Digital Marketing News

24Jul
By TikTok , , ,

TikTok For Business Made Short-Form Video a Serious Ad Channel

In mid-2020, TikTok introduced TikTok For Business as a home for its marketing solutions, then followed with self-serve advertising tools for small and mid-size businesses. The platform was quickly moving from cultural phenomenon to a…
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26Jun
By SEO , ,

Core Web Vitals Put Website Experience Into the SEO Roadmap

In 2020, Google announced that page experience signals, including Core Web Vitals, would become part of Search ranking. The metrics focused on loading performance, interactivity and visual stability. For marketers, this connected technical performance to…
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15May
By SEO , , ,

The May 2020 Core Update Hit During a Period of Unusual Search Behavior

Google’s May 2020 Core Update rolled out during one of the strangest periods in modern search behavior. Consumer needs, local restrictions and ecommerce demand were changing quickly because of the pandemic, while Google released a…
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24Apr
By E-commerce , , ,

Free Google Shopping Listings Opened a New Door for Small Retailers

In April 2020, Google announced that product listings on the Google Shopping tab would become free in the U.S. The move came as retailers were facing pandemic disruption and more consumers were shifting online. Paid…
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27Mar
By News , , ,

COVID-19 Made Local Listings and Business Updates Mission Critical

March 2020 changed business communication overnight. As COVID-19 disruptions spread, Google said it would show temporary closures in Search and Maps and make it easier for businesses to mark themselves temporarily closed through Google My…
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21Feb
By Analytics , , ,

Chrome 80’s SameSite Cookie Change Previewed a Tougher Tracking Environment

In February 2020, Chrome 80 began enforcing new SameSite cookie behavior. Cookies without a declared SameSite value were treated more restrictively, and cross-site access required SameSite=None; Secure. The change was technical, but it previewed the…
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24Jan
By News , , ,

CCPA Took Effect and Made U.S. Privacy Part of Marketing Operations

On January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Act took effect, bringing broad consumer privacy rights to the U.S. market. Even though not every small business fell directly under the law’s thresholds, the practical signal…
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20Dec
By News , , ,

CCPA Preparation Made Privacy a U.S. Marketing Issue

By December 2019, marketers were preparing for the California Consumer Privacy Act to take effect on January 1, 2020. The IAB and IAB Tech Lab had been working on compliance frameworks and technical specifications for…
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15Nov
By Influencer Marketing , , ,

Instagram’s U.S. Hidden Likes Test Put Influencer Proof Under Pressure

In November 2019, Instagram expanded its hidden likes test to some U.S. users. The move created anxiety for creators and brands that had used public like counts as a quick signal of influence. But it…
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25Oct
By SEO , , ,

Google’s BERT Update Made Search Intent Harder to Fake

In October 2019, Google announced BERT, a language understanding update designed to help Search interpret more nuanced queries. Google said BERT would help with ranking and featured snippets, especially for longer or more conversational searches…
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