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Google AdSense launches related search for Auto Ads

Written on October 20, 2023 at 2:08 am, by admin

Google AdSense has rolled out related search for Auto ads.

The new feature shows search terms that are relevant to the content on the pages your users are viewing.

If a user were to then click on one of the suggested search terms displayed, they would be directed to a search results page where they’d have the ability to engage with AdSense for Search ads, as well as relevant results from your site.

Why we care. This new feature helps to improve an advertiser’s targeting precision by ensuring that only contextually relevant ads are delivered to users. By doing so, advertisers can effectively connect with high-value consumers, while simultaneously elevating the overall user experience through increased relevance.

How it works. You can turn on the related search feature for Auto ads on your site by visiting your Auto ads settings page.

As related search for Auto ads is a navigational unit and not an ad, it doesn’t count toward the ad load on the page.

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Availability. All publishers can now have access to related search for Auto ads.

Deep dive. Read Google AdSense’s Auto Ad guide for more information on how they work and their main benefits.

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Google Ads rolls out stricter requirements for new certifications

Written on October 20, 2023 at 2:08 am, by admin

Google Ads has rolled out strict new requirements to access its professional certifications on Skillshop.

Before undertaking any of its new exams, marketers will now be required to:

• Take a picture of a photo ID.
• Take a picture of your face.
• Record a video of your test taking environment.

New tougher rules. Google also announced that during exams, a live proctor will monitor the activity of participants via a webcam, as well as screen-sharing software. If the proctor notices any unauthorized behaviour, they will pause the exam and send you a message. You will also be recorded during the exam for review purposes. These are the exam guidelines:

• You are not allowed to have open books.
• You are not allowed to have notes.
• You are not allowed to use scratch paper.
• You are not allowed to take restroom breaks.
• You are not allowed to use a handheld calculator, you will have a calculator built into your test screen.
• You are not allowed to use headphones.
• You are not allowed to wear hats.
• You can take your exam in a public area, without any people in the background.
• Moderate background noise is allowed.

Why we care. The new requirements Google is asking of marketers to simply undertake its exams have been deemed unreasonable and extreme by some. Meanwhile, given the sharp rise of automation in PPC, marketers are questioning the value of acquiring additional certifications, let alone the justification for the associated costs.

‘Ridiculous!’ The PPC has been reacting to Google’s new certification requirements on X and it appears they are not impressed. Paid Search Director Melissa L Mackey, posted:

• “This is so crazy. “Without any people in the background.” No headphones. WTF. Some of us work from home with other people around and wear headphones so we don’t bug others. Completely ridiculous.”

Global Paid Search Lead, Fraser Andrews, added:

• “This is actually crazy!”

Michael Costin, founder of digital marketing agency Local Digital, wrote:

• “The same company that manipulates bids to thieve more money from advertisers now demands that you send them your ID in order to take a test that shows you know how to use their platform properly… that they then manipulate any way.”

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Why now? Google has rolled out its tougher new criteria as it pilots three new professional certifications on Skillshop. Select partners are being invited to undertake exams to obtain the new certifications in Display Search and Video for free until 31 December 2023. Next year, advertisers will have to pay to sit the exams.

Deep dive. Visit Skillshop to learn more about using Google’s products to their full potential.

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LinkedIn to give Collaborative Articles more reach in search

Written on October 20, 2023 at 2:08 am, by admin

LinkedIn is giving users more incentives to contribute to Collaborative Articles, promising greater visibility in search, feeds and notifications, the company announced today.

More visibility. LinkedIn plans to include more Collaborative Articles when people search for specific problems or topics. So if you’ve contributed to a Collaborative Article, this increases the odds your answer could be featured in LinkedIn’s search results.

Other ways LinkedIn is increasing visibility for Collaborative Article contributors:

• People outside your network may be exposed to your contribution, not just people you are already connected to.
• LinkedIn may also notify members “who would benefit” from your expertise.

Why we care. Contributing to Collaborative Articles provides a way to increase your visibility and your LinkedIn network and possibly even get leads. However, the format still is imperfect and needs more human editorial oversight.

Smart SEO play. LinkedIn Collaborative articles have been a smart and effective SEO play for LinkedIn so far. Just look at this growth (as shared on LinkedIn by Olga Andrienko, VP of brand marketing at Semrush):

But. It’s also resulting in a lot of SEO misinformation.

• “It’s churning out content about SEO talking about bounce rate, toxic links, and how you need to spend hours agnosing over meta descriptions. Just drowning in half-truths and misinformation. SEO is going to be particularly interesting in the next few years!” Mark Williams-Cook, Director at Candour, wrote on LinkedIn.

What else is changing. LinkedIn announced multiple additional updates to Collaborative Articles:

• Top Community Voice badges: Badges for a skill will appear next to your contributions to an article, no longer just on your profile.
• New layout: LinkedIn is putting a greater focus on member contributions instead of AI-generated text.
• All reactions available: Plus, you can see who has reacted to your contributions.
• Follow: People can now follow you directly from your contributions.
• Top Contributor section: Noteworthy contributors will be featured at the top of an article (most likely based on reactions).
• Cross-article linking: Internal links are being added to articles to make it easier to discover and read more articles.
• And more: LinkedIn is promising better quality and depth for articles; better algorithmic recommendations based on your posts/articles/comments; that filling in your Top Skills section will “explicitly pick the skills you want to contribute to”; and a refresh of linkedin.com/advice that makes it easier to find and contribute to articles.

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Google October 2023 Core Update rollout is now complete

Written on October 20, 2023 at 2:08 am, by admin

Google has confirmed that the October 2023 Core Update – the third core update this year – has completed rolling out. The update started on October 5, 2023, a day after the October 2023 spam update was released, and completed 14 days later on October 19, 2023.

Lots of volatility. This update, like most previous core updates, felt big in terms of the number of sites that saw ranking volatility and the complaints from SEOs I spotted over the rollout. We will try our best to do the data provider analysis, but with two big confirmed updates rolling out at the same time, it might be hard.

The update seemed to have caused significant movement in the search rankings from October 10 through October 12 and then again over this past weekend. But again, that is just based on what I am watching, not based on data from any data source.

Why we care. Google algorithm updates are critical for all brands, businesses, and organizations to be aware of because they can impact how your site performs in search results. Any change in rankings from a core update – positive or negative – can impact your organic traffic, conversions and revenue.

Knowing when Google makes these updates gives you something to point to in order to understand if it was something you changed on your website or something Google changed with its ranking algorithm.

What to do if you are hit. Google has given advice on what to consider if you are negatively impacted by a core update in the past:

• There aren’t specific actions to take to recover. A negative rankings impact may not signal anything is wrong with your pages.
• Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is hit by a core update.
• Google said you can see a bit of a recovery between core updates but the biggest change would be after another core update.

Previous core updates. Here’s a timeline and our coverage of recent core updates:

• The August 2023 core update was on August 22nd and ended on September 7.
• The March 2023 core update was on March 15th and ended on March 28th.
• The September 2022 broad core update was less impactful than previous core updates and finished on Sept. 26.
• The May 2022 broad core update was a significant and fast update.
• The November 2021 core update 
• The July 2021 core update.
• The June 2021 core update, which was slow to roll out but a big one.

Other recent Google algorithm updates. Google is finished rolling out the October 2023 spam update, which took two weeks to complete. So this October 2023 core update and the October 2023 spam update will overlap. In September, Google rolled out the September 2023 helpful content update over a 14 day period.

You can read more about past Google updates here.

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The reality behind content marketing and AI by Cynthia Ramsaran

Written on October 18, 2023 at 11:08 pm, by admin

According to Deloitte Digital’s newly released research, 26% of surveyed marketers already use generative AI for marketing content production, with another 45% planning to implement it by 2024. Will you be one of them, or are you still wondering if GenAI is for you?

Join Deloitte Digital’s Todd Brownrout and Jenny Kelly to hear more about the research, discover strategies for utilizing GenAI to meet growing content production demands and get a sneak peek at how the Deloitte Digital Content Studio is deploying GenAI in content production workflows.

Learn more by registering and attending “Separating Hype from Reality: The Real Data Behind Marketing & GenAI,” presented by Deloitte.

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YouTube launches new feature to enhance product ad targeting

Written on October 18, 2023 at 11:08 pm, by admin

YouTube is rolling out a new feature that enables creators to add timestamps to tagged products in their videos.

When the timestamp is added, a shopping cart button will appear at an optimal moment when there is an anticipated increased chance of engagement.

Why we care. Precision in targeting potential customers during strategic moments, coupled with improvements in the shopping experience, could result in increased engagement and conversions.

Why now. The move will give back some control to creators and sponsors ahead of YouTube’s decision to sunset some ad controls for newly uploaded videos next month for the following ad types:

• Pre-roll
• Post-roll
• Skippable
• Non-skippable

New shopping features. In addition to the new timestamps, YouTube is rolling out further features to improve the shopping experience. For example, it is going to enable creators to bulk tag affiliate products in video libraries. A spokesperson told The Verge that this tool could:

• “Help you earn revenue from older content that still gets high traffic.”

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Enhanced reporting. YouTube has also confirmed that it is rolling out a new reporting tool in YouTube Studio that will reveal which affiliate products generate the most revenue for brands. This capability will be available “in the coming weeks.”

Deep dive. Visit the YouTube Advertising help center for more information on how video ads work.

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Google Rich Results Test now supports paywalled content

Written on October 18, 2023 at 11:08 pm, by admin

Google’s Rich Results Test has been upgraded to show you validation of structured data for paywalled content. So now the tool will show you if that site is using the proper structured data for paywalled content or not.

What it looks like. So the Financial Times is a popular financial news site that using a paywall. I plugged in a URL from the Financial Times into the Google Rich Results Test and it showed the site or URL was using

Rich results tool. The rich results tool will be on Google’s own site, designed and maintained with the purpose of showing you Google Search rich result types. Google said, “to test your markup for Google Search rich result types, you can continue to use the Rich Results Test.” You can also preview how rich results can look in Google Search.

Google’s announcement. Google wrote:

Why we care. Those of you who work on sites that use a paywall will find this new addition helpful in debugging and validating whether what they have implemented works with Google Search or not.

So give it a try on any paywalled URLs to validate that Google Search knows they use the proper markup.

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5 SEO mistakes sacrificing quantity and quality (and how to fix them)

Written on October 18, 2023 at 11:08 pm, by admin

Quantity and quality are often diametrically opposed.

Increase the former, the latter drops like a rock. 

Try to bring it back up, and pretty soon, you’re back where you started; lowering quantity back down to bring them into balance.

But here’s the thing.

It doesn’t have to be this way. In a world of endless competition, incredibly savvy competitors, AI, and zero-click SERPs, you simply can’t afford not to scale both quality and quantity at the same exact time. 

Don’t just take my word for it. Go look at the SERPs. Look at what is actually working vs. what anyone “tells” you should work. 

I’ve had the fortune of working with countless billion-dollar brands. And what separates them from everyone else isn’t just a budget number on a spreadsheet. 

But a deeper understanding of how to avoid these five self-imposed mistakes below. 

Mistake 1: Poor operational systems create self-imposed ‘glass ceilings’

It’s true to a degree.

SEO is complex. Getting more so by the day. 

It is technical. Canonicalization and Time to First Byte (TTFB) are living proof.

But there is a giant misconception about why SEO campaigns fail. 

That’s because, contrary to popular belief, SEO is not just a technical problem. It’s also a people problem. 

Obviously, a site that doesn’t get indexed properly is a problem. That’s a technical issue.

But the bigger, more fundamental, and common underlying issue is that you’re not publishing enough good stuff around highly relevant keywords or getting attention and clicks back to those pages. 

Simple as that. 

Go look up the biggest sites across any category. The biggest brands in your industry. And what do you notice?

An overwhelming number of websites whose pages number into the thousands (or more), and referring domains into the tens of thousands (or more). 

That’s what you’re up against. Welcome to the future of SEO. Where the big get bigger, the rich get richer. 

And the faster you come to realize this, the faster you’ll be able to set up your workflows, processes, roles, and responsibilities accordingly to unlock insane growth. 

The trouble is, most SEOs continue to think too small. Too tactical. Too minute. 

They’re busy scrappin’ around, looking for those one or two or three “NiNjA rOcKsTaR uNiCoRnS” – except they don’t exist!

Or, at least, your over-reliance on them continues to undermine future potential because you rely more on raw talent than proven systems. 

And therefore, your workflows are garbage. Processes full of holes like a stinky, sweaty block of Swiss cheese. 

So the first lesson is to stop. Look at yourself in the mirror. And admit that what got you here won’t get you there. 

You need better internal operating systems – not just better, more talented people – to scale million-dollar brands into billion-dollar ones.

Mistake 2: You don’t have processes to simplify complex activities

I <3 Andy Crestodina. 

One, because he’s incredibly nice. Two, incredibly smart. But three, ‘cause he drops truth bombs on the regular. 

He’s been publishing a study on blogging statistics for years – possibly even a decade by now. 

And there are always two overwhelming conclusions staring marketers in the face:

• The stuff most people do consistently don’t correlate highly with success.
• The things that most likely correlate to success are often practiced the least.

Let that sink in a moment. 

Here’s my favorite excerpt. Let’s take a look at the top seven activities that correlate most with “chance of success,” as reported in the increased likelihood from those with “strong results:”

• Publish daily – 128%
• Write 3,000+ word articles – 116%
• Write 10+ draft headlines before choosing one – 84%
• Research keywords for every post – 80%
• Include 10+ images per post – 56%
• Include contributor quotes for every post – 56%
• Use a team of editors – 52%

Now. Ask yourself. How many of those are you practicing on a regular basis?

One? Maybe two? Imagine you pushed that to six or all seven.

How on Earth is that possible? To publish loooooong, in-depth, action-packed articles that include expert insight backed by a team of editors – all on a daily basis?

The short answer? You can’t.

At least, not without excellent processes that break down complex, multi-faceted challenges into simple steps and checklists. 

Take even one of those, like publishing daily. Only the greatest workhorses of writers could publish one 3,000-word article on a daily basis.

Why? 

Because they’re also often getting pulled into too many other directions and distractions. 

Because you’re also falling victim to the third common mistake below. 

Mistake 3: You have the wrong people in the wrong roles

Great writers make bad editors and even terrible content managers because their skill sets are often contradictory. For instance:

• Great writers thrive on ingenuity, on saying the same thing multiple different ways at different times.
• Great editors, meanwhile, thrive on consistency, making sure that all content under their purview has consistent standards and a unifying voice.
• Great content managers thrive on orderly logistics, keeping their teams on task to guarantee milestones and due dates are met, and output continues to increase. 

OK, thanks for the lecture. What does all this mean?

It means to publish a 3,000+ word article on a daily basis, you’re not just looking for one killer writer. You’re looking for a team of them. 

That team of subject-matter experts needs to be supported by a team of editors. Who’re all backed up by a team of content managers working in sync like a professional kitchen on a busy night.

The only way you get teams of people to work together, day after day, is through having the right people in the right roles. 

So everyone’s playing to their strengths. And nobody is pulled into their areas of weakness. 

This is easy in theory but difficult in practice. And it’s why most can’t – or won’t – do it. 

Mistake 4: You’re ‘guessing’ instead of ‘knowing’ what works

The Internet’s rich keep getting richer. 

I don’t need to tell you that. 

All you need to do is look up the SERPs in your space and notice how giant “business” publishers are now dominating categories like “best mattress for your home.”

They often don’t need to play by the same rules as the rest of us, sweating over concepts like “topical authority” that their mere presence makes a mockery of. 

Except…

When the big brands drop the ball on the basics. 

Their SEO complacency and entitlement ultimately do them in. And that’s how you beat them at their own game.

Take a super competitive, saturated space like “make money online.” 

Big brands often fall short when they “guess” instead of measuring twice and cutting once – knowing exactly what they should be doing before even writing a single word.

Exhibit A:

No way this should be happening. Except, it’s obvious to experts: search intent is simply misaligned.

They’re just publishing whatever they feel like, a product landing page, expecting it to work instantly. 

Instead of rolling up their sleeves, understanding what the SERPs are telling them, and then executing accordingly. 

Mistake 5: You haven’t transformed ‘subjective’ elements into ‘objective’ ones

Understand that nearly everything in life is subjective – varying shades of gray.

There are few truly “black” or “white” issues where one side is always wrong and the other is always right. (No matter what loud people on X.com lead you to believe.)

The real world isn’t binary. But that doesn’t mean you can’t (or shouldn’t) do everything possible to transform subjective elements in your process into objective ones.

Take a look at the following edits and tell me which ones are “right” vs. “wrong”: 

One person reading this might like the first example. While others, the second. 

So what’s the right answer? 

Trick question, because there is none.

The point is to take something subjective, like the phrasing of a sentence, and turn it into objective truths for your brand or style. 

And then consistently re-train your team to align around that tone going forward. 

Unlocking SEO success: People and processes, not just tech, matter

It’s true. You can’t guarantee SEO success. 

But that’s OK in the long run.

‘Cause it means that most of your competitors will continue to take shortcuts and miss the obvious facts staring them in the face.

You, putting your head down and trusting the process, can lap them over the next few years before they even know what hit them.

You can’t guarantee SEO results. But you can predict SEO success before publishing a single thing.

You just need to look at what actually works, what is actually driving results in real time. 

And then align your workflows, processes and people accordingly. 

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Google confirms sunset details for 4 attribution models in Ads and Analytics

Written on October 17, 2023 at 8:07 pm, by admin

Google is retiring four rules-based attribution models for all properties in Google Ads and Google Analytics in mid-October 2023:

• First-click.
• Linear.
• Time decay.
• Position-based.

The models listed above will be removed from both the Analytics user interface and Admin API.

Why we care. If you’re using these models in Google Ads, it will affect you. And tracking anything other than the last click is about to become more challenging because the data-driven attribution formula differs for each advertiser – and it’s not visible. As Greg Finn, director of marketing for Cypress North, told Search Engine Land:

• “In the past, you could use linear and give each touch the same credit. You will no longer be able to do so. There will be no impact on last touch, as that is still available. But finding some of the first-touch information will be much muddier because there will no longer be a way to see the formulas that compute the attribution scores.”

What happens next. If your existing property uses one of the impacted models, it will automatically default to paid and organic data-driven attribution. Paid and organic last-click and Google paid channels last-click models will also continue to be available.

Why the change. Google is retiring these four attribution models because of “increasingly low adoption rates, with fewer than 3% of conversions in Google Ads using these models” according to a Google spokesperson. They added:

• “Switching to the data-driven attribution model typically results in a 6% increase in conversions for advertisers.”

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What Google is saying. A Google spokesperson said in a statement:

• “Rules-based attribution models assign value to each advertising touchpoint based on predefined rules.”
• “These models don’t provide the flexibility needed to adapt to evolving consumer journeys. Data-driven attribution uses advanced AI to understand the impact each touchpoint has on a conversion. That’s why we made Data-driven attribution the default attribution model in Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads.”
• “For these reasons, First click, Linear, Time decay, and Position-based attribution models across Google Analytics 4 will be going away.”

Dig deeper. Data-driven attribution: How to think about Google’s default attribution model

The post Google confirms sunset details for 4 attribution models in Ads and Analytics appeared first on Search Engine Land.

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Awaken dead content with AI and DAM by Cynthia Ramsaran

Written on October 17, 2023 at 8:07 pm, by admin

Don’t let old visuals and dead designs haunt your brand’s customer experience. With the right mix of a digital asset manager and AI, it’s easy to increase the use and repurposing of digital assets across teams and regions.

Join content experts and learn how digital asset management (DAM) and AI can help your marketing and creative teams reuse, repurpose, and transform assets to bring your customer experience to the next level.

Learn more by registering and attending “Awakening Dead Content with DAM and AI,” presented by Acquia.

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