Monthly Marketing Update: Google Introduces Customer Acquisition Goals

Search Engine Optimization

Google Introduces “Perspectives Filter” for Diverse News Sources and Personal Expertise in Search. Google is expanding its content system to include perspectives from various sources, not just news. Users can now access a perspectives filter, similar to Top Stories, to discover content reflecting personal or expert viewpoints. This update aims to prioritize useful information over clickbait content. In addition, Google plans to provide more context about the creators of such content, including their names, profile photos, and content popularity. The rollout of these features will occur in the coming weeks, with ongoing tests already in progress. This development highlights Google's effort to deliver valuable information from forums, social media, and other platforms alongside traditional websites. See what else Google has to say about this new filter.

Google’s Helpful Content System Is Being Updated to Find “Hidden Gems.” Google's algorithm now identifies "hidden gems" of high-quality content in blogs, forums, and elsewhere online that may not have received sufficient visibility in the past due to factors like low page authority or popularity. These "hidden gems" are now given more visibility and prominence in search results, ensuring that users have access to helpful and relevant information. This new feature increases the importance of producing content and answers across the web as a part of a fully realized SEO strategy. See the full Search Engine Roundtable article here.

Google Clarifies Page Experience: Not a Ranking System but Still a Significant Signal. According to Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, page experience was never a ranking "system" but is still considered a ranking "signal." Although page experience was removed as a ranking system, Google still rewards pages that provide good page experiences. Google removed several systems, including page experience, mobile-friendly, page speed, and secure site, from its ranking systems page.The change was made to prevent confusion among users visiting the page in the future. Read the full article on Search Engine Land.

Google Search to Become More “Visual, Snackable, Personal and Human.” Google is reportedly planning to make significant changes to its search engine. The company intends to move away from the traditional "ten blue links" format and adopt a layout and interface that appeals more to younger users. These anticipated updates reflect Google's ambition to redefine the search experience. Read the full article on Search Engine Land

OpenAI is No Longer Training GPT-4 with API Customer Data. OpenAI recently made a significant policy change by discontinuing the use of customer data received through APIs for training their language models. This decision primarily impacts business customers, while ChatGPT users remain unaffected. The move by OpenAI underscores the increasing significance of data privacy and user trust within the AI industry. By prioritizing these aspects, OpenAI aims to address the evolving concerns and expectations of users, further emphasizing their commitment to maintaining trust and protecting sensitive information. Read the full article on Search Engine Journal.

Paid Search

Google Unveils its Take on AI: Introducing the New Google Search Generative Experience (SGE). In this new Google search experience, AI-generated answers are displayed above search results and include citations of the websites used to generate the answer. You can prompt the AI to expand on the answer if you want more in-depth information. Another interesting feature is that the color of the generative AI answer box changes to reflect different types of journeys and query intents. In response to the ethical questions AI raises, Google has said they prioritize safety, avoiding potentially harmful content and emphasizing informative responses from reliable sources. This AI feature is still limited to testers and Google will gather feedback and make adjustments before fully launching it to the public. More from Search Engine Land.

Introducing a Cutting-Edge Addition to Google’s Arsenal: Customer Acquisition Goals. In essence, this feature provides an approach to distinguishing between targeting new customers and catering to existing ones. This new targeting feature is going to be very helpful in separating campaigns from prospecting to remarketing without having to use lists due to the AI capabilities. It gives the advertiser the ability to bid stronger for new customers so that in the long run, that investment will pay off organically. While this feature is most beneficial to ecom clients, it could also be useful for lead gen clients if they have a large audience. Read the full article on Search Engine Journal.

2023 Search Ad Performance Report: Decreased Conversion Rates and Rising Cost per Lead Raise Concerns Across Industries. So far in 2023, conversion rates have declined for search ads, leading to an increase in cost per lead across the 23 industries examined in this study. Despite the rise in CPCs, the drop in conversion rates has contributed to higher CPLs. According to WordStream, 91% of industries experienced a simultaneous increase in CPL and decrease in conversion rate. More from Search Engine Land.

Social Media

Scheduling Posts for Linkedin Pages. Now as a super or content admin of a page you can schedule posts organically for 1-3 months in advance. See what LinkedIn has to say about this new feature.

Tik Tok Rolls Out Purchase Behavior Targeting. This is a form of demographic targeting that allows advertisers to target users based on their purchase behavior through TikTok ads. These users are more likely to make purchases via TikTok ads or can be considered "top spenders". 

Carousel Ads on TikTok: Beta Results Show Remarkable Engagement. Carousel ads will allow users to more easily transition their Meta ads into Tik Tok ads, and the initial results of this ad type are promising, with test groups seeing a +25% lift in engagement, +35% increase in PVR, and +200% increase in CTR compared to slideshow-style video ads. 

AR Ads Come to Meta’s Reels & Facebook Stories. Meta found that campaigns which included an augmented reality effect outperformed those which did not, driving incremental ad recall with the 18-24 age demographic 87% of the time. This could be a game changer for e-commerce brands that have virtual try-on capabilities. Read what Meta has to say about AR reels and stories.