Monthly Digital Marketing Round-Up

Mar 2018: Digital Marketing Round-Up

JannelleChemko
ByJannelleChemko

Despite some announcements made at the SMX Search Marketing Expo in March, all of the controversy surrounding Facebook and its users’ data really took over most news feeds last month. However, we waded through most of it to bring you some other top headlines in this edition of the digital marketing round-up.

Facebook will limit data available to advertisers

Facebook announced last week that it will be shuttering Partner Categories: the product that allows third-party data providers to supplement advertisers with targeting information directly through Facebook.

In the announcement, Facebook noted that “this is common industry practice,” but will still shutter the product to “help improve people’s privacy on Facebook.”

Google AdWords releases new keyword planner tool

Google has rolled out a rebuilt version of Keyword Planner, which is available now in the new AdWords experience.

Keyword Planner has been simplified, but at the same time offers new features to help advertisers glean more data from their search campaigns.

New features include the ability to add keywords in bulk and get an overview of forecasts in one place. Perhaps the biggest upgrades to Keyword Planner are the aesthetic changes, which are in line with the look and feel of the new AdWords experience.

Google stops showing zero search results for time, calculations & conversions

Google has stopped showing zero search results, i.e., only the answer, followed by a button to “show all results” for searches related to time, calculations and conversions. The blue search results links are now back.

Google began this global experiment a few weeks ago and has now concluded that “the condensed view experiment should stop for now.”

Google Ad Grants changes and your PPC strategy: Where to go from here

This past December, Google communicated changes to its Google Ad Grants program. If you’re a nonprofit or an agency working on behalf of nonprofits, these changes may apply to you.

Some of the changes are good, but others may create new challenges for you. In this article, SearchEngineLand briefly walks through some of the new rules and then details a few strategies and creative workarounds you can use.

Pinterest brings shopping ads to more businesses

Pinterest is expanding shopping ads to hundreds more businesses, a significant increase from the couple dozen retailers the ads were previously available to.

It’s important for marketers to take note of this because, according to the company, 90% of Pinterest users make purchases on the platform.

Google Search Console Beta adds annotations, filters, comparisons, date pickers & more

Google’s new Search Console which is live for all just got some upgrades Google wants to share with you. Google shared on Twitter that the upgrades are mostly “visual updates” to the reporting in the tool.

Google My Business update now rolling out to more users

An updated version of Google My Business, first announced last November, is now being rolled out more widely.

When Google first revealed the updated GMB interface, designed for users to manage multiple listings, it was released to a limited number of businesses.

Mike Blumenthal, an authority on local search, has confirmed the new GMB interface is being made available to more users in the US. Previously, it was most common for European users to report being moved over to the new interface.

Facebook won’t unveil a Smart Speaker this spring

Facebook has reportedly suspended its plans to debut a new smart speaker at its annual F8 developer conference in May. The decision comes amidst ongoing scrutiny and backlash from the alleged misuse of its users’ personal data by analytics firm Cambridge Analytica.

Google’s John Mueller reveals new details about Mobile-First Index

Google’s John Mueller announced several new pieces of information about the mobile-first index at SMX Munich this morning.

SEJ team members Brent Csutoras and Vahan Petrosyan were in attendance and passed along all the key details. Here’s what you need to know.

All about the GDPR

While deregulation has been a stateside trend over the past decade, the 28 members of the European Union are gearing up for a massive increase in regulations around data privacy in the form of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — and this regulation will make a splash across the pond as well.

Briefly, virtually all personal information will be considered private and protected under these new rules, serving up a much more comprehensive approach than the US’s piecemeal protections of medical and financial data.

But what do these new rules mean — if anything — for US businesses?

Thanks for checking out March’s Digital Marketing Round-up.

We’ll see you next month!

About the Author

JannelleChemko

JannelleChemko

Numbers Ninja & Digital Dynamo
Jannelle Chemko has been working in Operations and Accounting since 2007. After earning a Bachelor’s Degree in English, she is now in the midst of her CGA designation.

As strange as it sounds, Jannelle is a numbers and a letters guru: in addition to extensive full-cycle accounting experience in the technology and retail industries, Jannelle is also passionate about writing. In between crunching numbers and building excel reports, she researches, creates content, and keeps up to date with digital trends.

When she’s not working to meet school and month-end deadlines, you can find Jannelle outside walking her dog, and enjoying the beautiful Vancouver air.
Follow Me On: Facebook

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