NEWS

Fall 2019 Updates to Google Merchant Center

Published

5 years ago

October 9, 2019

fall 2019 updates to google merchant center

Google quietly rolled out several updates to Google Merchant Center in August 2019, which you may have missed if you weren’t paying close enough attention. While these updates were minor in nature, as advertisers it’s important to find ways to leverage new features as they are rolled out to continue bringing innovative ideas to grow our clients’ businesses. I’m going to recap some of the smaller updates and explain how the larger updates fit into (what I think is) Google’s long term plan for Merchant Center, managing feeds/shopping, and integrating their various products.

Navigation and Design Updates

My two favorite Fall 2019 updates are the updated design and navigation elements for the Merchant Center UI. Google has simplified the left-hand navigation menu, condensing the most commonly used features into tabs labeled products, marketing, growth, and a few more depending on what is active. The overview tab gives a high-level view of different programs being managed through the Merchant Center to get a quick look to see if things are functioning correctly.

Example of Merchant Center overview page

Less used tabs from the previous left-hand navigation menu have been moved to the wrench drop-down in the top right. Here you can find all the tools and settings related to Shipping and Returns, Taxes, Business information, and much more.

The overall design of the site has been revamped to closely resemble the re-branding of other Google products over the last year. This is a continuation of the play for Google to integrate their products, improve cohesion across entities, and reduce friction when learning interfaces. This usability change will especially help smaller advertisers who have less time to spend on each platform and can get in and out more easily.

Changes to Promotions & Diagnostics

In the new “marketing” tab on the left navigation menu, you can find all the promotional feed and setup options. Advertisers now have the ability to see the different stages of approvals for promotion extensions for Google Shopping. This is an expansion of the Fall 2018 update that completely overhauled the promotion extension creation interface. E-commerce account managers that have a hefty promotion schedule will appreciate this update because it allows for more transparency into the review process to reduce the unknown of when your promotions will go live.

Example of updated Merchant Center promotion approvals

Along the lines of product disapprovals, I have to also mention Google has updated their product diagnostics page from updating twice daily to near real-time updates. This will help immensely when a product feed is being updated or switched and less time will be needed to wait for updates to see if your changes worked or not.

Bonus tip: Google also confirmed in August that GTINs, MPNs, and Brand Names are no longer required for products to be approved for Google Shopping. Having these fields will still enrich your product data and make the products easier to find.

Example of diagnostics page

The Meat of the Revamp

The newest feature added into Merchant Center is the ‘growth’ tab on the left-hand nav menu which houses three main components: opportunities, market insights, and manage programs.

The opportunities section is a clear replica of the ‘recommendations’ section within Google Ads and provides high-level ideas for optimizing your Shopping campaigns. This is aligned with Google’s market position of focusing more on self-serve advertisers that don’t have time for many day-to-day optimizations. We have seen this trend in the industry for years now, with Google catering more and more to smaller advertisers who have less time to spend in accounts and need to leverage machine learning for 1-click optimizations. Find out what other trends you can get in front of now in our latest webinar, predictions for online marketplaces in 2020.

Example of Merchant Center opportunities

The ‘market insight’ tab is a competitor product tool that aggregates product pricing and volume insights. The ‘top products tab’ shows overall top products on Google you aren’t advertising, while the ‘personalized’ tab shows products that related to what’s in your feed that you’re not advertising.

Example of Merchant Center market insights

At first glance, this section may not help many advertisers who have set product SKUs or are the sole distributor of certain products, but there are several out-of-the-box ways we can leverage this data as digital advertising managers. We can:

Use this product data to provide clients with insight into trends in their industry that are specific to digital
Investigate a dip in performance for a particular SKU, see if any products in this list overlap with that SKU, and what search volume it is experiencing
Get in front of potential query exclusion through analyzing the current top products.

Conclusion

Google has been amping up the frequency of updates relating to the Merchant Center, product feeds, and Shopping programs throughout 2019. Moving into 2020, my prediction is for Google to continue rolling out updates aimed at smaller advertisers that reduce barriers to entry into the online marketplace.

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NEWS

OpenAI Introduces Fine-Tuning for GPT-4 and Enabling Customized AI Models

Published

2 months ago

August 21, 2024

Max

OpenAI Introduces Fine-Tuning for GPT-4 and Enabling Customized AI Models

OpenAI has today announced the release of fine-tuning capabilities for its flagship GPT-4 large language model, marking a significant milestone in the AI landscape. This new functionality empowers developers to create tailored versions of GPT-4 to suit specialized use cases, enhancing the model’s utility across various industries.

Fine-tuning has long been a desired feature for developers who require more control over AI behavior, and with this update, OpenAI delivers on that demand. The ability to fine-tune GPT-4 allows businesses and developers to refine the model’s responses to better align with specific requirements, whether for customer service, content generation, technical support, or other unique applications.

Why Fine-Tuning Matters

GPT-4 is a very flexible model that can handle many different tasks. However, some businesses and developers need more specialized AI that matches their specific language, style, and needs. Fine-tuning helps with this by letting them adjust GPT-4 using custom data. For example, companies can train a fine-tuned model to keep a consistent brand tone or focus on industry-specific language.

Fine-tuning also offers improvements in areas like response accuracy and context comprehension. For use cases where nuanced understanding or specialized knowledge is crucial, this can be a game-changer. Models can be taught to better grasp intricate details, improving their effectiveness in sectors such as legal analysis, medical advice, or technical writing.

Key Features of GPT-4 Fine-Tuning

The fine-tuning process leverages OpenAI’s established tools, but now it is optimized for GPT-4’s advanced architecture. Notable features include:

Enhanced Customization: Developers can precisely influence the model’s behavior and knowledge base.
Consistency in Output: Fine-tuned models can be made to maintain consistent formatting, tone, or responses, essential for professional applications.
Higher Efficiency: Compared to training models from scratch, fine-tuning GPT-4 allows organizations to deploy sophisticated AI with reduced time and computational cost.

Additionally, OpenAI has emphasized ease of use with this feature. The fine-tuning workflow is designed to be accessible even to teams with limited AI experience, reducing barriers to customization. For more advanced users, OpenAI provides granular control options to achieve highly specialized outputs.

Implications for the Future

The launch of fine-tuning capabilities for GPT-4 signals a broader shift toward more user-centric AI development. As businesses increasingly adopt AI, the demand for models that can cater to specific business needs, without compromising on performance, will continue to grow. OpenAI’s move positions GPT-4 as a flexible and adaptable tool that can be refined to deliver optimal value in any given scenario.

By offering fine-tuning, OpenAI not only enhances GPT-4’s appeal but also reinforces the model’s role as a leading AI solution across diverse sectors. From startups seeking to automate niche tasks to large enterprises looking to scale intelligent systems, GPT-4’s fine-tuning capability provides a powerful resource for driving innovation.

OpenAI announced that fine-tuning GPT-4o will cost $25 for every million tokens used during training. After the model is set up, it will cost $3.75 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens. To help developers get started, OpenAI is offering 1 million free training tokens per day for GPT-4o and 2 million free tokens per day for GPT-4o mini until September 23. This makes it easier for developers to try out the fine-tuning service.

As AI continues to evolve, OpenAI’s focus on customization and adaptability with GPT-4 represents a critical step in making advanced AI accessible, scalable, and more aligned with real-world applications. This new capability is expected to accelerate the adoption of AI across industries, creating a new wave of AI-driven solutions tailored to specific challenges and opportunities.

GOOGLE

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

Published

3 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.

FACEBOOK

Facebook Faces Yet Another Outage: Platform Encounters Technical Issues Again

Published

7 months ago

March 20, 2024

Max

Uppdated: It seems that today’s issues with Facebook haven’t affected as many users as the last time. A smaller group of people appears to be impacted this time around, which is a relief compared to the larger incident before. Nevertheless, it’s still frustrating for those affected, and hopefully, the issues will be resolved soon by the Facebook team.

Facebook had another problem today (March 20, 2024). According to Downdetector, a website that shows when other websites are not working, many people had trouble using Facebook.

This isn’t the first time Facebook has had issues. Just a little while ago, there was another problem that stopped people from using the site. Today, when people tried to use Facebook, it didn’t work like it should. People couldn’t see their friends’ posts, and sometimes the website wouldn’t even load.

Downdetector, which watches out for problems on websites, showed that lots of people were having trouble with Facebook. People from all over the world said they couldn’t use the site, and they were not happy about it.

When websites like Facebook have problems, it affects a lot of people. It’s not just about not being able to see posts or chat with friends. It can also impact businesses that use Facebook to reach customers.

Since Facebook owns Messenger and Instagram, the problems with Facebook also meant that people had trouble using these apps. It made the situation even more frustrating for many users, who rely on these apps to stay connected with others.

During this recent problem, one thing is obvious: the internet is always changing, and even big websites like Facebook can have problems. While people wait for Facebook to fix the issue, it shows us how easily things online can go wrong. It’s a good reminder that we should have backup plans for staying connected online, just in case something like this happens again.