Technology News and Industry Knowledge

Reddit Ads Manager has been updated to simplify the process of creating and tracking campaigns more efficiently. The platform now offers six new automated features designed to provide advertisers with easy access to creative best practices. Why we care. These updates offer advertisers simpler ways to build campaigns and receive creative support, which could be particularly beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with limited resources. Smart headlines. This new tool automatically generates a variety of ad copy headlines tailored to Reddit’s unique audience. To utilize it, advertisers only need to input their website URL. Creative asset cropper. This new tool enables advertisers to crop images to fit Reddit’s ad format specifications, making the upload process simpler. Lowest cost automated bidding strategy . This new tool is designed to help advertisers maximize campaign results within their budgets by automatically setting an ad cost amount. Initially used by a...

Facebook and Instagram advertisers filed a class-action lawsuit against Meta for $7 billion in San Francisco. They claim that the social media giant exaggerated ad viewership figures by up to 400%, leading them to pay inflated premiums for ad placements on its platforms. Potential Reach metric. The advertisers suing Meta allege that the Potential Reach metric used by the company to determine advertising costs relies on the total number of social media accounts rather than individual users. They argue that this approach is problematic because it could include bot and fake accounts, resulting in advertisers paying more money for their ads to be served to bots. What Meta is saying . Meta denied the allegations, explaining that the price advertisers are charged is based on performance metrics – not the Potential Reach metric as claimed in the lawsuit. A Meta spokesperson told AdWeek : “These allegations are baseless, and we will defend ourselves vigorously.” What the advertiser...

Does it ever feel like your SEO recommendations and projects get lost in the shuffle or deprioritized by other teams? If you work in-house, you’ve likely experienced the “fear of missing out” (FOMO) when it comes to getting your optimization work properly resourced and implemented. The good news is that a project management methodology called “Agile” can help cross-functional teams self-organize and collaborate more effectively. By understanding the agile ceremonies (meetings) and processes, you can better integrate with and influence the development cycles to ensure your SEO requirements don’t get overlooked. In this article, we’ll cover the key aspects of the agile methodology, map out the various agile meetings you should aim to participate in and provide tips on how to write effective tickets and acceptance criteria so your SEO changes get prioritized and launched. Say goodbye to FOMO and start getting your SEO work done through the power of agile processes. How agile pro...

In this article, we’ll explore how schema markup, particularly the use of descriptive markup, linking entities and connecting to external data sources, can establish trust with Google and potentially reduce the chances of being deindexed.  Additionally, we’ll discuss the role of schema markup in increasing the likelihood of inclusion in Search Generative Experience (SGE) and boosting information gain scores, which can be crucial for visibility in conversational search environments. How schema markup benefits Google and website owners Google faces escalating costs with the rapid growth of spam and the impending adoption of generative AI in SERPs. Implementing SGE incurs significantly higher costs compared to current methods, potentially impacting ad revenue as searchers’ needs are met more quickly reducing the number of placement opportunities. One approach to reducing costs I’ve observed is a more stringent policy for what gets included in Google’s index. Anecdotally, clients ...

Google is piloting new product discovery elements designed to give users a more personalized shopping experience, including: Style recommendations. Brand preferences. Generative AI for product search. Virtual try-on technology. Why we care . These features offer businesses new opportunities to showcase their products and engage with high-value consumers who are likely to be more inclined to make purchases, thanks to a personalized shopping experience tailored to their specific preferences. Style recommendations. Google is testing Style Recommendations, now accessible to signed-in U.S. shoppers via mobile browsers and the Google app, aiming to deliver more personalized results. For instance, when users search for specific apparel like shoes, they’ll come across the Style Recommendations section. Here, they can offer ratings with thumbs up or thumbs down, or simply swipe right or left to immediately access personalized results. How it works. If shoppers aren’t satisfied with t...

YouTube is expanding its audience retention analytics tools to offer creators deeper insights into viewer behavior. This expansion will see audience segments added to the audience retention report within YouTube Studio video analytics this week. Creators will be able to utilize this feature to compare viewer engagement among different audience groups, like new versus returning viewers, and subscribed versus non-subscribed viewers. Why we care . The additional insights will enable creators to make data-led decisions to tailor their content strategy more effectively to specific audience preferences and improve audience retention. Accessibility. In YouTube Studio analytics, audience segments will be accessible within the advanced mode of the audience retention report. For You customization . Starting next week, YouTube will also begin giving creators full control over the For You section, transforming it into a customizable shelf on their channel page. This means viewers can now add...

While Google Ads has built-in bidding algorithms and optimization features, some PPC marketers and advertisers still rely on Google’s Search Ads 360 (SA360) for managing complex campaigns. This article discusses three key best practices and integrations that can help maximize the value of using SA360: Leveraging data integrations with Google Analytics and BigQuery. Taking advantage of advanced bid optimization features like value-based bidding and custom variables. Using templates and feed automation to streamline ad creation and management processes.  What is Search Ads 360 (SA360)?  Search Ads 360 is a Google-owned search management platform helping agencies and marketers manage large search marketing campaigns across multiple engines and media channels. You can use Search Ads 360 to create, manage and report on search campaigns on: Google Ads Microsoft Ads Yahoo! Japan Sponsored Products Baidu SA360 is for complex accounts and brands, especially retailers ...

Migrating a website is a complex undertaking, but when it involves transitioning global sites across multiple markets, the challenges are exponentially greater. This article provides a comprehensive guide to maximizing success with global site migrations while protecting organic search traffic.  From the initial planning stages to post-launch monitoring, it covers key actions organizations should take to deeply integrate SEO best practices, preserve URL and content value and streamline the process across international markets.  Site migrations vs. global site migrations Migration is any significant domain, content or URL changes that typically happen during a website rebuild, consolidation, domain change or move to a new content management system (CMS).  There is enough to go wrong with a single site migration, but it can be disastrous when implemented globally without careful consideration. Often, multinational companies will deploy the new platform in a smaller s...

Google’s 2023 Ads Safety Report revealed that it blocked or removed 12.7 million advertiser accounts last year – nearly double the previous 12 months. Additionally, the search engine blocked or removed 5.5 billion ads for violating its policies – slightly up from the prior year. Why we care. Cracking down on fraudulent accounts is critical for brand safety and also helps to ensure a safer space for consumers so that they can confidently make online transactions. However, there’s also a potential risk associated with AI, as it may mistakenly suspend genuine advertisers and ads. The report findings.  In the 2023 Google Ads Safety Report, Google found: Google blocked or removed 206.5 million advertisements for violating our misrepresentation policy, which includes many scam tactics. Google blocked or removed 273.4 million advertisements for violating our financial services policy. Google blocked or removed over 1 billion advertisements for violating its policy against ab...

Meridian , Google’s new open-source Marketing Mix Model (MMM), has entered the rapidly evolving market for advanced marketing analytics and forecasting tools.  This article explores Meridian’s key features, capabilities and limitations, comparing it with Meta’s MMM called Robyn. It delves into how Meridian leverages advanced techniques like hierarchical geo-level modeling, Bayesian methods and scenario analysis to offer actionable insights for cross-channel budget optimization and marketing strategy development. Understanding marketing mix models The marketing mix model empowers marketers to analyze how various marketing strategies influence sales and forecast future results. In essence, MMMs split the drivers of sales into factors (e.g., price, product attributes, distribution, promotional actions) and external issues (e.g., economic state or competitive moves). By analyzing historical data, these models assign numerical values to each component of the marketing mix in relat...