Search Marketing Updates April 2022

Google allows removal of personal information 

People can now request for their personal information to be removed from Google Search results. 

As Google continues to roll out new ways to protect users, they now allow people to remove personally identifiable information such as phone numbers, email addresses, and physical addresses from its search results. 

To request the removal of information, you have to complete a form that asks you to provide details about why you want it removed. 

If approved, the URL will be removed from Google. 

Google has said it will only deny requests when the information appears on a page that is considered broadly useful, such as on a news article or if appearing as part of public records on government websites. 

Google ads to introduce 3-strike policy  

Google has announced they are updating its enforcement procedures for repeat violations. 

In June 2022, Google will be updating its enforcement procedures with nine new policies in a strike-based system. 

The new policies target:

• Compensated sexual acts
• Mail-order brides 
• Clickbait 
• Misleading ad design 
• Bail bond services 
• Call Directories, forwarding services
• Credit repair services 
• Binary options 
• Personal loans 

An account can receive a maximum of one warning and 3 strikes per policy violation. 

Your first strike will put your account on temporary hold for 3 days. If you receive a second strike for the same violation within 90 days, your account will be put on temporary hold for 7 days. Finally, if you receive a third strike for the same violation within 90 days, your account will be suspended. 

Google ads introduce manager account-level reporting

Dashboards are now available at a manager account level for all Google Ads users. 

If you’re looking for a simple way to view all of your accounts, this is it! 

Google said, ‘As part of this update, we’ve also made dashboards faster and easier to use with several improvements:

1. Change date ranges and filters for the dashboard as a whole.
2. Add interactive table cards, rich formatting features, and conditional formatting.
3. Download reports faster and at a higher quality.
4. Resize cards and layouts dynamically based on window size.>/li>
5. Create a dashboard card by copying over existing saved reports’.

Top tip: You can create personalised dashboards for different people to include the data most relevant to them. 

Youtube connected tv gets an update 

To give advertisers more confidence in Connected TV (CTV), Google has made improvements to its CTV capabilities. 

With over 72% of households now using a smart TV, CTV has become increasingly popular over the past 2 years, and its popularity is only going to increase. 

With this in mind, Google is adding new measurements to its reporting. 

You will soon be able to compare YouTube TV and YouTube CTV reach against TV, plus, you’ll be able to measure sales and share the impacts of your CTV campaigns. 

Google said, ‘Whether you’re forecasting an upcoming campaign or reviewing post-campaign reports, you’ll soon see reach, frequency and an additional impression metric that accounts for all viewers on CTV. 

This means more accurate reach forecasts and campaign reports with an apples-to-apples comparison between YouTube and the rest of your linear and connected TV buy — ultimately helping you make smarter investment decisions. 

Youtube rolls out keyword research tool to all users   

To support content planning and keyword research, YouTube has rolled out the use of its new tool to all users. 

To access YouTube Search Insights, you need to head into the Research tab within YouTube Studio on desktop. 

You can view a list of top keywords being searched for by your viewers and lookalike viewers. 

Data from across YouTube as a whole is also available within YouTube Search Insights. You can see data for general topics and specific keywords. 

Google Multisearch is here   

Google introduces multisearch, a new way to search the web.

To make it easier to find what you’re looking for, Google has introduced multisearch, where people can use both text and images simultaneously.

To use multisearch, make sure you have the latest version of Google downloaded. 

You can add multiple queries to the search such as adding colours to a dress you’re searching for, or by adding a picture and searching for care instructions for it. 

For retailers, it will be more important than ever to ensure you have good quality, clear images of your products with detailed descriptions and file names/titles. 

Google introduces retail search for eCommerce sites    

Retailers can now provide Google with quality search recommendations on their own digital properties.  

Retail Search has been introduced to help increase conversions and reduce search abandonment. 

Benefits to retailers: 

1. Reduce search abandonment by leveraging Google-quality search capabilities.
2. Enhance shopping experience by making it easier to search for products with an image.
3. Improve conversion and order value by personalising the shopping experience.

Google ads upgrades custom columns

To help save users from constant toggling, and wasting time, Google Ads now allow you to add custom columns to reports. 

With the new update, columns are now more customisable and powerful than ever, and will be rolled out to all users over the coming weeks. 

According to Google, the benefits are: 

1. Access and leverage a wide variety of metrics computed from Google Ads data.
2. Create your own custom columns and KPI calculations that meet your business and reporting needs in terms the end client will understand.
3. Track how each campaign is contributing toward a formulated or weighted KPI and budget by using formula columns.
4. View metrics across multiple date ranges side-by-side in a table.
5. Pair custom columns and labels so that you can easily flip through different buckets of campaigns, ad groups, ads or keywords.
6. Calculations are made in real-time to ensure custom reporting is up to date, with the freshest data.

Google tests changes to featured snippets  

Google are testing two new additions to featured snippets; ‘From the Web’ and ‘Other sites say’… 

From The Web

Rather than one source being a featured snippet, From The Web’ will include 3-5 sources with short answers with a website link.

Other Sites Say 

One website will take priority with a large paragraph of information, followed by 2-3 other sources displaying just one short sentence or the headline. 

Both are designed to give searchers a wider, more diverse set of sources to answer their queries. 

What could this mean for you? 

With Google potentially adding more than one source to a featured snippet, your top spot ranking could be jeopardised by other websites, or on the flip side, your content may have a chance at getting more visibility by hi-jacking a featured snippet. 

Bing to offer sustainable brands more visibility 

Bing’s Ethical Shopping Hub was built to give people an easy way to shop sustainably. 

It gives people the option to search for eco-friendly, fair-trade recycled vegan and more. 

Each store/brand is given a sustainability rating from Good on You. This is scored on three areas: people, planet and animals. 

Bing said, “Our goal from the beginning was to help our users do their part on combatting the environmental issues of today, and bringing these ratings and purchase options to more customers around the world helps us achieve this”. 

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