This Week’s Industry News

Compiled By The Rocket Clicks Staff

Top Stories

Google Only Reads Desktop Content for Most Mobile Ranking Purposes

Google’s Gary Illyes confirmed what many have believed to be true – Google looks at desktop versions of websites for many factors and ranking criteria related to the mobile version. Illyes put together a “spam team” to investigate whether or not site owners were taking advantage of this loop hole, and, much to his surprise, they were not. For now it looks like Google won’t be looking to build a completely separate mobile index. Source: Search Engine Land

BingAds Editor Update Includes New Features

With the new 10.8 version of BingAds Editor, a few features have been added to enhance user experience. Among these features is the copy and paste special option similar to Excel, allowing users to copy and paste specific settings on a campaign. Other new features include support for ad extensions and more options for downloading performance statistics. The new version of BingAds can be downloaded now. Source: Search Engine Land

Google “Now on Tap” Will Increase the Importance of App Search Optimization

Google’s recently revealed “Now on Tap” feature will make everything from text messages and Instagram photos searchable. “Now on Tap” will open up a new pathway for brands to reach consumers in a very organic way which means that they will need to give their apps as much time and consideration as their websites when it comes to search optimization. Source: Search Engine Watch

AdWords Adds Ad Group Detail Reports to Dimensions Tab

After the addition of campaign detail reports to the dimensions tab, Google has now added ad group details to the tab. These detail reports can be sorted by metric, label, campaign type, and more. The reports will also allow you to see active or disapproved keywords and negatives, along with the ability to view mobile bid adjustments. Source: Search Engine Land

Bing Testing Single Line Sitelinks in Organic Search Results

We’re used to seeing single line sitelinks in Bing Ads and Google AdWords, but Bing is trying this out in organic search results. The typical organic search format is a two-column style which takes up more space. While the two-column format creates great page real estate for sites at the top, this is not the case for the sites that are lower on the totem pole.
Source: The SEM Post

Universal App Campaigns to be Launched by Google Adwords

The Universal App Campaigns, a product designed to help small or new advertisers run install ads for their apps. Users input certain app data including add creative, audience reach, and spend data, then the Universal App Campaigns software will handle campaign optimization. The created ads are then displayed on several Google media properties, like the Google Display Network and YouTube. Universal App Campaigns should be released in the next few months. Source: The SEM Post

Google Does Not Consider Unlinked Brand Mentions a Primary Factor

According to Google’s John Mueller, unlinked brand mentions are not considered a primary ranking factor. Mueller, however, did say that unlinked brand mentions may indirectly affect how much traffic is driven to a given site. But, without there being an actual URL link, it is too difficult to determine whether an unlinked brand mention is inherently positive or negative. Source: The SEM Post

Automated Rules Now Available for BingAds

One of the top requested features is now available in BingAds. Automated rules will allow users to schedule key management tasks for campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads. With the initial release, 13 different rules are available that users can use to set automated tasks to including: enabling and pausing, budget and bid changes, and raising keyword bids to first page bids. After setting up a rule, you can choose to apply the rule to all or specific entities within the campaign. Source: Search Engine Land

Uber and Foursquare Partner

Uber and Foursquare recently formed a partnership that will add a convenient transportation option when Foursquare users choose to travel to their desired locale. Upon choosing their destination, users have the option of picking “Ride There with Uber”. From there, users will be able to call for an Uber without having to leave the Foursquare app. Source: Search Engine Watch

BingAds Studies Brand Term Bidding and Click Cannibalization

A recent study by Bing Ads found that about 40 percent of traffic would go to competitors if brand terms are not bid on. But, the research also showed an 11 percent cannibalization of clicks by PPC that could have gone to organic listings when bidding on brand terms. Although 11 percent may seem like a lot, it’s not much in comparison to losing possibly 40 percent of clicks to competitors.
Source: PracticalEcommerce

The Gap Between Mobile and Desktop Search Queries to Widen

In 2014, the amount of search queries coming from mobile devices finally overtook the amount coming from desktops (although the numbers were very close – 66.5 million mobile compared to 65.6 million desktop). To no one’s surprise, this trend will continue according to research firm BIA/Kelsey. By 2019, BIA/Kelsey projects that mobile search queries will skyrocket to 141.9 million while desktop queries will steadily decline to 62.3 million. Source: Search Engine Watch

Additional Commentary

Understanding Conversions through Mystery Shopping

Julie Bacchini explains the importance of truly understanding how the conversion process works ourselves through mystery shopping. By going through the conversion process ourselves and becoming a mystery shopper, we can better find faults that there may be in the conversion process. The author stresses the importance of testing the entire process and giving a breakdown of the process to the client in order to pinpoint ways to improve the conversion experience. Analysis: Julie Bacchini, PPC Hero

Does Brand Affect a Website’s Google Ranking?

While Google doesn’t include “being a popular brand” as a ranking factor, having brand equity is extremely helpful when it comes to SEO. Having a strong, recognizable brand will go a long way in driving traffic to a website. And driving traffic to a website will, in turn, have a positive impact on its Google ranking. Analysis: Rand Fishkin, Moz

Examining AdWords Data Updates

Daniel Gilbert and his colleagues at Brainlabs aimed really find out how recent AdWords data can be. Their research found that AdWords updates every 2:43 minutes and is able to provide data from around 13:22 minutes prior, which is quite fast for how complex the AdWords system is. The rest of the article contains a script that allows readers to run the same test through AdWords, although it won’t work as well in smaller accounts. Analysis: Daniel Gilbert, Search Engine Land

How Google Displays Search Results Based on Structured Data and Context

Google’s patent titled “Ranking search results based on entity metrics” lays out how they’ve gone about shifting their SERPs to a more diverse and information rich format. The four entity metrics are the relatedness metric, notable entity type metric, contribution metric (and fame metric), and prize metric. These metrics are used to decide what information shows up in knowledge panels, image results, local packs, etc. It is important for site owners to know how these metrics work so they can structure their data appropriately to better their SEO efforts. Analysis: Barbara Starr, Search Engine Land