GOOGLE

PPC trends to look out for in 2020

Published

5 years ago

January 7, 2020

For PPC advertisers, 2020 is going to be a pivotal year. Technology will be driving all the key PPC trends at the start of the decade and advertisers are going to react to this in one of two ways.

Some are going to sit back and wait for the technology to progress. Others will take the tech available to them right now, grab it by the horns and use it to drive innovation on their own terms. These are the advertisers who will be setting PPC trends in 2020 and beyond, while the rest play catch-up.

Here’s what matters most for the year ahead:

Taking control of PPC automation

Marketing automation has progressed a lot in recent years and we can now rely on software to handle a wide range of repetitive tasks. This isn’t specific to PPC but paid advertising arguably has the most to gain from automation due to the time-consuming nature of managing and optimising campaigns.

Google Ads has introduced a string of automated features recently, including smart campaigns, smart shopping campaigns, Dynamic Search Ads and a growing list of automated bidding strategies.

Google Ads has even been pushing advertisers to let it manage campaigns for them.

Well this is new. @GoogleAds basically saying “we’re gonna start messing with your accounts in a week unless you explicitly say no.” pic.twitter.com/zShgxKH62i

— aaron levy (@bigalittlea) January 24, 2019

Advertisers need to decide how much they’re going to allow tech giants to automate their strategies. Keep in mind that Google’s priority is to maximise clicks, which is at odds with the aim of most advertisers. Thankfully, you don’t need to give PPC platforms a free license to manage your strategy. You can create your own automated workflows to optimise bids, budgets, marketing lists and a range of other key PPC performance tasks.

PPC automation doesn’t necessarily mean surrendering control; 2020 is the year advertisers can take it back.

Artificial intelligence & machine learning become accessible

For the average business or advertiser, matching Google’s data-driven ability to automate might sound crazy. And, until recently, it would have been. However, artificial intelligence and machine learning are now accessible to everyone, which means advertisers can build their own algorithms to automate highly specific tasks on their own terms.

Instead of relying on generic automations, built for the masses by the likes of Google, it’s never been easier to address the specific needs of your own advertising goals.

Are your sales affected by weather patterns? Then, you can automate bids to match the weather conditions in each of your target locations, all in real-time. Are your remarketing campaigns failing to engage with B2B leads over weekends when their mind isn’t on work? Then, automate a delay on remarketing campaigns triggered by site visits on Fridays and public holidays.

Rising CPCs in Google Ads

The unwelcome PPC trend for 2020 will be rising CPCs and this will be most evident on Google Search. With the SERPs becoming increasingly competitive and organic results falling further down the page, brands with big budgets will simply increase ad spend and this drives up the cost for everyone.

Hello, higher CPCs.

More budget-conscious advertisers will need to spot new opportunities outside of simply increasing ad spend. This may involve analysing SERPs in real-time to find missed organic spaces, ploughing through campaign data to lost leads or using third-party data and AI to create predictive analytics models that can deliver more relevant messages.

Either way, the answer is going to lie in data science and technologies like AI and machine learning.

Rethinking your PPC platforms of choice

Moving away from the algorithmic side of technology, advertisers will also need to rethink their PPC platforms of choice in 2020. The obvious option for retailers is Amazon Ads, which offers a powerful addition (or alternative) to Google Shopping campaigns.

For local businesses, Google is also providing a new channel aimed at smaller businesses. Waze Local allows businesses to target drivers as they’re travelling through their immediate location – ideal for people on the move who need to teak a break from driving and make spontaneous purchases on the way home.

Quora Ads is making big progress in a number of areas, too – especially in the B2B, software and consumer electronics niches. Meanwhile, the big rising star of 2019 has been Chinese social media platform TikTok, which has just embarked on its own advertising adventure that could give the likes of Facebook and Instagram a lot to think about – one to watch for 2020.

Meanwhile, Facebook’s reduction in News Feed ads will likely push more consumer brands over to Instagram and B2B advertisers in search of other options.

Callum Coard, PPC specialist at Vertical Leap.

Find out more

GOOGLE

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Published

2 months ago

June 30, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

This Week in Search News: Simple and Easy-to-Read Update

Here’s what happened in the world of Google and search engines this week:

1. Google’s June 2024 Spam Update

Google finished rolling out its June 2024 spam update over a period of seven days. This update aims to reduce spammy content in search results.

2. Changes to Google Search Interface

Google has removed the continuous scroll feature for search results. Instead, it’s back to the old system of pages.

3. New Features and Tests

Link Cards: Google is testing link cards at the top of AI-generated overviews.
Health Overviews: There are more AI-generated health overviews showing up in search results.
Local Panels: Google is testing AI overviews in local information panels.

4. Search Rankings and Quality

Improving Rankings: Google said it can improve its search ranking system but will only do so on a large scale.
Measuring Quality: Google’s Elizabeth Tucker shared how they measure search quality.

5. Advice for Content Creators

Brand Names in Reviews: Google advises not to avoid mentioning brand names in review content.
Fixing 404 Pages: Google explained when it’s important to fix 404 error pages.

6. New Search Features in Google Chrome

Google Chrome for mobile devices has added several new search features to enhance user experience.

7. New Tests and Features in Google Search

Credit Card Widget: Google is testing a new widget for credit card information in search results.
Sliding Search Results: When making a new search query, the results might slide to the right.

8. Bing’s New Feature

Bing is now using AI to write “People Also Ask” questions in search results.

9. Local Search Ranking Factors

Menu items and popular times might be factors that influence local search rankings on Google.

10. Google Ads Updates

Query Matching and Brand Controls: Google Ads updated its query matching and brand controls, and advertisers are happy with these changes.
Lead Credits: Google will automate lead credits for Local Service Ads. Google says this is a good change, but some advertisers are worried.
tROAS Insights Box: Google Ads is testing a new insights box for tROAS (Target Return on Ad Spend) in Performance Max and Standard Shopping campaigns.
WordPress Tag Code: There is a new conversion code for Google Ads on WordPress sites.

These updates highlight how Google and other search engines are continuously evolving to improve user experience and provide better advertising tools.

AI

Exploring the Evolution of Language Translation: A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

Published

7 months ago

February 26, 2024

Max

A Comparative Analysis of AI Chatbots and Google Translate

According to an article on PCMag, while Google Translate makes translating sentences into over 100 languages easy, regular users acknowledge that there’s still room for improvement.

In theory, large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT are expected to bring about a new era in language translation. These models consume vast amounts of text-based training data and real-time feedback from users worldwide, enabling them to quickly learn to generate coherent, human-like sentences in a wide range of languages.

However, despite the anticipation that ChatGPT would revolutionize translation, previous experiences have shown that such expectations are often inaccurate, posing challenges for translation accuracy. To put these claims to the test, PCMag conducted a blind test, asking fluent speakers of eight non-English languages to evaluate the translation results from various AI services.

The test compared ChatGPT (both the free and paid versions) to Google Translate, as well as to other competing chatbots such as Microsoft Copilot and Google Gemini. The evaluation involved comparing the translation quality for two test paragraphs across different languages, including Polish, French, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Tagalog, and Amharic.

In the first test conducted in June 2023, participants consistently favored AI chatbots over Google Translate. ChatGPT, Google Bard (now Gemini), and Microsoft Bing outperformed Google Translate, with ChatGPT receiving the highest praise. ChatGPT demonstrated superior performance in converting colloquialisms, while Google Translate often provided literal translations that lacked cultural nuance.

For instance, ChatGPT accurately translated colloquial expressions like “blow off steam,” whereas Google Translate produced more literal translations that failed to resonate across cultures. Participants appreciated ChatGPT’s ability to maintain consistent levels of formality and its consideration of gender options in translations.

The success of AI chatbots like ChatGPT can be attributed to reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF), which allows these models to learn from human preferences and produce culturally appropriate translations, particularly for non-native speakers. However, it’s essential to note that while AI chatbots outperformed Google Translate, they still had limitations and occasional inaccuracies.

In a subsequent test, PCMag evaluated different versions of ChatGPT, including the free and paid versions, as well as language-specific AI agents from OpenAI’s GPTStore. The paid version of ChatGPT, known as ChatGPT Plus, consistently delivered the best translations across various languages. However, Google Translate also showed improvement, performing surprisingly well compared to previous tests.

Overall, while ChatGPT Plus emerged as the preferred choice for translation, Google Translate demonstrated notable improvement, challenging the notion that AI chatbots are always superior to traditional translation tools.

Source: https://www.pcmag.com/articles/google-translate-vs-chatgpt-which-is-the-best-language-translator

GOOGLE

Google Implements Stricter Guidelines for Mass Email Senders to Gmail Users

Published

7 months ago

February 13, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Beginning in April, Gmail senders bombarding users with unwanted mass emails will encounter a surge in message rejections unless they comply with the freshly minted Gmail email sender protocols, Google cautions.

Fresh Guidelines for Dispatching Mass Emails to Gmail Inboxes In an elucidative piece featured on Forbes, it was highlighted that novel regulations are being ushered in to shield Gmail users from the deluge of unsolicited mass emails. Initially, there were reports surfacing about certain marketers receiving error notifications pertaining to messages dispatched to Gmail accounts. Nonetheless, a Google representative clarified that these specific errors, denoted as 550-5.7.56, weren’t novel but rather stemmed from existing authentication prerequisites.

Moreover, Google has verified that commencing from April, they will initiate “the rejection of a portion of non-compliant email traffic, progressively escalating the rejection rate over time.” Google elaborates that, for instance, if 75% of the traffic adheres to the new email sender authentication criteria, then a portion of the remaining non-conforming 25% will face rejection. The exact proportion remains undisclosed. Google does assert that the implementation of the new regulations will be executed in a “step-by-step fashion.”

This cautious and methodical strategy seems to have already kicked off, with transient errors affecting a “fraction of their non-compliant email traffic” coming into play this month. Additionally, Google stipulates that bulk senders will be granted until June 1 to integrate “one-click unsubscribe” in all commercial or promotional correspondence.

Exclusively Personal Gmail Accounts Subject to Rejection These alterations exclusively affect bulk emails dispatched to personal Gmail accounts. Entities sending out mass emails, specifically those transmitting a minimum of 5,000 messages daily to Gmail accounts, will be mandated to authenticate outgoing emails and “refrain from dispatching unsolicited emails.” The 5,000 message threshold is tabulated based on emails transmitted from the same principal domain, irrespective of the employment of subdomains. Once the threshold is met, the domain is categorized as a permanent bulk sender.

These guidelines do not extend to communications directed at Google Workspace accounts, although all senders, including those utilizing Google Workspace, are required to adhere to the updated criteria.

Augmented Security and Enhanced Oversight for Gmail Users A Google spokesperson emphasized that these requisites are being rolled out to “fortify sender-side security and augment user control over inbox contents even further.” For the recipient, this translates to heightened trust in the authenticity of the email sender, thus mitigating the risk of falling prey to phishing attempts, a tactic frequently exploited by malevolent entities capitalizing on authentication vulnerabilities. “If anything,” the spokesperson concludes, “meeting these stipulations should facilitate senders in reaching their intended recipients more efficiently, with reduced risks of spoofing and hijacking by malicious actors.”