Technology News and Industry Knowledge

Introducing the first generative AI chatbot for search marketers – the Search Engine Land ChatBot . Launched today in beta, we’re excited for you to test it out. About the chatbot. Our bot has been trained on the Search Engine Land content, allowing you to explore, experiment and learn more about search marketing. The chatbot that powers our ChatBot sits on top of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It is based on more than 20,000 news articles, guides, tutorials and original and curated research pieces published on Search Engine Land – the publication of record for all things search and search marketing since 2006. Our chatbot will be updated on a regular basis with newly published content. How it works. Navigate to our ChatBot page and get ready to write prompts. We offer some best practices and sample prompts on that page. For example, here’s what you’ll see on a prompt for “create a content marketing and SEO plan for a local bakery”. You will probably come across some form of message ...

Google has updated its Shopping ads Policy Center and free listings Policy Center to improve transparency for advertisers and retailers. These updates provide clearer information about how Google enforces its policies. What’s new. Google has clarified the YouTube Shopping ads requirements and Discovery product ads format requirements to help retailers understand why their ads may not be performing well and how to address any issues. The policies. You can review the Google Shopping ads policy center here , as well as the free listings policies to get a better understanding of how the policies are enforced.  Why we care. These updates are important for advertisers to improve their understanding of policy enforcement and optimize their advertising strategies for better return on investment (ROI). The post Google modifies shopping ads policies to enhance transparency appeared first on Search Engine Land . Via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/OydTmEN

I’ve had access to Google’s new Search Generative Experience (SGE) for about a week now. I decided to “formally” put it to the test using the same 30 queries from my March mini-study comparing the top generative AI solutions . Those queries were designed to push the limits of each platform. In this article, I’ll share some qualitative feedback on SGE and quick findings from my 30-query test. Search Generative Experience out of the box Google announced its Search Generative Experience (SGE) at the Google I/O event on May 10. SGE is Google’s take on incorporating generative AI into the search experience. The user experience (UX) differs slightly from that of Bing Chat. Here is a sample screenshot: The image above shows the SGE portion of the search result. The regular search experience is directly below the SGE section, as shown here: In many cases, SGE declines to provide a response. This generally happens with: Your Money or Your Life ( YMYL ) queries like those on me...

Today’s economic headwinds make it more tempting to test new ad platforms, explore “shiny” new products and revise your original B2B marketing strategy. For risk-averse or conservative marketers, trying something new can be intimidating. Here are key considerations before expanding your B2B portfolio. Assessing your readiness for change B2B marketers tend to be conservative when testing new marketing tactics, and rightfully so.  The vast majority of ad platforms are designed for B2C or DTC initiatives. But with its unique target audience and complex sales cycles, B2B marketing requires different strategies and platforms explicitly tailored to its needs.  Most B2B companies also spend more on traditional marketing (magazines, radio, broadcast TV, and street furniture, to name a few) than digital ad spending. If you are in a very traditional, risk-averse business, you will struggle to get the company outside “true and tested” methods. Here are two questions to ask when ...

Building consumer trust is crucial for marketers. But how is that trust built in a future without cookies? This webinar will explore how brands can use choice, control, and transparency to create personalized, permission-based experiences that minimize compliance risk and drive marketing ROI without relying on third-party cookies.  Learn more by registering for and attending “Trust Matters: Building Consumer Confidence in a Cookieless World,” presented by OneTrust. Click here to view more Search Engine Land webinars. The post Webinar: How to build consumer trust in a cookieless world appeared first on Search Engine Land . Via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/S6b7AJ3

Microsoft released a number of improvements to Bing Chat, including an Android home widget, improved sports scores and other updates for SwiftKey, the company announced . This is in addition to the other changes, including Bing being added as the default search provider for ChatGPT . Android home widget. There is now a new Bing Chat widget that you can enable on your Android device’s Home screen. Once you install it, there will be a Bing icon will take you directly to Bing Chat.   Here is how that looks: Improved sports scores. Bing Chat said it improved its “sports grounding,” adding they have “taken steps to help Bing Chat give better answers if you’re asking questions about sports topics — including games, schedules, stats, and standings across a variety of sports.” Here is me asking for sports scores this morning: Other changes. Bing also announced a number of changes to SwiftKey including how to compose messages in SwiftKey, new tones in SwiftKey when composing ...

About a week ago, Google did its last batch of moving sites to mobile-first indexing and some mobile-friendly sites were still noticing their sites were being reported as being crawled using desktop indexing. It turns out, there is a reporting bug in Google Search Console that may show the wrong mobile indexing status for some sites. What Google said. Google’s John Mueller posted on Twitter a few minutes ago about the issue. John wrote, “It looks like we’re also showing the wrong mobile indexing status for some sites in Search Console, which is a reporting issue on our side (and also not related to mobile friendliness).” Where to check. To check your indexing status, login to Google Search Console, click on the “Settings” link on the left side bar and then look under the “about” section to see your indexing status. Why we care. So if you are nervous after noticing Google reporting that your mobile-friendly site(s) were being reported as crawled using desktop indexing, it mig...

The Google Search Console performance reports are currently significantly delayed, mine is now showing it is over 65 hours delayed. Typically, these reports are updated within 4 hours, so this is a significant delay. Google is aware. Google is aware of the delay and the team is working on fixing the issue. This is not uncommon, but a 65 or more hour delay is somewhat unusual for these Search Console reports. John Mueller, a Google Search representative, posted on Twitter, “Sometimes things are just a bit slow,” “Sorry for the delays with the data,” he added. He also said that this “doesn’t mean that there isn’t another search update happening, it’s just that this is definitely not a sign of a search update.” What it looks like. Here is a screenshot of the delay, where I see “last updated: 65 hours ago.” Why we care. There is no reason to panic, Google will fix the issue and you will get your data. It might take some time, so check back later today or tomorrow, but I am sure...

For as long as I’ve worked in SEO , I have been asked the same question by brands and businesses, big and small: Why should I use YouTube ? How can it help my business? Shouldn’t I be on TikTok instead? Sadly, for many businesses, YouTube is just a place to host their videos. Nothing more, nothing less. And it’s a huge missed opportunity in terms of video ROI, brand awareness, traffic and audience growth. A lack of effort in marketing and optimizing videos is one reason the C-suite is often reluctant to invest in future video projects. They just don’t see the value. In short, for many businesses, YouTube is where their videos go to die. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Your YouTube channel doesn’t have to be a brand video graveyard. Understanding the problem Brands and businesses often disregard YouTube as a genuine and viable medium for growth. There are common false assumptions among business leaders and even marketers around YouTube: YouTube is for kids and Gen Z. YouTu...

Microsoft Ads will start collecting more website data through its Universal Event Tracking Tag to power UET Insights, a new dashboard for advertisers to launch in June. The dashboard. Data will be available in near real-time and won’t be sampled on the new dashboard. It will include these metrics: Session count . Popular pages . Device breakdown . Country breakdown . Quick backs (the number of sessions where a visitor navigated to a page, then quickly returned to the previous page during the selected time period). Average active time . Here’s a preview of what the UET Insights dashboard looks like: New data signals. Additional website performance signals captured by the UET Tag will include: Page latencies (speed and load times). Click and scroll interactions. Purchase cart details. Cart abandonment details. Browser-based signals. JavaScript browser errors. Starting June 29. That’s the date when Microsoft will automatically enable UET Insights on all existing ...

Google will look much different in 2033 – where conversation is the interface rather than the search box. That’s according to Mustafa Suleyman, cofounder of DeepMind (which Google bought in 2014 ), in an interview on the No Priors Podcast. Why we care. ChatGPT , the new Bing and Google’s new Search Generative Experience are all huge signals of a major shift in search. Clearly, nothing will change immediately. But in the coming years these changes could potentially upend the way Google – as the dominant search engine – has shaped the web and, as a byproduct, SEO and PPC. The search dialogue. Google is “an appallingly painful” conversation right now, where the answer comes in the form of 10 blue links (though he didn’t mention all the search features and ads that also act as “answers” on today’s SERPs). Google learns from the results people click on, how long they spend on sites and whether they come back to the search box to refine their search or click on other results. He ...

Here we are over two decades into the 2000s, but bad B2B content marketing still exists . Digital content marketing has existed for at least 10 years, but some businesses still make elementary mistakes that wreck their potential for results. That’s a shame because most content marketers ( 71% ) will tell you that content has only become more important over time. Most buyers easily ignore ads and actively search out content to help them make purchase decisions (70% of buyers read at least 3-5 pieces of content before talking to a salesperson). Truly, the businesses that do B2B content marketing right have a giant competitive advantage. So, what does the right way look like?  Let’s explore both sides of the coin so you can see exactly how to do content marketing the right way. First: The wrong way to do B2B content marketing The only way to learn the right way to do content marketing is to understand the wrong way, first. Here are six major no-nos. 1. Not creating a c...