Every week we bring you the latest Google news. What’s happening this week at Google?
- Google adds features to connect with virtual healthcare providers
- Google is not throttling crawling sites during Covid outbreak
- Google tells us it’s faster and easier to use Ads Data Hub, but for what?
- YouTube launches a lightweight ad creation tool for businesses
- YouTube views are skyrocketing while YouTube revenue is diving
- Google Webmaster Conference launching as a YouTube series
Google adds features to connect with virtual healthcare providers.
With interest in virtual healthcare increasing dramatically, Google has responded in lightning speed bringing out two new features in search and maps results to help people connect with health providers virtually. As of this week, this feature is specific to Google My Business, and Google Maps, while piloting the feature in search results.
Meanwhile, in the US, Google will start showing widely-available virtual care platforms, such as AmWell and Doctors on Demand, as a pilot feature within search results. If you’re a doctor, hospital, or mental healthcare professional and you provide virtual healthcare, go to your Google My Business and get this setup.
Source: Search Engine Journal
Google is not throttling crawling sites during Covid outbreak.
Yes, this was a real question, and Google’s John Mueller has confirmed there is NO specific change to site crawling at this time. So why was this question asked? With typical human life on hold for now, we’re turning to our devices, searching for the latest news and researching all the cool things that we’ll do and buy when IRL society resumes.
If your server can’t handle the Google load, Google will slow down crawling to free up capacity for humans – how considerate! This is not new crawling behaviour. This happens from time-to-time, like when there is an election, a major shopping holiday, or a holiday season. Now we can add a pandemic to this list. If you see a dramatic slow down in crawling, speak to your tech people, especially if you create lots of content.
Is Google throttling crawling since the corona outbreak? @searchliaison @JohnMu @g33konaut
#seo #askgoogle— Maximilian Wenzel (@AllblogsDe) April 7, 2020
Source: SERoundtable
Google tells us it’s faster and easier to use Ads Data Hub, but for what?
Any marketer worth his salt understands the importance of linking business impact to their advertising activity. This is becoming more difficult as media channels expand and concerns around data privacy grow. Google’s solution for this is Ads Data Hub. If you’re new to Ads Data Hub, it is a tool for customised analysis of your Google Ads campaigns while protecting user privacy.
With more brands and agencies using Data Hub, Google is making Ads Data Hub more useful. Quoting senior product manager, Prema Sampath, Google is making it:
“faster and easier to better understand the way people are interacting with your ads and use insights from your data to reach the right customers”.
There are several infrastructure and feature changes, including:
- The addition of self-service account linking for Google Ads, Campaign Manager, and Display & Video 360
- Ability to run analysis in a Sandbox environment
- Over 20 templates in a new query library
- Data latency reduced to 6 hours
- Introduction of consumer paths
In addition to the confirmed updates, Google has announced they have begun a test allowing some users to build audience lists based on clicks and conversions from Google Ads, Campaign Manager, and Display & Video 360, making Ads Data Hub more actionable for marketers.
Source:It’s faster and easier to use Ads Data Hub
Youtube launches a lightweight ad creation tool for businesses.
No multi-media production experience? No budget for expensive production? No problem! With Youtube Video Builder, anyone can create 6 or 15-second videos using their existing assets and YouTube’s free audio library. This is a pretty neat addition by Google, allowing businesses and agencies to quickly animate static assets like images, text and logo to music, and push them to YouTube without any fiddling around.
Is this Google replacing another valuable agency service, or making video more accessible to small businesses? One thing is for sure, there will be an increase in really crappy video ads. Video producers don’t pawn your production equipment just yet!
To get access simply contact Google to request beta access using this form.
Source: Google
Youtube views are skyrocketing while YouTuber revenue is diving. What’s going on?
While Youtube is seeing a ‘stay-at-home surge’ in viewers, reportedly up 15%. YouTube content producers are experiencing the opposite – their revenues have dropped by nearly 50% since the beginning of February, leading many Youtuber’s to ask WTAF?
Here’s what’s happening, this is a simple one to resolve. Youtube is a biddable marketplace for advertisers. Essentially a view is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. With fewer campaigns live on the platform, competition is dramatically down, meaning ads are costing less and revenue is down for YouTube and its many content creators. But hold up – I repeat – competition is down. Some brands are seeing a drop of more than 30% in CPM, which means Youtube is on sale right now! Consider how you can use this channel strategically to build audiences or brand at lower cost ahead of an economic recovery.
YouTube CPM since COVID ? Anyone else experiencing serious drops in they’re ad rev? pic.twitter.com/O81MlyJecw
— Eric Floberg (@Eric_Floberg) April 13, 2020
Source: Search Engine Journal
Google Webmaster Conference Launching as a Youtube Series.
With Google’s WebMaster Conferences on hold, the team at Google have reformatted the conference into a Youtube series which will be rolling out over the course of the year. Targeted at webmasters, publishers, SEOs and web developers, Lightning Talks will feature some of Google’s top advocates including Martin, Martin Splitt, Daniel Waisberg, John Mueller, John Brown.
The series will cover similar topics to the first world webmaster conference, with talks on links and javascript, HTTPS, structured data and google monetised policies. WMConf Lightning Talks start this month (April), tune in and subscribe to make sure you don’t miss the insights.
Source: Search Engine Journal
