Ginny Marvin says, “Google introduced a new format for YouTube TrueView video ads on Wednesday: TrueView for action.Sridhar Ramaswamy, SVP of ads and commerce at Google, made the announcement at the DMEXCO conference in Germany on Wednesday.The new ad format follows other goal-driven TrueView formats — TrueView for app promotion and TrueView for shopping — designed to move video advertising on YouTube beyond general branding.Ramaswamy said Google will test TrueView for action ads throughout the year. A Google spokesperson says the reporting and user experience are being fine-tuned,... [...]

Ural Cebeci says, “Building content — no matter the quality — doesn’t necessarily build an audience. As former BuzzFeed Vice President Jonathan Perelman noted,“Content is king, but distribution is queen and she wears the pants. It’s not nearly enough to create a good piece of content.”You need to be thinking beyond owned and earned channels in your content marketing programs. Enter native advertising, one of the hottest trends in marketing today. But where exactly does native advertising fit within the larger context of a content marketing strategy? It’s useful first to consider... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “While some in the industry are alarmed by ad blocking others dismiss it as overblown, it continues to grow. The latest evidence comes from Blockmetry, a company started by former Googler Pierre Far.Far told me last week that he became fascinated by content (ad and analytics) blocking during his last couple of years at Google. His new company, Blockmetry, tracks the percentage of page views blocked rather than the number of users adopting ad blocking. This metric, says Far, better reflects “ad blocking’s real impact on websites.”Blockmetry releases a periodic... [...]

Patricior Robles says, “YouTube is facing a backlash after popular content creators claimed that the platform is failing to monetize their videos.The row focuses on YouTube’s Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines, which users claim they were not told about and that they feel are ambiguous.As Gizmodo’s Bryan Menegus explained, the Advertiser-Friendly Content Guidelines, which describe “content that is considered inappropriate for advertising,” have been in place for some time.But a change to the way Google notifies content creators about videos that run afoul... [...]

Frederick Vallaeys says, “We’re now seeing many of the changes AdWords announced in May rolling out to all accounts. This is great news in terms of enabling new opportunities, but it’s bad news if you thought your account was perfectly structured.While each new feature will work just fine with your current account structure, your setup may no longer be the most efficient — so now may be a great time to revisit the AdWords account structure debate. I’ll cover how each of the new features may change your opinion on the right structure for an AdWords account.Expanded text ads (ETAs)All... [...]

Nikki Gilliland says, “According to the IAB, around 26% of people now use ad blockers while browsing on desktop. We recently spoke with Sacha Bunatyan, Global B2C Marketing Director at The Financial Times, to hear how the publisher is tackling the problem.The FT’s innovative approachWhile some sites have started to completely block access to anyone using the software, The FT is taking a different approach.One of multiple strategies, it has recently started to serve a partial view of the site to anyone using ad-blocking software, by blurring or missing out portions of text“.How... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, ”Google hasn’t made it official, but the company has been telling some customers that there is a new minimum for Seller Ratings extensions to display in AdWords ads. Businesses must accumulate at least 150 reviews in the past 12 months, up from just 30.Seller Ratings extensions show automatically in AdWords ads when certain criteria are met.The policy has not been updated online yet, but according to at least one agency, the change is already affecting customers in many markets, including the UK, US and EU“.Google now requires more reviews for Seller Ratings... [...]

Jessica Davis says, “Most businesses underestimate the effectiveness of content curation. There is a lot you can accomplish by being the best content curator in a niche and being considered the best destination for information in that niche.All advertising and marketing efforts on the internet are made with the ultimate goal of driving traffic to a business’s online presence. What most people overlook is that curated content is one of the best ways to attract the right audience, while also building valuable relationships along the way.The following is a list of five sought-after content... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Google has removed the policy of limiting AdSense ads to three ads per page. The move can largely be seen as a response to mobile, on which pages have turned into never-ending streams and a specific ads-per-page policy doesn’t make much sense.A Google spokesperson confirmed the update to Marketing Land:“We’re always fine tuning our policies to make sure they reflect the current environment. In one recent change, we stopped limiting the number of AdSense ads that could appear on a page and instead now look at the overall balance of content and ads on a page.... [...]

Steven Scheck says, “With a host of digital tools gaining popularity over the years, more and more businesses are implementing these to strengthen their marketing strategies. In an attempt to meet and exceed customer expectations, all businesses are looking for ways to extend their reach to existing and potential customers.A business’s reputation is a primary aspect that customers tend to check before they decide to avail themselves of the products and services offered by it. As many as 75 percent of consumers say that word-of-mouth is a key influencer in their purchasing decisions. With... [...]