I didn’t get a chance to do our update yesterday unfortunately. On the plus side … now we have even more news to cover so here’s what’s happened over the past 48 hours in search and SEO.
10 Outstanding Social Media Campaigns
Clark Boyd wrote an very interesting piece for Search Engine Journal. While I don’t tend to be a huge fan of “here’s some neat stuff from social media” articles this one is different. Clark puts together 10 very innovative and successful social media campaigns but more than that, he quantifies the success with numbers and gives his thoughts on why it worked. A great article that’s definitely worth the read.
The Art & Science Of Remarketing
Over on the Bing Ads blog they published the audience questions they didn’t get time to answer during their webcast (which you can listen to below). The questions they’re answering there are pretty basic for the experienced but if you’re just starting to figure out what remarketing is and whether it’s a good fit for you it’s a short read and worth the time. You can also register to get access tot he full webcast here.
LinkedIn Launched Lead Gen Forms
Danny Goodwin over on Search Engine Journal covered the announcement by LinkedIn of their new lead gen forms. This addition is to address the drop in conversions on mobile from people like me who don’t want to type tiny words in tiny spaces with fat thumbs. Because LinkedIn already has all this data advertisers can use the lead form as a mid-point stop where people can simply use the info LinkedIn fills the form with to speed up the process. Danny get into it further and if you’re interested in LinkedIn advertising I definitely recommend reading it.
Google Introduces Verified Customer Reviews
Matt Southern covered the announcement for Search Engine Journal that Google is retiring its Trusted Stores program and introducing verified customer reviews. Matt discusses the different being that it is only for online stores as customers need to have been verified as having made a purchase, something restricted for online stores presently however I have a sneaking suspicion that in the very near future we’ll start seeing these roll out more broadly in light of Google’s repeated announcements of their improvements in tracking in-store conversions. No surprise – our friend Matt covered that story too just a couple days ago here.
Get Mobile Site Certified
If you log into your Google Partner area today you’ll see a new certification option for Mobile Sites. Google just launched their Google Mobile Sites certification. While I haven’t read the study materials yet you can see that it covers a pretty full range of areas. Area 4 is where I expect to get tripped up. If your a mobile developer it’s obviously a highly recommended certification.
Bing Has A Chatbot
Matt McGee over at Search Engine Land covered the discovery of a Skype-powered chatbot that’s appearing as a personal assistant. Right now it’s only been seen on specific restaurants in Seattle as illustrated above but one can assume it’s a test and will roll out more broadly. Presently Matt wasn’t overly impressed but that’s to be expected with a new technology. That said – I don’t think Google is too worried just yet.
Bing Suggestions For Location-Based Bid Adjustments
Bing has launched new location-based bid suggestions. On their blog they discuss the specifics (click above) but the Cliff Notes is that in the Opportunities tab you can now access suggestions based on your account performance to increase your conversions.
Google Confirms The Pixel 2
Well, accidentally at least. Forbes covered the revelation that Google has accidentally revealed not just that there are 3 new phones in the works but let us in on what they might be and the sizes of them. I’m going to leave the story telling to the author as he’s probably on the right track and deserves credit so give it a read.
Alphabet Buying Into Healthcare
Google’s parent company Alphabet is buying up healthcare talent in a big way. CNBC covered the recent acquisitions of key talent in the health and life sciences sector by Alphabet and what it means for the sector and why the change might be happening given previous concerns mentioned by Google at entering the regulation-ridden but $3 trillion dollar industry.
Amazon Advertising Threatens Google
Amazon advertising is growing rapidly and poised to steal marketshare from Google and Facebook. BMO Capital Market’s Daniel Salmon is increasing his market target for the company from $900 to $1200. I’ve been hearing more and more about some of the moves from Amazon and they’re on the right track but I’m personally not sure how long the growth can be sustained. They have huge advantages over Google ad I predict growth for at least a few more years but when the real battle begins I’m not sure how Amazon wins. Of course a lot can change in that time and it’s going to be interesting to keep my eye on this battle.
And that’s it for the day. If you know of any other top stories do feel free to share them in the comments below.