This Week’s Industry News
Compiled by the Rocket Clicks Team
Top Stories
Rating and Hours Filters Added to Local Packs
In the interest of offering more diverse results in the local 3-pack, Google has given searchers the ability to filter the results by rating or by hours. This move puts an even greater emphasis on business owners needing to optimize their Google My Business listings and create positive experiences for customers that lead to reviews. Source: The SEM Post
Amazon Product Listing Ads Spotted on Google Search Results
Amazon has recently been seen testing their own Product Listing Ads on AdWords. Since the removal of Product Search, Amazon has not been seen participating in Google’s PLAs. This new test has been spotted by Merkle who noticed that they were more likely to appear for home goods retailers. If Amazon continues to push their presence on this front it could negatively impact smaller retailers who can’t afford to compete with the online shopping giant. Source: Search Engine Land
Page Speed Won’t Be Measured in Mobile First Index
Although Google recently switched to mobile as the primary source for its index, John Mueller recently revealed in a webmaster hangout that they would not be using the mobile version of websites to evaluate page speed. Mueller, however, clarified later in the chat that Google would “in the long run” move to evaluating page speed on mobile sites. Source: Search Engine Roundtable
3 Product Listing Ads Seen at Top of AdWords Search Results
Another test recently conducted by Google is a reduce number of Product Listing Ads appearing on top of the search results page. With this test, the usual 6 PLAs at the top of the search results has been reduced to 3. In addition, the three listings actually appear to be wider and take up more space than a typical listing when 4-6 are present. This test has been seen in previous months, so it appears Google may be trying to bring this new format back. Source: The SEM Post
Additional Commentary
SEO in 2017: Mobile Optimization as a Competitive Advantage
Now that we’ve fully transitioned to a mobile first internet, guest author Marcus Miller declares that mobile should be the number one concern for SEOs. Miller starts his post by sharing materials directly from Google that back up his claim that mobile will be king in 2017. Then, throughout the remainder of the post, he offers up best practices for mobile optimization broken down into three components: responsive design, page loading speed, and mobile design and usability. Source: Marcus Miller, Search Engine Land
Biggest PPC Changes of 2016
Unicorn enthusiast Larry Kim takes us on a trip down memory lane and looks back on the year’s biggest events in PPC. Topping his list is the removal of the right sidebar ads, which sent shockwaves through the PPC community upon its announcement. In addition, Kim notes the inclusion of the new Expanded Text Ad format on both Google and Bing as well as the highly celebrated return of device-level bidding. The author also mentions the unveiling of the newer sleeker AdWords interface which we will see more of in the new year. Source: Larry Kim, Search Engine Watch
