YouTube has made significant progress in the removal of inappropriate content, Facebook has introduced some really “playful” and interactive ad formats, Snapchat has really upped their ad game, and Google Ads have rolled out a number of improvements relating to keyword recommendations, call-only ads, and automated bidding.
To find out more about these top headlines and more, keep reading this month’s digital marketing round-up.
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Google says H1 Headings are useful but not critical
One of the top rules for Search Engine Optimization has long been adding keywords to your H1 heading at the top of the page in order to signal what a page is about and rank well. It used to be the case, in the early 2000’s. that adding the target keyword phrase in the H1 was mandatory. In the early 2000’s, if the keywords were not in the H1 heading then your site might not be so competitive.
However, Google’s ability to understand the nuances of what a page is about have come a long way since the early 2000’s.
Google lets site owners customize their search results snippets
Google is giving site owners the ability to customize how their content is previewed in search results. By default, Google has always generated search snippets according to the users’ queries and what types of devices they’re using.
However, there was previously no room for customization – it was only possible to allow a textual snippet or not allow one. Now, Google is introducing multiple methods that allow for more fine-grained configuration of the preview content shown for web pages.
Google improving call quality with a new look for call-only ads
Call-only ads make it easy for customers to call your business directly from mobile search results. To improve the user experience and drive more high-quality calls to your business, we’re updating the call-only ads unit layout. Now your business name and headline will show directly below your phone number, along with a larger phone icon, to make it more clear to users what you offer and make the call-to-action more prominent.
Get more from Keyword Recommendations with new features
Recommendations and optimization score help you prioritize your most impactful opportunities to improve account performance. In fact, advertisers who increased their account-level optimization score by 10 points saw a 10% increase in conversions on average. To make it even easier for you to act on these suggestions in your account, we’re introducing improved keyword recommendations, a new workflow, and bulk actions.
Set up conversion measurement as you create a new campaign in Google Ads
Conversion tracking helps you measure the valuable actions people take on your website after they click an ad, such as a purchase or brochure download. Setting it up is critical to the success of your campaigns, but it can be hard to prioritize—it takes extra time to navigate and complete the process. To make it easier to measure progress towards your defined goals, you can now set up conversion tracking as you create a new campaign.
Google Ads add store visits to Smart Bidding to drive better omnichannel results
People move seamlessly across online and offline channels to find the products and services they need. To make it easier to maximize omnichannel ROI, store visits in Smart Bidding is now available to all advertisers for Search and Shopping campaigns.
Improve campaign performance with new automated bidding solutions
Automated bidding in Display & Video 360 helps you make sure you’re present when consumers are most likely to respond to your ads. Using Google’s advanced machine learning, it evaluates and tailors your bids for every auction to help predict the likelihood of a conversion and deliver the best results for advertisers.
To give you more choices for your automated bidding strategies, we’re introducing a new way to pay for your campaigns, expanding support for non-guaranteed deals, and allowing you to manage automated bidding setting at the insertion order level.
Google says goodbye to the old Search Console
Google is officially sunsetting the old version of Search Console. Users who try to access the old version will be redirected to relevant pages in the new Search Console.
Google Search Console now reporting same-day
With the new fresh data, users can now see data as recent as less than a day old – a significant improvement compared to the previous few days.
New search filters in YouTube Studio to find and respond to comments more easily
YouTube is launching new comment search filters in YouTube Studio: This is the top feature request they get from creators, and hope it makes it easier to find and respond to the comments that are most important to you.
Comments can be a powerful way for you to continue the conversation from your videos and build a community with your audience. Over the past two years, YouTube has introduced a number of new ways to help you manage conversations within your community including creator hearts, comment pinning, and a new setting to hold potentially inappropriate comments for review.
YouTube removed over 100K videos and 17K channels in Q2 2019
YouTube detailed the work it put into removing harmful content last quarter, revealing over 100,000 individual videos were removed.
That number represents a 5x increase in video removals from Q1 to Q2. In addition, over 17,000 channels and 500 million comments were removed in the same span of time.
Facebook rolls out new video tools, plus Instagram and IGTV scheduling feature
Facebook on Monday announced a number of updates aimed at video creators and publishers, during a session at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) taking place in Amsterdam. The updates involve changes to live video broadcasting, Facebook’s Watch Party and Creator Studio, and they include enhancements to tools, expanded feature sets and improved analytics, among other things.
The highlights include better ways to prep for and simulcast live broadcasts, ways to take better advantage of Watch Party events, new metrics to track video performance and a much-anticipated option to schedule Instagram/IGTV content for up to six months in advance.
Facebook introduces new interactive ad formats
To help brands further embrace this trend, today we are announcing new ad solutions that encourage a playful experience between people and businesses, and deliver results.
Following the adoption of poll sticker for Instagram Stories ads that rolled out earlier this year, we are now bringing video poll ads to Facebook mobile Feed, globally available this month. We’re also expanding the AR opportunity to more advertisers, entering open beta for AR Ads globally this fall.
The expansion of playables is now available for all advertisers globally.
Facebook begins hiding Like counts
If their post has lots of Likes, you feel jealous. If your post doesn’t get enough Likes, you feel embarrassed. And when you just chase Likes, you distort your life seeking moments that score them, or censor it fearing you won’t look popular without them.
That’s why Facebook is officially starting to hide Like counts on posts, first in Australia starting tomorrow, September 27th. A post’s author can still see the count, but it’s hidden from everyone else who will only be able to see who but now how many people gave a thumbs-up or other reaction.
Snapchat extends video ads to 3 minutes, adds new features, Goal-Based Bidding
Snapchat has announced a number of updates for video advertisers, including an increase to the duration of all Snap Ads to a maximum of three-minutes, more interactive features for its six-second non-skip Commercials and Goal-Based Bidding.
Pinterest introduces new ways to reach shoppers with Shop the Look ads, global Catalogs and dynamic business profiles
Pinterest is announcing Shop the Look ads in a new collections format for mobile. It’s the easiest way for retailers to feature multiple products in a single ad so Pinners can discover great products in the context of a Pin’s image and click to checkout on the retailer’s site. Inspired by our organic Shop the Look Pins, advertisers can tag up to 25 items in an image. With the new format, shoppers will see a preview showcase of four items and can click through to see more, giving them a fresh, new way to interact with a brand’s products.
Pinterest is where people come for small group collaboration. In fact, 98% of Group Boards have five or less people, and 77% of Group Boards are between two people. Today we’re introducing our latest collaboration tools for Group Boards to make planning life moments and working on projects with others even easier, including reactions to show feedback, the ability to sort Pins to prioritize favorite ideas, and a new way to communicate with members right on the board.
Twitter tests “hide replies” feature in Japan and US
To give people more control over their Twitter experience we’ve developed different features over the years – from block, muting keywords and accounts, to notifications filters – so that everyone can tailor their experience to make Twitter work best for them. Earlier this year we started testing a way to give people more control over the conversations they start. Today, we’re expanding this test to Japan and the United States! With this test, we want to understand how conversations on Twitter change if the person who starts a conversation can hide replies.
Thanks for checking out September’s Digital Marketing Round-up.
We’ll see you next month!
Photo Source: Aaron Burden on Unsplash
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