Important News We Are Watching From This Week

Be in the Know on Microsoft Advertising

Be in the know! This week we have found a few nuggets that you may want to review or do a deeper dive into from our blog post.

Is It Worth Writing Website Meta Descriptions?

“Many SEOs debate the importance of creating unique meta descriptions. It can definitely help with click-through-rate from SERPs, but, for most, it’s often a low priority SEO task. Will the news that Google overwrites our work make us less likely to spend time on it?” Read the full article.

From our point of view, we do still recommend writing these to assist in click through rates from the search results. We have seen Google write there own before and then later roll back their action.  It makes sense to write them and if Google does or does not use them is a non-issue at this point.


Google is Tweaking the Layout of Google Local or Google Maps Listings

We are seeing the removal of addresses in Google Maps listing tests by Google. See pic.

Google also appears to be listing the years in business in some Google Maps listings. Read the article and see the pic.


Google Ads Does Away with Broad Match Modifiers

Google has announced that it will no longer honor broad match modifier keywords and will instead merge the broad match modifier into phrase match. For now if there are broad match modifier keywords in the account, Google will simply deliver them as phrase match.

How do we feel about this? Well, we expect to spend more time on negative keywords list creation to sculpt ad results. We are not terribly worried about this due to the extensive use of machine learning used in ad delivery. We do expect broad match modifier keywords in the account to start to receive fewer and fewer impressions over time. We will no longer add broad match modifier  to ad accounts. Read the full article for more details.

1-29-21 What We Are Watching This Week

McCord Web Services is a Google Partner and a Certified Google Ads Professional

There are just a few new things in the world of Google that we are watching this week.

Rich Snippet Changes

Google has a new validation tool for Rich Snippets you may be using on your website. You’ll want to click in and check your code in the new validation tool as Google is stating that they will drop your snippets indexing in search if you do not make updates to have the code be valid. Read the full detailed article here.

Local Service Ads and the Impact on Standard Google Ads Campaigns

In 2020 Google started testing Local Service Ads for lawyers. A number of firms have done research on how using both Google Ads and Local Service Ads impacts Google Ads performance negatively.

After review of the data, it appears that Local Service Ads will be shown preferentially by Google and are typically clicked on more by users due to the richness of the interface and ad appearance. CTR and CPA are negatively impacted in Google Ads when the client is using both programs.

If you are using Local Service Ads AND Google Ads (standard professional version), you will want to dive in and read the full article.

12-14-20 The Google Week in Review

Mobile is now more than a part of the funnel.

There have been a number of interesting developments in the world of Google this week – from updates to lawsuits. Read my comments below to stay up-to-date.

Mobile is No Longer Just Part of the Purchase Path

Now, mobile activity actually is a place where users will buy, no longer just a step to a purchase on desktop. With the advent of increase security and better website solutions that allow for purchases right from a phone, mobile is no longer considered top of funnel only. Read more…


LinkedIn is Testing Ads in the Data Feed

Everyone has to get into the act now with ads. LinkedIn just announced that it is beta testing digital ads in Stories. “We are currently testing Stories Ads with a beta group of advertisers, with plans to launch more broadly in 2021” Read more…


Google is Potentially Tied to Collusion with Facebook

Announced just this morning in the Wall Street Journal, Google has now been tied to a possible collusion with Facebook in the delivery of digital advertising. This is a still evolving story, but one that will surely impact current pending litigation against Google and Facebook in the months to come.


Google Provides Site Guidance from December Rollout

This interesting article works to address the December rollout of an algorithm update for website owners. The tips offer advice on how to update your website to improve your ranking with the current update and pending future updates to the Google Search algorithm. Read more…


Google Maps is Now Showing Web Listings

Google continues to tweak search format and now has started to tinker with the Google Maps format. In some of the screenshots you can now see website listings as organic results. These results are location specific for relevancy. Location related keywords in your website are now more important than ever.  Read more…