December 2020 - Latest News, Headlines at Peter Zmijewski

Amazon’s Head Alexa Scientist: ‘The Turing Test Is Obsolete’

December 31, 2020 news

Amazon’s head scientist of Alexa is arguing that the Turing Test is obsolete as an AI test and should be replaced. Alan Turing published his famous paper 70 years ago, wherein he outlined the Turing Test as a way to evaluate artificial intelligence to see if it had achieved true intelligence. Since then, it has been the gold standard researchers have used in their efforts to advance AI. Writing in Fast Company, Rohit Prasad says the Turing Test is now obsolete. The Turing Test is fraught with limitations, some of which Turing himself…

Marketing

Unlock actionable tactics to measure search marketing success

December 29, 2020 news

Ready to transform your data into actionable insights that drive more awareness, leads, and revenue? Join us online at SMX Report — February 23! This exclusive one-day event delivers proven strategies and actionable tactics for measuring search marketing success. After attending, you’ll be able to: Configure dashboards in Google Data Studio Leverage new features in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools Measure ad profitability and performance with Google Ads reporting Make data-driven decisions that can boost traffic and revenue You’ll also take a deep dive into Google Analytics 4’s new capabilities, featuring its sophisticated cross-channel view into the customer life cycle. Attend…

Bing

Bing Ads Account Home Page Gets A Total Refresh

December 28, 2020 news

Dashboard now shows top line KPIs and modules for quickly reviewing account performance. The next time you log into Bing Ads, be sure to check out the Home page. It has a whole new look as of this week which brings it in line with that of AdWords. Available now in all markets, the Home page now offers more, customizable top-line information in the dashboard. Just like AdWords, the top of the dashboard is the KPI summary, a performance graph and top movers report. Below these are modules that you…

google

Google algorithms vs Google penalties, explained by an ex-Googler

December 24, 2020 news

This former Google quality analyst explains the difference between Google’s algorithms, manual actions, quality and penalties. Since its inception, Google has made its way towards being the most sought after input box on the whole web. This is a path that’s usually monitored with an ever-increasing curiosity, from web professionals, taking everything apart in an attempt to understand what makes Google tick and how search works, with all its nuts and bolts. I mean, we’ve all experienced the power that this little input box yields, especially when it stops working.…

SEO

Here’s what happened when I followed Googlebot for 3 months

December 22, 2020 news

This experiment uncovered no direct way to bypass the First Link Counts Rule with modified links but it was possible to build a structure using Javascript links. On internet forums and content-related Facebook groups, discussions often break out about how Googlebot works – which we shall tenderly call GB here – and what it can and cannot see, what kind of links it visits and how it influences SEO. In this article, I will present the results of my three-month-long experiment. Almost daily for the past three months, GB has…

SEM

Here’s a script for copying labels between levels

December 21, 2020 news

Label visibility within AdWords can sometimes be a little confusing, and the ability to copy labels between levels — from the campaign level to the ad level — can be extremely helpful. Luckily, columnist Daniel Gilbert has a script for that. If you’ve ever run an AdWords account before, you’ll know why being able to copy labels between levels is such a godsend. In a typical account, you generally deal with hundreds, or even thousands of campaigns, within which there can be thousands more ad groups and keywords. Without proper…

Huawei Opening First Factory Outside of China

December 19, 2020 news

Huawei is preparing to open its first network equipment factory outside of China, as the company works to address security concerns. Once one of the dominant network equipment providers, Huawei has been under pressure as a result of its close ties to the Chinese government. The US has led a campaign to convince countries to ban the company from participating in their networks, with many doing just that. The company is taking great pains to prove it can be trusted. Its latest effort is plans to open a factory in…

Marketing

2021 outlook for digital marketing agencies: the future is bright

December 18, 2020 news

The ability to prove the value they’re creating for clients is contributing to agencies’ resilience in 2020 and a positive outlook for next year. No one was quite prepared for what 2020 had in store — including digital marketing agencies. When business shutdowns occurred in the spring, 66% of marketing agencies said they experienced a decrease in overall revenue. CallRail’s call data report showed a similar trend, with call volume in the advertising and marketing industry falling by 29% from pre-COVID levels. While 2021 still holds some economic uncertainty, digital marketing leaders indicate that…

Bing

Bing Now Lets You Play Pong In Their Search Results

December 17, 2020 news

Bing added a game to their search results, play Pong against Bing by searching for [pong]. Bored? Bing now has an interactive game you can play directly in their search results. Just do a search in Bing for [pong] and the Bing Pong game will launch directly above the search results. You can then play Pong against Bing right there. Here is a picture: This is similar to how Google has interactive games in their search results. Remember the Pac Man Google game and many of their other interactive easter eggs?