Google to add page experience ranking signals to desktop search in February 2022
Google will begin rolling out the page experience ranking update to desktop search results starting in February 2022. Google said the rollout will finish rolling out by the end of March 2022. This update will include all the current signals of the mobile version of the page experience update, outside of the page needing to be mobile-friendly.
“This ranking launch will be based on the same page experience signals that we rolled out for mobile earlier this year,” Jeffrey Jose, Product Manager on Search at Google said.
We knew this would be coming, Google told us this would happen back in May 2021 at Google I/O.
Mobile vs desktop. Which factors is will be included in this desktop version? Google said all of them with the exception of the mobile friendliness requirement, which is kind of obvious. Here is a chart Google designed showing the specific factors:
Seach Console tools. Google will be updating the Google Search Console tools and reports to help site owners prepare for this update. “We are also planning to help site owners understand how their desktop pages are performing with regards to page experience using a Search Console report which will launch before desktop becomes a ranking signal,” Google said.
Read more: Google to add page experience ranking signals to desktop search in February 2022
Google adds Smart Bidding for store sales to optimize bids for offline transactions
Searches for in-store transactions have grown year over year, according to data from Google. ” People looking for things like “‘open now near me’ have grown globally by more than 400%,” said a Google help document. As a result, the company announced today that advertisers can add Smart Bidder for store sales to help increase those in-person visits from customers who are ready to buy.
How it works. “Advertisers can upload their first-party, transaction data in a privacy-safe way to optimize for store sales conversions for Search and Shopping campaigns—with the goal of driving additional sales in stores,” said Google.
Best practices. Along with the announcement, Google linked a list of best practices to enhance the use of this feature for advertisers looking to drive offline sales via online searches:
- Build out your Google Business profile.
- Work to measure the offline value of your online ads.
- Optimize your campaigns for maximum return from both online and offline conversions.
- Highlight your locations and communicate your store information, business offerings, promotions and more to nearby customers when they search, browse or navigate on Google Search, Maps, YouTube and the Google Display Network.
Read more: Google adds Smart Bidding for store sales to optimize bids for offline transactions
Phishing scams in Google Ads led searchers to fake crypto wallets
Those who are new to cryptocurrency may not totally understand how every aspect of virtual currency works. Many will go to Google and other search engines to search for things like “What is cryptocurrency?” “How to buy Bitcoin” and “What is a crypto exchange?” Knowing that not everyone is keen on how it works, scammers have taken advantage of crypto newbies through a phishing scam where those involved lost over $500,000, according to research by Check Point Research.
What happened? “Attacker buys Google Ads in response to searches for popular crypto wallets (that’s the software used to store cryptocurrency, NFTs, and the like),” said James Vincent for The Verge.
Read more: Phishing scams in Google Ads led searchers to fake crypto wallets
Destination mismatch: Advertisers are reporting another potential Google Ads glitch
Numerous advertisers have reported “Destination mismatch” ad disapprovals in Google Ads that may be the result of a glitch. “I had five clients impacted; most ads are no longer disapproved (though one account still has some). Of the other four, three have ads Eligible (Limited) for Destination Mismatch,” said Director of Search Strategy at JumpFly, Nikki Kuhlman, who first brought this to our attention.
The Google Ads team is aware of the issue and is currently investigating it, said Ginny Marvin, Google’s ads product liaison.
UPDATE: Google Ads is now showing a notice in the Help section. “We’re currently experiencing a volume increase due to ad disapprovals for Destination Mismatch. We don’t have a workaround at the moment, however, this is a known issue affecting multiple advertisers and our technical team is working on a solution to address this ASAP. If your account is having the same issue, please rest assured that it’s being worked upon even if you don’t file a support ticket,” the notice reads.
One professional, Christian Rios, said that he’s now seeing destination mismatch disapprovals for ads that “haven’t been touched in ages.”
Read more: Destination mismatch: Advertisers are reporting another potential Google Ads glitch
Google My Business now known as Google Business Profile as Google migrates features to Maps and Search
Google is renaming Google My Business to Google Business Profile, as it moves efforts to bring more of the business profile management out of the Google My Business app and directly into Google Search, Google Maps, and those respective apps.
The new name. Google Business Profile will be the new name going forward for Google My Business. Google said the reason for the new name is to “keep things simple” and sometime in 2022, Google will retire the Google My Business app completely.
Another new name you say? We are now calling it Google Business Profile, before that it was named Google My Business, before that, Google Places, and before that it was Google+ Local, before that it was also Google Places, and then prior to that I think it was just Google Local. Yes, the local business management product has been through many names, I think I am even forgetting some previous names the product had.
Google My Business going away. What does it mean that Google My Business name is going away? Well, Google is encouraging businesses to manage their single listings directly on Google Search or Google Maps, either via the web interface or mobile apps. Yes, for a long time now, Google lets businesses manage their individual listings directly in the search results or directly in Google Maps, now Google is saying it prefers businesses with single listings to manage their businesses in Search or Maps, and not in the old Google My Business console.
Read more: Google My Business now known as Google Business Profile as Google migrates features to Maps and Search
Holiday shopping SEO: Last-minute tips and techniques for e-commerce sites
Facebook is now Meta: Tech giant announces rebrand
App advertisers can now use App campaigns for engagement without implementing deep links
