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GOOGLE

Google My Business Listings Can Link to Gift Card & Donation Pages

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google my business listings can link to gift card donation pages via mattgsouthern

Google is letting businesses add links to their GMB listing that customers can click on to purchase gift cards or make donations.

Businesses can link directly to a gift card purchase page on their website.

If a business does not have a dedicated page of gift card offerings, they can sign up with one of Google’s partners which includes Square, Toast, Clover, and Vagaro.

In order to allow businesses to accept donations via their GMB listing, Google has partnered with PayPal and GoFundMe.

Support links will be visible to consumers later in search results later this month.

Google is not charging any additional fees for this service, though there may be fees charged by Google’s third-party partners.

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This feature is first rolling out to a “subset of businesses” in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.

Google aims to prevent misuse of this feature with a slow rollout. It will be expanded, in a “responsible” way, to more countries, merchants, and partners over the coming weeks.

Related: Google My Business Launches New Post Type for COVID-19 Related Announcements

How to Set Up a Gift Card or Donation Campaign

Businesses must create their own gift card or donation page before utilizing this feature.

Gift card links can go to a supported provider or a page on their own website. Donation links can only go to a supported provider.

Eligible businesses can create both gift card and donation pages and link to both of them at the same time.

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To set up a gift card or donation campaign:

  • On your computer, sign in to Google My Business.
    • If you have multiple locations, open the location you’d like to manage.
  • From the menu, click Posts and choose “COVID-19 support.”
    • Alternatively, click “Get support from customers” directly on the Google My Business home page.
  • Enter a message to customers and at least one link.
  • To save your changes, click Post.

Google’s Tips for a Successful Campaign

When setting up gift card and/or donation links, businesses can add a personal message to inform customers what their financial support will be going towards.

Google offers the following suggestions when crafting a personal message:

  • Be personal and positive: Connect with customers and wish them well.
    • For example: Hello, friends. We can’t wait to serve you again when we reopen.
  • Be focused and specific: Clearly communicate what kind of support you want clearly: a gift card purchase, a donation, or both.
    • Example: Please buy a gift card to put toward future dog walks.
    • Example: We’d appreciate a donation to help us continue to pay our staff.
  • Be brief: The ideal length of a message is between 250–300 characters. The maximum character count is 500.

Who is Eligible to Display Gift Card & Donation Links?

As mentioned, Google is putting measures in place to prevent this new feature from being misused.

Some of those measures involve imposing strict eligibility criteria.

Business eligibility criteria currently includes:

  • Businesses must be verified before March 1, 2020.
  • Businesses must have a physical storefront.
  • Owners and site managers of the Business Profile can use the posts feature to add gift card and donation links.
  • Businesses must be located in select countries.

New listings are not eligible

Businesses cannot claim a GMB profile today, for example, and begin accepting donations.

This feature is only available for businesses that verified their GMB listing before the month of March.

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While that may shut some businesses out who truly need the support right now, it also prevents bad actors from abusing these new features.

It appears that’s a trade-off Google is willing to make right now, though it’s always possible that policies could change in the future.

Source: Google

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GOOGLE

Google Warns About Misuse of Its Indexing API

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Google Warns About Misuse of Its Indexing API

Google has updated its Indexing API documentation with a clear warning about spam detection and the possible consequences of misuse.

Warning Against API Misuse The new message in the guide says:

“All submissions through the Indexing API are checked for spam. Any misuse, like using multiple accounts or going over the usage limits, could lead to access being taken away.”

This warning is aimed at people trying to abuse the system by exceeding the API’s limits or breaking Google’s rules.

What Is the Indexing API? The Indexing API allows websites to tell Google when job posting or livestream video pages are added or removed. It helps websites with fast-changing content get their pages crawled and indexed quickly.

But it seems some users have been trying to abuse this by using multiple accounts to get more access.

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Impact of the Update Google is now closely watching how people use the Indexing API. If someone breaks the rules, they might lose access to the tool, which could make it harder for them to keep their search results updated for time-sensitive content.

How To Stay Compliant To use the Indexing API properly, follow these rules:

  • Don’t go over the usage limits, and if you need more, ask Google instead of using multiple accounts.
  • Use the API only for job postings or livestream videos, and make sure your data is correct.
  • Follow all of Google’s API guidelines and spam policies.
  • Use sitemaps along with the API, not as a replacement.

Remember, the Indexing API isn’t a shortcut to faster indexing. Follow the rules to keep your access.

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GOOGLE

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

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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.

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AI

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

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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.

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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

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