Hope you are ready! Here’s the October batch of fresh Google and Facebook news.
Google News - October 2021
Google Ads News Budget Reports
Google is introducing new reports in Google Ads. These new budget reports should help you visualize the monthly spend of your campaigns.
This way, advertisers can get a better visual representation of their expected monthly campaign spend, daily budget spend - which can be twice as high as average daily budget on days when the ads are more likely to get clicks and conversions – and other useful data.
Source: Google Ads Help
Google Chrome Tests New Search Results Feature
Google is testing 2 new features that are meant to improve the user experience in search. However, one of those features can negatively impact paid and organic search if released. Google’s main goal is to achieve continuous search, where the user stays in their flow.
The first feature is called Journeys. It collects previous searches and groups them into thematic units, which should improve the search in the browser’s history. Users can pick up where they left off. Moreover, Google will provide recommended searches that are related to the topic. None of the information is sent to Google, everything will be stored locally.
The second feature is a new left side panel, which shows search results while being on a website. This means, the user does not have to go back to SERP, he can click away to a competitor’s website while being your site. The left side panel can be activated by clicking on the G logo.
Crazy, right?
Source: Chromium Blog
Google Improving Advertising Transparency
Google is improving the transparency of ads in Search and Display Network. Google already offers the feature Why this ad? which provides users with more information, why the ad was shown to them.
In addition, Google launched an advertiser identity verification program last spring, where advertisers must validate their business information to increase their transparency.
To push this even further, Google created advertiser pages, where users can find additional information about the advertiser and see their ads that has been run over the past 30 days.
Advertiser pages will be available in the upcoming months in the US, gradually launching in other countries in 2022.
Source: Ads & Commerce Blog
Google Introduces Continuous Search
Google is launching continuous search in the search engine results page for mobile devices. Some people call it endless scrolling, which is incorrect. To be precise, scrolling eventually does end, around the equivalent what would have been four pages of results, then you get a See more button.
Google has tested this feature for several years now, but now it is being officially released, for English mobile search in the US first.
According to Google, this change should not affect Google Search Console and Google Ads data. Find out more about this here.
Click here to find out more about continuous search.
Source: Google Blog – They Keyword
Google Display Gets a New Conversion Metric
Google is constantly working on improving the metrics of the ads in order to provide advertisers with the most relevant data.
The impact of videos has been always hard to interpret – users view the video, but rarely click on the video ad. According to Google, up to 70% of YouTube viewers say they bought a brand as a result of finding the brand on YouTube.
That’s why Google is introducing a new metric called engaged-view conversions. A conversion is counted when a user views at least 10 seconds of a skippable in-stream ad and converts on the website within the given conversion window.
Source: Google Ads Help
FACEBOOK News - October 2021
Instagram Says Goodbye to IGTV
Instagram is combining IGTV and feed videos into one format called Instagram Video. With this change, Instagram is also introducing a new Video tab, where users can find all the combined video formats.
Video previews in feed will be 60 seconds long. IGTV ads will be called Instagram In-Stream video ads. These ads cannot be longer than 60 seconds, video ad previews in the feed will be 15 seconds long.
There is also a new set of tools like trimming, filters and more, which can be used to edit videos.
Source: Facebook Business Help Center
Facebook Changes Estimated Audience Size Design
Facebook is making some changes at the ad group level of Facebook Ads. Previously, the potential reach was displayed as a specific number. For better consistency, the potential reach will be displayed in ranges.
Other than the visual change, Facebook is renaming potential reach to Estimated Audience Size.
Facebook further warns, that if the user has connected their Facebook and Instagram accounts, their Facebook and Instagram accounts will be counted collectively as a single account for ads estimation. Otherwise, it will be counted as separate accounts.
Source: Facebook Business Help Center
Instagram Launches Uploads from Desktop
Everybody has been waiting for this. You might even remember, when we have shared back in summer that Instagram is testing publishing on desktop. Now, it’s finally live. Try it out yourself!
Instagram lets you publish main feed photos and videos on desktop, Reels and Stories are not available yet.
For more exciting news, Instagram announced that sharing links in Stories has been made available to every user. Yay!
Previously, only verified accounts or accounts with more than 10-thousand followers could sharing links in Stories.
Source: Instagram Blog & Social Media Today