Ben Davis says, “Yesterday saw the latest development in Google’s search advertising product. Shopping ads, or product listing ads (PLAs), are set to appear within Google image searches. I asked for some initial thoughts from agency search practitioners. Here are a few things to look out for. Expect a drop in organic traffic from image results Of late, Google’s product changes in search have led SEOs to bemoan the erosion of natural listings, notably with more and larger ads appearing on mobile (three text ads at the top instead of two, and large format PLAs)”. Google introduces... [...]

Entrepreneur team says, “Alphabet’s Google Inc. unveiled its answer to Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant along with new messaging and virtual reality products at its annual I/O developer conference on Wednesday, doubling down on artificial intelligence and machine learning as the keys to its future. Google Chief Executive Sundar Pichai introduced Google Assistant, a virtual personal assistant designed to perform voice-controlled tasks, along with the tabletop speaker appliance Google Home. Amazon’s Echo, a surprise hit that has other tech giants racing to match it, uses a... [...]

Emily Balan says, “Google is banning ads for payday loans and some related products from its ads systems, according to a statement the company released on Wednesday. Starting July 13, the company will no longer allow ads for loans where repayment is due within 60 days of the date of issue. In the U.S., it is also banning ads for loans with an APR of 36 percent or higher. The new policy will not affect companies offering loans such as mortgages, car loans, student loans, commercial loans, or revolving lines of credit (i.e. credit cards). “Bad ads can ruin your entire online experience,... [...]

Ben Davis says, “We recently ran an article about the importance of canonical tags to differentiate between similar product pages. You can read that piece here. But what about when a competitor’s page seems to have bumped you out of the search results? That’s another topic that Jon Earnshaw, CTO Pi Datametrics, discussed at Brighton SEO last month. Let’s have a look… More books (where did kitty go?) Just like the last canonical example, we’re looking at Waterstones again. The chart below shows the Google search ranking (using the term ‘Test Your Cat’)... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “Thanks to the rise of social platforms like Instagram, more and more brands are adding influencer marketing to their digital marketing mix. But as influencer marketing matures and the most prominent influencers become more costly to work with, is it time for brands to adapt? As detailed by Digiday’s Yuyu Chen, a growing number of brands are looking to micro-influencers, social media users without massive followings but who might be able to deliver better results with the right strategy. According to Markerly, provider of an influencer management platform, Instagram... [...]

Patricio Robles says, “Thanks to the rise of social platforms like Instagram, more and more brands are adding influencer marketing to their digital marketing mix. But as influencer marketing matures and the most prominent influencers become more costly to work with, is it time for brands to adapt? As detailed by Digiday’s Yuyu Chen, a growing number of brands are looking to micro-influencers, social media users without massive followings but who might be able to deliver better results with the right strategy. According to Markerly, provider of an influencer management platform, Instagram... [...]

Zak Stambor says, “The test, available to verified Google Plus accounts, adds a social element to search results. Google Inc. is experimenting with a feature that allows small businesses, brands and public figures verified in the Google Plus social network to publish posts that appear in search results related to the post. For example, when a consumer searches for the band LANY, he sees a carousel of posts that include the band’s “Where the hell are my friends” video, a link to the same song on Spotify and a link to the band’s tour dates. The search giant quietly began testing the... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Among its latest efforts to address online display advertising fraud, Google says it has rolled out new defenses against clickjacking. What is clickjacking? If you’ve ever clicked on a button or tried to play a video on a web page and been taken unexpectedly to another web page, you’ve likely been a victim of clickjacking. Hackers essentially overlay a transparent page over a legitimate web page. To the user, the web page looks perfectly normal, but when a user clicks on a video play button, for example, the action actually occurs on the transparent overlay. Clickjacked... [...]

Valerie Levin says, “For any company hoping to get into the influencer marketing game, there are some important considerations to keep in mind. Knowing the rules, bending those rules and avoiding the less effective side of this type of marketing can help develop a successful influencer campaign and generate more conversions. This guide provides the advice for getting started and using this strategy to your advantage. From Word-of-Mouth to Social Buzz Word-of-mouth marketing is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions. This type of marketing also generates more... [...]

Barry Levine says, “Google is upping its pushback against header bidding. Today, the tech giant announced on its DoubleClick Publisher Blog that it is testing exchange bidding in Dynamic Allocation, and it is making First Look available to all of its clients: Exchange bidding in Dynamic Allocation will allow publishers to invite trusted third-party exchanges and SSPs to submit real-time prices using industry-standard RTB calls. These prices will be considered along with bids from the DoubleClick Ad Exchange and the publisher’s reservation campaigns to pick the highest-paying ad. Exchange... [...]