Table of Contents
Do we need to spend hours to stay up-to-date with digital marketing happenings?
Is this the only way to keep us up to speed on what’s new in the digital space?
Definitely not! Here, we have brought 2018 February Digital Marketing news updates; to keep you current amid your everyday job, all at one place.
Take a look at this month’s digital updates, including new Audiences Report, PPC Management and more on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
1) Google Analytics Introduces New ‘Audiences’ Report
Google introduced a new report in Analytics to let users analyze a website’s custom audiences.
There wasn’t any official announcement, though Google notified its users upon logging into Analytics.
With this feature, site owners become able to determine how much of their time and budget should be spent marketing towards that specific segment of visitors, referring to their audiences’ performance.
2) Google My Business Lets Restaurants Add Menus to Listings
Google is giving restaurants the ability to add Menu Section and edit menus directly in their Google My Business listing. With the feature introduced, listing owners will be able to showcase their menu directly on their Google listing for consumers on mobile by adding their own structured menu using the GMB Info tab. See the details.
3) Google Nearly Doubles Image Size Requirement for AMPs
According to a change in Google’s article guidelines for accelerated mobile pages (AMPs), images should now be almost twice the width they were recommended to be previously. Google has increased the image width recommendation from 696 pixels to 1200 pixels. In addition, images should contain a minimum of 800k total pixels and be presented in aspect ratios of 16:9, 4:3, and 1:1.
4) “Brand New” Version of Google Plus on Android is Coming
Google announced that over the next several days, it’ll be enabling a brand new version of the G+ Android app. Though it very closely resembles its current app, the new version is the culmination of a complete rewrite of many core features using Google’s latest Android app infrastructure which will allow its Android team to build new features on a modern tech stack. See the details.
AdWords
5) AdWords Express Now Has Push Notifications for Missed Calls
Google AdWords Express introduced a new feature called, call notifications, to give feedback on the calls users get through AdWords Express and to track any missed calls. When a user finishes a phone call with a customer who found his ad on Google, he’ll get a notification to give feedback on the call’s relevance. This will help AdWords Express better target users’ ads to the right customers.
6) Google Sets Deadline for HTTPS and Warns Publishers to Upgrade Soon
Beginning in July 2018 with the release of Chrome 68, Chrome will mark all HTTP sites as “not secure”. Developers have been transitioning their sites to HTTPS and making the web safer for everyone. Progress last year was incredible, and it’s continued since then:
- Over 68% of Chrome traffic on both Android and Windows is now protected
- Over 78% of Chrome traffic on both Chrome OS and Mac is now protected
- 81 of the top 100 sites on the web use HTTPS by default
7) Google is Testing Instagram-like Stories in Search Results
Google is testing its own version of the stories feature popularized by apps like Instagram and Snapchat.
Called AMP stories, this new format will allow publishers to post tap-through pieces that can be linked to from anywhere else on the web. That’s where ‘AMP stories’ sets itself apart. Unlike Instagram and Snapchat, where stories must be viewed within their ecosystems, AMP stories are just like any other piece of content on the internet.
8) Google Chrome Ad Blocker Is Here
Starting February 15, 2018, Google began blocking ads within Chrome that are not compliant with the Better Ads Standards. This includes those ads as well that are owned or served by Google.
Why is Google doing this?
- To limit the use of third-party ad-blockers.
- To present users with more engaging ads.
- To encourage publishers to use less annoying and intrusive ads.
9) Google No Longer Supports the Meta News Keywords Tag
Google has revealed it no longer supports the meta news keywords tag, and hasn’t supported it for several months.
Considering the tag hasn’t been supported for months, and the change is just being noticed now, it should be an indication of how many site owners used the tag on their news articles.
Hi Joost, it looks like we dropped support for this around the time when we removed it from the help center. Keeping it on pages is fine, we just don’t use it for Google News anymore.
— John ☆.o(≧▽≦)o.☆ (@JohnMu) February 20, 2018
Bing
10) Bing Ads Introduces Single Sign-in for Multiple Accounts
Bing Ads introduced a way for advertisers to manage multiple accounts with a one email address and password.
What does Multi-user access allow users to do?
- Manage one email address and password for all accounts. This means no need to manage multiple email addresses and passwords anymore.
- Switch between customers with ease. You can go from one customer shell to another all from one email address and password.
- Add customers at any time. When you’re invited to access new customer shells, you can use your existing email address and password to add them. See the details.
11) Bing Adds Sentiment Analysis to Search
Bing announced incorporating a technology often referred to as sentiment analysis into their version of what Google calls Featured Snippets. Sentiment Analysis is the ability to understand whether content has a negative or positive sentiment. The implications of how this may affect SEO are far ranging, especially if Google rolls out their version of it.
12) Bing Webmaster Tools Now Has a Social Login Option
Bing Webmaster Tools has expanded its login capabilities with a social login option. This is being rolled out today to site owners in the US. Social login is said to be one of the top requested features for Bing Webmaster Tools.
And, it expects to continue the roll out to webmasters in Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific regions shortly. Webmasters will be able to login to Bing Webmaster Tools using their Facebook and Google accounts in addition to their existing Microsoft account.
13) Bing Ads Editor Updated With Labels for Dynamic Search Ads
Bing Ads Editor has been updated with the ability to organize dynamic search ads by adding shared labels. Support for dynamic search ads (DSAs) was first brought to Bing Ads Editor in October 2017.
Advertisers can now use labels to organize DSAs in Bing Ads Editor in a way that makes sense to them. For example, if you have ads for a product that typically sells during just a few months out of the year, you might create a label for those ads called “Seasonal.”
YouTube
14) Ad-free YouTube Red Coming to 100 More Countries
Looking forward to expand its subscription service, YouTube Red, is coming to 100 more countries. That’s a significant increase from the 5 countries where it’s currently available. After launching in October 2015 for the price of $9.99 a month, YouTube Red is currently available in 5 countries.
15) Updates to YouTube Live streaming
YouTube introduced more ways to watch live videos and interact with users’ community in real time. It has brought English automatic captions to live streams. Its new live automatic captions provide creators a quick and inexpensive way to make live streams accessible to more people. With the live automatic speech recognition (LASR) technology, user will get captions with error rates and latency approaching industry standards.
16) Facebook making two updates to Page Insights
Facebook announced two updates to Page Insights to help businesses better understand how their Pages are performing.
Starting February 12, Facebook began to calculate reach based on how many times a post enters a person’s screen. This makes organic reach of Pages more consistent with the way Facebook measures reach for ads.
As another update, Facebook updated its Page Insights user interface on mobile. When viewing Page Insights on mobile the most commonly used metrics now appear at the top, which include:
- General Page diagnostics, such as number of likes, reach and engagement
- Results of actions recently taken, such as recent post performance
- Preview of new Page engagement, such as demographic information on new followers
17) Facebook to Roll Out Subscription Tool for Publishers on iOS
Facebook has come to an agreement with Apple, which will allow the social network to launch a subscription tool for publishers on iOS.
Publishers can use Facebook’s subscription tool to add a paywall to their articles, similar to what some publishers are doing in Google Search. The first few article views will be free, and then users will be prompted to sign up for a subscription.
When a user has reached their limit of free articles they will be sent to the publisher’s website where they can then sign up for a subscription.
18) Facebook Reveals New Tool for Posting Personal Lists
Facebook has released a new type of timeline post that allows users to create and publish personal lists. Lists can be about anything— to-do lists, top 10 lists, bucket lists, lists of dream travel destinations, and so on.
19) Facebook Messenger Lets You Add People to Ongoing Calls
Facebook Messenger now lets you add more people to your voice and video call without hanging up first. The new feature is available with the latest Android and iOS Messenger update. If you’re on a call with a friend and need another friend in your circle, Facebook Messenger will let you promptly send them an invite to join the call.
20) Facebook is Removing 20 Ad Metrics in July 2018
Facebook on Thursday announced removing some metrics to help users focus on the more meaningful ones and additionally introduced new labels on some of its metrics to clearly show how they are calculated.
Full list of Metrics being removed:
- Actions, People Taking Action, Cost per Any Action
- Amount Spent Today
- Button Clicks
- Canvas Component Time Percentage
- Carousel Card
- Link Click Destination
- Mobile App Actions Conversion Value
- Page Mentions, Cost per Page Mention
- Page Tab Views, Cost per Page Tab View
- Positive Feedback, Negative Feedback
- Social Reach, Social Impressions, Social Clicks (All), Unique Social Clicks (All)
21) Twitter Will Stop Supporting its Mac App in March 2018
Twitter will soon drop support for its Twitter for Mac desktop app, suggesting instead that Mac users should use the web client. The app has been pulled from the Mac App Store, and those who currently have Twitter for Mac can remain using it until mid-March.
22) Instagram Introduces Type Mode for Text-Based Stories
Instagram amidst efforts to build on its popular stories feature introduced “Type” mode. Now stories can be published without a photo or video. It’s a new way to share anything that’s on your mind with creative text styles and backgrounds — no photo or video required. Type mode can be accessed from the camera screen with an option under the record button reading “Type.” Simply select type mode and write a message.
23) Instagram to Feature Carousel Ads in Stories
A new ad unit added to Instagram stories, as advertisers can now feature up to three pieces of media per stories ad.
Stories ads will display multiple pieces of media in a carousel-style format, similar to stories you would see posted by any of your Instagram contacts. Users can tap through, swipe back and forth or pause the content.
Snapchat
24) Snapchat Gives Creators Access to Audience Analytics
Select creators on Snapchat are getting access to analytics data about their audience. This includes insights such as story views, engagement, and demographics.
Only those who are part of Snapchat’s Official Stories program are getting access to this data. Being in the program is like having a verified profile on Instagram, and is limited to creators who have “cultivated a large audience.”
25) Snapchat Now Supports Animated GIFs from GIPHY
Snapchat has been updated with support for a new library of animated GIFs from new partner GIPHY.
GIFs can be added to snaps in the form of stickers. Users can either choose from a selection of recommended animations, or search for their own by keyword.
Animated stickers can be used with any combination of other effects. Multiple animations can also be added to a single snap.
Table of Contents
