Antisemitic memes appearing in Google Image search results caught the attention of search professionals last week — and broader media this week. Many are urging the company to make tangible moves towards removing such content. Google isn’t the only search engine surfacing these hateful memes — Search Engine Land’s Editor-in-Chief, Ginny Marvin, pointed out that they can also be found on Bing and DuckDuckGo. On its face, the issue may seem simple to resolve by just removing the offending content from the index; however, they and others say, it’s not that easy and opens the door to broader decisions on content moderation. The fact that Google has no definitive plans to remove the offensive images speaks to how search engines are designed to work. How search engines have(n’t) respondedIn a statement to Search Engine Land, a Google spokesperson said: “We understand these are disturbing results, and we share the concern about this content. It does not reflect our opinions. When people search for images on Google, our systems largely rely on matching the words in your query to the words that appear next to images on the webpage. For this query, the closest matches are webpages that contain offensive and hateful content. We’ve done considerable work in improving instances where we return low quality content, and will continue to improve our systems.” This statement is a reiteration of the initial response the company issued via its Search Liaison Twitter account. In the Twitter thread, Google pointed to “data voids” (more on that below) as the reason this hateful content is able to surface in the results: “For ‘baby strollers’, there’s lots of helpful content. For this, there’s not. That’s not surprising. It’s not likely a topic normally searched for, nor an actual product that’s marketed. There’s a “void” of good content to surface that matches what was asked for…” No plans to remove the offensive content. Google has also said that it does not have a removal policy for this type of content, and that it is working “to see if there are other ways to surface more helpful content.” This is not the first time controversial and offensive content has been spotted on Google, of course. In 2009, the company bought a search ad to explain why it wasn’t removing an offensive image of Michelle Obama, for example. We have also reached out to Bing for comment; however, a response was not received by the time of publication. We will update this article if we receive one. Reporting offensive images. At one point, Google enabled users to report offensive images in its Image results. This feature no longer exists, at least not in the form it once did. Now, users can send feedback by clicking on an image in the Image results and selecting “Send feedback” from the three-dot menu in the preview pane. Users are then presented with a window to highlight the content they’re submitting feedback on and a text field to provide more details. Users can report specific images in Google web search, but this functionality is only available when image previews show up on the main search results page, and there are no options to provide details on why the image is being reported. Bing’s image reporting functionality is more robust, enabling users to flag an image as inappropriate by marking off “Not Relevant,” “Adult,” “Offensive,” and/or “Child Sexual Abuse” as the reason. Users that want to leave more specific feedback can do so by selecting “Feedback,” which provides a pop-up window similar to Google’s. What are data voids?Data voids refer to search terms for which available relevant data is “limited, non-existent, or deeply problematic,” according to Microsoft’s Michael Golebiewski and Danah Boyd in their report Data Voids: Where Missing Data Can Easily Be Exploited. Data voids are a consequence of search engine design, the report asserts. The assumption “that for any given query, there exists some relevant content,” is at the heart of the issue. When there is little available content to return to users for a particular search term, as was the case with “Jewish baby strollers,” the most relevant content has a higher potential for problematic, low quality content to rise to the top. Why are data voids a problem?When there is little competing content for a query, its easier to get content to rank for that query. When there is a data void, it’s even easier for low quality or malicious actors to do so because they aren’t competing with volumes of content from more reputable and/or relevant sources. It’s unrealistic to think that appropriate content will always outweigh hateful content, especially for problematic queries. “Without new content being created, there are certain data voids that cannot be easily cleaned up,” Golebiewski and Boyd wrote — a notion that falls in line with Google’s statement that it is evaluating other ways to surface more helpful content. When no one is searching for these terms, the issue can go unnoticed — and an unnoticed issue is often a nonexistent issue as far as most companies responsible for fixing them are concerned. However, when problems like this do gain attention in the media, the problem gets compounded. Case in point: By writing about this particular issue and featuring screenshots of the offensive memes, Google indexes those image instances, increasing the visibility of the antisemitic memes in Image results (and why I have opted to embed tweets instead of screenshots of the images themselves). Problematic queries aren’t the only place data voids exist. In their report, Golebiewski and Boyd bucketed data voids into five categories:
In each of the scenarios above, data voids present malicious actors with an opportunity to use search engine algorithms to distract and misinform users. The search community’s responseNumerous search professionals, and the public at large as this story begins attracting their attention, have urged Google to take swifter action. In the tweet below, Mordy Oberstein, liaison to the SEO community at Wix, pointed to similarly hateful memes appearing for the query “Jewish bunk beds.” As Google suggested in its official responses, the solution may not be as simple as manually removing the offending content from the index, an unfortunate reality that Victor Pan, head of technical SEO at Hubspot, and former Googler Pedro Dias alluded to. Brand safety implicationsGoogle’s ad systems don’t appear to be monetizing these results — we have not seen ads on the pages. However, the offensive memes found in Image search live on actual web pages — and those web pages typically carry display advertising — a lot of display advertising. The censored screenshot below is an example of a situation that many marketers would hope to steer their clients away from: Ads for the Home Depot, Casper and a product on Amazon were seen running alongside the offensive content. In this case, the ads are being served via Amazon’s interest-based ad targeting network, not the Google Display Network. Navah Hopkins, director of paid media at Hennessey Digital, said that she would encourage her clients to pull their Google Ads spend in the fourth quarter if Google doesn’t fix this problem. “Where my frustration and hesitation to encourage brands to continue to invest in respective ad platforms comes from is the reluctance to put safeguards in place against these bad acts, as well as the refusal to take down hateful content,” Hopkins told Search Engine Land, “We already filter out placements that we consider racist and hateful — if ad networks can’t take a stand on hate-based content, we will need to apply the same standards.” The post Antisemitic memes in image results highlight vulnerabilities in search appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/345hFgE
0 Comments
In April 2020, Google opened up Google Shopping to free listings for all U.S. merchants, starting with the Google Shopping tab and then expanding to the main search results section. Google announced on Wednesday that it is expanding Google Shopping listings for free globally. The announcement. Google said “today we announced that we’re bringing free listings to the Shopping tab in countries across Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Just as we don’t charge sites to be part of the Google Search index, listings for participating retailers are eligible to appear in these results at no cost to them. Paid listings will continue to appear in ad slots and will operate in the same way as Shopping ads do today.” When? This is starting mid-October 2020, according to Google. How do you participate? Upload your product feeds to Google Merchant Center account and then be sure to opt-into the Surfaces on Google program. This will allow your products to show in relevant search results across Google Search, the Google Shopping tab, and Google Images. More details. You can learn a lot more about this in our original coverage from April. Why we care. As we said in our original story, opening up this feature to all merchants will enhance Google’s offering and its appeal to both sellers and consumers. And as on Amazon, merchants that want to ensure prominent visibility in the search results, due to increased competition with more products eligible to show, will continue to pay for ads. For e-commerce marketers and SEOs, the move adds a new layer to organic product search optimization efforts. The post Google Shopping now free globally appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3ji0DCB The post 20200930 SEL Brief appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2EJKcjh Google’s Local Services Ads (LSAs) program is now rolling out in Europe. It will initially be available for 16 home services categories (not professional services) in 10 countries: Germany, UK, France, Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland and Spain. 16 home services verticals. The featured home services verticals include Appliance Repair, Carpet Cleaning, Electricians, Garage Door Installation and Repair, House Cleaning, Lawn Care, Movers, Pest Control, Plumbers, Roofers, Water Damage Restoration, Window Cleaning, Window Repair, Junk Removal and Tree Service. LSAs is a pay-per-lead program that started with the idea of offering a very simple ad product to small businesses that generated more tangible results. There’s essentially no merchant-provided ad creative; and fixed pricing made everything simple. However, last week Google introduced bidding for LSAs while preserving fixed pricing as an alternative option. In Europe, pricing will be auction-based. Would-be LSA advertisers must submit to background and licensing checks to qualify for the Google Guarantee, a precondition for LSA participation. Google is not rolling out LSAs for professional services (Google Screened) in Europe at this time. LSAs come with the Google Guarantee. The Google Guarantee offers to reimburse consumers who used LSAs but ultimately weren’t satisfied with the quality of work performed — after attempting to resolve the problem with the service provider. There’s a lifetime benefit cap of $2,000. In most participating European countries the limit is €1,500 ($1,760). In the UK it’s £1,500 ($1,923). Google LSAs example: “HVAC near me” No third party background checkers in Europe. In the U.S. Google uses third parties to perform licensing, insurance and background checks for the Google Guarantee and Google Screened programs. In Europe, Google will be doing its own verifications in-house, using relevant government databases. Typically, there’s a 14-day wait before the applicant-business is checked and verified. That wait should be less in Europe given the absence of third party involvement. For consumers the core proposition of LSAs is trust (and visibility). They appear at the very top of the SERP and feature star ratings as well as a Google Guaranteed/Screened badge. There are a number of ways local marketers can receive LSA leads: phone, via messaging/email or online booking. The booking feature will not be available in Europe at launch, however. The LSA merchant pitch is “only pay for results.” And merchants are only charged upon receiving a valid lead. In the U.S. Google defines “valid lead” as follows:
Along with the European rollout, Google reported that “in the first half of 2020, searches for local services, like home improvement or maintenance, increased by over 25% in a year across a range of European countries.” As in the U.S. that’s undoubtedly because working from home and shelter in place rules have brought consumer attention to all the repair work and improvement projects that need to be done around the house. Why we care. Google has been placing more emphasis on LSAs recently. The company is making them available to more local advertisers in more places. And while Google won’t share LSA performance data, we can infer the ad units are working for both Google and local advertisers. Because LSAs outrank other ads and everything else on the page, local marketers must pay attention. Indeed, it won’t be long before categories are highly competitive and, with bidding, more expensive. Google also recently separated the Google Guarantee badge from LSA participation. Merchants can now get checked and pay $50 per month, to display the Google Guarantee badge on their Business Profiles. I suspect that will become popular and, ultimately, widely adopted. The post Google takes Local Services Ads to Europe appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2HApIum Notice that the headline of this article says “when,” not “if.” That’s my version of revealing a seemingly unpleasant truth... The post What to Do When Someone Doesn’t Like Your Content appeared first on Copyblogger. via Copyblogger https://ift.tt/3kUaY7W
About 6 months after starting a home business, my wife said to me… “You must have some kind of disease!!” And she was right. There's no official name for this disease, but it's a common affliction, nonetheless. For lack of a better name, I call it… PLS Professional Learner Syndrome There are thousands, maybe even […]
via BobandRosemary.com | Part Time Business Success Tips https://ift.tt/2G9DOmd Marketers’ already low expectations that they could safely attend in-person events this year have bottomed out, according to our latest Events Participation Index, which isn’t surprising as the planet passed a grim milestone of 1 million deaths tied to COVID-19 this week. But despite concerns over second and, in some cases, third waves of the virus beginning to show, many of the 350 professionals we surveyed are hopeful that they can travel and attend conferences, trade shows or more in the second half of 2021. As expected, sentiment about attending events in 2020 hit two out of 10, a new low since we started asking the question in May. Optimism ticked up to four out of 10 when asked how likely they would attend in-person events in the first half of 2021. Related: Register to attend MarTech But marketers gave the prospect of attending events in the second half of 2021 a six out of 10 chance, our survey found. That growing optimism could be tied to the expectation that an effective and widely accepted vaccine will be available soon. There are currently several in phase three human trials, and some are already yielding an immune response in test subjects. Absent a vaccine, nearly 68% of those we surveyed said they will only attend virtual events through the first half of 2021. Virtual or bustThe upheavals tied to COVID-19 have caused considerable financial strain for event organizers, especially larger trade shows, but many companies have been successful in converting their events to online, or “virtual” experiences. “I was somewhat cynical about how well that would work,” said CabinetM CEO Anita Brearton in a recent MarTech Live session. “But, you know, I think it is working, and we’ve seen examples of companies charging for virtual events and doing well with that,” she said. In fact, 67% of marketers we surveyed said they would indeed pay to attend virtual events. Though the vast majority of those said they would pay between $99 and $499 and only a very small number said they would pay more than $499. “It’s all about the quality,” said Brearton, but it is also about the unique experience the virtual approach affords event organizers, she said. “This ability … to do it live and record, but then also make it available to individuals at a time that works well for them,” she said, “that’s a part of the success plan.” That too seems to have been confirmed by our data. Only 18% of those surveyed said they prefer virtual events to follow a traditional full-day programming schedule spread over fewer days like most in-person events do. About 35% said they prefer half-day programming spread over several days. But 47% told us that they would prefer virtual events offer just a few hours of programming a day spread out over a much longer time. We will continue to field our Events Participation Index through this pandemic to gauge how the community is feeling about business travel and events. If there are questions you think we should ask, email [email protected]. Meanwhile, see Brearton’s comments below: The post Marketers hopeful for late 2021 in-person conferences appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2G9rmD0 In part one of my interview with Drew Madore, the CEO and founder of Synergist Digital Media, we spoke a lot about “black hat SEO.” Black Hat SEO is basically SEO that is not in accordance with Google’s guidelines. We spoke about how black hat SEO has changed over the years. Such as how the definition of black hat SEO has become wider and covers more and more SEO techniques that were maybe once considered acceptable tactics within Google’s webmaster guidelines. With that, we also talked about how one can use such techniques in a safe way (i.e. not use it on client sites) to test what works and see how you can leverage that in a more “white hat” SEO way. Here is the video: If you’re a search professional interested in appearing on Barry’s vlog, you can fill out this form on Search Engine Roundtable; he’s currently looking to do socially distant, outside interviews in the NY/NJ tri-state area. You can also subscribe to his YouTube channel by clicking here. The post Video: Drew Madore on how “black hat SEO” has changed over the years appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/343P3oa Immediately after getting an idea for a content project, many writers become preoccupied with the existing competition: “It will be... The post How to Make Your Writing a <br> Subscriber-Magnet appeared first on Copyblogger. via Copyblogger https://ift.tt/3n0zk1T So long, 20% text limit in Facebook ad imagesFacebook Ads is officially removing its 20% text rule. The company’s rule that text not take up more than 20% of ad images is now a mere suggestion: “We’ve found that images with less than 20% text perform better. With this in mind, we recommend keeping your text short, clear and concise in order to get your message across effectively,” the help page now states. Why we care. Facebook relaxed its 20% text limit several years ago, but still throttled ad impressions when images had a high proportion of text. Removing the limits altogether reflects how ads on the platform have changed. It seems quite quaint to think back on the days when ads with text were a jarring enough experience that Facebook would just disapprove them outright. Pinterest Story Pins debutPinterest is hopping on the Story bandwagon with Story Pins, now in beta in the U.S. Pins can include videos, voiceovers, images and text overlays. Creators can also add a detail page with ingredients or DIY materials, for example. Unlike other platforms, Story Pins stick around rather than evaporating after 24-hours. New for all Business Accounts: Pin Stats show impressions and engagement metrics for Pins as well as the categories and interests that audiences engage with. A new engagement tab allows creators to respond to “tried your Pin” photos in one place. Why we care. One aim with Story Pins is to help keep users on Pinterest and give creators mechanisms to tell, well, stories without having to direct users to a website. Pinterest also says it is working on ways to support creator-brand partnerships and sponsorships. Reddit adds brand safety and scale leversReddit launched Inventory Types for advertisers last week. The three tiers of inventory are based on campaign objectives, brand safety requirements and targeting:
Why we care. Brand safety on Reddit has long been a key concern of advertisers. All of the tiers have some level of brand safety, but the options now offer advertisers more control and the ability to further prioritize suitability over scale if desired. Facebook says it may pull out of EUAs regulators in the European Union move to curtail the transfer of EU citizens’ data to U.S. servers, Facebook says it may quit the region altogether. Facebook is challenging a preliminary order issued last month by the Irish Data Protection Commission to stop sending user data to U.S. servers — data used in ad targeting. Why we care. Many see Facebook’s response as an idle threat — is Facebook really going to abandon it’s second biggest market (revenue-wise)? If the order holds, Facebook says it will need to reconfigure its systems, which could keep users — and marketers — in the EU from accessing the portfolio of apps while that work is underway. It could also mean ad targeting to EU consumers looks a lot different. The order is aimed solely at Facebook now, but could have implications for Google and other businesses that use U.S.-based cloud services, for example. Pinterest touts positivityAs social media feeds reflect angst, fear and divisiveness of an election season happening amid a global pandemic, climate crises and social unrest, Pinterest is highlighting the “positive context” of its platform — which isn’t monetizing political content. The company says searches for terms like “spread positivity,” “positive habits,” and “positive mindset” have been surging in recent months. “People are seeking more positivity than ever,” the company says. Why we care. Pinterest’s positivity pitch could resonate with marketers concerned about brand safety and brand suitability on other platforms (yes, Facebook and YouTube) – particularly this election cycle. Pinterest now claims more than 400 million monthly active users. The post Social Shorts: Facebook’s 20% rule, Pinterest Story Pins, Reddit brand safety options appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3kVCIcC |
Archives
April 2024
Categories |