Can you believe the holiday season is almost here? As another year flies by and the temperatures continue to drop, we’re inching closer to one of the busiest times of the year for digital marketing. But before we get there, let’s take a look at what went down this past month, including a lot of major news from Google as well as an update on our upcoming webinar.
Now for the biggest digital marketing stories from October 2020.
SEO stories
Google now highlights product promotions and sales
In late October, Search Engine Journal learned that Google started to highlight promotions and sale prices within related search results for U.S. retailers. The goal is to help both retailers and consumers, particularly as we get closer to the holidays. The highlighting applies to Google Shopping ads and free listing, Google Images on mobile devices, and local inventory ads. There’s a bit more to it, and you can get the full story at SEJ.
Google preparing content-related algorithm update
Google’s next search algorithm update doesn’t have a roll-out date yet (as of this writing), but we do know what to expect. The update will help the algorithm better understand content on a given web page to ensure it’s relevant to the user’s search query. It’s expected that this will impact about 7% of queries, and you can learn more about the update at SEJ.
Last week, we shared about how we will soon identify individual passages of a web page to better understand how relevant a page is to a search. This will be a global change improving 7% of queries:https://t.co/iQoXktmSkt
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) October 20, 2020
In this thread, more about how it works…. pic.twitter.com/2oqdoCkt6r
Paid media stories
US Justice Department files antitrust lawsuit against Google
In perhaps the biggest news story of the month, the US Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google with the accusation that the company illegally holds a monopoly over search in the States. The lawsuit explains that the US attorney general must prove Google’s dominance as well as the impact said dominance has had on innovation and consumers. There’s obviously a lot to unpack with this story, and we’ll be sure to keep you updated in the coming months. In the meantime, head over to Marketing Week for a breakdown of the suit.
Google targeting ads that blend privacy and personalisation
With plans to phase out third-party cookies in Chrome by 2022, Google is working on ways to allow for ad personalisation without any of the privacy issues. As noted by Search Engine Land, the company commissioned a study on the use of audience cohorts. And in the results, Google found that the study “does show early proof of concept, that it is possible to deliver both personalization and privacy” without the use of cookies. You can read the study for yourself at Github, or just check out SEL’s take on it.
Digital analytics stories
Google reveals new Analytics
Google Analytics was officially upgraded this past month, and the search giant hopes it “will give you the essential insights you need to be ready for what’s next.” It’s all happening through a combination of advanced machine learning and integration with other Google products, which will lead to new predictive metrics, automatic alerts related to trend changes, and much more. Want to know more? Read all about the latest Analytics iteration in Google’s announcement.
Ayima news
In addition to our latest Insights article, we have some news for you regarding the content-themed webinar that we announced last month.
Webinar update
We have an update on our previously announced webinar, “Why You Should Be Thinking About Content Design.” It’s now set to run on 4th November 2020 at 11 a.m., and will be co-hosted with our Session Replay and Optimisation partner SessionCam. Ayima London SEO Director Martin Fennon is the guest speaker, alongside Phil Reay, who leads Insight for SessionCam.
To join the 30-minute discussion on how and why Content Design should be top of your list, pre-register by emailing [email protected].
Insights posts and contributions
- Why You Should Be Thinking About Content Design: Senior Content Marketing Manager Jessica Neale covers the importance of content design and offers 7 ways to improve your approach.
