The new month is here, so let’s recap the most important news from last month.
The new month is here, so let’s recap the most important news from last month.
Google News – June 2022
Google May 2022 Core Update
Google at the end of May managed to squeeze in a big update of their algorithm, which we all know specifies as core update – this one is named May 2022 Core Update. According to Google, the complete release should take about 2 weeks, finishing in June.
Core update are focusing on improving the overall search experience. You may see some changes in your organic search during or after this period.
If you are negatively hit by this update, Google is advising you to stay put, don’t do anything rash. In most cases, there is nothing wrong with your website. Just wait for the next update. The main thing is to focus on creating relevant and high quality content.
FYI, the last big update before this was in November 2021.
Find out more about Google Core Updates.
Source: Search Engine Land
Apple Joining the Search Engine Game?
There are rumours floating around the Internet that Apple is thinking about releasing its own search engine, which would be interconnected with their voice assistant Siri. In the past, there were some hints Apple being serious about its own search engine, e.g., Applebot crawler.
It will be interesting to see how this will work out. It could be a huge step, since there are millions of Apple users with the Safari browser as their first choice.
One more interesting thing. Last year, Google paid Apple 15 billion dollars, so Google can be the default search engine on Safari.
Source: SEO Roundtable
Google Shopping Ads Loyalty Program?
Google has been teasing about a new loyalty program, which would be a new feature for Google Shopping Ads. It seems like that this program is currently live in the US for big businesses like Target.
There’s a link under the ad in Search, which after clicking shows you different loyalty programs offered by the business with their benefits and other information.
This is Google’s way to help businesses to present interesting deals, coupons, free shipping and other benefits in order to convince existing customers or gain new ones.
The loyalty program should be available for Performance Max Campaigns (since Smart Shopping Campaigns are going away).
Find out more about the loyalty program.
Source: Search Engine Roundtable
Google Reviews Experiencing Problems, Again
As you can recall, it wasn’t so long ago we informed you about Google having some difficulties with reviews not showing and disappearing. Google made a statement back then, that the issue was resolved and the reviews should be showing again.
Well, here we are again. Complains about reviews has been piling up since May. As reported by business owners, old reviews are missing and the new ones are not showing. Sometimes they are in tens.
Question is, how reliable Google’s spam filters are. Some people are wondering that Google may evaluate a user’s review untrustworthy, when he/she did not attach a photo, adds just stars without writing a comment or has just a few reviews all following the same pattern.
Did you experience a drop in reviews for your business?
Find out more about missing Google reviews.
Source: SEO Roundtable
Scrollable Right Panel in Search?
We all know that Google is experimenting with new features all the time. Well, this is an interesting one.
Some users spotted a new scrollable side panel not just for images, but also for knowledge panels, featured snippets and other image features.
Thanks to this, you can quickly browse through related images without ever leaving the search engine results page.
Pretty neat, right?
Source: SEO Roundtable
Google News with a Fresh New Design
Google News, in celebration of the 20th anniversary, is introducing a new, fresh design with some new features.
On the right panel, next to Top Stories, are local news with the newest information from your community. There’s a new filter button, where you can add more locations if you are interested in different communities, you no longer live in.
Under Your Topics, you can customize news topics you are curious about.
There also an updated Fact check section for verifying facts and information from independent sources.
FYI, Google News was officially launched on 22nd of September, 2002.
Find out more about Google News.
Source: Search Engine Land
PPC: What Makes You Mad?
Search Engine Land asked PPC specialists, what is their least favourite part of PPC. They have received a ton of answers, but automation and Google support were the ones that stood out the most.
Advertisers don’t really fancy machine learning and artificial intelligence. They claim it decreases the overall control over campaigns and takes away decision-making. Automation may suit advertisers with a lot of data, but small business might not have the budgets to gain a lot of data, thus they are not benefiting from the potential that automation can offer. Google should provide options for manual control.
Marketers also complained about Google’s support, which is rarely helpful. Many times, advertisers are advised to implement recommendations from the recommendations tab in Google Ads. Alternatively, Google support representatives encourage them to increase campaign budgets, even if it doesn’t make sense at all.
But one thing’s for sure, Facebook’s support is not the best either.
Read the full article here.
What’s your least favourite part of PPC?
Source: Search Engine Land
Facebook & Instagram News – June 2022
New Ad Type for Facebook?
Meta (still can’t get a hang of it) is working on a new, more simplified ad type that doesn’t use any anonymized personal info from users, thus respecting personal user data.
Meta is called this “Basic ads”. This new type of ads should be mainly used for branding campaigns, e.g., building brand awareness. Since the data is simplified, the campaigns should use basic metrics like engagement and video views.
These ads would target a much broader audience (since less data is provided) without using Facebook’s advanced targeting tools. This would mean that the cost of these ads should be lower compared to precisely targeted ads.
Would you use this type of ad on Facebook?
Find out more about Basic ads.
Source: Social Media Today
Instagram Tagging Post Feature Live
It has been a few months back, when we informed you about Instagram testing a profile feature, where you could pin your post on top of your profile card.
Well, this feature is out now globally for all Instagram users. You can choose from 3 posts and pin them on your profile. This way you can highlight your most important posts for your followers to see first.
Instagram was also testing the option to reorganize your posts regardless of their date. However, this feature is not live, yet.
Source: Newsfeed.cz