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Google search quality guidelines update expand YMYL category, defines lowest quality content and more

A year ago Google updated the company’s search quality raters guidelines, and today, it has been updated once more – this time to expand on the YMYL category, it clarified what constitutes lowest quality content, simplified the definition of upsetting-offensive and the overall document has been refreshed and modernized with minor updates throughout. In fact, the old document was a 175 page PDF, the new one is 172 pages.

The last update to this document was on October 14, 2020, before that was December 5, 2019.

What is new? Here is a changelog of what is new in this document:

• Expanded the definition of the YMYL subcategory ‘Groups of people’
• Refreshed guidance on how to research reputation information for websites and
  content creators
• Restructured and updated ‘Lowest Page Quality’ section; reorganized and
  refreshed examples to reflect new structure
• Simplified the definition of ‘Upsetting-Offensive’ to remove redundancy with
  Lowest Page Quality section
• Minor changes throughout (updated screenshots and URLs, wording, and
  examples for consistency; removed outdated examples; fixed typos; etc.)

YMYL – Groups of people subcategories. Google expanded this subcategory to include more examples of YMYL, your money – your life, a section for this groups of people section. The updated section is named groups of people and is now defined as:

“Information about or claims related to groups of people, including but not limited to those grouped on the basis of age, caste, disability, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, immigration status, nationality, race, religion, sex/gender, sexual orientation, veteran status, victims of a major violent event and their kin, or any other characteristic that is associated with systemic discrimination or marginalization.”

The other changes. Google said the bulk of the changes in this update are “refreshing the language for clarity and updating organization.” These updates “included clarifications of what constitutes lowest quality content and refreshed and modernized guidance on researching the reputation of websites,” Danny Sullivan of Google said.

Read more: Google search quality guidelines update expand YMYL category, defines lowest quality content and more

Clarity in an uncertain future: Cookies, privacy, and marketing roadblocks

The numbers are compelling. The 2021 Digital Consumer Trends Index polled over 5,000 global consumers, and 66% declared that ads based on cookies and tracked behavior were creepy, not cool. Furthermore, numbers show a mere 4% of Apple users are opting in to app tracking for advertisers, and that number is predicted to only dwindle.

It’s unlikely Google FLoC (cohort-based advertising) is going to be the silver bullet, and I like to think as marketers, we’ve matured beyond shouty spray-and-pray advertising formats. There isn’t going to be a magic replacement for the cookie, so what do marketers do next to deliver more personalization and also meet privacy demands?

To move forward and build lasting, more meaningful relationships with consumers, marketers need to embrace the zero-party data economy. 

Read more: Clarity in an uncertain future: Cookies, privacy, and marketing roadblocks

IndexNow – new initiative by Microsoft and Yandex to push content to search engines

Microsoft and Yandex announced a new initiative today named IndexNow, a protocol that any search engine can participate in to enable site owners to have their pages and content instantly indexed by the search engine. Currently, Microsoft Bing and Yandex are the two search engines fully participating in the initiative but others are welcome to adopt this open protocol.

IndexNow allows “websites to easily notify search engines whenever their website content is created, updated, or deleted,” Microsoft wrote on its blog. The goal is to make for a “more efficient Internet,” the company said, by reducing the dependency on search engine spiders having to go out into the web and crawl each URL they find.

How it works. The protocol is very simple — all you need to do is create a key on your server, and then post a URL to the search engine to notify IndexNow-participating search engines of the change. 

Read more: IndexNow – new initiative by Microsoft and Yandex to push content to search engines

Microsoft Advertisers can analyze post-click behavior, analyze engagement with new Clarity integration

What is Microsoft Clarity? First launched as a closed beta in 2018, Microsoft Clarity provides site owners with visual heatmaps that illustrate user engagement, individual session replays, a dashboard to help them get an overall understanding of user interactions and filters to drill down on various types of interactions.

How to get started. Get in touch with your Microsoft account manager to enroll in the pilot program. In addition, your Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag must be up to date in JavaScript. Microsoft recommends placing the tag across your site to gather as much information on user behavior as possible.

In November, UET tag creation will be compatible with the Clarity tool by default. In mid-November, the company will migrate all existing UET tags to include Clarity insights (except for sites that are excluded from this update, such as sites that contain sensitive data). Once your UET tag is updated, you should be able to access Clarity from your Microsoft Advertising account

Read more: Microsoft Advertisers can analyze post-click behavior, analyze engagement with new Clarity integration

Messy SEO Part 3: How to find cached images and improve user experience

Messy SEO is a column covering the nitty-gritty, unpolished tasks involved in the auditing, planning, and optimization of websites, using MarTech’s new domain as a case study.

SEO is incomplete without good UX

Regardless of how well Google and other search engines crawl your website, few people will interact with your brand if they have a poor experience. Broken and non-HTTPS links discourage many from trusting what your page has to offer. People want relevant links and engaging images in their content, not outdated links no longer working.

Fixing broken links

Virtually all of these instances had nothing to do with negligence; they were largely the result of old domain URLs on the site. The link issues we chose to tackle first were those that were completely broken, undoubtedly leaving visitors wondering why they were included within the article at all.

Replacing images that no longer exist

Search marketers run into this messy problem most often during migrations. If the old site domain isn’t set to redirect every image file to its new URL, the new site will fail to pull the old, non-existent content.

The Internet Archive and Wayback Machine

In scenarios such as this, some marketers opt to view cached images from their old domain in the search results. The problem is that search engines such as Google only store cached images for a limited amount of time. And this is only helpful if your domain URLs are still indexed post-migration.

Read more: Messy SEO Part 3: How to find cached images and improve user experience

More news:

Google Search Console testing tools to match URL Inspection tools

Google AdSense moves to a first-price auction model

Microsoft Advertising: ETA deprecation, auto-generated remarketing lists, and Audience Network updates

Podcast knowledge panels go live in Google Search

Google seems to be rolling out podcast-based knowledge panels in Google Search. When you search for your favorite podcast, you might see a new knowledge panel show up in the search results.

Example. Here is an example for the Azeem Digital Asks podcast showing up with a new knowledge panel on the right hand side of the desktop Google search results page:

This shows for many podcasts, although not all, so it seems like Google is still trying to roll this out more fully. Google has yet to officially announce this new search feature.

Here are some more examples the SEO community is talking about on Twitter:

Source: Podcast knowledge panels go live in Google Search

WP Fastest Cache Patches Authenticated SQL Injection and Stored XSS Via CSRF Vulnerabilities

The Jetpack Scan team has published a summary of two issues recently discovered in the WP Fastest Cache plugin – an Authenticated SQL Injection vulnerability and a Stored XSS Via CSRF vulnerability.

“If exploited, the SQL Injection bug could grant attackers access to privileged information from the affected site’s database (e.g., usernames and hashed passwords),” Automattic security research engineer Marc Montpas said. This particular vulnerability can only be exploited on sites where the Classic Editor plugin is both installed and activated.

“Successfully exploiting the CSRF and Stored XSS vulnerability could enable bad actors to perform any action the logged-in administrator they targeted is allowed to do on the targeted site,” Montpas said. He also found that attackers could “abuse some of these options to store rogue Javascript on the affected website.”

Source: WP Fastest Cache Patches Authenticated SQL Injection and Stored XSS Via CSRF Vulnerabilities

Google Mobile Search Updated With Continuous Scrolling

Google Search on mobile is getting updated with continuous scrolling, which will automatically populate more results when users scroll to the bottom of the page.

For searchers this is a welcome quality of life upgrade, as it’s now possible to scroll through an almost endless list of results to find right content.

Now, the ‘see more’ button isn’t gone for good, but Google says searchers will be able to scroll through “many more” results before triggering it.

This change can be hugely beneficial to publishers, because we all know page two of Google doesn’t see nearly as much traffic as page one.

With continuous scrolling on mobile, it’s almost like all results are page one results now.

This change can create the illusion that the user hasn’t left the first page of SERPs, leading to them discovering and potentially clicking on URLs they otherwise wouldn’t have.

It’s a user interface design that works extremely well on mobile for apps like TikTok and Instagram’s Explore page.

On TikTok, users can continuously scroll down their feed and the app will keep populating more videos to look at.

This endless stream of content keeps people on the app for hours.

With the same design being applied to Google Search, this can increase content discovery significantly.

Websites ranking on the second page of Google (and lower) may start to see their traffic go up as a result of this update.

We’ll see as the months go on if this change helps increase traffic for low ranking pages.

Source: Google Mobile Search Updated With Continuous Scrolling

Nothing is wrong with your ABM strategy, but your execution fails

The verdict is in: Sales and Marketing are aligned on ABM strategy but are falling short on execution. While 96% of Sales and Marketing leaders agree that personalized communications to prospects are the most effective, the majority agree that feasibility is a major challenge to personalization at scale. Stop missing opportunities! It’s time you got the most out of your investments in ABM.

Join this webinar to learn new research findings from Renegade and Conversica and explore practical tips for executing lead outreach like a champ.

Register today for “Nothing Is Wrong With Your ABM Strategy, But Your Execution Fails,” presented by Conversica.

Source: Nothing is wrong with your ABM strategy, but your execution fails

Instagram’s new practice mode will help you avoid live video goof ups

To avoid live video startup mistakes, Instagram is adding a new feature called ‘practice mode.’ It’ll let you and your guests join the live video before it’s broadcasted to your followers.

This will help you set up the video and check the sound, light, and stability of connections so it looks like a professional production when it goes live. The firm said the practice mode feature will be rolling out soon.

Apart from this, Instagram is also launching a scheduling feature for live video creators so that they can notify their audience in advance. The company will let you schedule a session 90 days before the event, and notify your viewers when you create it.

Starting today, the scheduling feature will be rolled out to all creators.

Instagram is a bit late to the party when it comes to scheduling live videos. Facebook and YouTube have offered this feature for many years now. TikTok rolled it out last year with its new set of creator tools.

Source: Instagram’s new practice mode will help you avoid live video goof ups

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Microsoft will shutter LinkedIn in China by the end of the year

Google is Developing ‘Big Moments’ Feature For Breaking News

WordPress Releases Gutenberg 11.6 – Top 4 Achievements

Microsoft will shutter LinkedIn in China by the end of the year

Microsoft will shut down its localized version of LinkedIn in China by the end of the year, the company announced Thursday.

“A significantly more challenging operating environment.” The company cited a difficult operating environment, enhanced compliance requirements and a lack of success with the social aspects of its platform as reasons for shutting down LinkedIn in China.

“While we’ve found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunity, we have not found that same level of success in the more social aspects of sharing and staying informed,” the company said, “We’re also facing a significantly more challenging operating environment and greater compliance requirements in China. Given this, we’ve made the decision to sunset the current localized version of LinkedIn, which is how people in China access LinkedIn’s global social media platform, later this year.”

InJobs to launch in China. As it sunsets LinkedIn, Microsoft plans to launch InJobs, a new, standalone jobs application for China, later this year as well. Unlike LinkedIn, InJobs will not have a social feed or the ability to share posts or articles.

Source: Microsoft will shutter LinkedIn in China by the end of the year

Why automation is the future of lead management (and RevOps)

RevOps is trending toward low-code automation that closes software gaps and solves fundamental marketing and sales challenges.

Fast and reliable lead routing is extremely important for lead management.

Delays in your revenue processes, especially in lead follow-up, decimate funnels. Slow lead processing makes it 7x less likely you’ll ever qualify your leads. Most RevOps pros understand this, but lead management is a deceptively complex set of processes, oftentimes built on the back of a house of cards.

Consider the overall “jobs to be done” of the lead lifecycle:

1. Lead Intake – Capture a lead from a given source (e.g., website forms, live chat, list uploads, Ad vendors, etc…)
2. Validation – Ensure an email is valid before allowing it into any system of record
3. Creation – Create leads in the system of record if there are not any existing records for the prospect already
4. Enrichment – Programmatically enrich data required for routing or accurate scoring. Send those still missing important data to manual enrichment
5. Lead to account match – If lead belongs to an existing account in system of record, associate to account
6. Attribution – Give credit to programs driving engagement for each touch
7. Scoring – Apply a score using demographic, firmographic, and behavioral attributes
8. Routing – Check rules of engagement for a prospect in order to route appropriately (e.g., round robin, direct assignment, etc…)
9. Sequencing – Start sales outreach asap

The future of revenue ops 

By learning to leverage General Automation Platforms (GAP) like the Tray Platform. These automation platforms close the resource gap for semi-technical ops professionals, empowering them to build multi-step, automated processes called “workflows.” These workflows focus on the job to be done first, not the technology vendor that does it.

Introducing RevOps frameworks: Lead management

Using a lead management framework built on the Tray Platform provides your team with control and visibility into every possible aspect of your lead funnel. You can quite literally measure your funnel’s reliability and speed at every step. Meanwhile, you will prepare yourself for a future in which Citizen Automators (that’s you) build processes tailor-made to your organization’s needs, without ever having to worry again about whether your software tools “do that” or wait for engineering support.

The Foundation: A lead processing pipeline workflow

At the center of this framework is a workflow we call the “Lead processing pipeline.” The pipeline is responsible for orchestrating each of the essential lead management jobs to be done. From intake to creation to enrichment and beyond, you can use this process for any lead, no matter the source.

Source: Why automation is the future of lead management (and RevOps)

Where Do SEO Professionals Spend Time & Budget? [Survey Results]

How Do Decision-Makers in SEO Allocate Digital Marketing Budget?

In the last 12 months, 6.2% of SEO professionals said they applied all of their digital marketing budget to content marketing. With a weighted average of 2.98, content marketing has the greatest budget allocation in digital marketing.

Meanwhile, 17.9% of SEO professionals said they didn’t apply any budget to digital PR and 30.4% said they allocated little budget. With a weighted average of 2.55, Digital PR has the least budget allocation in digital marketing.

The Difference in Budget Allocation Between Agencies and In-House Brands

• An agency is more likely to spend most of its budget on SEO than an in-house brand at 29% compared to 20%.

The Differences Between B2B and B2C for Digital Marketing Budget Allocation

• 19% of B2B SEO professionals spend no budget on digital PR, compared to 14% of B2C.
• 17% of B2C SEO professionals spend most of their budget on digital PR compared to 12% of B2B.
• 23% of B2C SEO professionals spend most of their budget on social media compared to 18% of B2B.
• 28% of B2C SEO professionals spend most of their budget SEO compared to 23% of B2B.

When Working on SEO, Where Do We Allocate Our Time to Tasks?

• 36.3% of SEO professionals say they apply most of their time to keyword research. With a weighted average of 3.28, keyword research has the most time allocated as a task for SEO.
• Local SEO has 11.4% of SEO professionals applying no time and 7.1% applying all their time. This polarized split of results indicates that local SEO is an area of specialization in SEO.
• 8.2% of SEO professionals said they apply all their time to analytics and this is the one task that is most likely to have all time allocated in SEO.

Source: Where Do SEO Professionals Spend Time & Budget? [Survey Results]

WordPress Proposes Team to Improve Core Web Vitals

WordPress Admits Falling Behind Wix, Shopify and Squarespace

The proposal by the WordPress Core Developer was blunt in its assessment that WordPress was falling behind:

“Compared to other platforms (e.g., Wix, Shopify, Squarespace), WordPress is falling behind.

Other platforms are on average faster – and becoming increasingly faster – than WordPress websites…”

That’s not an opinion, it’s a statement of fact that WordPress is falling behind Wix.

WordPress Needs a Performance Team

The proposal states that it needs an official team to coordinate the performance side of WordPress core development.

So instead of performance being almost an afterthought to improvements to other areas of WordPress, speed performance can move to the front because of advocates who can now help coordinate improvements.

Why WordPress Needs a Performance Team

“Users expect and prefer fast experiences (consciously or otherwise). Research shows that fast websites can provide a better user experience, increase engagement, benefit SEO, increase conversion, and be more economically and ecologically friendly.”

WordPress Speed Should Not be the Job of a Plugin

The proposal says that the job of optimizing WordPress should not fall to third party plugins and that it should not be the burden of those who use WordPress to fix it and make it better.

Source: WordPress Proposes Team to Improve Core Web Vitals

WhatsApp now offers encrypted backups. Here’s how to opt in

WhatsApp is finally letting users encrypt the backups of their messages.

Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg announced on Thursday that the feature is now being rolled out to iOS and Android users globally.

The feature secures backups stored on Google Drive or Apple’s iCloud with end-to-end encryption.

This encryption will provide more privacy and security, but it’s not enabled by default. Here’s how to turn the feature on:

1. Make sure you’ve got the latest version of WhatsApp.
2. Open Settings.
3. Tap Chats > Chat Backup > End-to-end Encrypted Backup.
4. Click Continue, then follow the prompts to create your password or 64-digit encryption key.
5. Hit Done, and wait for your end-to-end encrypted backup to be prepared. You may need to connect to a power source.

Source: WhatsApp now offers encrypted backups. Here’s how to opt in

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YouTube Shorts: An Introductory Guide

Google Search Console testing tools to match URL Inspection tool

Google Search Console’s public-facing testing tools will be aligned more closely to the URL Inspection tool, the company announced today. Google said it is updating these tools’ “designs and improving features to be fully aligned with the URL Inspection tool.”

Which tools are impacted. Google said this is impacting specifically the AMP, Mobile Friendly, and Rich Results testing tools.

What is changing. Google is updating the design and improving some of the features of these three public-facing tools. Specifically, these fields will be both on the public-facing tools and the URL inspection tool:

• Page availability – Whether Google was able to crawl the page, when it was crawled, or any obstacles that it encountered when crawling the URL.
• HTTP headers – The HTTP header response returned from the inspected URL.
• Page screenshot – The rendered page as seen by Google.
• Paired AMP inspection, Inspect both canonical and AMP URL.

Read more: Google Search Console testing tools to match URL Inspection tool

Yelp announces new features for services businesses, including custom search filters, a new review flow and themed ads

On Tuesday, Yelp announced new features for services businesses and the users that may be looking for them, including custom search filters, a new review flow, themed ads and Project Cost Guides.

Custom search filters for services. New search filters for service queries enable users to filter for fast-responding businesses, businesses that provide virtual consultations or businesses that specialize in a specific type of job or repair.

These filters can be found for services like movers, plumbers, HVAC, auto repair, roofing, real estate agents, home cleaners, painters, electricians, landscaping, pest control and flooring.

Themed ads. Yelp is introducing a new feature for services businesses that are running search ads. Themed ads highlight aspects of a business that may differentiate them from competitors.

Generating more reviews for services businesses. When customers submit a project with Yelp’s Request-A-Quote, the platform will now use the submitted information to prompt users to write reviews. To start, Yelp prompts the user with a series of questions to kick off the review writing process.

New Project Cost Guides. Yelp’s Project Cost Guides provide information and tips on what hiring a professional for a given project might entail. Each guide contains a pop-up form (“Get personalized quotes from top pros”) that can be used to input project details to obtain quotes from service providers.

Yelp announces new features for services businesses, including custom search filters, a new review flow and themed ads

3 tips for winning with real-time, inventory-driven ads

Here are three tips for executing on the new game plan that can help you win as supply chains wreak havoc on your competitors’ campaigns.

The three steps outlined below won’t solve every problem in Q4, but these steps can help you conquer some of the most pressing challenges marketers are facing in the coming few months: 

Step 1: Connect your ads to real-time supply chain and inventory data

After all, you can only sell what you’ll ACTUALLY have on hand or on the way. By connecting real-time data right into a PPC workflow, marketers can pivot quickly and automatically when one line of product sells out, and a much-delayed shipment finally arrives. 

Automated ad creation instantly reflects the new inventory and makes it possible to serve up ads for only the items you can actually deliver. And when automating ads from inventory, there’s no need to stop at simple text ads. Extend the automation to also create RSAs (Responsive Search Ads), RDAs (Responsive Display Ads with images), and DSAs (Dynamic Search Ads). 

Step 2: Optimize your feed to show better ads

While structured data like that found in spreadsheets are commonly used by PPC teams, automatically turning that data into ads may present some problems, especially when the data feed wasn’t built specifically with PPC ads in mind. The problem is that data may be formatted inconsistently, incorrectly, or certain required fields to run ads are simply missing. This is when the need arises to optimize the feed data, a process that must be automated with rules if the advertiser hopes to gain the full time-saving benefits of data-driven ads. 

Step 3: Use Google’s Drafts and Experiments to explore what works best. 

With new data-driven ad strategies in place, it’s time to start testing what works best and prove to your stakeholders that the new strategy is paying off. Drafts and Experiments is a feature-rich tool from Google that offers a lot of horsepower for search marketers but isn’t the most intuitive, fluid add-on in the Google environment. For example, monitoring experiments in Google across more than one account or across multiple experiments can be cumbersome. 

Read more: 3 tips for winning with real-time, inventory-driven ads

NerdWallet blames Google ranking issues in S-1 filing

NerdWallet, the popular personal finance company, cited Google as a concern for financial growth and said the company saw a Google Search ranking decline in 2017 within its recent S-1 filing.

S-1 filing statements. The S-1 filing specifically cited Google as a factor that “could harm our business, operating results, and financial condition.”

Read more: NerdWallet blames Google ranking issues in S-1 filing

Google rolling out continuous scroll on mobile

Google’s mobile search results now offer infinite scroll, what Google is calling continuous scroll. So as you scroll, Google will not show you the “more results” button when you reach the bottom of the page, instead, Google will just load the next page of results automatically.

Google said “with this update, people can now seamlessly do this, browsing through many different results, before needing to click the “See more” button.”

Google added that while “you can often find what you’re looking for in first few results, sometimes you want to keep looking.” And for those searchers who want to keep on looking, you will be able to continuously scroll “up to four pages of search results” without clicking to load more.

When can I see it? Google has been testing this for some time, in fact, I’ve seen it myself over the past couple of weeks. Google did say it will “gradually roll out today for most English searches on mobile in the U.S.”

Read more: Google rolling out the continuous scroll on mobile

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Google AdSense moves to a first-price auction model

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Google AdSense moves to a first-price auction model

Google will move AdSense from a second-price auction model to a first-price auction by the end of 2021, the company announced Thursday. There is no action for advertisers or publishers to take and these changes will occur automatically.

First-price vs. second-price auctions. In a second-price auction, the final price paid by the winner is determined by the second-highest bid. In a first-price auction, the final price is the same as the winning bid.

This will simplify things for advertisers, Google says. “We are aligning our AdSense process with other ad selling platforms in the display advertising ecosystem, which we think will simplify the experience for buyers who can now use a single approach to bidding across AdSense, Ad Manager and AdMob, and improve advertiser spending confidence,” a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land.

Which AdSense products are affected. The transition to a first-price auction only affects AdSense for Content, AdSense for Video and AdSense for Games. It does not affect AdSense for Search or AdSense for Shopping.

Transitioning to a first-price auction aligns AdSense with Ad Manager and AdMob, both of which are already operating under that model. Making the winning bid the actual price advertisers pay may make it easier for some advertisers to plan their spending.

However, a first-price auction means that the final price the winning advertiser pays will be higher than it was under a second-price model if advertisers bid the same amount. 

Read more: Google AdSense moves to a first-price auction model

AMP links in Google Search break with iOS 15

With the iOS 15 release on September 20th, AMP URLs in Google Search just stopped working. Google is aware of the issue and said the issue should be resolved soon. This is only impacting Google searchers using Google Search on iOS devices that have been upgraded to iOS 15.

What happens. If you are on iOS 15 and you click on a website listing in the Google Search results, you will not be taken to an AMP URL, even if the AMP URL exists for that listing. Instead, you will likely be taken to the main site’s URL for that page, or a link to their mobile app – if you have the app pre-installed on your device.

Jeff Johnson, an iOS developer, dug into this and said with the iOS 15 Safari “User-Agent, there are no AMP links in Google search results, but if I simply change Version/15.0 to Version/14.0 and keep the rest the same, Google search results suddenly have AMP links again!” “This is reproducible on my iPhone, in the Xcode iPhone simulator, and also in desktop Safari Mac with its User-Agent spoofed as iPhone,” he added.

Read more: AMP links in Google Search break with iOS 15

Google takes stand against climate change deniers with new ads and monetization policy

Google will introduce a new policy for advertisers, AdSense publishers and YouTube creators that prohibit ads for, and monetization of, content that contradicts authoritative scientific consensus around the existence and causes of climate change, the company announced Thursday. Google will use its automated systems as well as human reviewers to enforce the policy, which will take effect next month.

Why Google is making this change. “In recent years, we’ve heard directly from a growing number of our advertising and publisher partners who have expressed concerns about ads that run alongside or promote inaccurate claims about climate change,” the company said, “Advertisers simply don’t want their ads to appear next to this content. And publishers and creators don’t want ads promoting these claims to appear on their pages or videos.”

What kind of content and ads are prohibited? The new policy prohibits ads for, and monetization of, the following: content that refers to climate change as a scam or a hoax, claims to deny that long-term trends show the global climate is warming, and claims denying that greenhouse gas emissions or human activity contribute to climate change.

Sorting out offending content and ads. “We’ll look carefully at the context in which claims are made, differentiating between content that states a false claim as fact, versus content that reports on or discusses that claim,” Google said in its announcement.

Read more: Google takes stand against climate change deniers with new ads and monetization policy

Google publishes new help documents on controlling titles and descriptions in search

Google has just published two new help documents to help publishers control what Google shows in the search results for the title and description of the listing. Also, Google introduced a new term for the title of a search result, “title link.”

Control your title links in search results. The first document is named control your title links in search results and it first defines what a “title link” is. A title link “is the title of a search result on Google Search and other properties (for example, Google News) that links to the web page.”

What changed. What changed with the help documents is that Google made two separate documents, instead of having these in a single document. Google also added the term title links, added examples of how Google adjust title links and other minimal changes to the text.

Read more: Google publishes new help documents on controlling titles and descriptions in search

Introducing the new Analytics 360

Earlier this week, we announced that the new Google Analytics is ready to help you meet the challenges of an evolving measurement landscape and get better ROI from your marketing for the long term — with privacy-safe solutions and machine learning at its core. Today, we’re introducing the new Analytics 360, which builds on the foundation of Google Analytics 4 properties to address the measurement needs of large advertisers and agencies with more customizations, increased scale, and enterprise-level support.

As a large company, you may have multiple teams that need access to different insights, depending on their job function, products and markets. Let’s say your teams in the United States, Canada,https://toplistwp.com/weekly-news-google-adsense-moves-to-a-first-price-auction-model/ and Mexico need to view the data about your four product lines to understand what’s driving sales in their markets. With the new Analytics 360, you can create four product line sub-properties for each country team and customize their settings. 

Read more: Introducing the new Analytics 360

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Microsoft Advertising: ETA deprecation, auto-generated remarketing lists, and Audience Network updates

Beginning June 30, 2022, responsive search ads (RSAs) will be the only search ad type that can be created or edited in standard search campaigns, Microsoft Advertising announced in its October product updates on Tuesday. The announcements also included reporting improvements for Microsoft Audience Ads with view-through conversions, In-market Audiences expansions, an open beta for auto-generated remarketing lists, several Microsoft Audience Network updates and expansions and more.

Sunsetting ETAs

As stated above, starting on June 30, 2022, advertisers will only be able to create or edit RSAs in standard search campaigns. Existing expanded text ads (ETAs) will continue to serve, but advertisers will not be able to edit or add them.

This move brings Microsoft Advertising in line with Google Ads, which announced in August that it would sunset ETAs on the same date (June 30, 2022).

Microsoft Audience Network updates and expansions

Feed improvements. Now, advertisers can filter their feed by ID and category, enter multiple values at once, and exclude values. This may enable advertisers to more easily manage their feed-based campaigns and filter with more granularity.

Introducing CPM pricing. CPM pricing (cost-per-thousand impressions) is coming to standalone audience campaigns targeting users in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, France, Germany, or New Zealand.

New metrics for view-through conversions. View-through conversions are conversions that customers make after seeing your ad, even though they did not click on your ad. Microsoft has added four new view-through conversion types.

Read more: Microsoft Advertising: ETA deprecation, auto-generated remarketing lists, and Audience Network updates

Google Analytics 4 updates include data-driven attribution, machine learning models to fill in measurement gaps and a Search Console integration

Google hasn’t said when it will deprecate Universal Analytics, but the updates and language in the announcement suggest that search marketers should prepare for the change.

A new Search Console integration, data-driven attribution, and new machine learning models meant to fill in measurement gaps are coming to Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Google announced on Tuesday.

The company has not said when site owners will have to switch over from Universal Analytics to GA4, but these new features and the language in the announcement (“With these additional capabilities, we encourage you to use the new Google Analytics as your primary web and app analytics solution going forward,”) suggest that search marketers should prepare for the change.

Search Console integration. A new Search Console integration enables marketers to view data, such as their site’s rank and queries that led to clicks, from within Google Analytics 4.

Data-driven attribution makes its way to GA4. In the coming weeks, data-driven attribution without minimum thresholds will be available in attribution reports. This update is a follow-up to Google’s announcement last week that it would be moving away from last-click by making data-driven attribution the default model for all new Google Ads conversion actions.

Machine learning to address measurement gaps. Google is bringing two new modeling capabilities — conversion modeling and behavioral modeling — ​​to GA4, which may help marketers fill in gaps in their understanding of customer behavior when cookies or other identifiers aren’t available.

Read more: Google Analytics 4 updates include data-driven attribution, machine learning models to fill in measurement gaps, and a Search Console integration

We asked, you answered: Should Google add noindex support to robots.txt? Poll results

In the current environment, robots.txt is used exclusively for guiding the behavior of web crawling. Further, the current approach to marking a page “NoIndex” is to place a tag on the page itself. Unfortunately, if you block it in robots.txt, Google will never see the tag and could still potentially index the page even though you don’t want that to happen.

On large sites, this presents some challenges when you have different classes of pages that you’d like to both block from crawling AND keep out of the Google index. One way that this can happen is in complex faceted navigation implementations where you have pages that you create that have significant value for users but end up presenting way too many pages to Google. For example, I looked at one shoe retailer website and found that they have over 70,000 different pages related to “Men’s Nike shoes.” This includes a wide variety of sizes, widths, colors, and more.

Read more: We asked, you answered: Should Google add noindex support to robots.txt? Poll results

Google Search Console adds new rich results status reports errors

Google announced it has added a new set of detailed errors to the rich results reports to Google Search Console for some sites. These are called the rich results status reports and you will see a report only if Search Console has data for that rich result type on your site, and Search Console implements a report for that type.

The announcement. Google said on Twitter “Today we’re adding more details to some errors on Search Console Rich Results status reports to make them more actionable and help you understand how to solve those issues.”

What specifically are the new errors. Here is a list of the specific new detailed errors you will see with this enhancement:

1. Invalid attribute string length
2. Invalid attribute enum value
3. Invalid object
4. Type conversion failed
5. Out of numeric range

Read more: Google Search Console adds new rich results status reports errors

Built on GA4, Google announces the new Analytics 360

On Thursday, Google announced a revamped version of Analytics 360, the company’s suite of products designed for enterprise-level companies, which builds on Google Analytics 4 as a foundation. The new features include the ability to create product line sub-properties, custom user roles, and larger caps on dimensions, audiences, and conversion types.

New collaborative capabilities. In the new Analytics 360, advertisers can create product line sub-properties and customize their settings.

Additionally, advertisers will be able to create user roles to control feature access for certain groups of users. These custom user roles can be assigned to reporting collections (groups of reports based on topics, such as customer acquisition). Custom user roles and user-assigned reporting collections will be rolling out to all Analytics 360 accounts in the coming months.

Bigger dimension, audience, and conversion type limits. This iteration of Analytics 360 will have a limit of up to 125 custom dimensions, 400 audiences, and 50 conversion types.

Read more: Built on GA4, Google announces the new Analytics 360

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YouTube Rolls Out Automatic Live Captions to All Channels

YouTube is rolling out a series of updates to make content more accessible, which includes bringing automatic live captions to all channels.

Previously, this feature was only available in beta for select channels with over 1,000 subscribers.

Live automatic captions enables livestreams to display dialogue on the screen as it’s being spoken.

The captions will also be available if a recording of the stream is made available as a VOD (video on demand), making it a quick and easy alternative to manually transcribing streams.

In addition, YouTube is launching an update that will make content more accessible on mobile, and introducing a way to make video transcripts searchable.

Here’s more about the changes coming to YouTube captions and transcripts.

YouTube Live Automatic Captions For All

YouTube is making live automatic captions available for all creators.

With this expansion all creators can now have access to this feature regardless of subscriber count.

While streaming, creators can go into their live control room and enable or disable live automatic captions on a per stream basis.

Auto-Translated Subtitles Coming to Mobile

Today on desktop users can auto-translate available caption tracks in their CC menu to another language.

YouTube plans to expand the auto-translated subtitles option to mobile.

Searchable Transcripts

In a mildly confusing update, YouTube is making video transcripts searchable on desktop.

Transcripts were already searchable, however, just like text on any website is searchable by hitting Ctrl+F on your keyboard.

Perhaps this is intended to expand accessibility to the less tech savvy YouTube viewers out there?

New Channel Permissions For Subtitles

YouTube is adding a new subtitle role to channel permissions subtitle role.

With this subtitles role creators will be able to delegate the ability to create captions or subtitles for the videos to someone that they trust.

Source: YouTube Rolls Out Automatic Live Captions to All Channels

Google is Developing ‘Big Moments’ Feature For Breaking News

Google is reportedly developing a new search feature called “Big Moments” to highlight important information about breaking news events in real-time.

Google wants to be peoples’ one-stop source for news whether they need information about something that happened yesterday, or they want the latest details of an event happening right now.

Big Moments will provide historical context about events when possible, and go beyond what Google typically shows in search results for news stories.

If the story is a natural disaster like a hurricane, for example, Big Moments may list authoritative facts about deaths and injury counts, as well as data about the frequency of hurricanes in the area.

Google may pull in information for Big Moments from open source data repositories such as Data Commons, which gathers data from US government agencies and is hosted by Google.

Too Ambitious For Google?

With Big Moments, Google is moving closer to making the kinds of editorial decisions news publications have to make every day.

The key difference is those decisions will be made by algorithms, while editorial decisions for news publications are made by humans.

Even with advances in machine learning, is it possible to replicate the level of critical thinking that goes on in a newsroom?

Source: Google is Developing ‘Big Moments’ Feature For Breaking News

Squid Game VR game: How to play Red Light, Green Light

Soaring Roc have wasted no time in getting a game off of the ground but we feel we should temper expectations – this is obviously not a full game like the ones we see in the show. Instead, this takes its inspiration from Red Light, Green Light.

Red Light, Green Light is a pretty simple game that does not require much knowledge to understand the rules. In the show, the Squid Game contestants are pitted against a seriously creepy mannequin and when it calls ‘green light’, the players can move. When ‘red light’ is called, they have to stop. If they don’t, they get shot and die. Lovely.

In this VR version of the game, you do the same. You pump your arms to move but when the mannequin turns to face you, you need to instantly stop or risk meeting the same fate, just, happily, it’s only virtual. You are pitted against other players, but be careful about looking around for them as if your head is seen to move… well, you know what happens.

Source: Squid Game VR game: How to play Red Light, Green Light

WPCloudDeploy Brings Site and Server Management to the WordPress Admin

WPCloudDeploy recently launched version 4.10.5 of its rapidly-maturing WordPress plugin of the same name. The project is a WordPress-native replacement for SaaS services like Cloudways, Ploi, SpinupWP, and others.

Customers still need to hook up to a cloud server provider, such as Digital Ocean, Linode, AWS, or elsewhere. However, the project seeks to cut out the middleman for developers and agencies running multiple sites. They are specifically targeting those who would routinely manage 20 or more.

“It’s a true plugin where everything you need runs on your own site (except, of course, the other servers you are provisioning and managing which reside at their respective cloud server providers),” said WPCloudDeploy owner Nigel Bahadur.

The plugin promises its customers that they can deploy unlimited WordPress-optimized servers and sites to any cloud or bare-metal server. It has direct integration with 10 of the most popular cloud server providers.

However, provider integration is limited to which pricing plan the customer decides on. The core tier, which costs $199 per year, only works with Digital Ocean. The business tier runs $499 and adds Linode, Vultr, and UpCloud to the mix. For the full range of providers, customers must upgrade to the all-access plan for $799. Both of the top tiers also have a lifetime purchase option.

Selling Subscriptions through WooCommerce

WPCloudDeploy allows agencies to sell subscriptions to cloud servers or WordPress sites through WooCommerce. Because of the feature’s recent interest, Bahadur said it will likely be a focus area next year for more enhancements.

They have their own separate service that builds on top of this called WPCloudPanel. The team created it with Beaver Builder, WooCommerce, WooCommerce Subscriptions, and Ninja Tables. The entire site required no additional custom code.

From Inception to the Future

Bahadur said his team started the project to meet their own needs. “We really liked the idea of being able to use our own servers for WordPress sites. But at the time, there were still a lot of security questions and other usability and support issues that we were running into from the usual pool of SaaS providers.”

Source: WPCloudDeploy Brings Site and Server Management to the WordPress Admin

First Look at WordPress’ Upcoming Twenty Twenty-Two Default Theme: “The Most Flexible Default Theme Ever Created for WordPress”

Twenty Twenty-Two, the new default theme coming in WordPress 5.9, was unveiled today on WordPress.org. The design goes full steam ahead in support of full site editing and new customization capabilities.

Like its predecessor, Twenty Twenty-One, the new default theme makes some bold design choices wrapped around a central theme. In this case it’s bird illustrations, complemented by Source Serif Pro for headlines, and a delicious array of patterns for limitless combinations.

The theme will be developed on GitHub until it’s ready to be merged into core. Kjell Reigstad, an Automattic sponsored full-time design contributor to WordPress.org, is leading the design with Jeff Ong leading development. In the announcement he sets expectations high for users to be able to make the theme their own.

Source: First Look at WordPress’ Upcoming Twenty Twenty-Two Default Theme: “The Most Flexible Default Theme Ever Created for WordPress”

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Releases Gutenberg 11.6 – Top 4 Achievements

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WordPress Releases Gutenberg 11.6 – Top 4 Achievements

WordPress released Gutenberg 11.6, the latest version of the block-based website editing experience. This new release features useful enhancements and a number of bug fixes as well. Perhaps the most interesting is the ability to crop and edit a logo image directly in a WordPress editor.

Gutenberg Site Editor

Gutenberg is a WordPress site builder whose purpose is to make creating websites easier with a drag and drop web design interface.

If you need an image within a section of a page just drag the appropriate block and add it to where you want it to be.

The editor is not quite finished but it’s far enough along in the development cycle that many judge it to be useful right now.

In fact, there are many WordPress themes available today that support being edited with the Gutenberg editor.

One of the benefits of using the Gutenberg editor plugin is that it can result in lightning fast websites.

Gutenberg is rolling out on a four phase development plan. WordPress is currently in the second of four phases.

1. Native Site Logo Editing

Previous to Gutenberg 11.6 a publisher would have to edit their logo before uploading.

Now publishers are able to upload the logo and edit it if necessary.

Available editing functions are cropping, zoom, and rotating the image.

2. Block Level Locking Control

Another new feature that will make it easier for theme designers and WordPress site designers is the ability to lock a block to keep it from being moved or removed.

3. Basic Support for Child Themes

Adding support for child themes is an important update to Gutenberg. Child themes allows publishers to make look and feel style changes to the theme that will not get overridden when the theme is updated.

With a child theme a publisher can change as much as they want to how a theme looks and not be afraid of losing the changes when the theme is updated.

4. Edit Template Part

WordPress has added a Template Part Focus Mode which is an important site design feature.

The Template Part Focus Mode is a way to click into a menu that then offers options for customizing just a part of the template, like the area above the content area, the main content area and even the widget area.

Source: WordPress Releases Gutenberg 11.6 – Top 4 Achievements

Twitter Professional Profiles Available to More Businesses

Previously, businesses had to be invited by Twitter in order to receive access to a professional profile.

Twitter now has an application form for businesses to fill out if they’re interested in upgrading.

Businesses will be approved if they meet a basic set of eligibility criteria.

Here’s more about Twitter’s professional profiles, including what you can do with them and how to apply for one.

What is a Professional Profile on Twitter?

A professional profile is a free upgrade to standard profiles, which is available as an option to those with professional accounts.

You can use a professional profile to display information you’re not able to showcase on a standard profile.

Businesses, publishers, developers, and creators can display the following information on their upgraded profile page:

Business location: Listed directly in the profile and displayed visually on a small map. People can tap on the location map/listing to open Google Maps and get directions.

Hours of operation (optional): Showcase the days and times people can reach your business at a physical location.

Methods of contact: Enable options for customers to contact your business through any or all of the following methods: Phone call, text message, twitter direct message, email

This cluster of information is referred to as the ‘about module.’

Who is Eligible For a Professional Profile on Twitter?

Professional Accounts

In order to qualify for a professional profile you must first have a professional Twitter account.

A standard account can be converted into a professional account from the settings screen by selecting “Switch to Professional.”

From there Twitter will guide you through the rest of the steps.

Other Eligibility Criteria

Along with having a professional account, your business must meet the following criteria:

• Have a physical location where you do business with clients or customers.
• Be based in the United States and use Twitter in English.

How to Apply For a Professional Profile on Twitter

Businesses are asked to submit a brief form to confirm their eligibility for a professional profile.

The form asks for you business’s name, address, contact information, and hours of operation.

After submitting the application, Twitter will get in touch through email to confirm or deny your eligibility.

Source: Twitter Professional Profiles Available to More Businesses

AMP links in Google Search break with iOS 15

What happens. If you are on iOS 15 and you click on a website listing in the Google Search results, you will not be taken to an AMP URL, even if the AMP URL exists for that listing. Instead, you will likely be taken to the main site’s URL for that page, or a link to their mobile app – if you have the app pre-installed on your device.

Confirmed bug. Danny Sullivan of Google confirmed the bug on Twitter saying “It’s a bug specific to iOS 15 that we’re working on. We expect it will be resolved soon.”

Why we care. You might notice weirdness with your analytics data around your AMP URLs coming from Google Search over the past couple of weeks. Your traffic should not be impacted because the traffic is still going to your main URL, but traffic to your AMP URLs may have a decline due to this bug with iOS 15. It is still not yet resolved but it should be resolved soon.

Source: AMP links in Google Search break with iOS 15

Built on GA4, Google announces the new Analytics 360

Google announced a revamped version of Analytics 360, the company’s suite of products designed for enterprise-level companies, which builds on Google Analytics 4 as a foundation. The new features include the ability to create product line sub-properties, custom user roles and larger caps on dimensions, audiences and conversion types.

New collaborative capabilities. In the new Analytics 360, advertisers can create product line sub-properties and customize their settings. This can be especially useful for larger advertisers operating with teams in various countries, for example. Those sub-properties can then be linked to the Google Ads and Google Marketing Platform accounts that are associated with the campaigns running in those countries.

Additionally, advertisers will be able to create user roles to control feature access for certain groups of users. These custom user roles can be assigned to reporting collections (groups of reports based on topics, such as customer acquisition). Custom user roles and user-assigned reporting collections will be rolling out to all Analytics 360 accounts in the coming months.

Bigger dimension, audience and conversion type limits. This iteration of Analytics 360 will have a limit of up to 125 custom dimensions, 400 audiences and 50 conversion types.

Source: Built on GA4, Google announces the new Analytics 360

Microsoft readies new Feedback Portal preview for end of 2021

Earlier this year, Microsoft created quite the stir by yanking a number of its Office 365/Microsoft 365 UserVoice customer-feedback sites with little heads-up. At the time, officials said both existing and some new mechanisms would replace UserVoice for various products.

On October 6, Microsoft published information about a new Microsoft Feedback Portal that will be available in preview form before year-end. (Thanks to Carl Knecht, @rialtus, for the link in the Admin Portal for the entry.)

The new Feedback Portal will debut first for Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Edge, the entry says. It also notes that “other products, like Windows, will be added next year.” The coming Feedback Portal is built on top of Dynamics 365 Customer Service, the entry says.

The Feedback Portal will allow users to post new feedback and upvote/comment on feedback others have given. It also will allow them to see previous feedback they submitted to Microsoft in the My Feedback section. There, they will be able to view responses from Microsoft and get status updates on their feedback.

Users still will be able to provide private feedback within individual Microsoft 365 apps, Teams and Edge, the entry says. Microsoft will update the Feedback Portal entry with more information as it moves forward. At launch, the portal will be available in all markets but in English only. More languages and other products will be added in the future. 

Last spring, Microsoft rolled out a way for IT pros to view their users’ product feedback via a mechanism in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center. That product feedback option is located under the Health node in the Admin portal.

Source: Microsoft readies new Feedback Portal preview for end of 2021

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Chrome tests Google side search in the browser

Google Chrome is now testing side search, a new feature that makes it easier to compare search results on a single browser page. “We’re experimenting with a new side panel in the Chrome OS Dev channel, so you can view a page and the search results at the same time,” Google announced on the Chromium blog.

This side search feature lets you view a page right in your main browser window without needing to navigate back and forth or losing your search results or with the need to use more tabs. “The goal of this experiment is to explore how Chrome can better help users easily compare results,” Google said.

How it works. First, you need to be in the Chrome OS Dev channel on the desktop to see. To open the side panel and view the search results, click on the G icon next to the search bar at the top left. Again, this is a test Google is trying on a beta version of Chrome.

Read more: Chrome tests Google side search in the browser

Google Ads launches new budget report

What the budget report shows. The budget report shows daily spend, your campaign’s monthly spending limit (solid grey line), your monthly spend forecast (dotted blue line), cost to date (solid blue line), and any budget changes you’ve made during that particular month.

How to access the budget report. To see the budget report, you’ll first need to have a campaign with a date range that includes the current month. The budget report is accessible from the Campaigns page, the shared library, and the Ad groups page.

Read more: Google Ads launches new budget report

Google pushes back FLoC testing to Q1 2022

The timeline divides initiatives into four categories (“fight spam and fraud on the web,” “show relevant content and ads,” “measure digital ads,” and “strengthen cross-site privacy boundaries”). APIs shown on the timeline are based on Google’s current expectations and are subject to change. The timeline will be updated monthly.The phases indicated on the timeline are as follows:

• Discussion – The technologies and their prototypes are discussed in forums such as GitHub or W3C groups.
• Testing – All technologies for the use case are available for developers to test and may be refined based on results.
• Ready for adoption – Once the development process is complete, the successful technologies are ready to be used at scale. They will be launched in Chrome and ready for scaled use across the web.
• Transition period: Stage 1 – APIs for each use case are available for adoption. Chrome will monitor adoption and feedback carefully before moving to next stage.
• Transition period: Stage 2 – Chrome will phase out support for third-party cookies over a three-month period finishing in late 2023.

Read more: Google pushes back FLoC testing to Q1 2022

How AI is making information more useful

Making multimodal search possible with MUM

Earlier this year at Google I/O, we announced we’ve reached a critical milestone for understanding information with Multitask Unified Model, or MUM for short.

We’ve been experimenting with using MUM’s capabilities to make our products more helpful and enable entirely new ways to search. Today, we’re sharing an early look at what will be possible with MUM. 

In the coming months, we’ll introduce a new way to search visually, with the ability to ask questions about what you see. 

Helping you explore with a redesigned Search page

We’re also announcing how we’re applying AI advances like MUM to redesign Google Search. These new features are the latest steps we’re taking to make searching more natural and intuitive.

First, we’re making it easier to explore and understand new topics with “Things to know.” Let’s say you want to decorate your apartment, and you’re interested in learning more about creating acrylic paintings. If you search for “acrylic painting,” Google understands how people typically explore this topic, and shows the aspects people are likely to look at first. For example, we can identify more than 350 topics related to acrylic painting, and help you find the right path to take.

Get more from videos

We already use advanced AI systems to identify key moments in videos, like the winning shot in a basketball game, or steps in a recipe. Today, we’re taking this a step further, introducing a new experience that identifies related topics in a video, with links to easily dig deeper and learn more. 

Read more: How AI is making information more useful

A shoppable TV screen with YouTube

Whether kicking back with a movie or kicking their fitness routine into gear, more people are choosing to experience YouTube on the big screen. When they do, they can watch longer, enjoy multiple shows back to back, and experience it all from the comfort of their couch with friends and family. Many even build a routine around it. In the U.S., over 120 million people streamed YouTube or YouTube TV on their TV screens in December 2020.¹

To help consumers more easily learn about the products and services they’re interested in, we’re making YouTube ads on connected TVs more shoppable. Today, we’re expanding Video action campaigns to CTVs to help advertisers drive more online sales or generate leads, and grow their business. 

With a quarter of logged-in YouTube CTV viewers watching primarily on TVs, the living room is becoming an essential place for brands to drive incremental conversions with new audiences. In early experiments for Video action campaigns on TV screens, over 90% of conversions coming from CTV would not have been reachable on mobile and desktop devices.

When a viewer sees a Video action campaign on their TV, they are invited through a URL at the bottom of their screen to continue shopping on the brand’s website from their desktop or mobile device — without interrupting their viewing session. 

Advertisers can also take advantage of the Conversion Lift beta on TV screens to get actionable results in real-time. Conversion Lift measures the impact of YouTube ads on driving user actions, such as website visits, sign-ups, purchases, and other types of conversions.

Read more: A shoppable TV screen with YouTube

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YouTube Shorts: An Introductory Guide

YouTube launched the beta version of Shorts in India on Sept. 14, 2020, prompting some people to ask, “What is YouTube Shorts?”

Then, YouTube rolled out Shorts in the United States on Mar. 18, 2021. And some skeptics began to ask, “Can YouTube Shorts be monetized?”

What is YouTube Shorts?

In the post announcing “a new way to watch and create videos on YouTube,” Chris Jaffe, the VP of Product Management, said, “Shorts is a short-form video experience for anyone who wants to create short, catchy videos using nothing but their mobile phones.”

So, what’s the big deal?

As Jaffe explained at the time, “Creation is at the core of short-form video, and we want to make it easy and fun to create Shorts. We’re starting to test just a few new tools for creators and artists with our early beta in India:

• “A multi-segment camera to string multiple video clips together,
• The option to record with music from a large library of songs that will continue to grow,
• Speed controls that give you the flexibility to be creative in your performance,
• And a timer and countdown to easily record, hands-free.”

Can YouTube Shorts Be Monetized?

Fortunately, this question was answered on May 11, 2021, when YouTube introduced a $100 million Shorts Fund, which will be distributed over the course of 2021-2022.

Anyone is eligible to participate in the fund simply by creating unique Shorts that delight the YouTube community.

Amy Singer, Director of Global Partnership Enablement for YouTube Shorts, said in a post introducing the YouTube Shorts Fund,

“Each month, we’ll reach out to thousands of creators whose Shorts received the most engagement and views to reward them for their contributions.”

(A channel’s Shorts will count toward their monthly performance each month viewers watch them, not just the month they were uploaded.)

Source: YouTube Shorts: An Introductory Guide

5 ways to maximize your Google Search ad spend performance

As we approach the end of the calendar year, marketers are looking to squeeze every ounce of performance from their paid search campaigns. With this focus comes the risk of wastage or ineffective regional campaigns – all putting 2022 budgets at risk.

Join this session to hear five cutting-edge tactics to improve your spend efficiency. Each section will profile use cases, Adthena data and tips for the audience to apply in their day-to-day.

Register today for “5 Tips to Max your Google Ads Search Spend Efficiency and Grow,” presented by Integrate.

Source: 5 ways to maximize your Google Search ad spend performance

Google Answers if Links or Content Determine E-A-T Scores

What’s E-A-T?

E-A-T is an abbreviation for Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. They are qualities that Google’s third party Quality Raters are tasked to look for when evaluating websites ranked with new algorithms that are being tested.

E-A-T is an ideal that Google has for sites that are ranked, particularly in search results for sensitive topics like health and finance.

What’s Up With E-A-T?

The person asking the question was trying to find out what SEO or technical factors might be involved with obtaining a high E-A-T score.

John Mueller Explains E-A-T

“So E-A-T is an abbreviation for Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. It’s something that comes from our quality rater guidelines.”

Quality Raters Guidelines Do Not Offer Algorithm Insights

Mueller next debunks the idea that the Quality Raters Guidelines (QRG) contain insights into Google’s algorithms and explicitly says that the QRG is not a handbook to Google’s algorithm.

There is No Such Thing as an E-A-T Score

Mueller next makes it clear and without ambiguity that Google does not have E-A-T scores.

He underlines the point that E-A-T is something the quality raters look at but that there’s no SEO related factor involved.

E-A-T is a Guide and Not a Ranking Factor

Google encourages publishers to use the Quality Raters Guidelines as an inspiration for how to critique their own sites.

John Mueller’s comments about E-A-T align with that encouragement, especially for those whose content is on sensitive topics.

The QRG was developed to provide an objective way to rank search results of new algorithms that are under evaluation.

Source: Google Answers if Links or Content Determine E-A-T Scores

Gutenberg 11.6 Improves the Global Styles UI, Adds Child Theme Support

Gutenberg 11.6 landed yesterday. Contributors added dozens of enhancements and bug fixes. Admittedly, there was not a whole lot that excited me as a user about this release.

Typography options for the Post Title block. Nice.

Cropping for the Site Logo. A necessary addition.

Toolbar button for converting old Gallery blocks to the new — still experimental — format. Sweet.

Global Styles Updates

Gutenberg 11.6 adds a navigation component to the Global Styles sidebar. Overall, it feels much smoother working through the top and sub-levels while editing my theme’s styles.

Contributors also updated the old “Aa” icon representing the Global Styles panel with a half-dark-half-light circle button. My immediate reaction was that it was for switching between light and dark modes.

Block Child Theme Support

Templates, template parts, and theme.json files from a child theme should now completely overrule those from the parent. These changes work on both the front end and in the site editor.

Some open questions are being worked through in a related GitHub ticket. The most crucial development is still to come, which will handle merging values between the parent and child theme.json files. For example, it makes sense that child themes should be able to overwrite colors and typography while skipping definitions for layout-related values, falling back to the parent.

Once that is in place, designers will have an easy-yet-powerful way to realize the original vision behind CSS Zen Garden, a project that at least partially inspired child theming’s adoption by WordPress.

Source: Gutenberg 11.6 Improves the Global Styles UI, Adds Child Theme Support

Snap thinks AR will become the new norm in online shopping

Speaking at the TNW 2021 conference, Jacqueline Rutgers, Head of Marketing, Northern Europe – Snap Inc., said that more than 200 million users engaging with AR every day. Plus, 94% of shoppers who’ve used any AR features, will be happy to do it again. She believes AR would be a norm amongst brands:

Leading brands are already leaning into AR to create brand awareness and introduce new products to customers, wherever they are, at scale with measurable results. Some of you might already be doing the same, and doing extraordinary things with AR. But my hope is that soon, it won’t be just some of you, it will be all of you.

Rutgers said that if your favorite sneakers brand is launching a new pair, you can easily try them through AR lenses, and get your friends’ opinion — which, according to her, is seven-time more powerful than an influencer’s opinion.

Plus, AR experiences can give you a conscious choice of engaging with ads instead of removing them.

Source: Snap thinks AR will become the new norm in online shopping

Instagram now lets you add Messenger contacts to groups

Facebook began merging Messenger and Instagram DMs last year. The company said today that more than 70% of Instagram users have opted into this experience.

The company also launched the ability to create cross-app groups on both apps today. This means you can create a group on Instagram DMs with your Messenger contacts, and vice versa. There will also be group typing indicators to show you who’s tying the next message. This makes it easier to include some folks who might not be using one of the platforms.

Facebook is also introducing polls in Instagram DM, so you can decide on the next restaurant you can visit or the next movie you’re going to watch.

For personalization, the company is introducing J Balvin theme on Instagram and Astrology Art Suite on Messenger, which includes stickers and AR effects. This adds to the already existing Cottegecore theme launched earlier this year.

Source: Instagram now lets you add Messenger contacts to groups

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