Welcome to our seventh episode of our “Fortnightly Digital Marketing News Roundups”.

We know it can be difficult to keep up with all the changes in the Digital Marketing industry. Many of us work in busy offices, sometimes barely having time to grab a sandwich or a coffee. So, we wanted to make it easier for all of you to know what’s going on.

Learn about the changes to Google, LinkedIn’s new Audience Engagement Insights, Twitter 6 Second Video Ads and more…

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    Transcript

    Martin: Hi Everyone. Welcome to this week’s digital marketing news. First an apology to those that receive their news by email yes it was me that screwed up the email. There is a big difference between job title and title, so yeah that happened, and I am sorry. What I really don’t get though is that email had our best open and click through rate we’ve ever had.

    But I’ve apologised and now i’m moving on… So, Google’s been busting their ass’s off the last couple of weeks with updates so I hope you enjoy.

    Lucy: Google are reducing the number of local ads that show.

    Katy: Google Ads Has Made It Easier To Manage Multiple Accounts.

    Katy: Google Image Search launches new image preview box.

    Lucy: Google Ads Average Position Metrics will be gone from September 30th.

    Martin: Google Search Console Gives More Insight In Reports.

    Emily: Google Is Removing The Mobile Advertising Specialisation.

    Martin: LinkedIn have launched a new Audience Engagement Insights as well as integrations with 5 new marketing partners.

    Emily: Ads To Appear In Instagram’s Explore Page.

    Katy: Twitter Introduces Bidding On 6 Second Video Ads.

    Lucy: Google are reducing the number of local ads that show.

    Google have been testing a new local ads setup for search. Local results now appear with one ad spot at the top, with other local results in a carousel. This means only one and a half organic local results are on show initially. This new format makes local a lot more interactive. However, if you’re involved in Local SEO, you’re going to have to work harder to try and hit those first spots.

    Katy: Google Ads Has Made It Easier to Manage Multiple Accounts

    Google Ads has introduced an account map to make it easier to stay organized when you have multiple accounts in a manager account. The simplicity of the map makes it easier to see account structure and performance.The map is already available to use in manager accounts, you can find it under the “Tools and Settings” menu. This new feature could make it a lot easier to quickly navigate through accounts and perform holistic management tasks.

    Katy: Google Image Search launches new image preview box

    Google has released a new Images preview format, after months of testing. Previously in Google Images, when you click to preview an image a large box would cover the lower half of the screen with the image, description and related images. This bulky format has since got an update to be a smaller box that sits on the right hand side of your screen. This box also remains visible when you scroll down. This change definitely gives a fresher, less bulky look to the image previews. And it’s said that this change may have changed the way that traffic is sent to the site. So, just be sure to keep an eye on it, the way Google traffic is being sent.

    Lucy: Google Ads Average Position Metrics will be gone from September 30th

    Initially announced in February, we now have a date for the sunsetting of the average position metric. You have 5 weeks to absorb the effects of this change, and update any reports, rules or scripts that would be affected. To replace average position, you should be looking to switch to other position metrics. Such as, search top impression rate and search absolute top impression rate.

    Martin:Google Search Console Gives More Insight In Reports

    The results report in google search console will include 3 new types of data. These types are: Product Markup (this will allow google to include product information in search results), sitelink searchbox markup (will include a search bar to search a site) and unparsable types (data that has not been implemented correctly). These features will be helpful and timesaving for anyone using Google Search console to optimize and fix their sites.

    Emily: Google Is Removing The Mobile Advertising Specialization

    Google is removing the mobile advertising specialization from the badges a google partner or google premier partner company can earn. These will automatically be removed from company’s badges on their site. This is so that the badges align with the different campaigns that google offers, as they no longer offer mobile specific campaigns.

    Martin: LinkedIn have launched a new Audience Engagement Insights as well as integrations with 5 new marketing partners

    LinkedIn have launched a new category for their Audience Engagement Insights tool. This is part of their marketing partner program. Which has now been improved with five new third-party analytics programs to integrate with the Audience Engagement API. These are Amobee, Annalect, Hootsuite, Ogilvy and Sprinklr. LinkedIn marketers will now have a better view of what works. With Audience insights, content recommendations, industry benchmarks and integrations with platforms they’re potentially already using.

    Emily:Ads To Appear In Instagram’s Explore Page

    The explore page on Instagram will begin to show ads over the coming months. Advertisers are now able to choose the explore page as a placement option for their ads. Instagram states that more than 50% of accounts use the explore page every month, utilizing this space could help advertisers reach an ever increasing audience.

    Katy: Twitter Introduces Bidding On 6 Second Video Ads

    Twitter has introduced a new bidding method for video ads which are 15 seconds or shorter. This method of bidding means advertisers will only be charged when 6 seconds of the video is watched with 50% of the video in view. This new bidding for video ads will be available globally next week. One advertiser who had early access to the new bidding reported a 22% increase in video view rate. This new bidding format may help advertisers increase their video ad views.

    Martin: Well that’s it for another episode.

    We hope you enjoyed it. Don’t forget to subscribe if you want to receive our newsletter by email head over to Blue Thirst website to sign up. See you all again in 14 days.