This Week’s Industry News

Compiled By Rocket Clicks Staff

Google Answers Now Linking To Publisher Sites

A new update to Google Answers is allowing users to be directed to third-party publishers. The link appears in the form of a blue arrow and a link that says “show me more” or “show me how.” This action was previously only available when being directed to Google’s own content.

Source: Search Engine Land

30 Seconds of Super Bowl Ad Equivalent to 2.5 Billion Online Impressions

According to programmatic marketing platform Rocket Fuel, the money spent on a 30 second ad spot during the Super Bowl could have bought over 2.5 billion online ad impressions. In fact it would actually cost $700,000 less than what a 30 second spot costs. This only further proves the point that TV advertising is far less efficient than digital.

Source: Marketing Land

Google To Display Tweets In SERPs

Google and Twitter have struck a deal that will allow tweets from users to become automatically visible in search result pages as soon as they are posted. Previously, Google manually crawled Twitter and only the most popular tweets were indexed. The reason for the deal is because it is a part of Twitter’s effort to reach users beyond its own website.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Bing Announces New Initiatives for 2015

In a recent blog post from Bing, it was announced that there will be three new initiatives for their ads platform. They are planning to test native advertising on MSN fueled by Bing Ads. Bing also announced that they will soon be rolling out mobile app extensions for ads that will allow users to download an app after clicking an ad. Lastly, they announced that they will be entering the remarketing space utilizing their recently available Universal Event Tracking which can track specified website goals.

Source: Search Engine Land

Possible New Mobile Algorithm Update Released

Many webmasters have reported seeing ranking shifts in mobile search. It is now believed the shakeup is the result of a mobile Google algorithm update. Many of those that seem to have been hit have mobile usability issues. Many believe the warnings sent to webmasters last week were a sign of an algorithm update for mobile being on the horizon. So far, Google has yet to confirm the update.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Google Releases Annual “Bad Advertising” Report

In Google’s recently released “bad advertising” report, it was stated that more than 500 million ads were disabled last year, up almost 50% from 2013. It was also reported that Google banned 214,000 advertisers for bad ads and 7,000 for promoting counterfeit goods. Although Google is clearly looking out for the consumer when disabling bad ads, they are also looking out for their bottom line as well.

Source: Venture Beat

Webmaster Tools Now Sending Stats and Error Notices For App Indexing

Those who have implemented App Indexing will now receive statistics and error notifications in the form of email from Webmaster Tools. The stat reports will provide webmasters insight as to how well their app is performing in Google’s search results. Stats include impressions and clicks the content from the app has received.

Source: Search Engine Land

Google Releases Word Count Reporting for Search Queries

In other Google news, a new report is available for Analytics that allows users to sort AdWords search queries by word count. This new feature will eliminate the need to do this in Excel and could come in handy for those advertisers looking to see data on long tail queries.

Source: Search Engine Land

Search Share On Desktop Is Dropping For Google

According to StatCounter, Google’s desktop search market share has fallen below 75%. This is the first time it has been that low in six years. On the other hand, Yahoo has seen steady gains since striking a deal with Firefox. The drop in share is only on desktop, as Google is still growing in mobile search share at 78%.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Click-To-Call Attribution Tool for AdWords

It is not surprising to hear that advertisers spend over $4 billion in click-to-call ads; but what is surprising is that Google can’t really attribute calls to a specific keyword. Earlier this week, analytics platform Marchex reported that they will be releasing a product that will be able to connect phone calls to keyword data. They will able to do so by partnering with DoubleClick, Kenshoo and Marin Software. This could be a very helpful tool for those advertisers that rely heavily on customer calls.

Source: Search Engine Land

Notable Commentary

7 Reasons You’re in Google’s Doghouse

Need some help figuring out why Google’s showing no love to your site in organic search? Do you have paid links? Slow site speed? Duplicate content? Samuel Edwards of The SEM Post shares 7 reasons why your site may not be in Google’s good graces.

Analysis by: Samuel Edwards, SEM Post

Does Location Based Geo-Targeting Help Paid Search Performance?

In a recent article on Search Engine Land, columnist Wesley Young talks about how local data is important for mobile advertisers. He also explains how to leverage this data to boost mobile paid search performance.

Analysis: Wesley Young, Search Engine Land

Maximizing Search Performance With Simple Tweaks

Looking for ways to maximize the return on your search marketing efforts while expending little time and resources. Aren’t we all! Richard Baxter of Built Visible offers some practical advice for maximizing organic performance with a few simple tweaks to your site. Sometimes the smallest gains add up to something much bigger.

Analysis by: Richard Baxter, Built Visible

Why BingAds Will Eventually Overtake AdWords in Market Share

If you don’t think Google AdWords can ever be surpassed by underdog Bing, Melissa Mackey provides a great argument. In her recent post on The SEM Post, she talks about the many things Bing is doing that will help them overtake Google in market share.
Analysis: Melissa Mackey, The SEM Post