Other brands can copy your style, tone and strategy — but they can’t copy your data. Your data is your competitive advantage in an environment where enterprises are working to grab market share by designing can’t-miss, always-on customer experiences. Your marketing tech stack enables those experiences. Join ActionIQ and Snowplow to learn the value of composing your stack – decoupling the data collection and activation layers to drive more intelligent targeting. Register and attend “Maximizing Marketing ROI With a Composable Stack: Separating Reality from Fallacy,” presented by Snowplow and ActionIQ. Click here to view more Search Engine Land webinars. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/ZpAPzSn
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3 key stages to better content marketing: Attract engage convert by Digital Marketing Depot11/29/2023 A strong content strategy is key to engaging your audiences and driving conversions. The Content Marketer’s Funnel breaks down a proven three-stage framework to help you attract your target audience, create compelling content that drive engagement, and convert readers into customers. It outlines the metrics and KPIs to track at each stage, so you can continually optimize and prove the ROI of your content. Inside, you’ll find:
Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download The Content Marketer’s Funnel from WordPress VIP. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/7SZ56bv The executive in charge of Google Ads, Jerry Dischler, stepped down after more than 15 years with Google. Google wouldn’t say whether Dischler will stay with the company, only that he would take on a “new challenge.” Google confirmed to Search Engine Land that the decision was not related to the recent federal antitrust trial. Meet the new boss. Vidhya Srinivasan, who previously led product and engineering for ads, will take over leadership of the Ads team. She reports to Google Senior Vice President, Prabhakar Raghavan. Srinivasan, who joined Google from Amazon four years ago, has overseen technical teams across the ads product portfolio. This includes roles related to search and shopping ads, Google Analytics, ads measurement tools, and AI-powered campaign experiences. During her tenure, she led the launch of Performance Max and Demand Gen, the overhaul of Google Analytics, and the implementation of pixel-less measurement for YouTube advertising. Recently, she has been at the forefront of Google’s efforts to monetize new generative AI experiences in Search (SGE) and has been instrumental in developing tools for advertisers to utilize generative AI capabilities for campaign and asset creation. Beyond her technical contributions, Srinivasan sponsors Google’s Women in Ads Community. Stepping up. Shashi Thakur, who has worked for Google for 17 years, will take on Srinivasan’s position and report directly to her. Shashi contributed significantly to the development of core Google products such as Search, Discover, and Shopping. His extensive tenure includes recent work on long-term strategy within Prabhakar’s Knowledge and Information organization. Over 13 years focused on Google Search, Shashi was involved in evolving the search experience, particularly on mobile devices. He also led engineering and product teams that introduced the Google Knowledge Graph to enhance the Search experience. Shashi also served as the General Manager for Consumer Shopping, overseeing the development of the shopping experience on Search. In this role, he emphasized creating more inspirational experiences through conversational AI and AR/3D technology. Dischler’s leadership. During his time in Ads, Dischler played a crucial role in shaping the future of advertising for Google and the industry overall. He contributed to Google’s transition from desktop to mobile, established a leading stance on user privacy, and pioneered advanced advertising technologies, including early applications of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) at scale. Antitrust trial comments. During the federal antitrust trial, Dischler testified that Google changes the auctions it uses to sell search ads, increasing the cost of ads and reserve pricing by as much as 5% for the average advertiser. He claimed that for some queries, the tech giant may have even raised prices by as much as 10%. He added that for some queries, the tech giant may have even raised prices by as much as 10% – but Google tends “not to tell advertisers about pricing changes.” Following Dischler’s comments, a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land:
Deep dive. Read our blog on the federal antitrust trial for more information on Dischler’s testimony. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/v3aOpwT Reddit has rolled out a new certification to its Ads Formula marketing hub. The course, titled “Reddit Ads Creatives,” is a free, hour-long session for intermediate marketers that covers how to:
Why we care. Upon completing the course and passing the test, you will become a Reddit Ads Creative Certified partner. This status comes with a digital badge that can be showcased on other platforms, highlighting your expertise in Reddit marketing, which could help improve your career prospects and attract new clients. Why now? Responding to growing client demand for advanced Reddit education, the platform is expanding its training courses for the second time in two months. Previous courses received high satisfaction, with a 4.5 out of 5 rating. Notably, 87% of participants reported a better understanding of Reddit’s ad offerings through the training. What Reddit is saying. A Reddit spokesperson said in a statement:
Deep dive. Visit the Reddit Ads Formula platform for more information on its marketing courses. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/oRsC2F3 LinkedIn has introduced new tools and upgrades to assist marketers in measuring their ad campaigns more effectively:
Why we care. Accurate measurement of campaign performance enables advertisers to make informed decisions, allocate resources efficiently and demonstrate the value of their efforts to clients. CAPI. LinkedIn’s new campaign performance measurement promises “more precision and clarity” as there is no need for cookie tracking. This allows LinkedIn to provide better insights into how users respond to ads on the platform. You can choose how to connect your online and offline data from two options:
The ability to connect both online and offline data enables you to track the impact of your campaigns on website actions, phone sales, and in-person event leads. LinkedIn asserts that its new Conversions API is designed to be “privacy-compliant and future-proof.” This means that it adheres to current privacy regulations and is built to adapt to future changes in data privacy laws. Website Actions. This new feature simplifies how marketers track conversions in advertising campaigns as there is “no need for complex event-tracking installations”. Website Actions can measure actions based on CTAs, page visits, and data without the need for additional on-site code. Document Ads upgrades. LinkedIn is rolling out three new upgrades to this ad type:
What LinkedIn is saying. Nicholas Hassebrock, Product Marketing Manager at LinkedIn, said in a statement:
Deep dive. Read LinkedIn’s announcement in full for more information. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/oVqmTWQ Google is no longer just a search engine. It is adopting social signals that increasingly impact content visibility across Google surfaces like Search, News and YouTube. This shift requires brands to rethink what it means to do SEO today and beyond. The article explores how Google is expanding into a surface ecosystem, why followership matters for visibility, and some initial ideas for brands looking to increase followers on Google. Google’s shifting focus: From search to discoveryIn the past four years, Google has undergone fundamental shifts:
Google has transformed itself from a search engine to a surface ecosystem that focuses on anticipating and satisfying users’ needs, enabling it to reach and influence people before they need to search. Think of the number of influential surfaces beyond the traditional SERPs. Google is now a:
Yet, the key functionality with the potential to greatly impact every brand and shape future visibility across all surfaces is Google’s hidden social networking feature. Google is a powerful social networkThe Perspectives tab may highlight other social network content in search, but I doubt this is Google’s end game. Despite the failure of Google+, I believe Google still intends to become a leading social network. Think about it: Google already offers every feature of its social media competitors.
But Google’s main social weapon is Discover. In terms of monthly active users (MAUs), YouTube’s 2.7 billion is only exceeded by Facebook’s 3 billion. And with Discover’s last MAU reporting in 2018 at 800 million, it’s likely competitive with TikTok’s 1.1 billion or Instagram’s 2.3 billion. And certainly beats X’s 528 million and LinkedIn’s 310 million. Moreover, Discover can provide significantly more value to brands. Unlike many of its social counterparts, Discover is not an area for doom scrolling or click hoarding. There is a limited number of posts highly personalized to each user with the primary aim of getting users to click through to read more. This is how Discover delivers its value. This means being featured in Google Discover can be highly impactful and highly targeted. Now, Google is promoting a way to optimize for Discover and many rich experiences with surface followership. Google followership: The next frontierGoogle has begun rolling out the Follow button in search results. This allows you to subscribe to topics with Google, adding it as an interest in your Google profile. Doing this increases the likelihood of seeing content related to those topics in various places like Discover and search results. You may even receive push notifications from the Google app if there is relevant news. But this is just one of many follow features available across Google surfaces. Google NewsIn Google News, I can click the follow star to show in the sources box in News and Discover, in the recently redesigned Google News following tab and the “From publishers you follow” SERP feature. Google ShoppingIn Google Shopping, I can favorite a brand, which gives more visibility to that brand’s offerings. Google MapsI can follow brands and local guides in Google Maps to receive updates on their activities in the maps following tab. Google ChromeI can follow any website with the Chrome Browser follow button, which adds it to the following tab. The content of which you can influence through a compatible RSS feed. Google mobile appIn the Google mobile app, I can follow my favorite sporting teams to get game reminders and result updates, which also impact Discover personalization. Knowledge Panel on SERPsOr I can follow an entity by clicking the bell on its Knowledge Panel in Google Search to add it as a topic of interest, similarly influencing Discover and other surfaces. Clearly, Google needs to consolidate. Yet, it’s evident that the company is heavily investing in encouraging users to follow content on Google surfaces, with more developments on the way. In Chrome flags, you can enable enhancements to the Following and the New tab page. These enhancements spell the end of Google’s desktop homepage as we have known it for 20 years. It won’t just be a search box on a white background anymore. It will include Discover and other cards like its mobile counterpart, becoming a space for people to begin their journey through search or discovery. To get on this Google homepage on mobile (and soon desktop), engaging your audience and growing a strong followership on Google surfaces will be key. As Google increases followership numbers, it will potentially:
Followership is a factor in many other existing social algorithms, after all. Google recently added followership numbers as rich snippets accompanying social media profiles. What’s to stop them from displaying the domain followership numbers for your brand website? No matter their motivation, Google is headed down the followership path. But SEO strategy is not adapting to these changes. Why are “ranking factors” still in our vocabulary? Why is budget invested in keyword tracking tools? Traffic from Google isn’t driven primarily by blue links anymore. The goal should not be just to rank in the SERPs. You must get your content in front of your target audience to drive engagement, which, if done well, will lead to conversions. Do you talk about ranking in a social network like Instagram or TikTok? No. You talk about visibility. You know it’s hyper-personalized. What you publish this week matters because it impacts next week’s post reach. It’s the same on Google. Google has finally owned up to site-level signals influencing visibility. What is in the index influences the performance of future pieces. And just like on social media where engagement and followers boost visibility, the same goes for Google surfaces. How to boost followers for Google surface visibilitySo, how do you drive up followership on the relevant surfaces for your brand? While only you can answer that for your audience, here are some ideas for inspiration. 1. Add a ‘Follow Us’ buttonThis can lead to a Google News publication from your article pages. It’s worthwhile to test a button vs. a banner or a combination of the two, as is done here on Search Engine Land. 2. Write up a subtle ‘how to’ pieceIf you are in a relevant space, you can create content about the new following capabilities on Google. Informing your audience how it benefits them, with a convenient call to action showing how to try it out on you, like what 9to5Google did. 3. Cross-channel promotionAdding posts, stories and videos on relevant social media channels, sending a push notification or adding a link in an email newsletter can all be effective ways to drive up Google followership numbers. Don’t forget about the social power of Google surfaces. For example, Google Maps allows posting, which will show up for the brand query in the SERPs. Optimizing for visibility beyond Google searchGoogle is expanding beyond just search and moving into content discovery and social media functionalities. As a result, Google should no longer be viewed solely as a search engine but rather as an influential network of interconnecting surfaces like YouTube, Maps, News, Discover, and more. Aside from optimizing for search traffic, brands must consider visibility and followership across Google’s ecosystem of products. Whatever your tactics, it’s time to acknowledge the lines between search and social media are increasingly blurry. Be a first mover and optimize for followership on Google. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/GNsjtoM Google has been accused of quietly placing search ads on non-Google websites, posing a potential risk to brand safety. Scores of media buyers, under the assumption that their campaigns were running on Google.com, have reportedly discovered that their ads are appearing on compromising websites within the Google Search Partner (GSP) network instead, according to an Adalytics study. The GSP network websites include:
Why we care. Compromising ad placement can harm brand reputation, limit ad effectiveness, and raise brand safety issues, highlighting the importance of accurate and transparent ad placement for advertisers. Brand safety concerns. The Adalytics study referenced a major Fortune 500 company, which was reportedly “surprised” to lean that its ads were being served on “many” non-Google websites. Such websites included Breitbart.com – a site the company had specifically added to its account-level domain exclusion list (i.e. blocklist) several years beforehand. An Adalytics researcher commented:
Reporting issues. The Fortune 500 brand referenced in the Adalytics study was unable to export a report detailing the specific websites where its search ads appeared within the GSP network. Consequently, the business couldn’t measure its exposure or confirm how often its ads were placed on sites like Breitbart.com, pornographic websites, Iranian websites, or those listed on the Treasury OFAC SDN list. What Google is saying. Dan Taylor, Vice President, Global Ads at Google, responded to the research on X, writing:
How GSP network ads work. When advertisers run search ads on Google, they are automatically included in an additional ad display network that Google monetizes. This network consists of third-party websites, including those with Google’s custom search widget. If these sites haven’t opted out of displaying search ads, then ads running on the GSP network can appear on various websites across the internet. What is Adalytics? Adalytics is a crowd-sourced advertising performance optimization platform that was set up to review and improve the digital advertising landscape. Deep dive. You can learn more about Adalytics’ investigation by reading its report ‘Does a lack of transparency create brand safety concerns for search advertisers?‘ via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/86To5vt More frequently than not, B2B commerce buyers are vetting sellers based not only on product specifications, pricing, and other traditional factors but also on the digital experiences they deliver. Failing to adapt to these rising customer expectations can be costly. Deloitte Digital conducted a study of more than 500 B2B executives at U.S. companies and discovered that 77% of B2B executives agree that digital transformation is critical to their company’s success. Join experts from Deloitte Digital, who unveil the research findings and highlight the four trends that lead to stronger customer relationships all around: higher satisfaction, stronger spending, better retention and deeper trust. Learn more by registering and attending“4 B2B Selling Trends to Catapult You Ahead of the Competition,” presented by Deloitte. Click here to view more Search Engine Land webinars. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/s4cFTgM Google will impose new restrictions on personalized ads related to consumer financial products and services next year, when it updates its Personalized ads policy in February. Google’s “credit in personalized ads” policy will be broadened to include “consumer finance in personalized ads.” “We’ve long had personalized ads policies that prohibit advertisers from targeting people on the basis of sensitive categories. This update strengthens our ongoing efforts to protect consumers, expanding our credit in personalized ads policy to additional consumer finance ad categories in the US and Canada,” according to a Google spokesperson Why we care. Violations of this policy may lead to Google issuing a warning to advertisers. Continued violations could result in the suspension of an account. What is changing. The updated policy will say:
The update will apply to offers relating to credit or products or services related to credit lending, banking products and services, or certain financial planning and management services. Examples include:
Enforcement. Google said enforcement will commence on February 28 of next year, but that it could take six weeks to ramp up to full enforcement. Deep dive. Read Google’s full blog post for more information. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/YoIK2V6 X’s major advertisers have not posted on the platform in almost two weeks. Reports initially suggested that companies like Disney, Paramount, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, and Universal had temporarily paused campaigns. However, key brands have actually ceased advertising altogether after Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory – which he has since refused to apologize for. Industry insiders told CNN that the companies have stopped posting on official handles due to concerns around brand safety. Why we care. Powerful companies distancing themselves from X sends a clear message about its current state as an advertising platform and the potential risks of reputational damage through brand association. Financial impact. X is potentially facing a loss of up to $75 million in ad revenue by the end of 2023, according to The New York Times. Blackout. Not only are corporate companies halting their posts on X, but prominent accounts like @StarWars and @MarvelStudios, each with millions of followers and prior daily posts, have also ceased posting on the platform. Notably, they are now increasing their activity on rival platforms like Threads. What this means. Since Elon Musk took over last year, ad revenue has seen a significant decline. Now, with high-profile accounts also stopping their posts, the lack of content may pose a challenge for X’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino, in attracting advertisers back to the platform. Uncertain future. While there’s a chance that major advertisers might return to X in the future, there’s also the possibility that they won’t. If X fails to resolve its ad revenue issue, this could have dire consequences for the platform’s future via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/rSTK2Zf |
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