Archive for the ‘seo news’ Category
Tuesday, October 18th, 2022
TikTok announced a new campaign type for brands to further enhance their performance in the app. The new solution is called Smart Performance Campaigns.
Sounds familiar. If the new campaign type sounds familiar, it might be because it’s almost identical to Google’s smart and Performance Max campaign types which require advertisers to put their full trust into the platform’s AI and machine learning systems.
What TikTok says. From their blog post announcement, TikTok says:
“Smart Performance Campaign is our first end to end automation solution that leverages machine learning to optimize for best performance and marketing goals. In order to reach the right people and maximize results, Smart Performance Campaign is designed to run performance campaigns at scale, while reducing the number of manual steps to drive results.
It’s completely hands off, with minimum input needed from advertisers to get started. Through leveraging machine learning, getting started with Smart Performance Campaign is as easy as it sounds. All you need is a marketing objective, budget, country, and creative assets to get started.”
Who should use Smart Performance Campaigns. TikTok says that the new Smart Performance Campaigns are perfect for advertisers who are new to advertising on the platform, Enterprise or SMB advertisers who don’t have the resources to have hands-on campaign management, performance-oriented advertisers who are looking to optimize, and gaming advertisers launching new titles.
Early testing. In their announcement, TikTok said Bolt ran a 14-day A/B test campaign with Smart Performance Campaign that lowered CPA by 27% and generated 40% more purchase actions. To continue the success, Bolt has rolled out Smart Performance Campaign across additional markets including the UK, Spain, Sweden, Romania, and Portugal.
Launch date. Smart Performance Campaign will be globally available for Android App Promotion campaigns at the end of the month, with more to come later this year for iOS and Website Campaigns.
Why we care. Just like with Google, automated smart campaign types will work better for some brands than others. Advertisers should be cautious and ensure their performance tracking is accurate and pixels installed properly before use. It is worth testing with a small portion of your budget, but it’s not available to all advertisers just yet so keep an eye on your account.
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Tuesday, October 18th, 2022
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Tuesday, October 18th, 2022
Meta will accept a ruling by UK watchdog company ordering it to sell Giphy, the animated GIF library.
What happened. Meta was originally ordered to sell Giphy last year but they appealed. Today, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that Meta had failed on five of the six objections raised in its appeal. The CMA said that the acquisition should be reversed on the grounds that it “could allow Meta to limit other social media platforms’ access to GIFs, making those sites less attractive to users and less competitive.”
An independent panel noted that Meta’s purchase of Giphy would allow it to increase its market power in multiple ways, including blocking off rival social media sites’ access to its library of GIFs, or forcing them to give over valuable user data in exchange for access.
At the time of Meta’s purchase, Giphy had been developing its own advertising services, which were then added to Meta’s offerings. The CMA said this was a competition problem given that Meta already controls roughly half of the UK’s £7 billion ($8 billion) display advertising market.
In the past, the CMA orders sometimes lead companies to sell parts of globally operated companies. But Meta said that it will sell all of Giphy.
What Meta says. “We are disappointed by the CMA’s decision but accept today’s ruling as the final word on the matter. We will work closely with the CMA on divesting Giphy.” When asked if the divestment would apply to all of Giphy’s international operations, a Meta spokesperson said “Yes, this applies globally.”
Dig deeper. You can read the full article from The Verge here.
Why we care. The sale doesn’t affect advertisers directly, but marketers, Meta users, and creators who use Giphy regularly may be able to access the animated short clips on more social media platforms.
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Monday, October 17th, 2022
The new Focused View campaign objective allows brands only pay when users have voluntarily watched an ad for at least 6 seconds or when they interacted with the ad within the first 6 seconds (whichever comes first).
What this means. Focused View is the new Video View campaign type. Selecting the Focused View objective means that ads are shown to users who are truly paying attention and voluntarily engaging with the brand.
Focused View allows TikTok to optimize for two different kinds of engagement:
- Emotional engagement through content consumption: Targeting users who are most likely to view your ad for at least six seconds
- Tangible engagement through interaction: Targeting users who are more likely to actively engage with an ad by liking, sharing, following or clicking
Early adopters. During its Alpha phase, Samsung used Focused View on their Summer of Galaxy campaign, aimed at driving awareness and engagement for their Galaxy products. The 6-second Focused View objective helped to drive:
- +11% increase in ad recall
- +18% improvement in 2-second CPVs
- +53% increase in average watch time per view
- 2.8x increase in completion rate
Release date. Focused View will be available to advertisers, globally, on October 20.
Dig deeper. You can read the announcement from TikTok here.
Why we care. Advertisers who use TikTok to promote their brands can use the new Focused View campaign objective to show their ads to users they know are paying attention. Ideally, this would increase engagement and conversions. With all new features and products, advertisers should test the new campaign objective when it is released.
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Monday, October 17th, 2022
TikTok has just announced three new features aimed at enhancing the LIVE experience and promoting greater brand safety, something that the app has been accused of neglecting in the past.
The three new features are:
- The introduction of Multi-Guest
- Increasing the LIVE minimum age from 16 to 18
- Introducing safety reminders for all LIVE guests
TikTok is on a roll lately now announcing these updates and features just moments after launching Focused View, a new campaign objective targeting engaged users.
Let’s dive in.
The introduction of Multi-Guest
Through Multi-Guest, hosts can now go LIVE with up to 5 guests using a grid or panel layout, keeping audiences engaged as they respond to questions, host how-to videos, or just hosting a casual hangout.
Once LIVE, creators can tap the three dots to change some settings, including the ability to flip the camera, add effects and stickers, filter comments, and add moderators.
Increasing the LIVE minimum age from 16 to 18
Currently, people must be aged 16 or over to host a LIVE. From November 23, the minimum age will increase from 16 to 18. Additionally, younger teens need to be aged 16 or older to access Direct Messaging and 18 or older to send virtual gifts or access monetization features.
In addition, TikTok will introduce a new way for creators to choose if they’d prefer to only reach an adult audience in their LIVE.
Safety reminders for all LIVE guests
LIVE creators can already use the keyword filtering tool to limit comments they feel aren’t appropriate. In the coming weeks, TikTok is also rolling out an updated version of this feature that will send a reminder to people and suggest new keywords they may want to consider adding to their filter list.
To do this, the tool looks at the content a creator most commonly removes from their LIVE, spotting similar words in these comments and then suggesting the host may want to add these words to their filter list.
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Dig deeper. You can read the full announcement from TikTok here.
Why we care. Brands, advertisers, and creators who use the LIVE feature now have more control over who sees their content, as well as allowing them to add additional moderators and filters as needed.
Creators seem to be embracing the new changes adding “Moderators and keywords are a huge help to ensure that I can focus on my LIVE shows… without having to worry about internet trolls.”
The post 3 new TikTok LIVE features, updates, and policies appeared first on Search Engine Land.
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Monday, October 17th, 2022
YouTube has just announced three new features for advertisers to reach people where and when they’re watching the most. The three new features are spread across shopping, audio, and streaming in what YouTube calls the YouTube Effect (the unique dynamic between YouTube creators and viewers).
Moment Blast
Moment Blast gives advertisers prime positioning on YouTube Select content on connected TVs (CTV) and other devices, plus a Branded Title Card and optional Masthead placement.
Moment Blast is intended for brands looking to raise awareness during key moments, like major sporting events, movie releases or product launches.
In the announcement, YouTube says “People have always connected in front of the TV screen, but YouTube gives them the unique chance to bond over shared passions — like watching live-streamed concerts, fitness classes or even religious ceremonies together. They feel a similar connection to the ads they get, too.” YouTube also says 59% of respondents in a survey feel that ads they see on YouTube are more relevant than on linear TV or other streaming apps.
This seems like an obvious statistic since linear TV doesn’t use the same targeting options as Google/YouTube. Additionally, many advertisers and brands haven’t quite adopted using CTV as a reliable, cost-effective advertising method.
Additionally, YouTube’s claim that viewers feel a similar shared connection to ads sounds like a stretch.
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Expanded product feeds for Discovery Ads
YouTube will be expanding product feeds to Discovery ads to help advertisers scale their social media creative and reach more engaged viewers. Soon, product feeds will also include local offers, allowing brands to show real-time availability for products in their Google Merchant Center so people can find the most convenient place to buy.
Creators will also be able to transform their content into virtual storefronts. Additionally, more creators will have the ability to tag products in their videos and Shorts.
These features will be available on November 10.
Reach music and podcast listeners
Audio ads are now globally available to buy in Google Ads and Display & Video 360. Audio ads are designed to reach people on audio surfaces and in listening-first states.
Podcast targeting is also now available globally. “With Podcast targeting, brands and agencies can specifically reach podcast listeners.”
Dig deeper. Read the announcement from Google here.
Why we care. These new features will give brands and advertisers new ways to reach audiences that are engaged with their content, as well as additional mediums to test such as audio ads.
The post 3 new YouTube streaming, shopping, and audio features appeared first on Search Engine Land.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Monday, October 17th, 2022
The new Pinterest API for Conversions gives advertisers a full view of their campaign performance as well as actions their audience took on their site, and it will be integrated with tag management partner Google Tag Manager and commerce partner Shopify.
The Pinterest Trends Tool. Pinterest is expanding the capabilities of its Trends Tool which came out in 2019 to help advertisers worldwide gain deeper insights into the behavior of Pinterest users and to use that information in planning their campaigns.
New updates. New Trends Tool updates also announced include three new features:
- A widget on the Pinterest Trends homepage that lets advertisers see what has been trending with their engaged users and followers over the past 90 days
- Trends filtered by demographic, place, time and topic
- And new trend types, including seasonal trends, to help brands better align their content and marketing calendars with times when users are most engaged with those specific topics
Early API adopters. Pinterest also said hundreds of advertisers worldwide have already implemented the tagless, server-to-server solution, and early results included improvements of 14% in CPAs on average for optimized CPM campaigns when using both the API for Conversions and tags, compared with tags only, and a 36% average increase in attributed conversion volume under the same conditions.
Though the new API was most frequently used for lower-funnel actions such as checkouts, they are also seeing success in full-funnel actions like page visits and add to cart.
What Pinterest says.
“Pinterest is uniquely positioned at the intersection of discovery and commerce, where inspiration meets intent. We are investing across our advertising platform to help businesses around the world reach their goals and connect with leaned in consumers at every stage of the campaign lifecycle.”
Pinterest chief revenue officer Bill Watkins
Why we care. The API and new features allow advertisers to view and predict trends, what users engage with, and how their future (and holiday) campaigns will stack up. They also give advertisers a more in-depth look at their conversion data and additional discovery tools for their audience.
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Sunday, October 16th, 2022
TechCrunch recently highlighted how Google is changing their ad labeling on mobile devices.
A few big changes include:
- ad label removed from individual ad units
- where the unit-level label was instead becomes a favicon
- a “Sponsored” label above ads
- the URL will show right of the favicon & now the site title will be in a slightly larger font above the URL
An example of the new layout is here:
Displaying a site title & the favicon will allow advertisers to get brand exposure, even if they don’t get the click, while the extra emphasis on site name could lead to shifting of ad clicks away from unbranded sites toward branded sites. It may also cause a lift in clicks on precisely matching domains, though that remains to be seen & likely dependes upon many other factors. The favicon and site name in the ads likely impact consumer recall, which can bleed into organic rankings.
After TechCrunch made the above post a Google spokesperson chimed in with an update
Changes to the appearance of Search ads and ads labeling are the result of rigorous user testing across many different dimensions and methodologies, including user understanding and response, advertiser quality and effectiveness, and overall impact of the Search experience. We’ve been conducting these tests for more than a year to ensure that users can identify the source of their Search ads and where they are coming from, and that paid content is clearly labeled and distinguishable from search results as Google Search continues to evolve
The fact it was pre-announced & tested for so long indicates it is both likely to last a while and will in aggregate shift clicks away from the organic result set to the paid ads.
Courtesy of SEO Book.com
Friday, October 14th, 2022
Google is now rolling out what it calls “site names” in the mobile search results. Site names more prominently show the name of the website, as opposed to just the URL, at the top of the snippet. With the site name, Google also announced the size and shape of the favicon will be displayed next to the site name and URL of the search result snippet.
What it looks like. Here is a GIF of this new site name and favicon placement:
Availability. Site names are currently available for the Google mobile search results in English, French, Japanese, and German. Google said it will be rolling out to additional languages over the next few months. As an FYI, we saw Google testing this several weeks ago.
Controlling site names. Google explained that Google Search uses a number of ways to identify the site name for the search result. But if you want, you can use structured data on your home page to communicate to Google what the site name should be for your site. Google has specific documentation on this new Site name structured data available over here.
Upgrading the favicon. Google is also recommending revisiting the documentation for favicons for the latest best practices. Google is now also recommending you provide an icon that’s at least 48px, and follows the existing favicon guidelines.
Ads. This is also coming to ads, so the size of the site name, favicons, and also the ad label will be more prominent in mobile search. In fact, Google is rolling out the “Sponsored” label in mobile search, officially replacing the “Ads” label from Janaury 2020.
Why the change. Google said the change is to help provide “even more information about the sites that you see so you can feel confident about the websites you visit.”
Why we care. With any change to Google Search and the design of the search results, searchers may click differently. So monitor your click through rate in Google Search Console and see if you need to make changes to your site name and/or favicon to make any improvements to your click through rate from Google Search.
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Friday, October 14th, 2022
A handful of powerful targeting features will be removed in early 2023 according to a Google Ads help article.
The help article, “Optimize your Video campaign for more conversions” contains a content targeting section that recommends avoiding the addition of content targeting (by keywords, topics or placements) in campaigns.
Furthermore, the article mentions that in early 2023 all existing content targeting settings will be automatically removed “from video campaigns that drive conversions.”
A major blow to targeting? These content targeting options are beloved by many advertisers due to the granularity they provide. Placements could target YouTube Channels, specific videos, video lineups, URLs, Apps, or collections.
With the current targeting, advertisers could match ads to channels/videos to deliver more customized messages to audiences. This change will effectively put an end to the hyper-targeting that made YouTube so appealing for ad dollars.
Another major blow is the loss of keyword targeting on the self-proclaimed 2nd largest search engine in the world. The removal of query targeting on a (video) search engine hurts.
While keywords on YouTube haven’t historically been as powerful as traditional search, it has been a way for advertisers to help answer queries with their video content. There is no doubt that advertisers will need to get more creative in order to hit their target audience.
What will happen to existing campaign when the change occurs? Advertisers running YouTube content targeting campaigns that leverage keywords, topics or placements will have the targeting removed. The article states:
“All existing content targeting settings will be automatically removed from video campaigns that drive conversions.”
We’ve reached out to Google for more clarification on this, but if you are running placement/keyword/topic targeting, this could wreak havoc on your campaigns. Stay tuned for this transition date as you won’t want to have all targeted swept from your accounts.
Why we care. A major benefit of YouTube ads has been the powerful targeting options, many of which will now be removed early next year. For performance marketers, the ability to fine-tune ads to channels or videos will no longer exist nor will the use of keywords on the second-largest search engine. These clearly can’t be chalked up to privacy or PII issues, but rather as a fundamental change away from content targeting options on the network.
If you are running ads using content targeting options, you should stay tuned to updates as those targeting settings will be automatically removed from your campaigns. With less targeting, you’ll reach a larger audience and may spend more on less qualified users.
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