Category: google

Is my search ad at the top, or can I be doing even better? It’s one of the things I think about most often regarding Google Ads. For the searches that matter to me and my business, am I showing up and showing up prominently? Average position has long been used by advertisers to try and approximate where their ads show up on the page. However, that position only reflects the order of the auction results, not their location. For example, an ad position of “1” means that your ad…

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Google has rolled out a new feature in their search engine portal, allowing users to track their own online footprints. Dubbed “Personal,” the new feature will expand the user’s search to include the whole Google portfolio. So if you have an account with Gmail, Google+, or saved a photo or video on the cloud, chances are you can find them by filtering your search further. Accessing Google Personal is quite straightforward. You just have to type your query in the search box like you ordinarily would. After the results are…

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Google is always evolving. But some things in the world of search never change. One such thing is the presence of Wikipedia across the Google SERPs. From queries about products and brands to celebrities and topical events, Wikipedia still features heavily across Google searches – even while our habits as search engine users change (with voice and mobile increasingly having an impact), and while Google itself works to make its results more intuitive and full of rich features. Back in May my piece No need for Google argued that wikis themselves were…

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Reports from digital marketing firm Merkle show Amazon’s Shopping campaigns slowed after end of Q1, stopped abruptly April 28. It looks like after a year and a half of running Google Shopping campaigns, Amazon has stopped bidding on product listing ads. According to data pulled by the digital marketing firm Merkle, Amazon’s shopping campaigns had begun to slow down near the end of Q1, and then they completely disappeared from Auction Insights reports on April 28, with no Amazon PLAs (product listing ads) reappearing since then. “While it’s not uncommon…

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Google’s John Mueller said in a Google Webmaster Help thread that there is a bug with the Sitemaps reporting section of the old Google Search Console specifically with sites that moved to mobile-first indexing. John said it is jut a reporting bug and does not impact how the site or content ranks in Google search. John wrote “We currently have a bug on our side with regards to the reporting in the Sitemaps section of the old Search Console with regards to image indexing for sites that are in the…

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Get a better understanding of the types of visitors campaigns are driving in-store.   Advertisers that have store visits data displaying in their Google Ads accounts, can now segment that data to look at new versus returning store visitors. Why you should care Advertisers who are measuring store visits from people who have engaged with their Google ads, will be able to analyze how many of those visitors are new or repeat customers. That segmentation can help advertisers better understand how campaigns are driving incremental store visits or loyalty from…

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Google has confirmed they are working on fixing a bug within Google My Business for uploading videos to your business listing. When you try to upload videos, Google is returning a “server reject error.” Allyson Wright, Community Manager, Google My Business said “I can confirm that this issue has been escalated and is being looked into.” Here is the error that was posted in a Google My Business Help thread:

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Google has said they can issue a rich snippets or results manual action, removing the ability for the site from showing rich results in the Google listings. But do other penalties, like link penalties, also result in removal of rich snippets? It appears that may be the case. A Google Webmaster Help thread has a webmaster complaining his site is not showing rich results and snippets in the Google search results. A lot of people offered up advice but then Google’s Aaseesh posted saying the site has an inorganic links…

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Despite moral and ethical concerns, Google CEO Sundar Pichai defends company’s potential re-entry into China. At a conference in San Francisco on Monday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai for the first time discussed the existence of censored search engine for the Chinese market. The news of the project was originally reported by The Intercept in August. Previously leaked details of the project, code-named “Project Dragonfly,” have focused on the how the tool would censor content deemed offensive by the Chinese government (e.g., queries about “human rights”). An internal memo generated by…

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This should come as no surprise, Google is closing down Google+ over lack of use and security issues. Just about seven years ago, Google launched its own social networking site named Google+. On Monday, Google announced it will be closing down the consumer version of Google+ in the coming months as it disclosed a privacy bug. Google said “the consumer version of Google+ currently has low usage and engagement,” adding that “90 percent of Google+ user sessions are less than five seconds.” Google+ and +1 button ranking influence? Before Google+…

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