Expanded text ads are now live in the Google SERPs for Google AdWords ads. Current standard-length ads can run alongside the new double-headline, long-description ads for a while. October 26, 2016 is the last date advertisers will be able to create or upload standard text ads. Besides ETAs, two other features promised at the Google Performance Summit in May are also rolling out: the long-awaited ability to adjust bids by device type and native responsive display ads.
Google AdWords ads may appear with their headline truncated in the search results, cut off with an ellipsis at the end. While truncation is common for organic search results with too-long titles, it’s unusual for paid ads. Google recommended shortening ad headlines and using the Ad Preview tool to avoid the issue.
Local knowledge panels in Google can now include the amount of time “people typically spend” at a local business.
Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes posted on Twitter that ”30x redirects don’t lose PageRank anymore.” Illyes’s tweet confirmed what fellow Googler John Mueller and others have said before, that Google does not reduce the PageRank value being transferred by a redirect, whether it’s a 301, 302 or other type.
There’s ”no ranking advantage to removing older content” according to John Mueller in a Google Webmaster Office Hours hangout. Mueller explained that you might consider trimming your site if you have “really terrible, old and crufty content” or so much old content that it’s affecting crawl rate. However, if the old content is quality, it’s not bad to keep it.
Bing now includes thumbnails in its autosuggest options. The autosuggest dropdown can show a small image next to an option to help the searcher identify the desired choice or disambiguate the possible meanings of the search term.
Snapchat introduced Memories, a new part of the app that lets you access photos, videos and stories you’ve saved to your camera roll and use them afresh. Going forward, Memories will let users save snaps on Snapchat’s servers, which represents a notable shift for this app known for its ephemeral content.
According to research by Merkle, AdWords advertisers are paying a significantly higher average cost-per-click (CPC) for branded keywords on phones — approximately 25 to 30 percent higher now than in early May. CPCs for tablets and desktop devices have held fairly steady by comparison.
The Obama administration is negotiating international data-sharing agreements that would enable foreign investigators to serve a warrant on a U.S. tech company in order to access data about foreign individuals, such as their stored emails or real-time messages, as long as the surveillance didn't involve U.S. citizens or residents. The agreements would also give U.S. investigators reciprocal authority to search data in other countries. The U.K. is reportedly the first country being considered for a data-sharing agreement.
|