The CLICKTRUST monthly pick – May 2020

News and articles that allow us to stay on top of our game. You might want to read them too.

General: Data, Privacy & more

Cookieless Web: 3 Areas To Watch In The Second Half Of 2020

– AdExchanger

“Now isn’t a time to lament the death of cookies. It’s a time to be curious and learn as much as we can about the new cookieless world. That may mean investing in testing cookieless platforms and channels or developing sophisticated contextual targeting to understand how it will perform tomorrow. Maybe it means running measurement experiments in Safari and Firefox where third-party cookies are already gone.”

Google Chrome to block heavy ads by end of August

– Search Engine Land

“Google says heavy ads consume a disproportionate share of device resources, such as battery and network data, without the user knowing about it.“

 

Google: Organic, Ads & Analytics

How Google crawls and indexes: a non-technical explanation [Video]

-Search Engine Land

“The crawling and indexing processes lay the groundwork for search engines to rank results. Despite being fundamental aspects of how search engines operate, crawling and indexing are often overlooked or misunderstood. Martin Splitt, search developer advocate at Google, explained these two processes using a simple analogy about librarians.
Why we care. For content to be eligible to appear in search results, it must first be crawled and indexed. Understanding how crawling and indexing work can help you resolve technical SEO issues and ensure your pages are accessible to search engines.“

Google is suggesting searches based on users’ recent activity

– Search Engine Land

“How it works. Prior to searching for “noise cancelling headphones,” I conducted a search for “google home.” Based on that history, Google then suggested a query that essentially blends the two queries with a common thread of the Assistant.“

Google May 2020 core update is done rolling out

– Search Engine Land

“Google has given advice on what to consider if you are negatively impacted by a core update in the past. There aren’t specific actions to take to recover, and in fact, a negative rankings impact may not signal anything is wrong with your pages. However, Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is hit by a core update.“

Google’s Top 3 Metrics for Evaluating User Experience

– Search Engine Journal

“Core Web Vitals are the user experience needs that all websites should be striving to meet. Specifically, Google identifies the core user experience needs as: loading, interactivity, and visual stability.“

Google: If Choosing Between Desktop or Mobile Site, Choose Mobile

– Search engine Journal

“Ever since Google switched to mobile-first indexing, the mobile version of a site is the only one that matters when it comes to rankings. Ideally, if you’re choosing between a desktop or mobile site, the best course of action would be switching to a responsive site.
If that’s not an option, due to budget restraints or any other reason, then focus on updating the mobile version.”

YouTube Expands Ad Formats for TV Screens

– Search Engine Journal

“YouTube is accelerating its TV-screen ad options. Google’s internal numbers that show sharp growth in consumption on TVs, and there’s been speculation these numbers will remain consistent as COVID-19 keeps consumers at home.
The ad formats may be familiar to regular advertisers on YouTube, but the move signals Google’s intention to continue its growth in the realm of connected TV instead of just an app on user phones.
‘With media mixes becoming increasingly reliant on streaming, it’s more important than ever to measure its impact. As a result, we’re accelerating the launch of Brand Lift for YouTube on TV screens.’ – Google announcement”

 

Social: Facebook, Instagram & others

Facebook Marketplace is open for businesses selling new products

– Search Engine Land

“In its initial stages, Facebook Marketplace was only offering individual users the opportunity to list and purchase items locally. As the Marketplace grew in popularity, Facebook added new features, like the ability to process a transaction through checkout, and the option to offer shipping. Now, Facebook Marketplace is open to US-based businesses selling new products.“

Facebook Is Testing Mid-Roll & Livestream Video Ads: What It Means

– Search Engine Journal

“Facebook is getting into the mid-roll ads game with a confirmed beta test of the ad placement. This comes on the heels of confirming testing ads in live streams, making many wonder if they’re still trying to draw some dollars away from YouTube.“