Megan Hannay says, “Just last October at the Street Fight Summit, many marketers ranked voice search as the most “over-hyped” marketing tactic of the year. I think this is because many of them aren’t seeing the full scope of the technology. We’re putting on our consumer brains and thinking about the current awkwardness of speaking to Siri in public, not of a future inside self-driving cars or those moments when we just don’t want to get up from the couch. Currently, most voice searches happen on mobile phones. But within the next few years, it seems likely that devices with... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Google announced updates to AdWords Dynamic Search Ads on Tuesday, including support for expanded text ads. Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs) will transition to expanded text ads through April, bringing them in line with search and display campaigns. Google is introducing a new solution for DSAs called page feeds. Page feeds consist of two columns: Page URL and Custom Label. The feeds enable advertisers to designate exactly which landing pages to include in a DSA campaign. There are several benefits and use cases for page feeds, such as these: If advertisers only want DSAs... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Google can’t say for certain that ads placed with its various massive platforms won’t end up near an offensive video or website. At least that’s the opinion of Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google’s parent company, Alphabet, and the most prominent public face of the search giant. Schmidt conceded the point during an interview on Fox Business Network Thursday in response to a growing advertiser boycott against the company. More than 250 brands have pulled ads after reports that they were appearing near YouTube videos from terrorists, Nazis and other... [...]

Megan Hannay says, “Just last October at the Street Fight Summit, many marketers ranked voice search as the most “over-hyped” marketing tactic of the year. I think this is because many of them aren’t seeing the full scope of the technology. We’re putting on our consumer brains and thinking about the current awkwardness of speaking to Siri in public, not of a future inside self-driving cars or those moments when we just don’t want to get up from the couch. Currently, most voice searches happen on mobile phones. But within the next few years, it seems likely that devices with... [...]

Matt McGee says, “SMX West was buzzing last week, and much of the conversation was about Google’s recent change to how exact match keywords will work in AdWords campaigns. Although the news just came out last week, the SMX programming team quickly organized a “flash session” that happened Wednesday morning before the scheduled agenda began. Panelists including Marketing Land’s Ginny Marvin and SMX moderators Matt Van Wagner and Brad Geddes took questions for almost an hour from a big crowd of concerned advertisers. They covered topics including impact on negative keywords. whether... [...]

Matt McGee says, “Don’t freak out. That’s what Google’s Gary Illyes repeated this week — at least three times — to SEOs and webmasters who might be concerned about the upcoming switch to a mobile-first index. “The team behind the mobile-first index wants it to launch this year,” Illyes told our SMX West conference on Wednesday. “We’re still experimenting. We don’t have a timeline. It could be a few months or quarters, but it’s definitely not weeks [away]. Don’t freak out, especially if you have a responsive site.” Illyes first revealed plans to create a separate... [...]

Sonia Simone says, “We’ve been telling you there’s no great secret to search optimization, but that’s kind of a lie, isn’t it? There is one not-so-secret ingredient that makes SEO work. It also makes social sharing work. Referrals, too. I won’t be mysterious about it — it’s links. Links make the web go around. They’re why it’s called a web in the first place. When good websites link to you, those links are votes of confidence. Get enough votes and you win. The hard part? Getting enough of the right links, from the right people. To do that, you need two things: Great stuff... [...]

Patrick Kulp says, “Google has apologized repeatedly to outraged British brands and government groups that found their ads surfacing on hateful YouTube videos.better. The company announced a host of changes to its advertising systems on Tuesday meant to give brands more control over where their ads appear. The move comes after the Times of London set off a firestorm with reports that major advertisers were being featured alongside terrorist sympathizers, Nazis and other extremists on YouTube. Several big brands have pulled their ads from the platform in response over the past few days, and... [...]

Pauline Jakober says, “If you’re in the business of marketing, you know how important branding is to your clients. And this is true whether it’s a print campaign, direct mail campaign, email campaign or pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. No matter which marketing channel you use, you and your client want tight control over the look and feel of your marketing collateral. Branding is so important for my PPC clients that my team will spend hours upon hours on images and messaging — and reviewing these with clients — to make sure they’re perfect before launch. Which is why the thought of... [...]

Murray Newlands says, “Influencer marketing has become the talk of the town, with many embracing it as part of their marketing and PR strategies. Slowly, influencer marketing is replacing certain forms of traditional advertising, as marketers realize they can increase their reach by partnering with personalities that have large followings on their websites and social media platforms. Although the popularity of influencer marketing has grown significantly, many are still unsure as to how to use the influence of social media celebrities to create effective influencer marketing campaigns. As... [...]