Will Critchlow says, “The FTC recently published their updated rules (and more accessible “guidance”) on what constitutes a “misleading” native advert [PDF]. I’ve read them. I only fell asleep twice. Then, near the end, a couple of bombshells. But first, the background. Native ads and the FTC For those who haven’t been following the trends closely, native advertising is a form of digital advertising whereby adverts are included “in-stream,” interspersed with regular editorial content. On social platforms, this takes the form of “promoted” posts — including stories or... [...]

Andy Taylor says, “The Google Search Network gives advertisers the ability to gain additional AdWords traffic and conversions from users across the web, as Google delivers ads on partner websites in much the same way it does on Google.com. To target users searching on these partner sites, advertisers need only check a box in campaign settings to “include search partners.” However, AdWords advertisers have long pined for a bid modifier to adjust bids for Google’s search partners, as the value of this traffic is often very different from that of clicks that come from users searching... [...]

MOZ team says, “Should you ditch keyword targeting entirely? There’s been a lot of discussion around the idea of focusing on broad topics and concepts to satisfy searcher intent, but it’s a big step to take and could potentially hurt your rankings. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand discusses old-school keyword targeting and new-school concept targeting, outlining a plan of action you can follow to get the best of both worlds”. Can SEOs Stop Worrying About Keywords and Just Focus on Topics? MOZ Blog  [...]

John Cosley says, “At this time of year, it’s worthwhile to consider what’s likely to occur in search advertising in 2016, so you can adjust your strategy if you’re behind the curve. I took some time to look at the trends we’re seeing at Bing Ads, where I work. Based on unprecedented access to search data, observing advertiser adoption patterns and gauging client interest, here are some predictions for 2016 and beyond. Audience Buying Is On Everyone’s Mind As the technology behind marketing gets stronger, advertisers are able to use real-time data to drive important decisions that... [...]

Eric Enge says, “Machine learning is already a very big deal. It’s here, and it’s in use in far more businesses than you might suspect. A few months back, I decided to take a deep dive into this topic to learn more about it. In today’s post, I’ll dive into a certain amount of technical detail about how it works, but I also plan to discuss its practical impact on SEO and digital marketing. For reference, check out Rand Fishkin’s presentation about how we’ve entered into a two-algorithm world. Rand addresses the impact of machine learning on search and SEO... [...]

Isla McKetta says, “Think you’re up on the latest developments in local SEO? One year ago we asked you to test your local SEO knowledge with the Local Search Expert Quiz. Because the SERPs are changing so fast and (according to our latest Industry Survey) over 42% of online marketers report spending more time on local search in the past 12 months, we’ve created an updated version. Written by local search expert Miriam Ellis, the quiz contains 40 questions designed to test both your general local SEO knowledge and your industry awareness. Bonus? The quiz takes less than 10 minutes... [...]

Matt Round says, “Before joining Distilled I worked for UsVsTh3m, an experimental Trinity Mirror project, where we created hundreds of games, quizzes and daft “toys.” We had unprecedented freedom to try out new interactive formats, learning a great deal about what works… and what doesn’t. The key to success was “viral” traffic. You’ve probably heard the term bandied about in reference to something popular, and might even have rolled your eyes; it’s a much-abused buzzword. The idea is that online word-of-mouth can drive exponential traffic growth and broad... [...]

Daniel Faggella  says, “In part 1 of this series, we talked about the origins of good marketing, how SEO fits into modern marketing, why it’s the most dependable and consistent form of quality lead generation, and (most importantly) how to start your SEO machine. Today, we’re diving into the last two levels that will take you from just generating leads to collecting a return on your leads (revenue). Here are the four levels: High Level (search terms, PPC terms). Top of Funnel (indirect content). Blog Level (relevant blog topics and lead generation tools). Back End (marketing automation... [...]

Matthew Barby says, “We’ve got a confession to make: We’ve been making a few rookie SEO mistakes within our own website. For a company that is supposed to be at the forefront of inbound marketing and SEO, this isn’t something that we’re entirely proud of. But even experts make mistakes, right? Instead of shying away from these oversights, we thought we’d show you where we went wrong so that you don’t make the same mistakes. More importantly, we’ll show you what we did to fix them and how these solutions resulted in us growing our organic traffic... [...]

Without any technical expertise at all, you can use Joshua Zamora‘s SocialRobot to bookmark your videos on 500 or more sites. This extreme collection of backlinks can bump your video much higher in the search engine results, which can lead to many more clicks, which can lead to higher earnings. Zamora is running a very short-term sale on SocialRobot. And to sweeten the deal, he is including these bonuses: • A list of high page-rank bookmarking sites you can use • His Zamarai Video Blueprint for good videos • His respected Gold digging Video • A live Q and A training session... [...]