fact, a study by Moz in 2016 found that the majority of SEOs didn’t see their recommendations implemented for “close to 6 months after they were requested.” Misaligned priorities can make it difficult to implement even the smallest of changes — a simple tweak to the metadata can take months to deploy to production! Ramesh Singh, Head of SEO at Great Learning , ech...

This year, back-to-school spending is expected to grow 16% year-over-year up to $32.5 billion dollars. source https://www.marketingdive.com/spons/the-pandemic-isnt-slowing-down-back-to-school-spending/605339/

Miriam answers seven of the most common questions from searchers looking for an introductory understanding of what “local SEO” means, who needs it, how it works, how to study it, and more!

CEO Sonia Syngal said stepped-up marketing investments, improved brand management and technology enhancements are paying off. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/gap-keeps-mum-about-its-yeezy-collection-as-old-navy-athleta-dominate-q2/605711/

The 12-bedroom listing also serves as the setting for the new season of the toy blaster brand's YouTube series centered on teen enthusiasts. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/hasbro-teams-with-vrbo-to-turn-lakeside-mansion-into-nerf-battleground/605690/

Outdoor influencers created a soundtrack inspired by national parks after Sonos found most people opt for music over friends as their preferred adventure buddy. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/campaign-trail-sonos-explores-sonic-ties-to-nature-in-smart-speaker-ad/605675/

The initiative and a new ad seek to help female athletes achieve the same level of coverage in media as part of the push for equal pay. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/michelob-ultra-supports-gender-equality-in-sports-with-100m-pledge/605658/

In its journey toward supporting BIPOC customers, the beauty retailer is also revamping its ColorIQ foundation matching technology. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/sephora-plans-first-campaign-highlighting-black-owned-brands/605704/

Keyword research is one of the most fundamental practices of SEO. It provides valuable insight into your target audience’s questions and helps inform your content and marketing strategies. For that reason, a well-orchestrated keyword research strategy can set you up for success. Are you looking to improve the way you’re conducting keyword research? Join experts from Conductor as they deliver a crash course on keyword research tips, tricks and best practices. Register today for “ Choose the Right Keywords With These Research Tips and Tricks, “ presented by Conductor. The post Choose the right keywords with these tips and tricks appeared first on Search Engine Land . Via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1BDlNnc

The post 20210827 SEL Brief appeared first on Search Engine Land . Via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1BDlNnc

When compared to a typical B2C business, the sales cycle in B2B means that users will be visiting your site multiple times throughout their sales cycle before making a final purchase. To encourage conversion, you need to be reaching them at each different stage in their journey.

Search Engine Land’s daily brief features daily insights, news, tips, and essential bits of wisdom for today’s search marketer. If you would like to read this before the rest of the internet does, sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox daily. Good morning, Marketers, and a lot can happen in a year. This past Sunday we had one-year photos taken to commemorate my daughter hitting that first birthday milestone next week. Getting the photo gallery yesterday morning sent me down memory lane thinking about how much has changed in 365 days. Babies grow and learn at such a rapid pace during their first years. A little potato human that couldn’t lift her head can now walk, communicate, and sleep through the night (mostly, thank goodness).  The same is true for us as search marketers. Think about where you were in your career a year ago. Probably stuck at home trying to weather a pandemic. But in the meantime, you may have started your own business, started a new job, learned ne...