This Week’s Industry News
Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff
(Not Provided) To Hit 100%
With a simple redirect, Google caused SEOs everywhere to cry out in agony as (not provided) reaches 100%. Keywords used to search Google from anywhere will now be reported in analytics software as (not provided) for organic searches; paid search keywords will still be visible. Google says the move is being made to increase searcher security and is driven in part by the reality of a post-PRISM world. SEOs remain skeptical and predict Google will eventually begin charging for this data.
Source: Search Engine Land
Biggest Change To Google Search Since Caffeine
Google quietly made a huge change to its core search technology in the past month. This change known as Google Hummingbird affects 90% of searches worldwide. To learn more about exactly what Hummingbird has changed and the potential impacts it has on SEO, check out the help Hummingbird FAQs assembled by the fine folks at Search Engine Land.
Source: Search Engine Land
YouTube Comments Soon To Get The Google+ Treatment
YouTube announced a new commenting platform powered by Google+ this week. Users will have the capability to sort video comments by relevancy instead of how recently a comment was posted. Other updates to comments include Google+ connections appearing at the top of the list, and the option to begin a conversation publicly or privately with specific Google+ connections or circles. Creators will also be able to moderate comments, block certain words or auto-approve comments from fans.
Source: Marketing Land
Quality Content vs. Useful Content
According to a post on Hacker News by a Google search engineer, higher quality content might not be as useful in the eyes of the search giant. Apparently, the balance between quality and popularity often has popularity carrying the day. This is why you continue to see Yahoo! Answers appearing in search results alongside the Mayo Clinic for health queries. Google is trying to hit the lowest common denominator with many of these results, so keep writing for fourth graders!
Source: Search Engine Roundtable
NY AG Doles Out $350K In Fines For Fake Yelp Reviews
Following a sting that involved setting up a fake Fro-Yo shop, the New York Attorney General has levied fines against 19 companies for submitting fake reviews to sites like Yelp. Some of these companies were SEO firms who were engaging in nefarious tactics to hide their identities when posting obviously fake reviews about a store that didn’t actually exist. It remains to be seen whether or not this will result in further scrubbing of fake reviews or SEOs changing their tactics.
Source: Search Engine Roundtable
R.I.P. Ghost Rank 2.0 – Another Link Network Taken Down?
Continuing their trend of taking down spam link networks, Google removed the sites that constituted the Ghost Rank 2.0 network. According to an email sent from the company, Google’s methods went deeper than usual, even de-indexing sites that had no outbound links and were being kept as back-ups. Within days, clients of Ghost Rank 2.0 began complaining on forums that their rankings had suffered significantly.
Source: Search Engine Land
70% Click To Call From Mobile Search Results
According to the results of a study done by Google in conjunction with Ispos Research, 70% of mobile searchers click to call directly from search results on mobile. Data was gathered across seven verticals and found consistent behavior regardless of the product or service sought by the searcher. Interesting to note: brands without a click to call option caused searchers to be frustrated, increasing their likelihood of choosing another brand.
Source: Inside AdWords Blog
AdStage Launches Partnership With ReTargeter, Unbounce, and Others
After launching its self-serve platform in March, AdStage is now being offered as an app where advertisers can create search, social and display ads and launch campaigns across Google, Bing, LinkedIn and Facebook simultaneously. With the help of partners such as ReTargeter, Unbounce, MixRank and others, AdStage is also integrating advertising solutions with advanced advertising services. Features include Facebook retargeting, landing page optimization, competitive intelligence, ad copy generation, and banner ad creation.
Source: Marketing Land
Ready Creatives Help Create Beautiful Engaging Display Ads
Google announced the launch of Ready Creatives, a new solution for display ad creation. It consists of two tools: Ready Image Ads and Ready Ad Gallery. Users will be able to instantly build IAB standard, HTML5 compatible ads using their website URL and pre-built templates. Ads can be based on images from your website, with further customization of adjustable text, font, color, images, headlines, and more. Ad Gallery’s featured formats are Dynamic Ads, Engagement Ads, Video Ads, and General Purpose Ads.
Source: Inside Adwords Blog
Google Talk Glitch
A recent bug in Google’s Talk feature had routed instant messages incorrectly on Thursday morning. Three hours passed from the moment Google acknowledged the problem and the moment it was declared solved. Frantic and horrified posts from users through other social media platforms indicate it may have been active for about five hours. It is not clear how many people were affected.
Source: PC World
Twitter To The Rescue
A new service from Twitter allows government agencies and non-governmental organizations to send emergency messages directly to users’ phones during natural disasters or times of crisis. Users who sign up will receive “critical information” via text message or push notification when an organization marks a tweet as an “alert”. Users can customize which organizations they receive alerts from through the set-up menu.
Source: CNN
NFL Instant Replay & Highlight Videos on Twitter
Twitter and the NFL have announced a new ad partnership that allows the social media company to share instant replay footage via sponsored tweets. Sponsored tweets will have in-game highlights and other video content as well as ads shown during games. Verizon has been named as the “premier sponsor” for the agreement, meaning they will have exclusive ad rights on Twitter during next year’s Super Bowl.
Source: Marketing Land
Twitter Is Going Universal
Twitter has finally announced it is launching Universal Search Results. The roll-out will happen in waves, but when we do finally get this feature, it will increase the speed and efficiency of networking. Business profiles will be able to reach targeted audiences. Users will also get three filters in their search results: photo, result, and people.
Source: Search Engine Journal
Google+ Hashtag Results In Search Queries
Google now supports hashtag searches within Google+ from the search query result pages. There is a box on the right hand side of the screen that automatically refreshes periodically. Users can view past posts, which are displayed in order of relevance. Results will be displayed based on user account history and hashtag popularity. Google will also allow searchers to click over to hashtag result pages on Facebook or Twitter.
Source: Search Engine Journal
Yahoo! Launches Stream Ads App In Commerce Central
Yahoo!’s Commerce Central has added an app for Yahoo! Stream Ads that appear within news feeds on Yahoo! sites and above users’ emails. This app offers advertisers a self-serve platform to run CPC-based ads on all devices. Commerce Central included apps for real-time analytics, retargeting, Google Shopping PLAs, and Facebook Ads among others.
Source: Marketing Land
Google Glass Is Taking A Road Trip
Google announced plans to visit cities around the US to give locals the chance to learn about and try out Google Glass. The first event is happening October 5th in Durham, North Carolina.
Source: Marketing Land
Notable Commentary
That Kills It
Kill It On Facebook by Being TAGFEE
In a recent Mozinar on Deconstructing a Niche Market, Corey Shelton elaborates on using Facebook as a niche marketing channel. He talks about ways to make your Facebook presence work to engage and market to your followers by being TAGFEE using a case study on photographer Sue Bryce. TAGFEE stands for Moz’s core values: Transparent, Authentic, Generous, Fun, Empathic, and Exceptional
Analysis by: Corey Shelton, Moz
Doing SEO Right in 2014 Will Be More Expensive – Plan Now!
OK, it may sound a tad self-serving coming from a company that provides SEO services. But the fact remains: as search engine algorithms demand more from publishers, the execution of effective SEO strategies will only become more resource intensive – not less. Jason DeMers explains why.
Analysis by: Jason DeMers, Search Engine Journal
Brands That Truly Get Instagram Video
As soon as Instagram announced a 15-second looping video format, a bunch of big brands jumped on the bandwagon with creative content, as evidenced by the snippets compiled by Saya Weissman at Digiday. It’ll be interesting to see how Instagram’s 15 seconds competes with Vine’s 6-seconds of fame in the months to come.
Analysis by: Saya Weissman, Digiday
Building Funnels In Google Analytics
In this post on Moz, John Doherty explains what a sales funnel is, how it works, and how you can visualize the sales funnel on your website using a combination of Analytics data and Excel wizardry.
Analysis by: John Doherty, Moz
