This Week’s Industry News
Compiled by the Rocket Clicks Team
Top Stories
Google to Strengthen Effect of Mobile-Friendly Algorithm in May
Just over a year after unleashing the infamous Mobilegeddon update, Google will be boosting the algorithm’s effects. Sometime in May, webmasters should start to notice either the benefit or consequences of not having a mobile-friendly website. With that said, Google tends to roll these things out slowly, so webmasters won’t get to see the full effects until later in the year.
Source: Search Engine Land
Scrollable PLA Tests for AdWords PLA’s.
Another recent test by Google for Shopping Ads is a scrollable version of the product listing ads at the top of the page. Further expanding on the test that includes 16 PLA’s on the Google SERP, users can scroll through all 16 listings rather than just viewing a large block of listings. Many experts also seem to prefer this scrollable version to previous tests.
Source: Search Engine Roundtable
Uber Shares a Ride with Google Maps
Soon Maps users on Android will be seeing a new ride-sharing tab that shows nearby Uber rides. This feature should prove to be extremely convenient as users will no longer have to flip back and forth between apps. Furthermore, this new feature should help Google Maps regain ground on the increasingly more popular Apple Maps for iOS users.
Source: Search Engine Land
New AdWords Mobile Test: Inventory at Third Party Stores
An additional new test from Google, specifically on the Mobile front, is a new unique style of local inventory ads. Normally, a local inventory ad would highlight inventory at the store of the listed advertiser. Recently, tests have been cropping up for the inventory being available at third party stores such as Wal-Mart. This test appears as a bordered box beneath the ad saying “Available at Wal-Mart” and points out a specific location.
Source: The SEM Post
Possible Consolidation of WWW & HTTP Variations in Search Console Coming
One of the annoyances webmasters have had to deal with in Google Search Console may finally be coming to an end. Google’s Zineb Ait recently revealed via Twitter that they are working on a way to consolidate multiple variations of one domain into one account on Search Console. For instance, sites with both http and https pages currently have to be in separate accounts, but this change would allow them to be monitored in the same account. However, there is no timeline or official statement regarding this possible change.
Source: The SEM Post
Additional Commentary
AdWords Conversion Rates by Industry
Larry Kim provides us with an interesting study regarding AdWords performance and conversion rates by industry. In this study, it was found that, on average, the conversion rates for the Display network sits around 0.89% while Search is at 2.70%. When looking at top conversion rate industries, Insurance & Finance services rule the search network with a 7.19% average conversion rate, with Home Goods topping the Display network with a conversion rate of 2.19%.
Source: Larry Kim, Search Engine Watch
How Google’s AMP Will Influence Your Online Marketing
AMP fever strikes again in this pros and cons piece as guest author Chapman Lever weighs the effects of Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages. Lever spends the bulk of the article listing and describing the positive and negative impacts AMP will have/is having on SEO. Among the plusses are higher rankings in the SERPs, increased paid search impressions, and the ease of access for readers. On the other hand, Lever cites the inability to serve ads and get credit for links to your AMP content as two major drawbacks.
Source: Chapman Lever, Moz Blog
