James Perrott says, “On the 11th May 2016, Google announced an update to its Adwords Policy on Lending Products. This introduced the policy of banning ads for payday loans and some related products on all Google ad systems from 13th July 2016. Further to this, Google is also banning ads for loans with an APR of 36% or higher in the US only. Ads sending you through to products where repayment is due within 60 days of the date of issue are also banned. (UPDATE: As of the beginning of August 2016, the payday loan ban has still not been implemented by Google. There has been no official word... [...]

Nick Barber says, “Google this week added yet another chat app to the mix with Duo, a smartphone-only video chat application that bridges the gap between iOS and Android devices. Rather than solve the problem of interoperation between different video chat applications, though, it made another application altogether. The killer video chat app will be the one that works like a telephone. Regardless of your carrier, device, or network, you can dial a number anywhere in the world and talk to someone on the other end. Google, Apple, Facebook, Snapchat and others who offer video calling: take... [...]

Russ Jones says, “Let’s start with the happy ending, which is actually a happy beginning, too. Moz Keyword Explorer has utilized clickstream-derived keyword data in a novel manner since day 1, allowing us to provide consistent keyword volumes despite Google Keyword Planner’s dramatic shifts in data availability and reporting. You probably haven’t noticed any changes in our keyword volume, and you probably won’t notice any going forward, which is just how we built it to begin with: resilient, evolving, and trustworthy. That being said, the truth is that keyword data... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Beginning the week of September 12, new keywords and keywords that haven’t received any recent clicks and impressions will have a reported Quality Score in AdWords of null, represented by dashes (“–“). By default, any keywords with null Quality Scores will be excluded from reports and automated rules that have Quality Score filters unless you check a new box that will appear with this change to include them. Google recommends reviewing any reports, filters, rules and scripts that include Quality Score before September 12 to be sure they will function properly”. Google... [...]

Aleh Barysevich says, “Have you taken the plunge with your mobile content strategy and optimized for Google AMP and Facebook Instant Articles? Only 23% of SEO professionals have taken concrete actions to implement the Google AMP protocol, which suggests that the uptake is still relatively low. Should you optimize for these mobile-focused initiatives? Let’s look at both the pros and cons of optimizing for both Google AMP and Facebook Instant Articles, and the three tools you should use to ensure that your web content is living well in a mobile-friendly world”. Should You Optimize Content... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Google is improving the integration of Report Editor into the AdWords experience. The next time you opt to download a report from AdWords, you may notice an option to “Open in Report Editor.” Spotted by Kim Clinkunbroomer of Philly Marketing Labs, the option is available at the campaign, ad group and keyword levels of an account. Note, you’ll have to allow pop-ups for the report to open in Report Editor, which opens in a separate tab”. Google adds Export to Report Editor option in AdWords Search Engine Land  [...]

Jayson DeMers says, “It’s almost impossible to see any meaningful search engine optimization (SEO) results without spending some time building and honing your inbound link profile. Of the two main deciding factors for site rankings (relevance and authority), one (authority) is largely dependent on the quantity and quality of links pointing to a given page or domain. As most people know, Google’s undergone some major overhauls in the past decade, changing its SERP layout, offering advanced voice-search functionality and significantly revising its ranking processes. But even though its... [...]

Greg Finn says, “Earlier this week some marketers noticed that Keyword Planner data was displaying ranged data instead of precise search volume. The ranges were wildly broad with results like “100K-1M” and “1M+”. Some wondered whether this was merely a glitch or if this was a calculated measure that favored higher spending AdWords advertisers. Today, Google confirmed the latter. At the end of June, Keyword Planner was acting up and many users got the message that they needed to have an active AdWords account in order to see the data. This of course drew the ire of users everywhere.... [...]

Jayson DeMers says, “It’s almost impossible to see any meaningful search engine optimization (SEO) results without spending some time building and honing your inbound link profile. Of the two main deciding factors for site rankings (relevance and authority), one (authority) is largely dependent on the quantity and quality of links pointing to a given page or domain. As most people know, Google’s undergone some major overhauls in the past decade, changing its SERP layout, offering advanced voice-search functionality and significantly revising its ranking processes. But even though its... [...]

Greg Finn says, “Fan of Google’s Remarketing lists for search ads (aka RLSAs)? Good news, the popular retargeting option is now available for Google Search Partners. RLSAs allow marketers to customize their search campaigns to people who have previously visited their site. This targeting can allow advertisers to leverage non-traditional keywords by hitting a specific Audience familiar with the brand. To turn this feature on, head to the campaign settings tab, and be sure to click on “Include search partners”: Once it’s turned on, you’ll cast a wider retargeting net, potentially... [...]