June 23, 2018 - Latest News, Headlines at Peter Zmijewski

Microsoft Ventures Into Checkout-Free Retail, Takes on Amazon

June 23, 2018 news

Microsoft is reportedly taking on Amazon, as the company ventures into retail territory. The company is said to be looking into checkout-free shopping, an innovation that Amazon has pioneered. Reuters reported that at least six people have talked to them about Microsoft developing technology that will give retail companies the option to have cashier and checkout-free shops. Microsoft is said to have partnered with fellow Redmond-based company AVA Retail. The company develops systems that can collate information about shoppers. This time around, it will be working with the renowned software company…

Marketing

5 Tips to Help You Optimize Your Website for Voice Search

June 23, 2018 news

It took a few years but voice search has finally matured, with Alexa, Siri and other voice-activated helpers now fast becoming the norm instead of a novelty. As a matter of fact, AdWeek reported that about 67 million voice-assisted devices are expected to be in use in the United States by 2019. The sheer volume means that companies have to change how they manage their digital content. Voice search utilizes verbal input instead of typed information. However, search engine optimization for text inquiries doesn’t automatically translate well to voice. Businesses…

Bing

Bing begins removing sidebar text ads on desktop

June 23, 2018 news

Following in Google’s footsteps, Bing is removing text ads from the sidebar in desktop search results. Starting today, March 26, Bing will begin to stop showing sidebar text ads in the US. Like Google, Bing has concluded that removing text ads in the sidebar leads to an overall increase in ads clicks for mainline text ads and product ads and “an immaterial impressions impact.” Bing will add text in an extra ad spot at the bottom of the search results, meaning as many as four text ads may display below…

google

Google doodle honors science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler

June 23, 2018 news

Science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler has been recognized on the Google home page in the United States on what would have been her 71st birthday. Over her almost 40-year writing career, she won countless awards for her work in science fiction, including the Hugo and Nebula awards, and she was the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She fought depression and other illnesses, and according to Google, that was where she found her strength. Google said her “extreme shyness, tall build, and mild dyslexia all contributed…

SEM

Google begins sending goodbye old AdWords UI notices

June 23, 2018 news

We knew it was coming, just not this soon perhaps. In March, Google announced that it would retire the old AdWords interface by the end of the year. This week, some advertisers received notifications from Google that their accounts will be switched over to the new interface only, starting in July. At that point, “the new AdWords experience will replace the previous one” completely, and those advertisers will no longer be able to jump back to the original interface. A portion of the notice from Google is shown in the…

SEO

Supercharging your SEO with AI: Insights, automation and personalization

June 23, 2018 news

Recently, I had the pleasure of presenting at SMX London on Supercharging your SEO with AI and thought I would share some of the insights with Search Engine Land readers. Google made global headlines with the demonstration of its new Duplex at this year’s I/O developers conference. This artificial intelligence (AI) system can “converse” in natural language with people to schedule an appointment at a hair salon or book a table at a restaurant, for example. To pass the Turing Test, AI must behave in a manner indistinguishable from that…