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Year: 2018

Bing 

How to take advantage of strategic PPC audience targeting

news

Audiences are the dotted lines that have the potential to connect nearly all of our digital channels. Audiences can help improve performance within a campaign, and they can also help influence strategies in other campaigns, and even in other channels. Using audiences within paid search, we can strategically share content based upon where the prospect is in the funnel and bid accordingly. We can start to gather information about their interests, their demographics and the ways that they’ve engaged with the brand. Today, I’d like to talk about all of…

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Social 

Facebook Sets its Sights on LinkedIn After Testing New Resume Feature

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LinkedIn should probably worry now that Facebook has apparently decided to copy a key element of the business website – its resume and CV feature. Facebook is notorious for blatantly copying services and apps made popular by other social media competitors, most notably Snapchat. The social networking site has already cloned Snapchat’s Lens filters and Story format. Now the social media titan is testing a new Resume/ CV feature that allows users to share their work history and experience with friends. The new feature builds on the typical “Work and…

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google 

Google changed the way it works, and no one really noticed

news

If you missed the changes Google made late last year on labeling country services, you’re not alone. Contributor Patrick Stox goes through the update and explains why you’re seeing a better experience for local users. In October 2017, Google announced it had updated the way it labeled country services on the mobile web, the Google app for iOS and desktop Search and Maps. From Google: Today, we’ve updated the way we label country services on the mobile web, the Google app for iOS, and desktop Search and Maps. Now the choice…

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SEO 

Getting it done: how to overcome common link building blockers

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably continue to say it in the future: Link building is hard. In particular, content-driven link building is hard because you’re hoping the idea and execution you’ve come up with is strong enough to attract links. You may think you have the best idea in the world, executed in a stunning way via a great design, but if the person on the other end of your outreach email doesn’t agree, your content can fail in spectacular style. While hard, executing a good link-building campaign…

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SEM 

The status of Google’s presence in Google Shopping Auctions

news

As my company (Merkle) reported just a couple of weeks ago, Amazon has exited US Google Shopping auctions for all advertisers that had consistently seen it as a competitor for the last few quarters. While the rationale behind this decision remains somewhat of a mystery, those brands competing against the e-commerce giant are certainly not sad as a result of the recent development. Shopping Actions One update that may have played a role in Amazon’s decision was Google’s announcement of Shopping Actions in late March, which places ads for products…

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Latest News 

Microsoft Ventures Into Checkout-Free Retail, Takes on Amazon

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…

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Marketing 

5 Tips to Help You Optimize Your Website for Voice Search

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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…

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Bing 

Bing begins removing sidebar text ads on desktop

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…

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google 

Google doodle honors science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler

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…

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Social 

Instagram Now has 1 Billion Monthly Users, Launches IGTV for Content Creators

news

Instagram has just hit one of its most crucial milestone – one billion users. The news came on the heels of the company’s launch of IGTV or Instagram Television, a long-form video format that takes aim at rival YouTube. It seemed inevitable that Instagram would hit the 1 billion monthly users mark. But what probably surprised people was how quickly the company achieved this. After all, it was just in September of last year that the photo-sharing app reached 800 million users. Instagram now joins WhatsApp and Messenger in the…

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