Technology News and Industry Knowledge

I know what you’re thinking. “I’m going on a trip to Cape May, NJ and need a true ‘hidden gem’ of a travel guide.” Well, if by some extreme fluke, you see one of BuzzFeed’s AI-assisted content in your search results, here’s my recommendation: avoid it. That’s because BuzzFeed has published 20 low-quality travel articles under the byline “As Told to Buzzy.” They’re all super formulaic and written in the first-person point of view. Or, do we now have to call it the “first-AI point of view”? (Does AI even have a view?) Why we care. Multiple articles are calling these “SEO-driven” travel guides. Let’s stop that now. If these pages rank for any competitive terms, Google has failed as a search engine. No, what BuzzFeed has done here is not “SEO”. BuzzFeed has simply published super low-quality, shallow, AI-generated articles written as a first-person narrative by the AI, about locations that exist in the world. Nothing more, nothing less. If these pages rank, it will be because it lives ...

Search marketers design, run and optimize campaigns – and rely heavily on spreadsheets to successfully do their jobs, according to a new Search Engine Land survey. Why we care. Although search marketers have several responsibilities and face a variety of challenges related to their roles and the technology they use, our survey shows that the majority of search marketers are satisfied with their work. The biggest responsibilities for search marketers. Designing, running and optimizing campaigns is the responsibility that falls onto most search marketers, either directly or through their team, according to our survey. At the director level and higher, 81% of marketers said designing, running and optimizing campaigns was their top responsibility. For managers/staff, the number was 67%. The next three responsibilities for all respondents were the same (though the percentages varied based on the role): Designing and managing internal workflows and processes. Researching and rec...

An AI advocacy group’s complaint arrived the same week FTC Chair Lina Khan said AI was top of mind for the agency while speaking at an antitrust summit. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/FTC-complaint-AI-Lina-Khan-CAIDP-OpenAI/646487/

The "Metalmorphosis" campaign uses vehicle-mounted cameras to show off the performance of a car that "isn't your grandma's Corolla." source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/toyota-gr-corolla-animate-ad-without-vfx/646150/

Google’s ad business will celebrate its 23rd year this fall, but not before paid search undergoes massive changes. As traditional search evolves with the advent of AI-powered functionality, so will pay-per-click (PPC) advertising . It’s unlikely Google will sit idly by and take massive revenue hits as paid placements decline. We don’t yet know what they will roll out to capitalize on AI-powered search – or when exactly users will see ads in this AI-powered experience. We do know there will be fewer advertising opportunities, increased competition and higher costs. But AI will also help advertisers better target consumers – and it could help them optimize campaigns, too. Here’s a closer look at how paid search will remain relevant, but advertisers must adjust their strategies to reach their targets in this new era. The new search AI assistants like Google Bard will help search evolve from transactional to conversational, according to Aaron Levy , vice president of paid search at p...

You’ve heard of a business mission statement – but have you also heard of a content marketing mission statement? This is an important piece of text that should head up your content strategy. Outlining your content marketing mission statement will give your content efforts a greater purpose. It will drive you toward a specific direction that aligns with your goals and the impact you want to create. Needless to say, it’s really important to know how to create this special mission statement. Crafting it should be one of the first things you do when you build a content strategy . Let’s dive into all the details. What is a content marketing mission statement? A content marketing mission statement is a short statement that describes the overarching purpose of your content marketing efforts and activities. This statement answers the question: What do you want your content marketing to achieve overall for your business and your audience? What kind of content (format + topics) will yo...

The limited-edition offering is joined by a social media campaign, “From Selfie to Belfie,” that yields an original song, custom TikTok filter and sweepstakes. source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/american-eagle-elf-cosmetics-makeup-line-tiktok-campaign/646321/

The effort coincides with the start of a new season that could see shorter, more exciting games due to several new rules.  source https://www.marketingdive.com/news/mlb-opening-day-baseball-is-something-else-campaign-wieden-kennedy/646408/

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) rebuilt the platform from the ground up with a new central focus on events, enhancing users’ ability to customize tracking for specific actions across websites and apps. To set up GA4 properly, you should think through the events that make sense to track for your site. This article covers the events you can track by default and how to set up custom events, along with suggested use cases for each. Built-in events Out of the box, GA4 includes events for several categories that can be automatically collected, including the following as of the time of this article. Page view The page_view event fires whenever a page is loaded or the browser history state changes. This can’t be disabled. Scroll tracking The scroll event fires when a user scrolls 90% of the way through a page. Outbound click tracking The click event only fires for clicks leading to separate domains. Site search This tracks internal search activity if you have the option included on yo...

Let’s set the record straight. Google News optimization is not only for news sites.  Any website which regularly invests in timely content can reach engaged audiences and drive quality traffic with a solid Google News SEO strategy.  Google News-driven results send over 24 billion clicks per month to publishers. Here’s how to claim your share.  Google News aggregates and amplifies story exposure Google News is an aggregator that offers somewhat newsworthy local and international stories from numerous sources, categorizing content into topics. I say “somewhat newsworthy” because what Google defines as “news” is now lax. The publisher no longer needs to be a dedicated news site. You can get in with your blog if you regularly produce high-quality, original and timely content. You may get in without knowing it, as Google automatically considers any content in its index that complies with Google News content policies for inclusion. Ranking in Google News can be a game...