This Week’s Industry News
Compiled by the Rocket Clicks Team
Top Stories
Long Awaited Search Console Beta Released
Google finally releases the new Search Console Beta to all users. In the official blog, Google states that over the course of the year the new beta will be updated to add functionality. Until the updates are finished, users can use both versions of Search Console side-by-side. Functionality updates include improved search performance reports with 16 months of data, index coverage reports that include new issue tracking alerts and indexing details and search enhancements to improve your AMP and job posting pages. Source: Google Webmasters Blog
Addiction Treatment Ads Removed From UK Google SERP
Following a crackdown back in December for the US SERP, Google has removed all ads related to addiction treatment in the UK. This removal comes from an investigation of an ongoing issue where middlemen bid on terms who then receive large kickbacks from private centers that searchers are eventually referred to. This practice is known as “patient brokering” which is actually illegal in several states in the US, but not in the UK. With an increase in addiction-related searches for both the US and UK, this is an industry that has become ripe for profiteering. Source: Search Engine Land
Google Updates AMP Testing Tool
The main update for the AMP testing tool is that it shows examples of how AMP results will appear in mobile search results. There are three result types that users can see with the new update. The first is a regular AMP search results, the second is a standard top stories carousel example and the third is a AMP story with an image. Other features with the new update include view the AMP source code, updated features for submitting the AMP page and testing options directly from the search results. Source: The SEM Post
Google Express Promotion Appearing in Search Results
Google has begun to test a very large promotion for Google Express, specifically on the mobile SERP, that says “Get it with Google Express.” The large promotion will appear above Shopping Ads when one of the Shopping Ads contains some Google Express results. When it does appear, the Shopping Ads are pushed further down the page. Experts noted that the test is quite limited as it is only appearing on select mobile results pages, but also believe the large banner on the page is a bit too much. Source: Search Engine Roundtable
Updates to PageSpeed Insights
Google announced that they will pull data from the Chrome User Experience Report. This offers users real-world data and recommendations to help developers improve page speed. The update includes page states that tells users the number of round trips to load render blocking resources and optimization suggestions. These improvements give insights on possible fixes that adhere to best practices. The update also includes optimizations already present, making it clear to users what the next actionable steps should be to improve page speed. Source: Google Webmasters Blog
Analysis
Top Reasons to Not Ignore Bing Ads
Author Lucinda Honeycutt finds that while AdWords is a great platform to work with, Bing Ads can often go ignored. One reason you should not ignore Bing is because data has shown that as of April 2017, Bing handles 22.8% of all search queries in the US, a number that other data has shown to be quickly rising. Another reason is the simplicity of importing campaigns from AdWords, because all it takes is a click and they will be ready to go in Bing Ads. Honeycutt also notes Bing’s strong Bing Partner Program Partnerships, allowing agencies, small business partners, or technology partners to get brand association, special opportunities, technical training, and more.
Source: Lucinda Honeycutt, Search Engine Journal
Can We Rely on Google AdWords’ Keyword Volume?
Wizard of Moz, Rand Fishkin breaks down why Google Adwords’ keyword data may not be reliable for building a SEO or content marketing strategy. Fishkin explains that Adword’s volume range is so broad that it is useless. Many keywords are combined and conflated to share search intent or search volume, and AdWords will hide relevant keyword suggestions if the term is not believed to have a strong commercial intent. This poses a problem for SEOs when searching for keyword targets that are viable opportunities. Many keywords in AdWords are too broad that the chances of ranking are very low. The Wizard of Moz instead suggests that other tools like Ahref’s Keyword Explorer, SEMRush, Google Trends or Moz’s Keyword Explorer are better designed for SEOs.
