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Good morning, Marketers, Google’s Search On event was yesterday and we’ve covered all the announcements below.

The leading announcement was MUM’s integration with Lens to produce the first instance of multimodal search available to the public (launching in English in the coming months). Although it’s not a complete departure from what we’re used to, being able to snap a photo and add some text is definitely a new way to search. 

At the event, Google provided an e-commerce use case for it (more on that below). I’m interested in learning more ways you think these capabilities might benefit businesses. Send me an email at gnguyen@thirddoormedia.com (subject line: A picture and a thousand words), and don’t hold back, these capabilities were unheard of a decade ago, yet here we are.

That’s just one of the many announcements from Search On, keep on scrolling to get caught up on newly announced SERP features, enhancements and more.

George Nguyen,
Editor

MUM brings multimodal search to Lens, deeper understanding of videos and new SERP features

Google announced new applications of its MUM technology, including multimodal search with Google Lens, Related topics in videos and other new search result features, at its Search On event on Wednesday. While these announcements are not an overhaul of how Google Search works, they do provide users with new ways to search and give SEOs new visibility opportunities as well as SERP and search changes to adapt to.

• MUM enhancements to Google Lens (shown above): Google demoed a new way to search that combines MUM technology with Google Lens, enabling users to take a photo and add a query. E-commerce is another potential use case — users can take a picture of a pattern on a shirt and ask Google to find the same pattern on socks, the company provided as an example.
• Related topics in videos: Google is also applying MUM to show related topics that aren’t explicitly mentioned in a video. This will be launching in English in the coming weeks, and the company will add more visual enhancements over the coming months. It will first be available for YouTube videos, but Google is also exploring ways to make this feature available for other videos.
• “Things to know”: This SERP feature lists various aspects of the topic the user searched for — for example, if the query were “acrylic painting,” the searcher might see a step-by-step guide or tips in this section. This feature can enable users to see the different dimensions other people typically search for, which may help them get to the information they’re looking for faster.
• Refine and broaden searches: This set of features act like search suggestions in the SERP, enable users to get more specific with a topic or zoom out to more general topics.

Read more here.

Google search gets larger images, enhances ‘About this result,’ gets more ‘shoppable’ and more

While MUM was the highlight of Google’s Search On event, the company also announced a number of changes to the search results that are important for search marketers to understand. These changes include:

• More visually browsable search results. For queries in which users may want to explore information visually, like “painting ideas,” Google may show a more image-heavy results page. This type of results page may also display for apparel-related queries.
• “About this result” enhancements. Initially launched in February and expanded to include ranking information in July, this transparency feature now includes what the site in question says about themselves (which can be pulled from places like the “About Us” page) and can also show web results about the site, such as what others are saying about it, or related results about the topic.
• Shoppable search. Now, when users browse for apparel on mobile, Google may show a visual feed of related items in various colors and styles, along with other information like style guides, videos or local shops. This feature is powered by the Google Shopping Graph and is currently limited to the U.S.
• Local in-stock filters. Beginning today in English in the U.S., UK, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland, users may see an “in stock” filter that allows them to see if nearby stores have a specific item available on their shelves.
• Shopping with Google Lens. Soon, Google app users on iOS will see a new button that makes all the images on a page searchable via Google Lens. Similar functionality will also be arriving on Chrome for desktop: Users will be able to select images, video or text on a site to see search results in the same tab. Unlike the iOS version of this feature, which is only available in the U.S., Lens in Chrome will be available globally in the coming months.

Why we care. Review these new changes Google has rolled out and will be rolling out. See how you and your clients can leverage some of these changes to generate more business and traffic. The one area of concern is the About this result section having third-party information outside of Wikipedia that may be hard to change if it doesn’t have the most positive or accurate information about your company.

Read more here.

Another record-breaking holiday shopping season? Perhaps not…

Why container shipping delays are a big deal for e-commerce PPC in 2021. “The holidays this year are going to be even more different than last year,” said Fred Vallaeys, CEO at Optmyzr, “The effects of much higher shipping costs are going to be significant and ripple throughout the retail ecosystem.” In his post, Vallaeys breaks down how increased shipping costs will impact what retailers stock, the structure of their PPC campaigns and how customers may adapt.

You wrote an amazing article — here’s why influential people aren’t sharing it. This Twitter thread from SparkToro contains some pointers on why you’re not getting amplified and how you can go about changing that.

Not by design, but still racist. Under the “Safety” section of a People also ask box, Google showed “What percent of Fort Collins is Black?” Google Search Liaison Danny Sullivan explained how this unfortunate coincidence might’ve occurred. I’m not sure if this was a factor, but biased language models can result from internet training data, and it’s on every SEO and user to submit feedback so that the internet can be a place that’s safe for everybody.

What We’re Reading: The case for zero-party data

“When your data request is communicated transparently, 0P data helps build more trusted customer relationships that lead to higher lifetime value and 0P data, unlike some other methods, is free,” wrote John Cosley, senior director, brand marketing at Microsoft Advertising, “Plus, it’s more likely to be compliant and accurate, so incorporating it into your overall data strategy can better protect you as industry regulation evolves.”

With the looming demise of third-party cookies, there’s been an increased emphasis on first-party data, but, as Cosley reminds us, data that customers willingly provide you (zero-party data, or 0P data), is “the digital version of walking into a business and being immediately greeted by staff who ask how they can help you. It’s the main difference of how 0P data delivers a better value exchange over other consented models. The consumer now has skin in the game that forms a connection and directs the conversation.”

Brands can and should use zero-party as part of their larger strategy, which could also include first- and second-party data. One of the points Cosley emphasized was that brands should be mindful of how they’re asking for it: “You’ll find some opportunities immediately and others that will take more time to nurture. It could be off-putting for a person’s first experience with your brand to come with too many potentially personal questions, so gauge your approach accordingly,” he said.

He also shared the following tactics on obtaining your own zero-party data and using it in your advertising:

• Set up Universal Event Tracking (UET) to collect data to measure and tune your ad campaigns.
• Leverage tools like Custom Audiences to deliver personalized messages and offers with UET data.
• Use remarketing to reengage customers and prospects.
• Create look-alike, or Similar Audiences, lists and segments based on signals obtained through the above to provide more personalized ad experiences at greater scale.

The post Google unveils multimodal search, new SERP features; Thursday’s daily brief appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Top-tier mortgage CRM software is often equipped with marketing automation tools. These workflows will drastically improve the customer experience from start to finish. Automation can also make it easier for your loan officers to generate leads and stay connected.

While implementing automation takes time in the early stages, it is worth the effort. Your business will reap the benefits in the long run and your mortgage brokers will thank you for making their daily lives less cluttered. 

Below, we outline a few ways that you can make the most out of your CRM’s marketing automation tools.

What is Marketing Automation?

Marketing automation allows you to set certain mortgage brokerage processes to autopilot. Mortgage CRM software includes workflows and automation tools that will allow you to process loans faster. These tools will also provide a better consumer experience, and boost conversions. 

By automating repetitive processes, you can free up more time to focus on your clients.

How to Make the Most Out of Marketing Automation

Through the power of cutting-edge mortgage CRM software such as that offered by BNTouch, you can minimize the need for manual marketing efforts. With our CRM, you can:

Expedite Response Times

Modern consumers have grown accustomed to receiving immediate gratification. They expect a quick response when they reach out to a business or request information about a service. If you do not satisfy this desire, then they are likely to shop around for another mortgage broker.

Through the power of BNTouch’s automation tools, you can set up a simple but effective automated email response. This software will send them onboarding materials and draw them deeper into the sales funnel. Automated responses ensure that prospective clients receive a prompt response.

Nourish Promising Leads

Marketing automation does not just help you acquire leads; it can also aid your efforts to convert these prospects into sales. In the world of mortgages, most sales do not occur until several follow-up attempts have been made. However, your loan officers do not always have time to nourish promising leads.

Through marketing automation software, you can send personalized text and email drips. This allows you to keep your targets engaged, build trust, and encourage them to partner with you.

Increase Referrals

For mortgage brokers, referrals are one of the most effective lead-generating strategies. Unfortunately, keeping up with your past clients can get overlooked, especially when your loan officers are focused on closing loans fast.

BNTouch’s automation tools give you the ability to stay connected with your past clients. All you have to do is set up a series of automated post-closing messages that are designed to maintain a strong relationship with that client. 

Next time a friend or family member brings up mortgage services, your company will be the first one that comes to mind.

BNTouch, a Mortgage CRM Software for Everyone

If you want to learn more about the benefits of our marketing automation tools, contact BNTouch today to schedule a demo!  We have flexible pricing options for mortgage firms of all sizes. We also offer free demos so that you can see our innovative mortgage CRM software in action!

The post Ways to Leverage Marketing Automation in Your Mortgage CRM Software appeared first on .

Content that engages your audience isn’t about winning a popularity contest. It’s about enticing or activating motivation, making it more likely that the reader will convert into a borrower. Engaging content also makes your business more memorable. So even if the prospect didn’t take action then, your content and business would linger on their mind long after, increasing the likelihood that they’ll return to your mortgage site. 

If you’re stumped on how you can give your mortgage web content a fresh and engaging upgrade, this post is for you. In this post, we will look at six keys for creating mortgage content to drive engagement. 

Use Visuals like Video, Graphics, and Images

It’s well known that humans are primarily visual learners. This study illustrates that idea when it found that a person could remember about 65 percent of visual information after three days versus only 10-20% of written information. That’s not to say that text is irrelevant. Written content is still a preferred way to consume content and the foundation to organic web traffic. But adding a visual element will help to make your content more appealing and memorable.

The other thing about visuals is that they are more likely to be shared around the web, helping to intensify engagement opportunities.

Make Lists

Business blogs are discovering what magazines have known for over a century — readers like lists! Articles with titles like “top ten ways…” or “20 tricks to” instantly pique curiosity and trigger the reader to click more to read the entire article. 

Another benefit of lists is that they break down information into bite-size pieces, making it easy for the layperson to understand complex topics like finance or real estate. 

Use storytelling to share a success story

Humans love a hero story, and sharing a client success case study is how you can do it. The great thing about this method is that you don’t even have to be a great storyteller. Just follow this basic three-act model, and you’ll have an engaging piece of content that your reader will devour.

1. The setting – Offer some background demographics on the client, like age, career, and family. Also, share info on whether the client is a first-time homebuyer, a veteran, or perhaps looking to retire soon.
2. The problem- Describe questions or obstacles that the client is struggling with.
3. The resolution: Bring the story into a climax, describing how concerns were resolved.

Create a how-to guide

When writing a “how-go mortgage” guide for driving engagement, go long. About 1,500 words or more. Substantial guides are more likely to get read and shared. Although a 1,500-word guide or blog post can seem too challenging to create, an easy way to think of them is as a list blog post where you dive deep into each bullet point.  

Here are some additional tips on creating how-to guides for your mortgage blog:

• • Focus on solving a problem for your prospective borrower. A how-to guide is only helpful and valuable if it actually solves a real problem for your reader.
  • Break up large chunks of text. Break up topics visually with checklists, quotes, or infographics. 
  • Include a workbook. A companion workbook adds even more value to your guide and invites engagement. No time for creating a whole separate workbook? Consider adding exercises or questions at the end of each section for the reader to complete. 

Provide resources or tools

Create content that lists tools or resources helpful for the prospective borrower, such as: where to check their credit history, a guide for creating a budget, an affordability calculator, recommended local home repair service providers, local hiking trails, and community activity guides are a few examples of helpful resources that will likely get shared.

Do something unexpected

The purple cow is a method made popular by marketing guru Seth Godin. Godin introduces this idea with an anecdote about going on a car trip and seeing cows grazing on the field. While it excites you at first (especially if you’re a city slicker), you get bored after miles of the same plain cows. Now imagine that there’s a single purple cow grazing amongst the hundreds of typical cows. Not only does it immediately catch your attention, but it keeps it as well –for some time!

This relates to engaging content creation because you want to pivot from the norm to get people talking. Here are some ideas:

• Play devil’s advocate and offer a different perspective on a popular mortgage topic
• Include gifs on your blogs or create memes for shareable content
• Combine mortgage topics with seemingly unrelated subjects (i.e., “Dwight or Jim: The Office Guide to Buying Your First Home”)

Ask for engagement

A simple way to increase your content engagement is to just ask for it! At the beginning of the post, ask your reader to bookmark it for future reference. At the end of the post, ask your reader to comment and share the post on social media.

Be sure to include a social media plug-in to make it super simple for the reader to share with their followers. 

Did you find this article helpful?

Check out past articles on related topics like top ten online courses to grow your mortgage business and ways to drive more traffic to your mortgage website.

While MUM was the highlight of Google’s Search On event, the company also announced a number of changes to the search results that are important for search marketers to understand. These changes include the launch of larger and more visually browsable search results for some queries, enhancements to the “About this result feature,” a more “shippable” Google search interface, in-person shopping experiences from home and more.

Visual browsing with larger images

Google has rolled out a new, more “visually browsable” interface for some search results pages. You can see them for some searches that contain a keyword plus the term “idea” after it, like [painting ideas] or in the example GIF below, [pour painting ideas]. Google said this interface makes “it easier to visually browse to find what you are looking for.”

This launched earlier this week and I believe Google calls these large image blocks “image universal blocks.” Not only will they appear for idea-related queries but they can also be displayed for apparel queries.

About this result enhancements

Google initially launched the About this result box in February 2021 and then in July added more details like ranking information to the box. Now, Google is showing even more information in the About this result box: The additions include what the source says about themselves, which can be pulled from places like the site’s about us page. Google can also show web results about the site or page, such as what others are saying about the result and also related results about the topic from other sites.

Google told us that you cannot control what information is being shown from the related results or what others are saying about the result. The search engine uses a set of undisclosed queries to find this information and only sites that meet a certain quality bar can show up in those sections of the About this result box. Google said it will keep an eye on abuse or manipulation of these features but currently, there is no way to tell Google if the information in the box is incorrect and should be removed. Technically, you can probably use the submit feedback button but it is unclear how quickly Google can react to such requests.

Currently, Google said the About this result feature has been used over 400 million times, which translates to a small percentage of searchers.

Shoppable search

Google has made the Google search experience more “shoppable” for apparel-related queries. This new experience should make it easier to browse for apparel on mobile right from your search results, the company said. Google’s example is when you search for “cropped jackets,” Google Search will show you a visual feed of jackets in various colors and styles alongside other helpful information like local shops, style guides and videos. Google said this is powered by the Google Shopping Graph, which was announced at Google I/O earlier this year.

In-person shopping at home

Google is adding new in-store inventory in order to make the online at-home shopping experience feel more like shopping in-person at the store. Google said people want to experience in-person shopping from home so now you can filter the results using an “in stock” filter to see if nearby stores have specific items on their shelves.

This is launching in English in the U.S. and select markets, including the UK, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland on September 29th.

Shopping with Google Lens

Soon, Google app users on iOS will see a new button that makes all the images on a page searchable via Google Lens. This feature will be arriving soon, but it is currently planned only for users in the U.S.

Similar functionality will also be arriving on Chrome for desktop: Users will be able to select images, video or text on a site to see search results in the same tab. Unlike the iOS version of this feature, Lens in Chrome will be available globally in the coming months.

More MUM In Google

Google has announced a slew of new features around the expanded use of MUM in Google Search. This includes Google Lens and video search features, plus how Google will use MUM in the new “Things to Know,” refine this search and broaden this search and more. See our article over here for more details.

Why we care

Review these new changes Google has rolled out and will be rolling out. See how you and your clients can leverage some of these changes to generate more business and traffic. The one area of concern is the About this result section having third-party information outside of Wikipedia that may be hard to change if it doesn’t have the most positive or accurate information about your company.

The post Google search gets larger images, enhances ‘About this result,’ gets more ‘shoppable’ and more appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Google announced new applications of its MUM technology, including multimodal search with Google Lens, Related topics in videos and other new search result features, at its Search On event on Wednesday. While these announcements are not an overhaul of how Google Search works, they do provide users with new ways to search and give SEOs new visibility opportunities as well as SERP and search changes to adapt to.

What is MUM?

Google first previewed its Multitask Unified Model (MUM) at its I/O event in May. Similar to BERT, it’s built on a transformer architecture but is reportedly 1,000 times more powerful and capable of multitasking to connect information for users in new ways.

In its first public application in June, MUM identified 800 variations of COVID vaccine names across 50 languages in a matter of seconds. That application, however, did not show off the technology’s multimodal capabilities. The announcements made at Search On provide a better glimpse at MUM’s multimodal potential.

MUM enhancements to Google Lens

Google demoed a new way to search that combines MUM technology with Google Lens, enabling users to take a photo and add a query.

In the “point-and-ask” example above, a user takes a photo of an unknown bicycle part and asks how to fix it. Google is able to match the search to an exact moment in a video, which helps users find the right information without having to manually research bike parts and then conduct a separate search for a tutorial.

In its announcement, the company provided another potential use case (shown above): Users can take a picture of a pattern on a shirt and ask Google to find the same pattern on socks. While users could simply describe the pattern they’re looking for with text, they may not find the exact pattern or they may have to filter through many results before locating the right one. This capability will be arriving in early 2022, a Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land.

Related topics in videos

Google is also applying MUM to show related topics that aren’t explicitly mentioned in a video.

In the example above, the video does not explicitly say “macaroni penguin’s life story,” but Google’s systems are able to understand that the topics are related and suggest the query to the user. This functionality will be launching in English in the coming weeks, and the company will add more visual enhancements over the coming months. It will first be available for YouTube videos, but Google is also exploring ways to make this feature available for other videos.

Features that will eventually leverage MUM

Google also unveiled some new SERP features that are based on other technologies, but the company expects to improve them with MUM over the coming months.

“Things to know.” This feature lists various aspects of the topic the user searched for. Things to know can enable users to see the different dimensions other people typically search for, which may help them get to the information they’re looking for faster.

In the example above, Google shows aspects of the query (“acrylic painting”) that searchers are likely to look at first, like a step-by-step guide or acrylic painting using household items.

“The information that shows up in Things to know, such as featured snippets, is typically information that users would see by directly issuing a search for that subtopic,” a Google spokesperson said. This feature will also be launching in the coming months.

Refine and broaden searches. The “Refine this search” and “Broaden this search” features enable users to get more specific with a topic or zoom out to more general topics.

Continuing with the “acrylic painting” example from above, the Refine this search section shows suggestions for acrylic painting ideas, courses and so on, while the Broaden this search section shows related, but more general topics, like styles of painting. These features will also launch in English in the coming months.

More announcements from Search On

In addition to the MUM-related announcements above, Google also previewed a more “visually browsable” interface for certain search results pages, enhancements to its About this result box, a more “shoppable” experience for apparel-related queries, in-stock filters for local product searches, as well as the ability to make all images on a page searchable via Google Lens. You can learn more about those features in our concurrent coverage, “Google search gets larger images, enhances ‘About this result,’ gets more ‘shoppable’ and more.”

Why we care

When Google first unveiled MUM, it touted the technology’s multimodal capabilities and power with abstract examples and no rollout dates. Now, we have a better idea of what MUM can actually do and a roadmap of features to expect.

The enhancements to Google Lens are a new, and perhaps more intuitive, way to leverage multimodal search than the industry has seen before. The e-commerce example Google provided shows how this feature may help the search engine become more of a player in that sector while making it even more important for merchants to apply product schema and submit accurate data feeds so that their products can show up on Google.

The other MUM-related announcements (Related topics in videos, Things to know, Refine this search and Broaden this search) are all about enabling users to learn more through related topics. These features may present SEOs with the opportunity to get in front of users by connecting a search to another related search or a video to another related video or search that they’re ranking for. 

The interconnectivity of Google’s search results and features may offer new ways for users to arrive at whatever they’re seeking. If Google discloses how someone arrives on a publisher’s content (such as through Refine this search suggestions, for example), this could reveal new user journeys (and the business opportunities that may come with them) to optimize for. These features are also another step further away from the ten blue links of old, and SEOs will have to adapt to the changes while making the most out of the new visibility opportunities these features have to offer.

In addition, these announcements, along with the other Search On announcements (visual browsing with larger images and more shoppable search features) may provide users with new and more intuitive ways to search, which can help the company maintain its position as the market leader.

The post MUM brings multimodal search to Lens, deeper understanding of videos and new SERP features appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Search Engine Land’s daily brief features daily insights, news, tips, and essential bits of wisdom for today’s search marketer. If you would like to read this before the rest of the internet does, sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox daily.

Good morning, Marketers, how do you feel about TikTok?

We’ve had the discussion internally with the Search Engine Land editorial team, and I’ve let everyone know I’m a fan. I absolutely love the platform and the creative that comes out of it. Other apps have tried to replicate it (see: Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube), but none have captured the pizzazz of TikTok. Maybe it’s the demographic. Only we olds are stuck using Facebook and Instagram. 

The company recently announced that it surpassed one billion monthly users, so it’s a huge opportunity for advertisers, especially those targeting that younger audience. But it’s one that we have to get really right to succeed.

But sometimes TikTok creators are the leaders here and brands take the cue. I recently read an article in Esquire about how the “Fancy Like” TikTok trend was co-opted by Applebee’s marketers to become their latest TV commercial campaign. And it works!

Not only has TikTok helped surface Applebee’s but it’s helped the country artist Walker Hayes top the charts as well. This is just the latest trend. One TikTok designer “redesigned” many popular logos, and so many brands hopped on board. 

The lesson is sometimes the innovators are in nontraditional places and that UGC is still a huge opportunity for brands. Now pardon me, off to practice my next TikTok dance…

Carolyn Lyden,
Director of Search Content

Microsoft Advertising’s new Credit card ads continue its streak of vertical-specific products

Microsoft Advertising has introduced Credit card ads as an open beta, the company announced Tuesday. Credit card ads will appear on the right rail of Bing search results and run alongside mainline text ad placements. These ads can trigger for queries like brand names, card categories and credit levels. Credit card ads are dynamically generated based on advertisers’ data feeds and keywords are not required. They will become available this week to advertisers targeting customers in the U.S. and Canada.

Why we care. This format may be useful for credit card advertisers, like banks, brands and comparison sites, to showcase their promotions. They may also offer increased efficiency for this particular segment of advertisers: “In early flights of Credit card ads, advertisers so far have seen 70% lower cost per acquisition,” Microsoft said.

From an industry standpoint, Microsoft Advertising is on a streak of launching vertical-specific, feed-based products that are unique to the company — in addition to Credit card ads, the company has rolled out open betas for Tours and Activities ads and Automotive ads over the last six months. The platform’s strategy of appealing to advertisers with automated ad formats tailored specifically to their industry may help it achieve wider adoption and increase its market share.

Read more here.

More product and feature announcements from Google Ads this week

Along with the data-driven attribution announcement from Monday, Google Ads made a few other product and features announcements all at once this week. Here’s the latest to keep you in the loop:

• Engaged-view conversions for display: A more robust non-click conversion measurement. Engaged-view conversions allow you to measure conversions that take place after someone views 10 seconds or more of your ad, but doesn’t click, and then converts within a set amount of days.
• TrueView for action to become Video action campaigns: Starting early 2022, all existing TrueView for action campaigns will automatically upgrade to Video action campaigns. As a reminder, September 30, 2021 is the last day to create a new TrueView for action campaign and any existing TrueView for action ads will continue to run until early next year. Moving forward, advertisers can create Video action campaigns using the responsive ad group type during campaign set-up.
• Update to sexually explicit content policy: In December 2021, Google Ads sexually explicit content policy violations will be updated to egregious policy violations. Egregious policy violations result in account suspension upon detection and without prior warning. Google will begin enforcing the policy update on December 1, 2021, with full enforcement ramping up over approximately 4 weeks.
• Send non-personalized ad requests to third-party RTB buyers: Beginning on October 21, 2021, Google will start a phased rollout to enable publishers to begin sending bid requests for publishers’ non-personalized and restricted data processing ad requests to the third-party RTB (real-time bidding) buyers. To protect user privacy, RTB protocol fields that are designed to be used to share user identifiers (e.g., google_user_id) will not be populated in these bid requests. OThe high-level phased rollout plan can be viewed here. The phased rollout plan set out on that page will be updated from time to time, so please review this resource periodically.

Ecommerce SEO guide: Google’s latest documentation for SEOs and developers

With COVID forcing many retailers online, there are more ecommerce options than ever. Google Search Central recently released new guidelines for developers to help improve search visibility for ecommerce sites. 

“When you share your ecommerce data and site structure with Google, Google can more easily find and parse your content, which allows your content to show up in Google Search and other Google surfaces. This can help shoppers find your site and products,” said the guide.

The seven pages include information on the following:

1. Where ecommerce content can appear on Google
2. Share your product data with Google
3. Include structured data relevant to ecommerce
4. How to launch a new ecommerce website
5. Designing a URL structure for ecommerce sites
6. Help Google understand your ecommerce site structure
7. Pagination, incremental page loading, and their impact on Google Search

Why we care. With many businesses starting ecommerce websites for the first time in the past year or so, this guide can help ensure that they’re following the best practices to get their products seen in the varying search engines Google provides. It also gives SEOs who focus on ecommerce documentation to show their clients and stakeholders to help get their recommendations for better ecommerce SEO implemented. 

Read more here.

Search Shorts: Google hosts Search On virtual event today (and we’ve got your coverage), plus don’t forget to take our quick robots.txt survey

Don’t miss Google’s Search On today. Want to know what’s next for search? At this virtual event, Google will “share how we’re making Google more helpful for the trillions of questions we see every year, whether you’re looking for a simple answer, to explore a new topic or find the right product for you.” 

And, of course, stay tuned to Search Engine Land for the latest Search On coverage and what it means for you, the search marketer.

Don’t forget to take our robots.txt survey. Should robots.txt support a feature for no indexation? Take the survey. “I’d like to avoid adding more directives. I’m still not aware of common issues caused by this documented functionality,” said John Mueller.

What We’re Reading: We’ve curated our picks from across the web so you can retire your feed reader.

• How to do keyword research for YouTube – Yoast
• What Can You Update in Hotels Knowledge Panel – Online Ownership
• Reporting and the Journey to Advanced Analytics – ClickInsight
• Types of machine learning models – Think with Google
• 13 questions to ask your next PPC agency – Vertical Leap

The post Fancy like🕺… why brands should pay attention to TikTok appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Search Engine Land’s daily brief features daily insights, news, tips, and essential bits of wisdom for today’s search marketer. If you would like to read this before the rest of the internet does, sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox daily.

Good morning, Marketers, your reputation precedes you.

What does the web have to say about your business? What’s your online reputation look like these days? Platforms like Google have been making efforts to increase transparency so that users have all the information they need to stay safe, but also to protect themselves from increased regulatory scrutiny.

On the PPC side, we’re seeing this play out in Google’s “About this advertiser” initiative (more on that below). On the organic side, the search engine launched the “About this result” box in February and, over the summer, expanded it to include why it ranked a specific search result.

Although users probably aren’t inspecting these details before every click from the SERP, all the information is available to them, which means that it’s easier for them to find out more about your brand. If you’re in a highly competitive space, and/or if your reputation isn’t stellar, the information could cost you conversions. And, with consumer preference and regulatory trends the way they are, platforms will most likely be releasing more of these features to take some of the heat off. If that’s scary for you, perhaps it’s time to audit your online reputation and business practices to make the necessary changes before it’s too late.

George Nguyen,
Editor

Google Ads announces machine learning-based data-driven attribution models in new privacy landscape

“In a move away from last-click, data-driven attribution [DDA] will soon be the default attribution model for all new Google Ads conversion actions,” tweeted Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin on Monday morning. As Google works toward a more privacy-focused search experience for users, it’s also adjusting the available attribution models for advertisers.

DDA works by looking at all the touchpoints, like clicks and video engagements, on your Search (including Shopping), YouTube and Display ads in Google Ads to compare the paths of customers who converted with ones who didn’t. The model then identifies patterns among those interactions that lead to conversations. Over the coming months, Google Ads will be migrating existing conversion actions to DDA for many advertisers over the coming months, Marvin said.

Why we care. Attribution has long been an issue for marketers. This conundrum is especially salient as FLoC threatens to take away even more data from search advertisers — leaving them cobbling together data on their own. Google Ad’s machine learning attribution model seems to be Google’s solution to this lack of data. “Privacy-centric, DDA trains on real conversion paths & uses machine learning to measure and model conversion credits across touchpoints, even when cookies are missing,” added Marvin.

Additionally, DDA was previously only available to accounts with enough conversions in their recent history. Now, all accounts can run it and it’s replacing last-click as the default.

Many advertisers have claimed that the lack of data and reliance on machine learning makes their jobs harder (how can we optimize when we don’t know exactly what is causing success or failure?). This is another case where they will have to just trust the information that Google Ads is giving them without seeing the inside of the process. However, if done well, it could help many advertisers better understand which campaigns and ads are contributing to overall success throughout the funnel.

Read more here.

Should robots.txt support a feature for no indexation? Take the survey

Have you ever blocked a page from being crawled, yet still wanted it indexed? Eric Enge, SEO veteran and general manager at Perficient Digital, says that he’s never encountered such a situation in his 20+ years in the industry.

A few professionals have taken this idea to Google’s John Mueller, asking whether the company has considered making it so that robots.txt files don’t just block crawling, but also indexation: “That would be a significant change in expectations (and yes, we do think about these things regardless). Do you have some examples where this would cause a visible improvement in search?” Mueller responded. “I’d like to avoid adding more directives. I’m still not aware of common issues caused by this documented functionality … SEOs worry about indexing, but usually these URLs only rank for site:-queries (or if there isn’t other, better content on the site), so it feels artificial?”

What do YOU think? Would it be helpful to have a feature in Robots.txt that allowed you to specify the pages you don’t want to have indexed? Take our quick three-question poll and let us know what you think.

SMX Next Super Early Bird rates end this Saturday

With October right around the corner, marketers should be building out their roadmap for 2022. At SMX Next, happening November 9–10, we hope to help you overcome the search marketing challenges you’re currently facing as well as prepare you for what’s next. 

On the SEO side, there’ll be sessions covering Python SEO, auditing your Core Web Vitals and ranking in Discover, News and Web Stories, to name a few. PPC practitioners that attend can learn about incrementality testing, advanced modeling for better forecasting as well as how to develop an RSA strategy as ETAs go by the wayside.

As a former content marketer, I’m particularly excited about our session on the future of content creation, in which we’ll learn how to generate hundreds of new content ideas using data analysis. And, as a member of the search industry, I consider it an honor to present to you career development sessions on effective mentorship programs and what to look for when hiring SEOs.

There are way more sessions that you’ll be able to view live or on-demand, and if you register before 11:59 p.m. ET this Saturday, October 2, you’ll be able to take all those learnings back to your company and with you for the rest of your career, at the lowest possible rate. I hope to see you there!

‘About this advertiser’ initiative now includes Advertisers Pages for Google Ads

Last year, Google launched an identity verification program for advertisers, and with that came the “About the advertiser” disclosure. Last week, the company expanded on this transparency measure by adding advertiser pages that enable users to see the ads a specific verified advertiser has run over the past 30 days. This expansion will be rolling out on YouTube and Google Search in the coming months.

Why we care. The advertiser page gives PPC experts the opportunity to show the integrity of their advertising to users but also leaves a trail of previous advertisements. This will hopefully help keep advertisers in compliance with Google’s ad policies and encourage them to think about how their ad history affects any current ads. It seems like there might be an opportunity for competitors to report ad violations (how would consumers know what violates Google’s ads policies?), but that seems like a super niche use case for this feature.

Read more here.

An attribute for Latino-owned businesses, and jokes that aren’t really jokes

The Latino-owned GMB attribute may be on the way. Google My Business profile managers may already be familiar with the women-led, Asian-owned or veteran-led profile attributes (to name just a few), and it looks like the platform will be adding a Latino-owned attribute soon. Tip of the hat to Colan Nielsen for bringing this to our attention.

The metaverse is an environment created by marketers…for marketers? “Marketers often go into new experiences with brand myopia, over-inflating how much people actually want to engage with their brands,” said Marketoonist creator Tom Fishburne. But, as my colleague Chris Wood so concisely put it, “Brands should experiment with new platforms when a sufficient number of their customers are there.”

John’s got jokes. I do believe John Mueller is satirizing Internet 4.0 and dunking on spammy email outreach tactics all in the same tweet.

The post Data-driven attribution to become the default in Google Ads; Tuesday’s daily brief appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Microsoft Advertising has introduced Credit card ads as an open beta, the company announced Tuesday. Credit card ads will become available this week to advertisers targeting customers in the U.S. and Canada. Over the last six months, the company has also launched ad formats specifically for the travel and leisure and automotive sectors.

Where and when Credit card ads can appear. Credit card ads appear on the right rail of Bing search results and run alongside mainline text ad placements. These ads can trigger for queries like brand name, card category and credit level.

How Credit card ads work. Credit card ads are dynamically generated based on advertisers’ data feeds. The feed file should contain business data like the card issuer, annual fee and any sign-up bonuses. Keywords are not required and Microsoft Advertising does not need to crawl your site to generate content for this ad format.

How to get started. To register for the open beta, contact your Microsoft Advertising representative or enroll at this link.

Why we care. This format may be useful for credit card advertisers, like banks, brands and comparison sites, to showcase their promotions. They may also offer increased efficiency for this particular segment of advertisers: “In early flights of Credit card ads, advertisers so far have seen 70% lower cost per acquisition,” Microsoft said.

From an industry standpoint, Microsoft Advertising is on a streak of launching vertical-specific, feed-based products that are unique to the company — in addition to Credit card ads, the company has rolled out open betas for Tours and Activities ads and Automotive ads over the last six months. The platform’s strategy of appealing to advertisers with automated ad formats tailored specifically to their industry may help it achieve wider adoption and increase its market share.

The post Microsoft Advertising’s new Credit card ads continue its streak of vertical-specific products appeared first on Search Engine Land.