February 2017

LAST UPDATE:

February 7, 2017

TOPIC:

Industry Insights

ROLE:

Marketing Professionals

List exclusions for remarketing Ads being rolled out by Bing

Bing Ads is introducing list exclusions to bring more power to your remarketing campaigns.

This latest update from Bing will allow advertisers ‘’to exclude users who may not fit within the objectives of an ad campaign. ‘’

According to Bing, here’s some examples:

Adding exclusions to ad groups is simple.

Bing Ads launches Automated Imports to automatically sync with AdWords Campaigns

A great feature of Bing Ads is Google Import. This feature lets advertisers sync existing AdWords campaigns with Bing Ads.

Now, Bing Ads would like to introduce you to Automated Imports. With this new feature, advertisers will be able to set campaigns from Google AdWords to automatically sync with Bing Ads.

This update allows advertisers to work more efficiently. They no longer need to remember to update ad copy. Changes made in AdWords campaigns – ad copy, extensions, budgets – can be automatically updated in Bing Ads.

According to a post on the Bing Ads blog, to get started, simply go through an Import like you would any other time.

Advertisers can pause or delete scheduled imports or adjust their settings.

Google testing mobile carousel ad

Google is testing out a brand new mobile ad that expands your ad with additional information (much like Facebook ads).

The expanded ads include call buttons, location information, additional links, and additional text.

Google search results gets a new carousel

Google is now giving searchers the option to filter down their search results and/or expand their search results using a carousel slider at the top of desktop and mobile search results.

According to a post on Search Engine Land, if you search for baby clothes, and kids clothing, Google will show you this slider.

Google introduces mobile-friendly test API

Google recognises that so many users are on mobile devices and that having a mobile-friendly web is important.

With that in mind, they’ve introduced the Mobile-Friendly Test API. The API is a tool that allows you to test URLS and see how mobile-friendly they are.

According to a post on the Google blog, you could use it to monitor important pages in your website in order to prevent accidental regressions in templates that you use. The API method runs all tests, and returns the same information – including a list of the blocked URLS – as the manual test.

Emojis are back in the search results

According to a post on Search Engine Land, Google has confirmed that they have brought back displaying emojis in the search results.

After living up to their promise in June 2015, Google removed the emojis from displaying in the search results.

Now, Google have decided to bring them back where to relevant queries.

‘People also ask’’ box gaining prominence in Google

Google’s ‘’people also ask’’ feature is now appearing directly after featured snippets.

Launched in 2015, the ‘’people also ask’’ feature is now officially available on desktop and mobile. Google’s Satyajeet Salgar announced the latest update on Twitter.

Google updates AMP display

In December 2016, it was reported that Google will make a change to the AMP display.

Google has kept its promise to do so and is making changes to how it displays Accelerated Mobile Pages, so that users can easily view and share links that lead directly to publishers’ sites.

Up until this change, Google has been displaying AMP content by effectively making a copy of it and rendering it from its own servers. However, publishers and users raised their concerns about this method as they found the system difficult for reaching content directly on a publisher’s site.

The new update will display a link or chain icon, called the ‘’anchor’’ button. Clicking on this will make the publisher’s direct URL appear, so that it can be easily copied and pasted.

Thinking about where to find parking? Google Maps is here to help

Google announced that the new version of the Google Maps Android app will now tell you how difficult it is to find parking at your destination.

According to Google, ‘’to see how hard to might be to park where you’re headed, just get directions to your destination and look for the parking difficulty icon in the directions card at the bottom of the screen. Parking difficulties range from limited to medium to easy and are based on historical parking data. ‘’

Google My Business wants to make managing photos easier for businesses

Google is rolling out a new interface for businesses to manager their photos for their Google Maps listings.

According to a report by Mike Blumenthal, ‘’the new interface replaces the arbitrary categories with tags and allows for a simpler interface for the cover photo, the profile photo and a business’s logo. ‘’

He added ‘’while the profile photo interface is easy to use, it is still not clear whether Google will use that photo or override it with their algorithm based preferences.’’

Promotion box being tested in Google local knowledge panel

Spotted by Mike Blumenthal, it appears Google is testing a new box in the local knowledge box panel that allows Google My Business owners to post deals and promotions below their core listing.

Google updates guidelines targeting virtual offices

Google updated their Google My Business Guidelines to state that virtual offices are not considered service area businesses.

According to the new guidelines ‘’service-area businesses can’t list a virtual office unless that office is staffed during business hours.’’

To see these new guidelines, click here and go to the ‘’Address section’’ and click ‘’Learn more’’.

Facebook is going to start showing ads in the middle of its videos

According to a report on recode, Facebook wants to show more ads to people who watch its videos and start making money for the people who supply it with those videos.

‘’Industry sources say the social network is going to start testing new ‘’mid-roll’’ ad format, which will give video publishers the chance to insert ads into their clips after people have watched them for at least 20 seconds.’’

‘’For now, Facebook will sell the ads and share the revenue with publishers, giving them 55 percent of all sales.’’

Instagram rolls out ability to add multiple photos and videos to one post

According to Instagram’s blog, ‘’with this update, you no longer have to choose the single best photo or video from an experience you want to remember. Now, you can combine up to 10 photos and videos in one post and swipe through to see them all.’’

When uploading photos to your feed, you’ll see an icon to select multiple photos and videos. You can tap and hold to change the order, apply a filter to everything at once or edit one by one.

Facebook testing shoppable feed ads

According to a report on Marketing Land, Facebook has started testing product ads that let retailers showcase multi – product imagery within the news feed.

The report says the ads consist of ‘’two elements: a main image or video with related product images and a second page containing more products. An important feature is that one click on the ad will not take the user to the advertiser’s website; the second page of products is still housed within Facebook. It’s only if a user then clicks on an individual product that they’ll click through to a new site.’’

Facebook announces several video updates

Facebook has made several updates to improve the video experience

Videos in News Feed have previously played silently. In order to hear the sound, you would tap on the video.

Facebook has been testing sound on in News Feed and with this update, sound fades in and out as you scroll through videos in News Feed.

Facebook has made changes to make vertical video look better on mobile devices. Larger format is now available to everyone watching videos on IOS and Android.

It’s now possible to minimise a video you’re watching to a picture-in-picture view that keeps playing in the corner of your screen while you browse other stories in News Feed. You can drag the video to any corner of the screen, and if you’re using an Android device, you can keep the video playing even when you exit the Facebook app to do something else on your phone.

Facebook have announced a new video app for TV which will roll out soon to app stores for Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Samsung Smart TV, with more platforms to come.

The Facebook video app for TV is a way to enjoy Facebook videos on a bigger screen.

15 Advanced Facebook Advertising Techniques You Probably Didn’t Know About

In this post, Neil Patel walks you through 15 Facebook advertising techniques you need to experiment with this year.  Read the full article here.

15 Must-Have Features for E-commerce Sites

In this post, Search Engine Journal discuss the must-have features for e-commerce sites. Features discussed include ease of use, high-resolution photos and videos, user-generated reviews and find-in-store. Read the full article here.

Using Influencer Campaigns for Real-time Amplification

In this post on Marketing Land, columnist Caitlin Jeansonne explains how to use influencer marketing as an effective tool to support your other marketing initiatives. Read the full article here.

One Thing is Killing Content Marketing and Everyone is Ignoring it.

In this post, Joe Pulizzi discusses the biggest problem with content marketing and offers some tips to transform your content into a winner. Read the full article here

DMX Dublin

Date: Wednesday, March 8th.

Where: Aviva Stadium, Lansdowne Road, Dublin, Ireland.

Time: 07:45 am to 5:00pm.

About: The Marketing Institute of Ireland for another year with DMX Dublin. With 40+ keynotes and over 800 attendees, this is Ireland’s largest marketing conference.

Price: MII members: €250 Non-members: €350

For more information see https://www.dmxdublin.com/

Digital Marketing for B2B Marketers

Date: Wednesday. March 15th

Where:

The Marketing Institute of Ireland,

South County Business Park,

Leopardstown,

Dublin 18,

Ireland

Time: 09:15am

About: The Marketing Institute of Ireland is hosting a full-day course for B2B Marketers who wish to bring together the magic of marketing and the science of technology to create powerful and relevant B2B marketing campaigns.

Price: Member rate: €250 Non-member rate: €400

For more information, click here.

Native Breakfast – Mark Bennan

Date: Wednesday, March 22nd

Where: Coppa Café, RHA

Time: 08:00am to 10:00am

About: IAB’s next native breakfast, part of the series sponsored by TheJournal.ie features guest speaker Mark Bennan, Head of Digital Marketing & Innovation, AIB

For more information, click here.

March Marketing Breakfast

Date: Wednesday, March 22nd

Where: Fire Restaurant, The Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2.

Time: 07:45am to 09:00am

Price: €30 for non-members and €20 for members

For more information, click here.