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Tag: youtube advertising

  • What Makes a YouTube Video Successful? Watch Out for These 13 Elements

    What Makes a YouTube Video Successful? Watch Out for These 13 Elements

    According to a report by Global Statistics, YouTube was the most used social platform in India in 2021. With a more than 450 million user base, YouTube is also an excellent place for brands to reach their target audience. But while YouTube’s popularity among the masses is no secret, most brands have not succeeded in leveraging its true potential.

    More often than not, the root cause of the problem is not creating great videos. If you are looking for ways to grab more eyeballs to your YouTube videos, ensure that it has these 13 elements-

    1. Create a Brand Account

    If you are on YouTube to boost your brand’s presence, start with creating a brand account. Besides allowing multiple people to manage the account, brand accounts also come with valuable features like YouTube Analytics.

    2. Build a Visual Identity

    A YouTube brand account should look professional and appealing. For instance, the channel icon can be your logo, and the banner image could be something that complements your brand. In the “About” section, add a brief description including relevant information and keywords.

    3. Focus on a Particular Topic or Keyword

    If the goal is to bring more people to your YouTube channel and improve your reach, create videos that revolve around a specific topic or keyword related to your industry/brand/product/service. You can check the “Trending” section on YouTube or use Google Trends to know more about what people view and search online.

    4. Consider Branded Intros

    Viewers should be able to recognize your videos as soon as they begin. Branded intros can help you achieve this objective. Apart from encouraging the viewers to watch the entire videos, branding can also help make the video memorable.

    5. Make the Intro Enticing

    According to a report, 20% of the viewers leave a video if it fails to attract them in the first 10 seconds. After the branded intro, do not waste time on opening credits and titles. Start telling the viewers what the video is about and how the information can help them to encourage them to keep watching.

    6. Use Powerful Thumbnails

    Another very critical aspect of succeeding with YouTube videos is using powerful thumbnails. When people search for anything on YouTube, the results are presented in the form of thumbnails. If your thumbnails are appealing, the chances of people watching your video will be higher.

    7. Add a Personal Touch

    Consumers prefer connecting with brands on a more human level. Most popular YouTubers have their gestures, phrases, or even intro songs that give them a unique identity. Even for your brand videos, you can incorporate such elements to build a deeper connection with the viewers.

    8. Choose the Background Score Carefully

    Background music makes your videos lively and attention-grabbing. However, always choose something that aligns with your brand vision and evokes the target aura and emotion. Also, ensure that you can legally use the selected music in the videos.

    9. Bit of Storytelling Can Help

    The video content should always be presented as uniquely as possible so that your video stands out from the crowd. Rather than simply explaining concepts, convey emotions to connect with the viewers. Storytelling can be an effective way to simplify complex concepts and make your videos memorable.

    10. Focus on Recording Quality

    Aspects like the sound quality and lighting also deserve your attention. As vlogging is such a global rage, there shouldn’t be any issues finding pocket-friendly video recording equipment and accessories. Invest in a quality editing software and prefer a professional editor for the job.

    11. Add Creative CTAs

    Every YouTube video should have a CTA. Place the CTAs creatively throughout the video, including the first few seconds, as the engagement generally drops over the course of the video. You can add CTAs through clickable annotations, allowing you to add custom external links.

    12. Use End Screen Creatively

    Each YouTube video can feature a 20-second end screen which can be used for promoting your channel, website, or videos. While creating videos, ensure that you always leave some room after the end of the video for the end screen.

    13. Share Videos on Social Platforms

    Brands should also share their videos on social platforms like Twitter and Facebook, as YouTube prioritizes external traffic. Your videos will rank higher on YouTube if they regularly receive a consistent stream of viewers from other platforms.

     Build a Winning YouTube Marketing Strategy

    Creating quality content is one part of effectively using YouTube for brand promotions. The videos should also be optimized to ensure that they rank higher and reach the right audience. Most leading brands hire the services of a digital marketing company for YouTube SEO.

    Apart from boosting your popularity on YouTube, professional SEO strategies can also improve your search rankings and bring relevant traffic to your website.

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-Up: Google’s Shopping Via Maps, Facebook’s New AR Tools, YouTube Shorts & more…

    Weekend Digital Media Round-Up: Google’s Shopping Via Maps, Facebook’s New AR Tools, YouTube Shorts & more…

    1. Google Shopping Now Lets You Browse Products in A Maps-Like Interface

    Google is rolling out a new way to browse and shop for products based on location — sort of like a fusion between Maps and the Shopping tab. [Source: The Next Web]

    2. Facebook Announces New Advances in VR and AR, Including AR Glasses Coming Next Year

    Facebook in its Facebook Connect AR/VR showcase event has provided an overview of the latest advances in its next level virtual and augmented reality tools. [Source: Social Media Today]

    3. YouTube Starts Rolling Out Its TikTok Competitor, YouTube Shorts

    YouTube is rolling out a new short-form video creator called YouTube Shorts that the company hopes will take some attention away from TikTok. [Source: The Verge]

    4. Google Combines Custom Affinity and Custom Intent into Custom Audiences

    Google streamlined its audience options for Display, Discovery, Gmail, and YouTube campaigns in a recent update. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    5. Facebook Adds New Brand Safety Controls, Including Topic Exclusions for Video Ads

    Facebook has announced new brand safety controls for video advertisers, with topic exclusions, based on machine learning, and ‘publisher allow’ lists. [Source: Social Media Today]

    6. YouTube Offers New Ad Tools to Help Marketers Tap into the Rise in YouTube Viewership

    YouTube has added some new elements to help YouTube ad campaigns, including advanced data insights and new category targeting. [Source: Social Media Today]

    7. Google Adds Support for Regional Video Structured Data

    Google has introduced support for a structured data property for Videos called, regionsAllowed. Providing International SEOs and publishers more control over rich results. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    8. Facebook Rolling Out Organic Video Testing In Creator Studio

    Facebook is starting to roll out a new Organic Video Testing option within Creator Studio, allowing to test variations of non-ad video posts. [Source: We are Social Media]

    9. Facebook launches Facebook Business Suite, an app for managing business accounts across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger

    Facebook launched a new app designed to make it easier for businesses to manage in a single place their pages and profiles across Facebook, Instagram and Messenger. [Source: TechCrunch]

    10. Googlebot Starting to Crawl Sites Over HTTP/2

    Starting in November, Googlebot will support crawling over HTTP/2 for some websites. HTTP/2 is the next major revision of HTTP. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s Expanding Shopping Ads, Facebook’s New Logo, Pinterest’s Renewed Mobile App and more…

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s Expanding Shopping Ads, Facebook’s New Logo, Pinterest’s Renewed Mobile App and more…

    1. Google Expands Shopping Ads to Over 50 New Markets, Adds New Features

    Google is expanding shopping ads and introducing new features to help advertisers target shoppers worldwide. The new features are multi-country feeds, automated feeds and new merchant center experience. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    2. Facebook Unveils New Logo With Unique Branding for All of its Products

    Facebook updated its company branding with a new logo that appears with different colors to distinguish each company it owns. The company says the new branding is designed for clarity – to make it clear that it’s the parent company of many popular apps. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    3. Pinterest Launches a Refresh of Its Mobile App

    Pinterest has updated the look of its app for iOS and Android with a renewed focus on personalized recommendations and a more efficient use of space. The most obvious change when opening the app after the update is the reduced space around pins. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    4. Google Adds New Visual Ad Options for YouTube and Google Images

    Google announced two new visual ad options for YouTube, and a new shopping ad option for Google Images, expanding your opportunities for direct consumer connection via these surfaces. [Source: Social Media Today]

    5. YouTube Launches a Redesign of its Desktop Homepage

    YouTube updated the design of its desktop homepage and the homepage of its apps on iPads and Android tablets. The company has added the option to add to queue on desktop – simply hover the cursor over a video and it can be quickly added to your list of videos to watch next. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    6. LinkedIn Adds New Language Translation Settings to Broaden Usage Capacity

    LinkedIn has added two new language translation options in order to better facilitate on-platform communication. It will automatically translate it to English – but now, when you tap on the ‘Rate this Translation’ prompt at the bottom of the post, you’ll be able to find additional translation options under ‘Language Settings’. [Source: Social Media Today]

    7. Google Finally Launches the Anticipated Page Speed Report in Search Console

    Google is rolling out the highly anticipated page speed report in Search Console that was shown off earlier this year. The company’s new page speed report pulls data from the Chrome User Experience Report and automatically groups URLs into the categories of “Fast,” Moderate,” and “Slow.” [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    8. Google Rolls Out New Extensions for YouTube Ads

    Google is introducing new extensions for YouTube ads, which are similar to the extensions for search ads. Like Google’s search ad extensions, the extensions for video campaigns invite users to take additional action beyond the traditional ad click. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    9. Facebook Expands Access to Brand Collabs Manager, Adds New Insights to Creator Studio

    Facebook announced some new additions to its publisher tools, including expanded access to its Brand Collabs influencer discovery and connection database, and new metrics within its Creator Studio dashboard. [Source: Social Media Today]

    10. Google Ads Editor Gets New Features & Support For New Campaign Types

    Google Ads Editor has been updated with support for new campaign types as well as several new features. The new features are searchable errors, shared negative keyword lists, condensed edit pane, image names and maximize conversion value for search campaigns. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s Adaptive Anchor Banner Ads, Instagram’s New IGTV Series, Microsoft Advertising’s Redesigned Interface & more…

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s Adaptive Anchor Banner Ads, Instagram’s New IGTV Series, Microsoft Advertising’s Redesigned Interface & more…

    1. Google Launches ‘Adaptive Anchor Banner’ Ads to Better Cater to Varying Screens

    Google is launching a new banner ad type which can adapt to varying screen size, helping to maximize performance in line with evolving consumption behaviors. [Source: Social Media Today]

    2. Instagram Adds IGTV Series Option to Categorize Videos

    Instagram added a new IGTV ‘Series’ option which will enable creators to segment their videos into dedicated collections. The new Series option will help creators better brand their content, and encourage return viewing, by giving their series a dedicated label, along with an on-screen tab which viewers can tap to get notifications of new episodes. [Source: Social Media Today]

    3. Microsoft Advertising unveils interface redesign

    Microsoft Advertising is redesigning the interface to better align with the update Google Ads rolled out in full a year ago. The new user experience will feel familiar to Google Ads users. You will recognize the left-hand oriented navigation menus that anchor the Google Ads interface and Overview pages with visual charts. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    4. Google Ads Rolls Out 2 New Tools for Responsive Search Ads

    Google is introducing two new tools for responsive search ads, which are now available to all advertisers in all languages. In addition, responsive search ads can now be set up from Google Ads Editor, the Google Ads API, and the mobile app. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    5. LinkedIn Rolls Out New Format for its ‘Daily Rundown’ Professional News Updates

    LinkedIn is looking for more ways to facilitate discussion, and get professionals connecting over key topics. The company has announced that it’s making some changes to its Daily Rundown professional news listings, which users can opt-in to, in order to be sent a key business news overview each day. [Source: Social Media Today]

    6. Google Ads to Improve the Optimization of App Campaigns

    Google Ads is improving the way it tracks the performance of app campaigns. Advertisers with active app campaigns will automatically have their campaigns updated. The new data will also help advertisers make more informed design decisions. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    7. Twitter’s Considering a New Checkmark to Highlight Bots on the Platform

    Twitter is looking into putting a label for bots on the plaltform. This could be a good move, and it would definitely help clarify who, or what, is behind each account. [Source: Social Media Today]

    8. Google Ads now showing cart metrics for Shopping campaigns

    Merchants running Google Ads Shopping campaigns can now see e-commerce cart data in the UI to gain a clearer sense of which products are driving profitable cart transactions. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    9. Pinterest Begins Rolling Out an Updated Pin Format

    Pinterest has begun rolling out a new Pin format, which includes some minor functional tweaks, and separates each Pin element more specifically. [Source: Social Media Today]

    10. YouTube to Sell Artists’ Merchandise Underneath Videos

    YouTube has partnered with Merchbar to help artists sell official merchandise on their video pages. This collaboration allows artists with an official artist channel on YouTube to surface apparel, vinyl, and other forms of merchandise underneath their videos. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google Ad’s New Ways to Target Users, Facebook Ad’s in Search Results, LinkedIn’s New Features for Companies & more…

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google Ad’s New Ways to Target Users, Facebook Ad’s in Search Results, LinkedIn’s New Features for Companies & more…

    1. Google Ads Introduces 2 New Ways to Target Users in Google Search

    Google Ads is rolling out two new ways to reach your target audiences in Google Search. The company will be launching affinity audiences and seasonal event segments for in-market audiences. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    2. Facebook Ads in Search Results Rolling Out to More Advertisers

    Facebook is giving more advertisers the ability to place ads in search results. An official announcement states that Facebook Search Results will be automatically included as a placement when running ad campaigns that utilize Automatic Placements. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    3. LinkedIn Rolls Out 3 New Features for Company Pages

    LinkedIn is introducing new features designed to help companies stay better engaged with their employees. These updates will help keep employees informed so they can share the latest content from the company they work for. LinkedIn is also rolling out new tools to help companies optimize their pages. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    4. Facebook Launches New ‘Disruptor Hub’ to Outline How Businesses are Seeing Major Growth Online

    Facebook has launched a new resource hub for marketers which looks at the key factors driving online business growth, how innovative, disruptive brands are tapping into these trends, and how Facebook’s various advertising and promotion options can help to fuel such. [Source: Social Media Today]

    5. Snapchat Introduces a New Ad Unit for Ecommerce Advertisers

    Snapchat is rolling out Dynamic Ads – new ad unit designed specifically for Ecommerce advertisers. The company is selling the ad unit as a simple way to create mobile ads at scale while maintaining brand identity through mobile-first templates. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    6. Facebook Publishes New Data on the Effectiveness of Combining News Feed and Stories for Ad Campaigns

    Facebook is looking to make it as easy as possible for advertisers to expand their campaigns into Stories also, and the research here suggests that it may well be worth considering. [Source: Social Media Today]

    7. Instagram Adds New Options to Control Third-Party Access to Your Account Information

    Instagram has improved its options to help users better manage which third-party apps can access their Instagram account information, and what specific data they can get. [Source: Social Media Today]

    8. YouTube to end support for third-party pixels early 2020

    Google has been working with third-party measurement companies to migrate their services into Ads Data Hub. YouTube expects those migrations to be completed early next year. At that time, it will no longer allow advertisers to use third-party pixels on YouTube. [Source: MarTech Today]

    9. Facebook Announces Change to Organic Page Impressions, Removal of Gray Verification Badges

    Facebook is making a couple of changes to business Pages, which will impact both presentation and data tracking elements. Facebook’s gray verification badges – not the blue ones – are available to all Pages which have verified their official details with Facebook by going through an identification process. [Source: Social Media Today]

    10. LinkedIn Gets a New Tool for Planning In-Person Networking Events

    LinkedIn is introducing an Events hub, which is a new tool to help users plan in-person networking meetups. The tool allows users to create and join professional events, invite connections, manage events, have conversations with other attendees, and stay in touch afterward. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

  • YouTube Announces Several Features that Simplify Management of Video Marketing Campaigns

    YouTube Announces Several Features that Simplify Management of Video Marketing Campaigns

    YouTube recently announced the launch of video reach campaign, which will replace separate video campaigns and make it easy for marketers to accomplish their goals on the platform. 

    Today’s consumers are moving faster from one channel to another and researching brands in an innovative and unexpected ways. With the increase in touchpoints, mapping the journey of the modern, tech-savvy customer is highly complicated. This presents marketers with several new challenges.

    In a blog post published in September, the Vice President of Product Management YouTube, agreed that while YouTube offers different solutions to meet varying marketing goals, choosing the right solution takes time and complicates the task of marketers.

    A Single Campaign for all Types of Video Ads

    YouTube intends to overcome this challenge by presenting marketers the Video reach campaigns, which is a more effective and simple way to help brands achieve their marketing goals.

    Rather than using separate marketing campaigns for different video ad formats like 6-second bumper ads, non-skippable, in-stream ads, skippable in-stream ads, YouTube now makes it possible to manage all types of video creatives from a single campaign. Google’s advanced machine learning algorithms will automatically choose the right combination of video formats based on marketing goals.

    To give an example, if the marketing goal is to drive brand awareness, then the Video reach campaign may show 6-second memorable ads that captivate audience attention. On the other hand, if the goal is to get customers to convert, then the machine learning algorithm may show non-skippable, in-stream ads.

    Video Reach Campaign Adopters enjoy Lower Campaign Costs

    YouTube mentions that early adopters of this new feature are enjoying positive results and lowering campaign costs. Lisa Schoder, Head of U.S. Media at Ford, states that “Ford is an early adopter of the Video reach campaign. The automaker is using data and machine learning technologies to increase the effectiveness and relevancy of ads across campaigns while reducing the associated costs.”

    Combine Video Reach with TrueView for Enhanced Results

    YouTube states that  marketers will be able to seamlessly integrate TrueView action ads to the YouTube home feed, and get higher value conversions. By using TrueView ads, marketers can place effective CTAs in their ads that encourage customers to take a specific action.The ability to monitor and integrate TrueView ads to the YouTube home feed will  help marketers drive more conversions with powerful video ads.

    But, it is to be noted that YouTube has not yet mentioned any specific date on when this feature will be available.

    YouTube Masthead now available for TV Screens in Beta

    Apart from the Video reach campaigns, YouTube Masthead will now be available for TV screens. Marketers can purchase the YouTube Masthead for TV screens on a CPM basis and reach their audiences right where they spend most of their time.

    Just like Masthead for desktop and mobile, marketers can purchase cross-screen or single-screen buys and reserve placements on dates that matter the most to them.

    What do these announcements mean for Marketers?

    There’s no denying that the customer journey is getting complex than ever before, and video plays a dominant role in it. It’s a welcome move that YouTube has taken the efforts to simplify video campaigns on its platform.

    Increasing accessibility to advanced machine learning tools and reducing the overall costs of video campaigns works to the benefit of marketers. By utilising these new features and understanding video campaigns better on YouTube, marketers can effectively reach their target audience, right where they are be it mobile or TV screens.

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google AdSense’s Auto ads without code, Facebook’s New Holiday Marketing Tools, YouTube’s Ad Buying Tool and more…

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google AdSense’s Auto ads without code, Facebook’s New Holiday Marketing Tools, YouTube’s Ad Buying Tool and more…

    1. Google AdSense publishers can now turn on Auto ads without new code

    Google announced updates to Adsense Auto ads designed to make them easier to implement and customize. AdSense publishers will be notified via email when the updates, which will be rolling out over the next several weeks, are live in their accounts. [Source: Marketing Land]

    2. Facebook Launches New Tools to Help With Holiday Marketing

    Facebook has released several new tools to assist businesses with their holiday marketing efforts. The company will be continually sharing tips, such as customizable story templates, enhancements to messenger and Instagram direct, to help businesses use its services to achieve their holiday marketing goals. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    3. YouTube testing ad buying tool that lets you reserve ad placement 120 days out

    YouTube is testing a new Instant Review tool in Google Ads that allows advertisers to reserve ad space on a 120 day-rolling window via an automated process with no minimum spend. [Source: MarTech Today]

    4. Google showing mobile ‘search by photos’ option in selected local verticals

    Google is starting to show a new option to “search by photos” box in certain local verticals. It appears only in mobile results right now and is distinct from “interesting finds” and “discover more places,” which are also photo-centric boxes in SERPs. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    5. Instagram Updates its Stories Camera with New ‘Create’ Mode to Highlight Creative Options

    Instagram’s now rolling out a new format for its Stories Camera, which will make the app’s various Stories tools – including GIFs, Countdown Stickers and Polls – easier to access and apply, direct from the main function bar. [Source: Social Media Today]

    6. Adobe is redesigning Creative Cloud’s desktop app as a hub for tools and assets

    Adobe’s Creative Cloud desktop app, once just a drop-down tab for downloading and updating Adobe apps, is getting turned into an assets library. The new desktop experience will feature tutorials for all apps in one hub. It basically looks like the current Creative Cloud website, but now in a desktop app form. [Source: The Verge]

    7. Pinterest Launches ‘Pinterest Academy’ Education Resource for Marketers

    Pinterest launched a new set of platform education course for marketers, under the umbrella of the ‘Pinterest Academy’. The new Pinterest Academy offers a range of education courses, and links to various other tools and reference studies, in order to help you get a better handle on how to utilize Pins for your business. [Source: Social Media Today]

    8. Google is Testing Search Results Without URLs

    Google has slowly been moving away from showing full URLs since the introduction of breadcrumbs a few months ago. The company appears to be testing the complete removal of URLs from search results, displaying only the website name instead. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    9. Facebook’s Adding Post Topics to More Groups, Helping to Better Organize Relevant Discussion

    Facebook announced that it’s expanding its post topics tags for groups, which will enable group members and admins to categorize group posts accordingly. [Source: Social Media Today]

    10. Snapchat Enables In-Game Purchases for First Time in New Campaign with Adidas

    Adidas has launched a new, interactive campaign on Snapchat which, for the first time, will enable users to purchase a product via a game in the app. [Source: Social Media Today]

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s New Data Security Tools, Instagram’s Branded Content Tag, Microsoft’s Audience Targeting Solutions & more…

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s New Data Security Tools, Instagram’s Branded Content Tag, Microsoft’s Audience Targeting Solutions & more…

    1. Google Adds New Data Security Tools, Including YouTube History Auto-Delete and Password Check-Up

    Google has announced a new set of data control and security options to help users better maintain their digital presence and avoid potential misuse. The company is adding a new incognito mode to Google Maps, giving the option to hide location history. [Source: Social Media Today]

    2. Instagram Adds Branded Content Tags for IGTV

    Instagram’s Branded Content Tags are still not available to all users, for those who can access them, they are now also being expanded to longer-form IGTV content. [Source: Social Media Today]

    3. Microsoft Introduces New Ways to Target Audiences With Search Ads

    Microsoft has new audience targeting solutions combining customer data with new technology to reach customers when they’re ready to buy. The new audience targeting solutions are available now as part of an open beta. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    4. Google Search Console adds Change of Address tool to new interface

    Google announced that they have added the Change of Address tool to the new interface of Google Search Console. The change of address feature was available in the old Search Console but was not migrated when Google shut down the old interface. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    5. LinkedIn Campaign Manager adds audience targeting logic, demographic forecasts

    LinkedIn is adding audience forecasting information directly to the Campaign Manager dashboard and introducing new Boolean targeting logic for building audiences — both available globally. The platform is also introducing new demographic reporting metrics that will begin rolling out to all advertisers over the next two weeks. [Source: Marketing Land]

    6. Instagram Launches Product Launch Reminder Stickers and Tags to Capitalize on Audience Interest

    Instagram is adding in new features and options which encourage shopping in-app, providing new functionality for users, and new opportunities for businesses to get more out of their Insta presence. [Source: Social Media Today]

    7. Facebook advertisers can now use Stories ads to start conversations in Messenger

    Brands can now drive Facebook, Instagram and Messenger Stories ad traffic to start conversations on Messenger. Users can swipe up on Stories ads that have the new “Send Message” call to action to start a conversation with the business in Messenger without leaving the app they’re in. [Source: Marketing Land]

    8. YouTube Adds New Comment Filters in YouTube Studio

    YouTube has announced a new set of comment filters within YouTube Studio, which will make it easier for creators and brands to identify key video responses of interest. [Source: Social Media Today]

    9. Google Shopping Updated With New Design, Price Tracking, Local Inventory, More

    Google has upgraded Google Shopping with a redesign and several new features that make it easier for users to find what they’re looking for. The new experience starts with a personalized homepage that includes suggestions for new products, as well as sections to reorder common items or continue previous shopping research. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    10. Google to update GoogleBot’s user agent

    Google will update Google’s user agent to represent the version of Chrome that GoogleBot is running. It is important to update any code you may have that may look at the user agent of GoogleBot to support this change going forward. [Source: Search Engine Land]

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s New Design for Call-Only Ads, Facebook’s New Types of Interactive Ads, Snapchat’s expanded ad length & more…

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s New Design for Call-Only Ads, Facebook’s New Types of Interactive Ads, Snapchat’s expanded ad length & more…

    1. Google Ads Changes the Design of Call-Only Ads

    Google is rolling out a new look for call-only ads which is said to help drive higher quality leads. The updated layout for call-only ads displays the business’s phone number at the top, while business name and headline is now placed below the phone number in smaller text. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    2. Facebook Rolls Out New Types of Interactive Mobile Ads

    Facebook is giving advertisers access to new types of interactive ads, including AR ads and video poll ads. One of the ways in which the company is helping advertisers embrace this trend is through introducing video poll ads. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    3. Snapchat Expands Ad Length Limits, Announces New Ad Formats

    Snapchat announced a range of new ad and content updates designed to maximize audience attention and provide advanced options for marketers. The company is now looking to allow ads of up to three minutes in length in selected formats, up from the 10-second limit which has been the core threshold on the platform. [Source: Social Media Today]

    4. Facebook to Officially Start Hiding Like Counts on Posts

    Facebook will begin hiding like counts on posts in a test that begins September 27th in Australia. Given how the company is treating like counts on Instagram, this test could very well expand to other countries. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    5. Google Adds New Video Campaign Options, Including Home Screen Ads on YouTube

    Google is launching some new options to help marketers better manage their video ad campaigns and reach consumers where they’re most active. The company is adding new TrueView ads in the YouTube Home feed, a tremendous opportunity for any advertiser looking to drive more, high value conversions. [Source: Social Media Today]

    6. Pinterest’s New ‘Shop the Look’ Ads Can Feature Multiple Products in a Single Ad

    Pinterest is introducing a new format for ‘Shop the Look’ ads which allows retailers to feature multiple products in one ad. ‘Shop the Look’ ads are inspired by Pinterest’s organic pins of the same name and allow advertisers take up to 25 items in one image. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    7. Google Ads Introduces Improved Keyword Recommendations

    Google Ads is updating optimization scores by improving the relevancy and quality of keyword recommendations. The panel will only suggest recommended keywords if they’re estimated to drive additional traffic beyond existing keywords. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    8. Google Ads Lets Users Set Up Conversion Tracking During Campaign Creation

    Google Ads is now letting users set up conversion tracking during the campaign creation process. Now, users can save time and ensure conversion tracking is set up immediately with an extra step added to the campaign creation process. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    9. Twitter Launches ‘Twitter Next’ Strategy Team to Help Brands Maximize their Tweet Campaigns

    Twitter’s looking to provide more assistance to brands looking to maximize their on-platform efforts with the launch of ‘Twitter Next’, a new, strategic arm of Twitter Marketing which will provide a range of insights and advice to selected business partners. [Source: Social Media Today]

    10. Google Ads Smart Bidding Now Supports Store Visits Optimization

    Google is giving advertisers the ability to test incorporating store visits into their smart bidding strategies for select search and shopping campaigns. This is accomplished by enabling the campaign-level conversion setting. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

  • Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s Integrated Payments & Jobs App, Facebook’s New Tools for Video Marketers, Pinterest’s Lens Update and More…

    Weekend Digital Media Round-up: Google’s Integrated Payments & Jobs App, Facebook’s New Tools for Video Marketers, Pinterest’s Lens Update and More…

    1. Google unveils integrated payments and jobs app

    Google has initiated a host of measures aimed at strengthening its presence in the country, including an integrated payments and jobs app and the launching of an artificial intelligence (AI) research lab in Bengaluru. [Source: Mint]

    2. Facebook video marketers get new tools, metrics for Live, Watch Parties, Creator Studio

    Facebook is releasing new features and metrics for its Live API, Watch Parties and within its Creator Studio, all of which can be used by marketers to advance their video efforts. The features include “Rehearsals” via Facebook’s Live API, Live video editing and streaming updates, Creator Studio adds Instagram and IGTV features and many more. [Source: Marketing Land]

    3. Pinterest Announces Lens Updates, Releases New Stats on Visual Search

    Pinterest has announced some upgrades to Lens, while also releasing some new stats on visual search usage on the platform. The company’s new option will enable users to save the images of the objects they capture through Lens, rather than merely using them as a search template. [Source: Social Media Today]

    4. Google Officially Adds Timestamps to Videos in Search Results

    Google is officially rolling out timestamps for YouTube videos in search results. This feature is designed to help people when the content they’re searching for is contained within a video. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    5. YouTube Adds New ‘Masthead’ Ad Option for TV-Connected Viewers

    YouTube has announced that its adding TV screen-specific targeting to its prominent Masthead ads, which will show up first thing when a user opens their YouTube TV app. [Source: Social Media Today]

    6. Instagram Posts Can Now Be Scheduled in Advance Through Facebook

    Instagram posts can now be scheduled to publish at a later time through Facebook’s Creator Studio. This functionality is available to all business accounts and also extends to IGTV videos. Instagram posts and IGTV videos can both be scheduled up to six months in advance. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    7. Search Ads 360 rolls out auction-time bidding for Google Search campaigns

    Google Search Ads 360, the enterprise-level search management piece of Google Marketing Platform that enables advertisers and agencies to manage campaigns across multiple search engines, has added auction-bidding for bids on Google Search. [Source: Search Engine Land]

    8. Google Search Console Adds a New Type of Structured Data Report

    Google has added one more type of structured data to its growing list of structured data reports in Search Console. Those who are using dataset structured data on their website will find the new report under the Enhancements sections. [Source: Search Engine Journal]

    9. Google beefs up mobile app insights with new AdMob API

    Google’s AdMob is upgrading its reporting and analytics for mobile publishers and developers. The company is rolling out a new API, which will provide publishers with more accurate insights into user behavior, ad performance and revenue. [Source: Marketing Land]

    10. Microsoft Advertising’s product, similar audiences now available to more advertisers

    Microsoft Advertising is continuing to invest in audience targeting products. Two audience solutions are now in open beta mode as said by the company. Product audiences is aimed at converting past site visitors, while similar audiences can help advertisers reach more new customers. [Source: Search Engine Land]