March Updates to Paid Advertising Platforms
What: Reacting to COVID-19
Resources: Prior to getting into platform-specific updates, it’s essential to address COVID-19 and its impacts on the industry. The resources below were compiled from a recent Hanapin/Brainlabs email blast, and are an excellent source of industry trends, strategic recommendations, grant opportunities, and more.
Google Ads
What: Google improves the appeal process of disapproved or limited ads
Details: A new feature within the interface will allow advertisers to resubmit an ad immediately after fixing the policy infraction. To evoke the review, simply hover over a disapproved or limited ad and click the “Appeal” link if applicable.
Impact: Unexpected ad disapprovals are a common source of stress for advertisers. The streamlined process likely will help alleviate that concern and lead to less unplanned “downtime”. It should be noted that in the short term, Google is expecting longer than usual reviews. The COVID-19 situation has impacted office staffing, and therefore the appeal process.
What: Report Editor can operate with an expanded number of accounts
Details: Report Editor, located under the Reports Tab in the drop-down navigation, has expanded capacity from 10 to 200 accounts.
Impact: Multi-brand enterprises and agencies gain the potential to run simultaneous analysis on a larger set of accounts.
What: Google delays deadline to adopt parallel tracking for video due to COVID-19 situation
Details: The deadline to switch to parallel tracking for video campaigns is now June 15th.
Impact: Parallel tracking creates a quicker page load for advertisers using third-party click tracking. Video represents the last campaign type to transition to this setup.
What: Google Ads updates attribution reporting
Details: The update significantly streamlines reporting in addition to changing the name from Search Attribution to simply Attribution. Many reports will be overhauled to ease the digestion of information, while familiar information such as Top Paths, Assisted Conversions, and Model Comparison reports will be included.
Impact: For the time being, you can still return to the previous reports. Moving forward, Google continues to focus on data and analytics that follow the full user journey, not simply last click.
What: Intro testing and Asset reporting come to App campaigns
Details: To help developers gain beta testers for their app, Google is launching open testing ads in Google App Campaigns. Additionally, Google is expanding the columns/metrics available to advertisers for assessing creative performance within its App campaigns.
Impact: Open testing ads will allow new apps to test for stability, retention, monetization, and effectiveness of ad creatives prior to full-scale launch. App campaign asset reporting improves the transparency of creative performance in Google App Campaigns, a campaign type considered somewhat of a “black box” when it comes to optimization.
What: Google Ads App now shares Optimization Score details
Details: Within the Google Ads mobile app, advertisers are now able to see Google Optimization Scores details and notifications.
Impact: Google is promoting OptiScore aggressively as a means of ensuring best practices are maximized across its platform. This update, in addition to the Google Partners program requiring a specific agency-wide OptiScore, demonstrates the priority Google has placed on this metric.
Reddit Advertising
What: Introducing Trending Takeover Offering for Advertisers
Details: The new ad unit shows in the “Trending Today” section of Reddit. Current purchase options are limited to direct buy that can be executed by contacting Reddit Advertising.
Impact: Although Reddit’s ad offerings and audience appeal remain somewhat niche, this provides further evidence of an expanding approach on the platform.
Did we miss any major monthly updates? Not covering a certain platform close enough? Feel free to let me know on Twitter @Will_Larcom
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.
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.
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
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
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