#SEO #News Roundup: AMP Now Live

SEO News Roundup: AMP Now Live Tom Williams details the latest in SEO news, including the early launch of AMP on mobile, will Google penalise itself for link buying, a drop in review stars and Google Compare to close. Google rolled out its accelerated mobile pages (AMP) in search ... read moreMuseum & Gallery Listings for Feb. 26-Mar. 3 (Johnson) ★ MoMA PS1: 'Greater New York' (through March 7) With a multigenerational team of organizers, MoMA PS1's every-five-years-roundup of New York ... and perhaps to soften the news that the series will now change from annual to biennial ... read more

The Need For Speed: 7 Observations On The Impact Of Page Speed To The Future Of Local Mobile Search Based on an analysis of client sites, Colin Guidi, director of SEO at ... And now, Google itself has come out this year stating that Google favors faster sites. Further, David Besbris, AP Engineering of Google Search, asserted on the AMP Project page ... read moreMonsanto's Pesticide Is Top Suspect Behind Mysterious Kidney Disease For several years now, a mysterious kidney disease epidemic has been underway ... Marketed most notably by the Monsanto Corporation under the brand name Roundup, this chemical has been noted in academic literature, as well as in the media, as likely ... read moreSEO for Startups & New Businesses: An 11 Step Plan With the business model and process elements covered, now is the time plan out how to succeed ... Be sure to put your writers and editors through SEO and social media bootcamp before you go live. Get them to understand content metrics and target keywords. read moreRecording Roundup 2016 Small tube amps—many with USB ports—analog and digital preamps, effects, guitar amp plug-ins, and other recording-ready devices are now about as novel ... our normal product review and news sections. Instead, this roundup highlights a dozen recent ... read moreAccelerated Mobile Pages Project, Backed By Google, Promises Faster Pages Now ... AMP is a way that publishers can pull from a common library of scripts and other content, and optionally tap into the Google cache, to deliver fast web pages. Publishers like Vox, The Verge, BuzzFeed and the Washington Post are already live ... read moreUpcoming Events in Digital Media: Feb. 16 Edition In their live presentation, co-creators Sarah Koenig and Julie Snyder ... n. Search engine optimization ("SEO") has evolved immensely over the past several years. Are you and your organization keeping up? More importantly, have you fully exhausted ... read moreSpyFy Bonus and Review roundup Spyfy is on the boards today. Take a look. Thanks for checking out our SpyFy Review. SpyFy is a very innovative software ... And thus my online journey began. I did SEO, Youtube, Facebook, Teespring eCommcerce etc – literally anything that could ... read moreTelstra to merge customer service and sales divisions: Midday roundup Telco giant Telstra will merge its customer service and sales divisions as part of an effort to improve its ... "We are investing in a single retail customer-facing workforce that will now be unified in a single team, enabling us to work as one team ... read more

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Source: #SEO #News Roundup: AMP Now Live

SEO News Roundup: AMP Now Live

Tom Williams details the latest in SEO news, including the early launch of AMP on mobile, will Google penalise itself for link buying, a drop in review stars and Google Compare to close.

AMP Goes Live A Day Early

Google rolled out its accelerated mobile pages (AMP) in search results a day early, Barry Schwartz from Search Engine Land reported. Originally scheduled to go live on 24 February, first results started to show through on 23 February.

However, while some users are now seeing the AMP results others are not. Try browsing in Google Search for a topical news search and you should see the AMP symbol come up for mobile-friendly listings.

Was Google Chrome Caught Buying Links?

Google may well have to penalise itself again after forgetting to nofollow a sponsorship link it put up on the Let's Encrypt page.

According to Tadeusz Szewczyk, posting on Twitter, Google paid $350,000 to buy an image link for Google Chrome on the Let's Encrypt sponsors page. Here's a picture:

However, a quick look at the source code on the page did show that the link didn't have a nofollow. Google added the nofollow attribute within 24 hours of the story breaking

What's Happened to Review Stars on Google?

Review stars dropped out of Google Search unexpectedly last week, Search Engine Land reported.

Whether a bug or not, a Mozcast SERP Feature Graph showed a 37% decline, as reviews and review stars went from showing in 35% of queries to just 22% of queries in a matter of days.

Google hasn't confirmed a bug, and review stars do seem to be returning to search results now, but it could be something to watch out for in the near future.

Google Compare to Close

Google Compare is to close on 23 March, after Google announced the service hasn't driven the success it had hoped for.

It seems established brands such as Go Compare and Compare The Market have done such a great job marketing their own comparison websites that the Google service is superfluous.

Google Search Console Explained

Google Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller took to Google+ last week to provide a detailed explanation of how Google Search Console works and clarify why some reports may seem delayed by a couple of days.

It seems that reporting latency is often sue to the time it takes Google to send data from its crawling departing to the search console department. The fact that some URLs are crawled less frequently than others can also have an impact.

Here's what John Mueller said:

It takes a few days (to about a week) for Search Console to display data after it's been crawled. There are various processes that run over the data, and Search Console tries to reflect the final state — which can take a bit of time to get. This is particularly visible with an abrupt change, such as going from 'no AMP pages' to 'lots of AMP pages'.

Google Adds 'Send To Phone' Feature

Search Google for a term that brings up a local based knowledge graph and you will now get the option to 'Send to your phone'.

Here's an example for a search for [rustybrick]:

Click on the send to your phone button and you will be given the option to choose which phone to send to.

Once you've sent it to your phone you will receive a push notification. Click on this to activate directions.

Whiteboard Friday – Using Landing Pages to Overcome Objections

In this week's Whiteboard discussion, Rand Fishkin takes a look at how to use high-traffic landing pages to overcome objections and increase conversion rates.

Read last week's SEO news roundup: Google Vague on Penguin 4.0 Roll Out

Discover our 15 best practice technical tips for building an SEO-compliant website. Download your free Technical SEO Best Practices eBook today.

Source: SEO News Roundup: AMP Now Live

There is now a #Google search engine for #Children

Kiddle, New Search Engine For Children, Is Not Owned By Google And Not Totally Safe Kiddle has many parents excited at the prospect of a search engine that is completely safe for kids to use. It is being talked about as Google's official search ... They discovered that there are still questionable results on Kiddle that should make ... read moreThere is now a Google search engine for children Since its launched in 1998, it has become so all encompassing that phrases like 'Google It' have become part of our everyday conversation. And now it appears the next generation of internet users will have access to Google from an even earlier age but ... read more

Kiddle: The Kid Friendly Search Engine Using Google Safe Search Ten years ago, a child using the internet might be a rare sight, now it's a different story ... an additional eye candy for kids, reports Metro. Being dubbed as Google for kids, this visual search engine, according to Tech Times, is powered by editors ... read moreKiddle, the latest search engine for kids is just the cutest thing ever! The biggest problem for parents is monitoring their internet usage and while there are a ton of ... our lives a decade ago and now, it's time to change our kids lives. Kiddle, launched by Google is the search engine for kids. Though we love Google ... read moreGoogle unveils search engine for children: Kiddle Google has finally launched the much awaited Kiddle, a customised search engine for children. The search giant's new offering ... but a colourful alien planet surface. There is also a red droid alien waiting to answer all your queries. read moreIs Google's Kiddle the answer to your kids' discipline But you can take a chill pill now. Google's much-awaited search engine Kiddle is here and experts recommend it. "I'm a mother of two kids and my elder one, 7, is quite a voracious reader. We were on Kiddle yester-night and frankly, I really liked it ... read moreThe Week's Best Reads: Why Challenging Google Isn't Insane Now, at 52, he's working with his children to create a new audio ... The Founder Of DuckDuckGo Explains Why Challenging Google Isn't Insane Gabriel Weinberg, 36, runs an eight-year-old search engine that is a David to Google's Goliath. read moreKids to 'Kiddle' their queries now "Earlier, I had to be very careful and alert when my kids used the internet, now with ... parent search engine, Kiddle has also taken care about its appearance as it has big thumbnails making the results easier to scan and identify by kids."There are ... read moreThe Vivaldi browser offers an easy upgrade from Google Chrome The Vivaldi browser now offers a Google-free replacement for Chrome on ... 2) Like Firefox, Vivaldi has a separate search box that makes it easy to use a different search engine by picking one from a drop-down menu. 3) A vertical black toolbar on the ... read moreNow you can talk to Google Docs for text formatting and editing, here's how it works Last year, Google added voice typing, integrated search and other features to Google Docs for desktop with support for over 40 languages. Now, the search engine giant has added ... Do note, if there is any kind of disturbance or ambient noise around ... read more

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Source: There is now a #Google search engine for #Children

JM Internet Group Announces 2016 #SEO Book, the #SEO #Fitness Workbook, Now Tops 161 #Reviews on #Amazon

JM Internet Group Announces 2016 SEO Book, the SEO Fitness Workbook, Now Tops 161 Reviews on Amazon | AutoTraffic JM Internet Group Announces 2016 SEO Book, the SEO Fitness Workbook, Now Tops 161 Reviews on Amazon The JM Internet Group is a top publisher and training company on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for small businesses. The company's new 2016 SEO Fitness Workbook has topped 161 reviews on Amazon, making it the most popular book on the site. The JM ... read more

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Source: JM Internet Group Announces 2016 #SEO Book, the #SEO #Fitness Workbook, Now Tops 161 #Reviews on #Amazon

What #Marketers need to know about #Google’s changes to search ads

What marketers need to know about Google's changes to search ads The new update has surprised a lot of marketers because the 11 ads on the Google search results have been a staple since the early 2000s. But marketers that have been utilizing the entire suite of Google products know that ... The new change gives Google ... read moreGoogle Kills Off Side Ads: What You Need to Know Text ads have appeared to the right of Google's search ... such a massive change, panic tends to follow. People sometimes can overreact. Let's look at what the death of right-side ads really means. Here are four key takeaways for marketers and advertisers. read more

Everything You Need to Know About How Content Marketing Is Changing Whether you're pushing out content daily or just a few times a month, superior quality and actionable takeaways need to ... and video ads within search results, it's time to start incorporating more video into your content marketing. read moreGoogle Nixes Right Rail Ads, Marketers Respond The Google ad experience as we know it is changing. The search giant will no longer serve text ads in the right ... back down. We'll need to watch this closely to see which way it goes." One thing is clear, many digital marketers are revisiting their ... read moreThings Affiliate & Ad-Dependent Publishers Must Consider In The Age Of Mobile By May 2015, Google would announce that its mobile search ... a change that will prevent users with ad blockers from skipping ads after the first few seconds and instead includes them as "pre-clips" that are part of the core video. Users who want ... read moreGoogle's latest Adwords changes will have a massive effect on advertisers Here are 10 content marketing ... change has had upon the search results. For a high demand search term such as 'Credit Cards' the CPC (costs per click) for the top 3 positions are very high. The Google Keyword Planner (the result of which we need ... read more5 reasons ad blocking isn't the end of the industry Likewise, across the marketing ... to start if you want to improve how your ads are seen by users. Earlier in 2015 there were fears of a "Mobilegeddon" when Google updated its algorithm to favour mobile-optimised sites in search, and in many ways ... read moreMarketing the TNW Way #8: Google Tag Manager, we're in love! In this series of blog posts, I've enjoyed shedding some light on how we approach marketing at The Next Web through Web analytics, Search Engine ... and how many ads do you see and from what sponsor. Data we'd like to know in GTM to send to GA but ... read moreWeekly Furniture World Media Note #150 from Lance Hanish: Do They Know What They Want To Buy? in a moment of need. Forrester Research calls this the 'Mobile Mind Shift'. Retailers have responded to this reality with mobile applications and mobile friendly Web sites that enable intent shopping, either through search that often leads to a ... read moreAre You AMPed for Alphabet's New Initiative? In the bottom left-hand corner of the search carousel is ... out the market's lulls, you want to know the best strategies for your money. And you'll want to go beyond the hype of screaming TV personalities, fear-mongering ads, and "analysis" from people ... read more

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Source: What #Marketers need to know about #Google's changes to search ads

The #Google Logo — Simple, Memorable, Practical

The Google Logo — Simple, Memorable, Practical The Google logo is arguably the most recognized branding that uses only letters that one would find on a keyboard. Others might argue that it is Coca-Cola, Xerox, or KFC, but aside from perhaps Xerox, no branding has led to a company's name being added ... read moreGet Your Logo In The Background Typically, photobombs occur in crowded areas frequented by oblivious or harried passersby, or interlopers commonly spoil pictures as a practical joke ... yourself whether your logo is picture-worthy? That is, is it elegantly simple so that it photographs ... read more

LG's G5 is a radical reinvention of the flagship Android smartphone Launching alongside a raft of accessories and plug-in modules, the G5 will be defined in most people's eyes by its extras, but I think it will be one of the more memorable devices ... much like a smaller version of Google's Nexus 6P. LG's fingerprint ... read moreYes, Google has a new logo – but why? This is an essential functional quality since the Google logo ... practical to simplify logos. In a world that is already filled with clutter, simplicity is a strong message. It is the designer's noblest aspiration to explain a complex world in simple ... read moreGoogle got a new logo It's the same typeface that Google's new parent company Alphabet is using for its logo. The makeover has a practical motivation ... "The Google logo has always had a simple, friendly and approachable style. We wanted to retain these qualities ... read moreHow good is your logo? Google uses ... durable, memorable, etc. But this last step is about stripping out and reducing extraneous detail to unveil a pure and playful end-product. Here are two practical measures you can take to ensure your logo is designed with simplicity ... read moreGoogle Introduces All-New Logo It's the same typeface that Google's new parent company Alphabet is using for its logo. The makeover has a practical motivation ... "The Google logo has always had a simple, friendly and approachable style. We wanted to retain these qualities ... read moreCrash Bandicoot Teasers Lead to Rumors and Wants For me, the series served as a wonderful bonding tool between family and friends, as it was ripe with hilarious deaths, interesting gameplay, and memorable characters ... Just no. Seriously, I typed in Google search the keywords "PlayStation Experience ... read moreThe Branding Gods (Mostly) Love Google's New Logo "Google's new logo is elegantly simple but still maintains the fun and playful quality ... the word and the image and turn them into a joyful, memorable modern expression of their brand. Some might say the animation is a bell and whistle, I say it is ... read moreAlt.Ctrl.GDC Showcase: Pretty Fox Games' Slap Friends! I would love to see my idea picked up and licensed by all kinds of popular intellectual properties and expanded beyond a simple slapping game ... gets your blood moving is a very different, very memorable experience. It's the same reason VR or those ... read more

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Source: The #Google Logo — Simple, Memorable, Practical

#SEO #News Roundup: #Google Vague on Penguin 4.0 Roll Out

SEO News Roundup: Google Vague on Penguin 4.0 Roll Out | AutoTraffic SEO News Roundup: Google Vague on Penguin 4.0 Roll Out Tom Williams details the latest in SEO news, including news on the Penguin 4.0 roll out, the launch of AMP on mobile search, is Google to reduce Rich Snippets, and the latest Whiteboard Friday discussion on direct and indirect ranking influencers. read more

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Google’s Move Away From Right-Rail Ads: The Hotel Marketer’s Action Plan.

Hotel digital marketers can stay ahead of the curve and adjust to Google's latest change by monitoring search engine marketing (SEM) performance and cost-per-click (CPC), while also focusing on organic search, retargeting, and emerging paid search initiatives.

Before:

After:

The primary result of Google's move away from desktop right-rail ads will result in less "ad real estate" and fewer text ads, which means increased competition and higher Costs per Click (CPC). The elimination of right-side ads takes the number of text ads on a given search engine results page (SERP) from 11 to 7.

This 36% decrease in paid search real estate leaves fewer ads for competitors to jockey for, in turn raising CPC levels. An additional aggravating factor is that 3 of the remaining 7 text ads are "hidden in a dark corner" – way at the bottom of the search engine results pages (SERPs), making them far less visible and attractive to advertisers.

In other words, only the 4 top text ads provide the desired visibility, a fact that without any doubt, will spark fierce bidding wars among advertisers.  At least 2 of the 4 spots are already spoken for by the two mega OTAs Expedia and Booking.com and their well-funded war chests. The remaining 2 spots will see intense competition among major hotels chains and independents in the destination, TripAdvisor, various OTA affiliate sites, etc. 

The only good news here is that Google's removal of the right-rail ads means less clutter on the page, which gives the property better chance to highlight its product, marketing message and value position, if the property SEM campaigns are funded adequately.  

Increase Budgets for SEM

Hoteliers should review their annual digital marketing budgets and increase search engine marketing spend accordingly to compensate for higher CPCs, allow the property text ads to be showing  in a more prominent position among the top 4 ads on the page, and maintain impression share, click-through-rates and conversions.  

Google Display Network (GDN) Advertising Becomes More Important

Hotel digital marketers should strive to "close the loop" via paid search placements. If you are willing to pay higher CPC costs to drive visitors to the hotel website, you should take advantage of this user engagement by following the user across the Internet with GDN banners (display retargeting). With fewer text ad touchpoints by which to reach the travel consumer, it's critical to make the most of every visitor with a conversion-minded initiative like retargeting or remarketing advertising. Because GDN is more carefully targeted than traditional SEM advertising, it tends to attract "cheaper" website visitors, on a CPC basis. 

SEM is One of Many Engagement Tools, Not a Primary Revenue Channel

This recent change reinforces the importance of maintaining multichannel marketing initiatives to underscore and support search engine marketing efforts. With SEM costs likely to rise due to limited text ad space, reaching visitors via alternate means becomes even more critical. Invest in multichannel digital marketing campaigns to diversify your marketing spend mix and offset the volatile SEM landscape. 

The average travel consumer takes about 17 days, eight research sessions, 18 site visits, and six clicks before making a hotel booking (Google Research). A successful multichannel campaign that includes SEO, SEM GDN, mobile marketing, social media, online media and retargeting, dynamic rate marketing, email marketing, etc. reaches potential guests at every touchpoint of the travel planning process with one cohesive message across channels, capitalizing on key customer micro-moments across devices. 

Take Your SEM Strategy Beyond the SERP

Paid search strategies are no longer limited to text ads on search engine results pages. Now more than ever, it's important to think outside the SERP and embrace emerging Google initiatives when planning your SEM strategy. Gmail Ads are a great place to start: you can target users in their inboxes with text and dynamic email ads. YouTube TrueView placements also add value and round out the paid search strategy by serving video ads to qualified YouTube users. 

Although this new Google SERP display primarily affects paid search placements and costs, the shift of elements to different positions on the search page impacts organic listings, as well. 

In lieu of displaying text ads on the right side of SERPs – where they did not affect the visibility of organic results – Google announced it will add one extra text ad to the top of select SERPs. These four-ad SERPs will occur for commerce-focused search queries, including some hotel-related searches. The addition of an extra text ad at the top of the SERP pushes organic results down even further, increasing the importance of securing one of the top organic search positions for the hotel's top terms.

With less real estate to work with, SEO maintenance and tracking take on even greater importance. Ongoing organic search optimization efforts should include regular tracking and benchmarking of search visibility for top keyword terms, as well as proactive on-page updates to ensure continued visibility on SERPs.

Hotel digital marketers are buzzing about this development – and rightfully so. By migrating its desktop results toward a more mobile-centric structure, Google is reinforcing its commitment to mobile as the channel of the present and the future. 

Hotel digital marketers shouldn't panic. Instead, they should keep a close watch on the key performance indicators of their paid search campaigns during coming weeks and months. If competitors and OTAs rush to adjust to the change by pushing CPC up, be aware that additional investment may be necessary. 

By collaborating with an official Google Partner agency, hoteliers can work proactively to optimize SEM campaigns, making quick adjustments and strategy shifts as needed. Utilizing a full toolbox of search engine marketing initiatives – including GDN ads, Gmail Ads, and organic search efforts – to reach travel planners at as many touchpoints as possible is more important than ever. 

Read HeBS Digital's 2016 Checklist to Maximize Revenues from Your SEM Campaigns.

About the Authors and HeBS Digital

Asher Fusco is Associate Director, Copy & SEO, and Carmine Fischetti is Manager, SEM Department at HeBS Digital, the hospitality industry's leading digital technology + website design, full-service digital marketing and website revenue optimization consulting firm, based in New York City (www.HeBSdigital.com).

HeBS Digital has pioneered many of the "best practices" in hotel digital marketing and website revenue optimization, as well as a range of industry-first digital technology applications.  The firm has won more than 300 prestigious industry awards for its digital marketing and website design services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Davey Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and IAC Awards.

A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major hotel brands, luxury and boutique hotel brands, resorts and casinos, hotel management companies, franchisees and independents, and CVBs are benefiting from HeBS Digital's direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digital's consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com.

Source: Google's Move Away From Right-Rail Ads: The Hotel Marketer's Action Plan.

Savvy Local #SEO Tips for #Google My #Business

Savvy Local SEO Tips for Google My Business Local search drives more clicks and calls than any other marketing channel, making it the most effective marketing technique for small business. Not convinced? Just ask the BrightLocal team, which found that local search delivers a greater ROI than other ... read more6 Local Tips For Small Business SEO Success There are simple and effective ways to boost visibility for your business in search results, while simultaneously improving related marketing efforts in social media, ratings and reviews, and media outreach. Take a look at my six tips for local SEO success ... read more

5 Things Most People Forget About Local SEO Local search engine optimization (SEO) can be tricky. Not only do you have to do all the customary SEO stuff, but then you have to do a new layer of complex SEO activities. Most tech-savvy local ... rollout of the new Google My Business platform, local ... read moreMontalto: Gordhan's right message by boycotting Guptas, attacking cronies Cape Town – Treasury's snubbing of the post-budget breakfast sponsored by a Gupta-owned newspaper is boosting local sentiment ahead of Finance ... Jacob Zuma and his son Duduzane, who is a business partner of the Guptas. The New Age Breakfast on ... read more5 Small Business SEO Tips You Can Implement In-House Right Now An effective and complete strategy will cost money, but that doesn't mean you have to sit idle until you can afford to hire an SEO agency. Here are 5 small business SEO tips ... in Google's local search results. Make sure that you create a Google My ... read moreBullet-Proofing Your Business From The Inevitable Online Reputation Attack Have your business registered in Google My Business ... past about how writing a book helps local search optimization, and that's still the case; it also helps with general rankings. But beyond those semi-arcane SEO benefits, it helps with reputations ... read moreLocal SEO: 10 Tips for Ranking in Your Area Any business of any size can benefit from search engine optimization ... on for my 10 top tips. If there are local websites and forums, then it's a great idea to get your business participating on them. This continues to bring home to Google the ... read more9 Steps to Improve Your Local SEO Strategy But, it doesn't have to consume all of your resources, and you can put a lot of your time and effort into improving your local SEO strategy ... Most importantly, you need to secure your Google My Business page, formerly known as Google Places. read moreSpring 2016 SEO Trainings in San Francisco Announced by Jason McDonald A successful author and SEO consultant working in San Francisco, Dr. McDonald maintains a busy teaching schedule assisting Bay Area business and small business marketers in learning tips, tricks ... their marketing efforts. My Spring, 2016 training ... read moreShould I Use AdWords? Tips for Every Industry/Business Model Unless your products or offering suck (which I'm sure they don't), in which case your business is likely to fail regardless, then there are really no reasons not to use the largest search engine ... local PPC space: Claim and maintain your Google My ... read more

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Source: Savvy Local #SEO Tips for #Google My #Business

Google Ends Right-Side Ads on Search Results

Google right side ads have appeared in search results since AdWords launched in 2000. No more. They're history. R.I.P.

Google has confirmed a huge change to the way AdWords ads are displayed for desktop search results, and it is now rolling out for all of its users globally. Google right side ads are being killed off completely — although Product Listing Ads and ads in the Knowledge Panel will continue to be shown on the right — and adding a fourth ad for "highly commercial queries" above the organic search results.

"We've been testing this layout for a long time, so some people might see it on a very small number of commercial queries," Google told Search Engine Land. "We'll continue to make tweaks, but this is designed for highly commercial queries where the layout is able to provide more relevant results for people searching and better performance for advertisers."

Any time Google announces such a massive change, panic tends to follow. People sometimes can overreact.

Let's look at what the death of right-side ads really means. Here are four key takeaways for marketers and advertisers.

1. Most Paid Clicks Are On Top Ads

Let's go straight to the data. And you can see it's not a huge deal:

Using a Top vs. Other Report, we can discern that in January 2016, about 85 percent of clicks came from the top ads and only about 15 percent came from the side and bottom ads. This is based on data from approximately 2000 WordStream customer accounts across all industries representing tens of millions of clicks in the USA.

I'm confident the new fourth ad spot, plus new bottom spots, will make up for the loss of clicks on side ads.

Another reason to be hopeful: The new fourth ad looks more like an organic result than an ad.That's a huge plus for ads, since some users are more biased toward organic results.

The fourth top ad spot also gives you the ability to use ad extensions, which gives you more room to highlight more information about your business (contact information, product images, links), which can increase your click-through rates.

2. Ad Impressions Will Move, Not Vanish

Why is Google doing this? Yes, it makes their desktop results more in line with the mobile results. But you can bet that Google has also tested this new layout thoroughly and it improves performance for advertisements.

In fact, I'd expect more ad impressions on the SERPs overall — especially on keywords with commercial intent. SERPs with just one, two, or three ads will be harder to find — and those lost ad impressions from right ads will be soaked up by the new fourth ad spot at the top of the page, and up to three ads below the organic results.

Already, four-ad blocks account for just under 20 percent of the pages Moz is tracking:

3. More Extensions Plus Reporting Will Get Easier

As mentioned above, for PPC marketers, more opportunity to use ad extensions is a key advantage: Location, sitelink, and other ad extensions were previously only available for top of page ads. They never appeared for side ads. Now look at this:

If you were formerly in a side position and are getting bumped into #4 at the top or bottom of page ads, you'll get to display extensions.

Additionally, top vs. side ads complicated testing and reporting to a small degree because sometimes your ads include extensions, sometimes not, depending on ad position. This change solves that issue for advertisers.

4. Organic Search Is the Big Loser

Without a doubt, this change is bad news for anyone involved in SEO. Paid position #4 was the old organic position #1.

The top organic search result will no longer be visible above the fold on many desktop devices. But, again, this isn't shocking news because organic has been losing ground to new ad formats and other SERP changes every year.

Final Thoughts: Keep Calm

Many advertisers are concerned about huge CPC increases. However, those Google right side ads were less than 15 percent of total desktop clicks (and this figure also includes bottom of page ads, so it's kind of double counting because those aren't going away and desktop clicks account for less than half of total search). So my message to you is simple: Keep calm.

I foresee no big changes in auction dynamics (CPCs, impression volume, etc.) because the changes are so perfectly balanced.

Really, Google is just kind of just renaming stuff. Position 1 through 3 on right side is now position 4 on SERP. Positions 5 to 7 on right-side ads are now bottom of page ads 1 to 3.

For now, the only clear loser is organic search.

UPDATE

Mark Irvine has published more early data/analysis including changes, if any, to CPC and volume, here: The New Google SERP: 3 Changes & 3 Things That Haven't Changed … Yet.

Republished by permission. Original here.

Google Search Photo via Shutterstock

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Source: Google Ends Right-Side Ads on Search Results

Ensure Long Term Positioning on Search Engine Results with #SEO Services from Profit by Search

Ensure Long Term Positioning on Search Engine Results with SEO Services from Profit by Search Noida, UP -- (SBWIRE) -- 02/25/2016 -- #1 SEO Company in India, Profit by Search is globally popular for offering top class digital marketing services. The services rendered by them help businesses to expand their reach beyond domestic boundaries and gain ... read moreClutch Highlights Leading SEO Companies in the United Kingdom The ten highlighted agencies are: Promodo, High Position, EMS Internet, SEO 24/7, Greenlight Digital, twentysix, EnVeritas Group, ArtDriver, BuiltVisible, and Caliber. "Search engine ... quantifiable long-term success to provide fantastic results for ... read more

6 Local Tips For Small Business SEO Success We all know that a key component of any small business' marketing strategy is to effectively position its brand in search engine results ... can result in a long-term positive impact on your business' search results. For example, MarthaStewart.com ... read morePriceline.com CEO on the Death of Search Engine Optimization With those simple words, Priceline.com CEO Paul Hennessy summarized a development that has become painfully obvious to travel brands trying to get their piece of free real estate in Google search results: Search engine ... position over the long term ... read moreSearchmetrics appoints Patric Liebold as new VP EMEA For all these markets he set up and developed a comprehensive service model to ensure customers' needs were satisfied and they continued to receive a consistent high quality service into the long term ... search technology has forced SEO platform ... read moreThe Value of a Diversified Search Engine Optimization Strategy As such, any SEO strategy needs to insulate your website from these risks and ensure long-term traffic growth. Search Engine People offers comprehensive SEO services that will ... changes in order to maximize SEO results. Working with SEP has many advantages. read moreEight Ways to Improve Your Search Engine Rankings So, to help you get started, here are eight ethical ways to improve your search engine rankings ... to increase your rankings and achieve long-term results for your business is to implement ethical, white hat SEO techniques that keep you in Google's ... read more4 Google Carousel Optimization Tips The fragmentation of search results from Google's continual algorithm updates, improvements to personalized search, and changes to the SERP keep practitioners of SEO ... ensure a more appealing photo is shown in the carousel itself. What is the Long-Term ... read moreThe Essentials of SEO for Small Business What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving the ranking of your website in the organic search engine results. Getting placed in a high position in the ... thus SEO is seen as a long-term marketing strategy. read moreGoogle's Broken Promises & Who's Running The Search Engine? Previously, Google Product Search operated in the same way that Google's regular search engine still does. It gathered listings from across the Web, showing results leading ... But that's good PR in the long-term, to ensure the trust you've built ... read more

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Source: Ensure Long Term Positioning on Search Engine Results with #SEO Services from Profit by Search

What marketers need to know about Google’s changes to search ads

Google recently announced that its search results pages on desktop will no longer show text ads in the right sidebar. What does this mean to marketers?

What actually happened?

Here is a quick recap of Google's big announcement:

No more text ads on the right side of Google's search engine results pages (SERPS).

There will be four ads on top for the highest bid keywords.

Three text ads will appear at the bottom of the page.

There will be a maximum of seven text ads on a SERP.

Product listing ads and knowledge panels will appear on the right.

The new update has surprised a lot of marketers because the 11 ads on the Google search results have been a staple since the early 2000s. But marketers that have been utilizing the entire suite of Google products know that this makes Google Desktop results very similar to Google Mobile results.

Why is Google making this change?

The "Mobile First" Google

More than half the searches that happen on Google, come through Mobile devices now. So this "Mobile First" user behavior is influencing Google Product Development. With this move, Google Search on both desktop and mobile has come a lot closer together.

Search Isn't As Crucial As It Once Was

Google's attention in advertising has turned to its growth areas – video, mobile and display ads – which have outpaced the growth of search. This might jolt many Search-only advertisers to realize there are other tools in the Google toolkit.

Room for Google To Innovate in Ad Offerings

The new change gives Google, the entire right side of free space to innovate on desktop. I can see new, more focused ad units for particular industries such as hospitality, aviation, and financial services.

Who are going to be the winners and losers from this change?

The Losers – Smaller Advertisers

Small businesses will suffer the most. They are the ones who bid smartly to show up on the right. But they won't get the same effect from showing up at the bottom of the page.

The Winners – Bigger Advertisers

Larger businesses will be insulated from the change as they tend to rank in the top three on SERPs for the branding effect. They also typically rely less on SEM compared to smaller businesses.

What should advertisers do differently now?

Make your search ads really rich in features

Last year, Google started taking into account whether your ads were just text or actually include site links, third-party reviews, and offers. So if you want to rank in the top four, make your ads rich and your click-through rates will rise by 200-400%.

Use remarketing lists for search ads

Marketers should start using RSLA (Remarketing Lists for Search Ads). Through RSLAs, you can bid for certain keywords for existing customers or past visitors. This allows your business to rank high at the most opportune moment, but ignore cold prospects.

Reduce your SEM budget for low ranking keywords

Decrease your SEM budget for all keywords where your business is not in the top three. Instead, invest in a combination of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google Display Network and remarketing campaigns.

Re-focus on SEO

Take another look at your search engine optimization (SEO). There's probably some techie in your basement who's currently in charge of your SEO investments. It's time now to bring them to the top floor, give them budgets for technology, content creation and online PR.

SEO can be hugely profitable for businesses – Just look into your Analytics and you'll likely find far more SEO impact than you thought. In this case, you can overcome your SEM losses in weeks through solid SEO. And in a few months, you'll forget that the right side of the SERP was ever there!

Take Another Look At Your Channel Mix

Zoom out and look at the usefulness of your search marketing as a whole. If you decided to make a huge investment a few years ago, it's time to evaluate whether search does the same job? In many industries, search only closes the sale for branded keywords.

That means you need to start investing in content, social, email automation, programmatic, analytics, and mobile to address the entirety of your customers' fourneys.

There you have it, with these simple tips you'll be able to capitalize on Google's new ad update and drive your business forward through digital.

Read the full changes here.

The writer is Rachit Dayal, managing partner at Happy Marketer and search engine marketing (SEM) expert.

Source: What marketers need to know about Google's changes to search ads

Savvy Local #SEO Tips for #Google My #Business

Savvy Local SEO Tips for Google My Business Local search drives more clicks and calls than any other marketing channel, making it the most effective marketing technique for small business. Not convinced? Just ask the BrightLocal team, which found that local search delivers a greater ROI than other ... read more6 Local Tips For Small Business SEO Success There are simple and effective ways to boost visibility for your business in search results, while simultaneously improving related marketing efforts in social media, ratings and reviews, and media outreach. Take a look at my six tips for local SEO success ... read more

5 Things Most People Forget About Local SEO Local search engine optimization (SEO) can be tricky. Not only do you have to do all the customary SEO stuff, but then you have to do a new layer of complex SEO activities. Most tech-savvy local ... rollout of the new Google My Business platform, local ... read moreMontalto: Gordhan's right message by boycotting Guptas, attacking cronies Cape Town – Treasury's snubbing of the post-budget breakfast sponsored by a Gupta-owned newspaper is boosting local sentiment ahead of Finance ... Jacob Zuma and his son Duduzane, who is a business partner of the Guptas. The New Age Breakfast on ... read more5 Small Business SEO Tips You Can Implement In-House Right Now An effective and complete strategy will cost money, but that doesn't mean you have to sit idle until you can afford to hire an SEO agency. Here are 5 small business SEO tips ... in Google's local search results. Make sure that you create a Google My ... read moreLocal SEO: 10 Tips for Ranking in Your Area Any business of any size can benefit from search engine optimization ... on for my 10 top tips. If there are local websites and forums, then it's a great idea to get your business participating on them. This continues to bring home to Google the ... read more9 Steps to Improve Your Local SEO Strategy But, it doesn't have to consume all of your resources, and you can put a lot of your time and effort into improving your local SEO strategy ... Most importantly, you need to secure your Google My Business page, formerly known as Google Places. read moreSpring 2016 SEO Trainings in San Francisco Announced by Jason McDonald A successful author and SEO consultant working in San Francisco, Dr. McDonald maintains a busy teaching schedule assisting Bay Area business and small business marketers in learning tips, tricks ... their marketing efforts. My Spring, 2016 training ... read moreShould I Use AdWords? Tips for Every Industry/Business Model Unless your products or offering suck (which I'm sure they don't), in which case your business is likely to fail regardless, then there are really no reasons not to use the largest search engine ... local PPC space: Claim and maintain your Google My ... read moreWant Better Search Rankings? Start with Your Google+ Profile More importantly, an active, complete Google+ business profile can really boost your search rankings. "While it may not yet be the most ubiquitous of social media platforms, Google+ is a powerful tool for savvy ... into the Google search engine than ... read more

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Source: Savvy Local #SEO Tips for #Google My #Business

May the Fourth Ad Position Be With You

ClickThrough Marketing's director of paid search, Zoe O'Neil, offers her advice and insight into what Google's latest changes to ad positions mean for online advertisers.

It is possibly the most talked about subject in digital marketing right now. Google has dropped its advert sidebar on desktop search and added a fourth top-level ad position in SERPs.

Many of our clients are now asking what this means for their paid search accounts, as well as querying why Google has made such a big change, and why they implemented it so quickly.

What Action Should I Take?

Undoubtedly, competition is going to hot up as companies vie for the top four positions. CPCs are therefore likely to increase.

This is where a sound account structure and effective match type strategy is important to ensure you are paying the lowest CPCs with the highest level of relevancy and targeting. Making sure your account is fully optimised is essential.

For e-commerce, increased emphasis will be placed on Google Shopping, so focus on your feed management and data quality.

For B2B, we will see even more importance on the top four positions on text ads. Make sure you have Google Search Network turned on in your campaigns, as the CPCs will be cheaper on desktop.

Also, consider your remarketing strategies. There will likely be more competition and higher bids to bring visitors back through RLSA ads, so make sure to layer on top this increase to CPCs.

Look at other channels. Are you on Bing? Could you push more budget to Bing to benefit from its lower CPCs? Are you using paid social? Now could be a great time to diversify your digital marketing spread.

Should I Shift Budget to Google Shopping?

Product Listing Ads will still warrant prime SERP real estate. These will continue to show above or to the right of search results.

For e-commerce companies, the change could result in more traffic and conversions being driven through Google Shopping. As brands seek to spend circa 60% of budgets through Shopping, this shift seems natural. This could also be related to a recent announcement by Google that Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs) will become a required attribute for online vendors by mid-2016. Is this the next step to allow more real estate for Shopping results on page 1? Will we see the whole of the right hand side of desktop given over to PLAs through Google Shopping?

Is Mobile Search Also Changing?

Possibly for the first time ever, desktop is actually changing to fall in line with mobile search. We've seen in recent years that mobile has overtaken desktop in searches, suggesting that the change may be a response to the growing popularity of mobile search. Google's decision to drop the ads sidebar from desktop means that SERPs will have virtually the same look and feel across all devices, whether PC, mobile or tablet.

Will this have an effect on CPCs? Possibly. If your desktop bid has to increase for desktop 1-4 then this could potentially impact your mobile bid, too.

How Will Organic Search Be Affected?

There is a large consensus from industry experts that having four ads will push down organic search results and the likelihood of this coming true is very high – although what we don't know yet is how often four paid ads will be returned in the SERPs. However, B2B and B2C businesses could potentially see click-through rate improve. Why? Well, with less visual distractions from the right hand side, users may scroll down further, which could drive more focus on organic search results.

Companies wanting to maximise their organic potential should employ an integrated SEO and PPC strategy. An integrated approach could help you increase your SERP real estate and click-through rate. If you are in ad position 1-4 and in organic position 1-4, needless to say your chances of attracting new business will be increased.

Why Now, Google?

For many, the change seems like a swift one, but in reality Google has been testing this for years.

From a Google perspective, dropping the sidebar actually presents an opportunity to make more money. We predict CPCs will rise on desktop as the fight for the top four positions becomes even more important.

Larry Kim, writing on Search Engine Watch, presented a refreshing view that highlights the benefits to Google and to advertisers alike. According to Kim, sidebar ads and bottom ads account for just 14.6% of total click volume. This means that 85.4% of clicks are attracted to the top ad positions. Now, with a fourth ad position up for grabs, that means more clicks for customers and a higher CPC for Google. It's a very simple 'win win'.

As digital marketers, we have to ride this shift, but the most important focus is nurturing and converting your traffic. Focus on ensuring that your landing page, products and services have the maximum opportunity to convert this potentially higher costing traffic.

At ClickThrough, we will be monitoring the shift in CTRs, traffic, CPCs and conversions for our clients over the forthcoming weeks and adjusting our strategies accordingly.

More on this story:

The AdWords Sidebar Update – An example of how to review the impact of changes in digital marketing – By Dr. Dave Chaffey.

Google Changes Ads Display Positions in SERPs – By Lisa Coghlan.

Source: May the Fourth Ad Position Be With You

#Google cofounder Sergey Brin says these 2 books most influenced him

Google cofounder Sergey Brin says these 2 books most influenced him Elijah Nouvelage/ReutersGoogle cofounder and Alphabet president Sergey Brin. In 1996, Sergey Brin and his Stanford Ph.D. classmate Larry Page started developing what would become the Google search engine. On his personalized Stanford site from those early ... read moreHow a billionaire who wrote Google's original code created a robot revolution Page 2 of 5 - Hassan met Page and Sergey Brin while working on an Integrated Digital Libraries ... could run on any other kind of robot anywhere else in the world." Here's Google cofounder Larry Page at Willow Garage in 2009: RAW Embed Robot marathons ... read more

Brin Breakup Raises the Perils of Office Romance The news yesterday that Google cofounder Sergey Brin had become ... with Stephanie Losee of Office Mate: The Employee Handbook for Finding–and Managing–Romance on the Job, says the workplace is where most people find love these days. read moreDoes Mark Zuckerberg Have Sergey Brin's Resolve on China? In a chapter covering Google's decision to stop censoring its search results in China, Levy cites a "knowledgeable but not firsthand source" who says Google co-founder Sergey Brin threatened ... to uphold these same values? Here are two reasons we should ... read moreGoogle: We're Hiring, and Spending, Again Schmidt and Google co-founder Sergey Brin covered a lot of ground in the ... [Per new Ken Auletta book] Brin: [Refers to layoffs–Schmidt corrects him: "We did not have layoffs."] [Addendum: Schmidt was talking about Google closing engineering offices ... read moreTen Years of Google Maps, From Slashdot to Ground Truth Nobody had any idea, least of all Google. And this was only a decade ago. On the occasion of this 10th anniversary, Re/code spoke with the people ... and [Google co-founder] Sergey [Brin] was totally distracted. And this was in building 42, in a conference ... read moreInside Google's Quest To Popularize Self-Driving Cars The message now reads go to autodrive lane; there are two on the far side of the freeway, shown in green on the schematic. Levandowski's car and those around him are represented ... car bill into law, Google co-founder Sergey Brin said "you can count ... read more

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Source: #Google cofounder Sergey Brin says these 2 books most influenced him

Google’s New SERP Layout: The Biggest Winners & Losers

Worried about the recent changes to Google's ad layout on desktop search? Don't be! I come to you today with a simple message: Keep calm.

This change — which will see Google show up to four ads above organic search results and remove text ads completely from the right side of desktop search results — is a net positive for paid desktop search and PPC marketers. Yes, really.

Like Kevin Ryan, I've been urging people not to panic since this change started rolling out. Plenty of search marketers have overreacted and predicted certain doom, but there is no reason for you to do the same.

With Google, the only constant is change, and we've lived through and adapted to huge changes in the past and survived. (Enhanced Campaigns, anyone?)

As always, Google is a zero-sum game. For everyone who wins, someone must lose. In that spirit, I've compiled a list of the four biggest winners and losers as a result of Google's new desktop ad layout so far.

Winners: PPC Marketers

The proof is in the data. I looked at WordStream customer data (thousands of accounts across all industries) and determined that side and bottom ads account for just 14.6 percent of total clicks.

As Alistair Dent noted in his post analyzing iProspect UK clients, ads in the top positions get 14X higher click-through rate than the same ad on the same keyword on the right side.

It's also important to remember that this change only impacts desktop, which now accounts for less than half of all searches. So, really, this will impact 7.3 percent of queries.

But wait. You also must remember that AdWords ads will continue to show at the bottom of the SERPs. So, now we're talking much less than 7.3 percent of clicks being impacted by the change.

Really, with the addition of the fourth ad spot, and up to three ads appearing below the organic search results, it's like we just reorganized the naming of ad positions. According to Moz, two-thirds of SERPs still have fewer than four ads above the organic results, so there's plenty of room to offset those "lost" impressions and clicks.

Also, there are noteworthy incremental benefits for PPC marketers. For example, now all ads can use call-out extensions, sitelink extensions, location extensions and so on, which were previously only a benefit of top-of-page ads.

Additionally, the ads appear more "native," which may prove beneficial for search advertisers, since many searchers already can't tell the difference between organic and paid results.

And one final way PPC marketers win relates to testing and reporting. This change solves the top versus side ads issue, where sometimes your ads included extensions, and sometimes they didn't.

Beyond that, I foresee no impact on AdWords auction dynamics (clicks, impressions, CPCs and so on). The changes are nicely balanced. So far, search ads haven't seen a noticeable change in cost-per-click:

Winners: Position 3 & PLAs

Logically, you'd think the newly created Position 4 would be the biggest winner. But actually, WordStream data showed that Position 3 got the biggest boost, with click-through rates increasing by 15 percent.

As Mark Irvine noted in this analysis:

In our data set, position 3's CTR doubled on Thursday when this changed occurred and the higher CTR has stayed consistent over the weekend.

Mark also found that the removal of text ads from the right side has given a boost to Product Listing Ads (PLAs). Our data showed that PLAs attracted a slightly higher CTR and a larger share of paid clicks from the SERP.

Losers: Positions 5–11

Impression share and total share of all paid clicks declined for ads in positions 5 to 11, according to WordStream data.

Ads in positions 8 to 11 got hit the hardest, as you'd expect, since they were all kicked off the new-style SERP. But even ads that appeared in positions 5 through 7 saw less reach:

Loser: Organic Search

If you do SEO, Google may have you like:

And for good reason. The clear loser with this change is organic search.

Paid position #4 is the new organic position #1.

Although the number of SERPs featuring a four-ad AdWords block has substantially grown in the past week or so, these SERPs still make up a minority (36.4 percent) of the search results, according to Moz.

Still, for SERPs with "highly commercial queries" (e.g., car insurance, mortgage rates, home equity line of credit — the most valuable search queries), the top organic search result will no longer be visible above the fold on many desktop and tablet computers.

Traditional organic real estate has been shrinking for years, thanks to features such as news, images, videos, local/map packs, the Knowledge Graph, featured snippets, new ad formats and features and many more SERP changes.

But really, none of this should be shocking news if you've been in the search industry for a couple of years. It's the same old SEO song and dance.

Conclusion

Okay, so this is a big change. But, as is the case with any other Google announcement, it shouldn't cause you to panic. We'll get through it. Together.

I'm reasonably certain that the vast majority of PPC advertisers will come out better than before. It's possible some might lose, but that's always been the case with Google changes. Just keep monitoring your campaigns and adjusting your accounts as needed.

So let's get to work!

Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.

About The Author Larry Kim is founder and CTO of WordStream, provider of the AdWords Grader and 20 Minute PPC Work Week. (Some images used under license from Shutterstock.com.)
Source: Google's New SERP Layout: The Biggest Winners & Losers