In July, Google announced that you had until October 26th to change to expanded text ads. However, don’t worry if you’re still struggling with the new feature. Google has just extended the deadline until the 31st of January 2017. After that date, only expanded text ads will be available. You will no longer be able to create or edit standard text ads.
With the announcement of this new deadline, Google offered some advice to consider as you move forward with expanded text ads.
Shop the Look is a new advertising option launched by Google for apparel and home décor advertisers. It helps you choose a product by supplying inspirational photos from popular bloggers and connects you to suppliers that can provide you the exact product or a similar option.
For those interested in showcasing their products in Shop the Look, you simply create a Shopping campaign and be sure that you have optimised your bids to show on mobile.
This feature is only available to US advertisers at the moment.
Bing Ads introduces structured snippet ads which enable you to highlight specific aspects of your products and services.
The Structured Snippets consist of a header and between 3 – 10 snippets related to the header. Campaigns and ad groups can associate with up to 20 structured snippets.
Structured snippets are not clickable and should not duplicate any information already contained within an ad.
This feature is only available to US accounts but will roll out internationally in a few weeks.
After two years of waiting, on September 23rd, Google announced the launch of Penguin 4.0. Unlike previous changes which are usually in stages and certain countries, the latest update from Google is worldwide and in all languages.
What to expect from Penguin 4.0
A set of new guidelines was released alongside Google’s new Critic Review Snippet Extension.
Here’s a look at the new guidelines
The aim of these new guidelines is to tighten up the legitimacy of reviews and to establish greater trust in the search engines.
In August, Google announced that Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) would be moving beyond ‘’Top Stories’’ into the main organic search mobile search results.
Now, Google has officially added results with the AMP tag into all mobile search results globally.
To date, there is over 600 million AMP documents created by sites such as eBay, Reddit, Shopify, WikiHow, and many more from all over the world. These documents are distributed in more than 230 ‘’locales’’ and written in more than 100 languages. These AMP documents go well beyond news content to include pages that cover retail, travel, recipes, general knowledge and entertainment.
About a month ago, Google launch a new look for the local pack. Now, Google is testing light blue colours for the links and design in the local pack and map listings in Europe.
Google announced that they are bringing ‘’reviews from the web’’ to the local knowledge panel of the search results section.
Available globally on mobile and desktop, this feature allows you to have aggregated user ratings (from up to three review sites) within your Local Knowledge Panel information.
According to Google, ‘’by implementing review snippet mark-up and meeting our criteria, your site’s user-generated composite ratings will be eligible for inclusion. Add the Local Business mark-up to help Google match reviews to the right review subject and help grow your coverage.’’
For the first time, Pinterest is offering marketers video advertisements.
Promoted Videos are a new ad type that Pinterest users will see in their feed but they may appear in search results and other parts of the app over time. For now, Promoted Videos are only available on mobile, but a desktop version is expected at some point in the future.
Promoted Videos will first appear as a Cinematic Pin. Advertisers can choose which images appear in it. Clicking on that Pin leads users to a new page with Pinterest’s new native video player. Instead of auto playing from start to finish like video ads on Facebook or Twitter, Pinterest’s video ads will appear as previews in users’ home feeds and will play at a speed that corresponds with users’ scrolling pace. Users can view the video ad with sound by clicking on it.
The company announced that advertisers can buy ads based on how much they want to pay for impressions rather than engagement.
Snapchat has dropped the ‘’chat’’ and has renamed to Snap Inc. The change comes as the company expands beyond Snapchat and into the development of other products.
That’s not the only news. The company will also release video-recording sunglasses called Spectacles. The video on the glasses will be captured in a new circular video format, which can be played full-screen on smartphones in the Snapchat app within the Memories section. The sunglasses connect directly to Snapchat via Bluetooth or Wi –Fi and transfer your Memories directly into the application.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Snapchat’s CEO Evan Spiegel, described an early 2015 test of the prototype while hiking with his fiancée, Miranda Kerr.
‘’It was our first vacation, and we went to Big Sur for a day or two. We were walking through the woods, stepping over logs, looking up at the beautiful trees. And when I got the footage back and watched it, I could see my own memory, through my own eyes – it was unbelievable. It’s one thing to see the images of an experience you had, but it’s another thing to have an experience of the experience. It was the closest I’d ever come to feeling like I was there again.’’
The hi tech sunglasses will go on sale later this year for $129.99.
According to Forrester Research Inc., 76% of retailers are spending more and more on social media marketing this year than they did a year ago.
Read the full article here: https://www.internetretailer.com/2016/09/29/why-76-retailers-are-boosting-their-social-media-budgets
This study was conducted in partnership with Forbes and S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. It included over 4,000 Forbes Readers in the US who were asked to view webpage content featuring brands such as SONY, Maserati and Boeing, followed by a post – exposure survey. It came to the conclusion that the impact of branded content is superior to display advertising in terms of recall, brand perception and intent/consideration.
Read the full article to see the results: http://www.ipglab.com/2016/09/23/ipg-media-lab-forbes-evaluate-the-current-state-of-branded-content/
Join Ellen Gomes, Senior Content Marketing Manager at Marketo, as she discusses the top eight content marketing mistakes – from content writing, to process, to distribution – and how you can avoid them.
Tune in here: https://www.marketo.com/webinars/8-biggest-mistakes-content-marketers-make-and-how-to-avoid-them/
3XE returns for 1 day with 16 great talks, 20 speakers and 6 workshops.
When: October 13th, 2016
Where: Croke Park, Dublin.
Time: From 09:00am
Price: €245 for standard ticket.
Tinderpoint’s Head of Paid Search, Richard Talbot, will take to the main stage to deliver a talk on his favourite mistakes in search. It promises to be educational with a whole load of laughs so you don’t want to miss it!
‘’Network with some of the brightest minds in the Inbound Marketing industry and learn about the latest tools, tactics and strategies in content marketing, SEO and more…’’
When: October 19th 2016, from 09:00am
Where: The Academy, Dublin.
Price: €199 per ticket.