There’s been some exciting news at Google This Week with a new ‘Deals related to your search’ prompt in the Google Shopping tab. Google is also beginning to display ranking factors in the ‘About this result’ panel and standalone Maximize conversion and Maximize conversion value bid strategies are going away.
ICYMI, here’s what happened at Google This Week.
- Google Answers FAQs Around Appearing in Google News
- SeekToAction Moved Out of Beta
- Google Testing Posts for Hospitality Businesses
- Google Releases New AdSense Code to Improve Performance
- New Strikes System for Ad Policy Violations
- Improved Measurement of YouTube Impressions
- Customer Data Uploads Available to Third-Parties
- Expanded Restaurant Reviews
- Showcase Your Seasonal Promotions Across More Surfaces
- ‘About This Result’ Now Includes Ranking Factors
- Reminder: tCPA and tROAS to be Bundled Soon
Google Answers FAQs Around Appearing in Google News
Google has answered a few frequently asked questions around appearing in Google News. On the Google Search Central Blog, Google has answered 5 common questions from publishers.
- Where does news appear on Google?
- Is my site eligible to appear in these places?
- How do I know if my site is appearing?
- Is there anything I can do to improve my visibility?
- I’m following your advice. Why am I still not appearing?
SeekToAction Moved Out of Beta
Google has launched a new way for you to enable key moments for videos on your site, without the effort of manually labelling each segment. Once Google knows the URL pattern for skipping to a specific timestamp within your video, it will then use AI to identify key moments and display links directly to them in the Search results. With SeekToAction moving out of the beta phase, this markup is now supported for any site with videos.
Google Testing Posts for Hospitality Businesses
Google appears to be testing Google Posts for Hospitality businesses. Nevena Ivanova shared a screenshot of Google Posts working for her hospitality clients. This does not yet appear to be working for all hospitality and hotel Google listings. Google has not confirmed anything and we are not sure if this is a bug or a planned test.
Google Releases New AdSense Code to Improve Performance
Google has released a new version of its AdSense code to improve ad performance.
“The new AdSense code allows AdSense to trigger optimization features earlier which can improve the performance of the ads on your site. The new ad code works for both Auto ads and ad units.”
While you do not have to update your code, you will need to update to take advantage of the new optimization features.
New Strikes System for Ad Policy Violations
Google is introducing a new pilot program to test a three-strikes and you’re out system for repeat ad policy violations. Starting this September, warnings and strikes will be issued for violations of Enabling Dishonest Behaviour, Unapproved Substances and Dangerous Products or Services policies. After the first warning, you will receive your first strike. Three strikes equal account suspension.
Improved Measurement of YouTube Impressions
The pipeline for Active View metrics in Campaign Manager 360 and Display & Video 360 is being upgraded to align with other ads products. This means, there will be an improvement in Measurable Impressions and Viewable Impressions for some Display & Video 360 YouTube inventory. The changes will be complete the week of August 16.
Customer Data Uploads Available to Third-Parties
Google is introducing a Customer Match Uploader API for Display & Video 360. You will now be able to use approved third-party partners (including Agencies, DMPs and CRM onboarders) to perform customer data uploads on your behalf.
Expanded Restaurant Reviews
Google has added additional features to restaurant reviews. Users can now include a price range, the type of meal and whether they got takeout or dined in. The new additions are now available for restaurants in the US, with more countries to roll out in the future.
Showcase Your Seasonal Promotions Across More Surfaces
Google is making it easier to showcase your promotions across more surfaces. Shoppers will now see a new “Deals related to your search” prompt on the results page on the Shopping tab. Relevant promotions will automatically be eligible if uploaded in Google Merchant Center.
You can now also attract new customers by indicating whether a promotion is only available to new customers, you can now also highlight promotions on your free listings in the Shopping tab.
Google are also adding two new features to the best sellers report: historical best seller data and relative demand. These updates are first rolling out in the US.
‘About This Result’ Now Includes Ranking Factors
Google has expanded its ‘About This Result’ panel with information on ranking factors. Underneath the ‘Your search & this result’ heading in the panel, you will now be able to see why a page was ranked for that particular query.
Google believes that searchers can use this feature to refine their query for better results. This feature is now live for 10% of eligible users and will gradually roll out to 100%. Now only available in the US, Google plans a wider rollout in the coming months.
Reminder: tCPA and tROAS to be Bundled Soon
Google is removing the standalone Maximize conversions and Maximize conversion value bid strategies for search campaigns. Back in April, we reported that Maximize conversions would continue to be available with an optional target CPA and Maximize conversion value would be available with an optional target ROAS.
tCPA and tROAS will be merged in the updated bid strategies which you can use by setting optional targets. In the next few weeks you won’t be able to create new campaigns via the old tCPA and tROAS strategies, however, existing campaigns will continue to function as usual.
Thank You for Reading
Have you noticed any changes from Google this week?
Check back next Friday for the latest from Google This Week.
