This Week’s Industry News
Compiled by the Rocket Clicks Team
Top Stories
The Mobile First Index is Here and It’s Real
Last Friday, Google announced they would be moving into the testing phase of the mobile-first index effective immediately. Google’s justification for moving to a mobile-first index is simple: more searches happen on mobile than desktop, so why not prioritize mobile when it comes to indexing? While this change isn’t quite as dramatic as it might seem on the surface, those with outdated mobile sites that serve up different content than their desktop site may have a slew of issues to deal with. Source: The SEM Post
Carousel Shopping Ads Tested in YouTube
A new Shopping-specific test has been spotted in YouTube in the form of scrollable carousels. While traditionally Shopping ads have shown up on the right side of videos on desktop, this test has a set of four ads below the video. There is no official announcements regarding this test as it has so far only been spotted by a Dutch marketing team. Source: Search Engine Land
Infrastructure Updates in Search Console Making Data Even Less Reliable
Google Search Console has been infamous for offering up less than moderately accurate data over the years, and recently, that data just go more unreliable due to what Google is calling “ongoing infrastructure updates.” There is no time frame for the conclusion of the updates, but many are hoping for a more useful, accurate tool when that time comes. Source: Search Engine Land
Year Over Year Growth for Search Ad Generated Revenue
According to a revenue Report provided by the IAB, Digital ad revenue reached $32.7 billion for the first half of 2016. Out of that total, search ad revenue made up about 50% of it, which is a 19% increase compared to the first half of 2015. The biggest growth driver so far has been mobile advertising in particular, which has seen an 89% increase since last year. Source: Search Engine Land
Abbreviated Version of Sitelinks Getting the Boot
Over the last few years, searchers on desktop became accustomed sitelinks popping up under several different results for a single query. For example, a search for shoes might yield a result for the zappos.com shoes page, but below the meta description there would also be links to their sandals, sneakers, women’s shoes, and men’s shoes pages. Now, it appears that Google is giving the feature the ax. And if we know Google like we think we do, they’re probably canceling the feature due to low engagement/click metrics. Source: The SEM Post
Additional Commentary
Characteristics of an Effective Expanded Text Ad
Frederick Vallaeys shares with us the ingredients that make a great expanded text ad based on an Optmyzr study of 1.2 million ads. One result from the study revealed that ads saw a higher CTR when only one path was used in the Display URL. Also, to no surprise, Expanded Text Ads saw higher CTRs when more text is used within the 80 character limit of the description. The use of DKI also played a role in the study, with DKI’s being used in the headline causing an increase in CTR and DKI’s used in the description line causing a decrease in CTR. Analysis: Frederick Vallaeys, Search Engine Land
How to Rank on Google Home
Google’s newest product venture, Home, is yet another step forward in the evolution of voice search. In this post for Moz, Dr. Peter J. Meyers examines what effect Google Home might have on your search marketing strategy. Meyers admits that there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Google Home, but adds that “for now, it’s worth exploring ranking for voice if only because winning featured snippets also positions you well in desktop and mobile search.” Analysis: Dr. Peter J. Meyers, Moz
