Friday, November 3, 2023

Google launches new Ad Review Centre for AdSense Ad Manager and AdMob

Google has rolled out a new Ad Review Centre for AdSense, Ad Manager and AdMob.

Five major changes have been added to the platform – all aimed at improving the user experience for advertisers.

Below is a breakdown of what’s new.

New Features:

  1. Larger area to view ads. The new Ad Review Centre features an improved layout to maximise the area that you have for viewing ads.
  2. New, easy-to-use filters. Google has added new filters to make it quicker and simpler to select statuses like ‘Allowed’ and ‘Blocked’.
  3. Bulk actions are easier: The search engine has also introduced a prominent ‘Select all’ button so it’s now easier to take actions on pages of ads.
  4. Simplified image search. The new Ad Review Centre has rolled out a more prominent ‘Search by Image’ button and improved the search results. It also now shows image search requirements in the image selection dialogue.
  5. Improved detail view: Lastly, the platform has also updated the detail view by adding an expandable ‘Ad info’ area with more metadata and a new ‘Related ads’ tab to make it quicker to find related ads.

Why we care. These new features have been introduced to enhance the efficiency of ad management, simplifying the advertiser’s tasks and potentially saving them valuable time in the process.

What Google is saying. A Google Ads spokesperson said in a statement:

  • “We’re super excited to introduce the new Ad Review Centre for AdSense, Ad Manager and AdMob.”
  • “We’ve spent a lot of time listening to feedback from publishers and partners alike, and we’ve made several investments to improve the experience for everyone.”

Deep dive. Visit the Ad Review Centre overview for more information.

The post Google launches new Ad Review Centre for AdSense Ad Manager and AdMob appeared first on Search Engine Land.



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Go beyond cookies and stay ahead in a privacy-first world by Cynthia Ramsaran

The struggle is real, and it’s here to stay: browser privacy is making an impact on your marketing campaigns.

Organizations are facing an increasingly challenging landscape to track users. The combination of regulation, tracking prevention technology, and user privacy results in businesses making the wrong decisions from inaccurate and incomplete marketing attribution and customer behavior dashboards.

Instill confidence in your marketing attribution and ensure trust in your customer journey analytics dashboards by mastering the essential adjustments needed.

Register and attend “Go Beyond Cookies and Stay Ahead in a Privacy-First World,” presented by Snowplow.


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Thursday, November 2, 2023

Yelp’s 12% rise in ad revenue drives record-breaking profit

Yelp has reported record-breaking profits driven by a sharp rise in ad revenue in the third quarter of 2023.

The company’s total net revenue increased 12% year-on-year to $345 million, comprising of:

  • $330 million in advertising revenue.
  • $3 million in transactions revenue.
  • $12 million in other revenue.

The Q3 earnings marked a 12% rise in ad revenue, along with a 9% increase in ad clicks year-on-year..

Why we care. Advertisers are increasingly placing their trust in Yelp, and the platform’s rising number of ad clicks indicates a positive return on investment. This success is likely to pique the interest of other marketers, potentially leading them to consider shifting their advertising budgets towards Yelp. However, with Yelp’s expanding popularity, it’s important to be mindful that ad prices are likely to escalate.

Breaking down the numbers. Yelp’s sharp rise in advertising revenue was driven by ad spend in its services category, which was up 14% year on year to $206 million. Meanwhile, ad spend in Yelp’s restaurants, retail and other category was up 10% to $124 million.


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What Yelp is saying. Jeremy Stoppelman, Yelp's co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement:

  • "We continued to see strong momentum from our product-led strategy as our team delivered another quarter with a number of record-breaking results."
  • "Third quarter net revenue reached a new high, driven by record advertising revenue in our services category as service pros spent more on Yelp than ever before, 25% growth in our self-serve channel and a 9% increase in ad clicks year over year."
  • "As we continue to execute on our robust product roadmap to make Yelp the go-to platform for services, deliver more value to advertisers, and enhance the overall consumer experience, I’m excited about the opportunities ahead to drive profitable growth and long-term shareholder value."

Deep dive. Read Yelp's full Q3 2023 earnings report in full for more information.

The post Yelp’s 12% rise in ad revenue drives record-breaking profit appeared first on Search Engine Land.



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Revenue, customer growth returns Semrush to profitability in Q3

With customer and revenue growth hitting new highs in Q3, Semrush achieved its first profitable quarter since Q1 2021. That ends a stretch of nine straight quarters posting a net loss.

Semrush’s third quarter revenue was $78.7 million, up 20% year-over-year ($65.8 million) from 2022.

Earlier this year, Semrush said it expected to break even or show a profit for 2023, after losing $33.8 million in 2022.

Customers. Semrush had about 106,800 paying customers as of Sept. 30. This was up nearly 14% from the “over 94,000” figure it reported a year ago. Also:

  • 20% growth in customers who pay more than $10,000 annually.
  • 987,000 registered free active customers (up 25%)

Price increases starting. On the investor call, Eugene Levin, President, discussed one of the company’s growth pillars – to “maximize the value” Semrush generates from its users. Pricing changes started rolling out in Q3, according to Levy:

  • “We took the opportunity to optimize our pricing strategy to better align with the tremendous value our product delivers. During Q3, and into the early part of Q4, we tested price increases with a cohort of customers, and we were encouraged by the response, as net adds, and retention were in line with our expectations and recent trends.
  • “In our view, this indicates customers have a strong need for our offering and are willing to pay more given the unique benefits it provides them with. While we are still in the early phases of pricing adjustments, these initial findings suggest there may be room to prudently raise prices to better capture the value we provide, which we think, over time, would also contribute further to our growth.
  • “Our plan is to be thoughtful and measured. We expect to continue testing and analyzing data so that any broader pricing changes are backed by customer insights while maintaining our commitment to delivering exceptional value.”

Why we care. Many Search Engine Land readers use Semrush daily, so it’s good to know the company continues to be in good shape financially. Meanwhile, these results show SEO and SEO platforms continue to be in-demand. However, be aware pricing changes have started – and if you haven’t seen them yet, they are coming.

Read the full press release. Semrush Announces Third Quarter 2023 Financial Results

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Google November 2023 core update released

Google’s November 2023 core update is now rolling out and may take up to two weeks to complete.

This is the fourth broad core algorithm update of 2023. the first core update of 2023 was the March 2023 core update, which started rolling out on March 15 and was completed on March 28. The second core update of 2023 was the August 2023 core update, which started rolling out on August 22 and was completed on September 7. The third core update was the October 2023 core update, which started rolling out on October 5 and was completed on October 19.

New in the core update. Google said, that this core “update involves an improvement to a different core system than last month.” Google said its guidance about core updates is the same for both.

Reviews update coming next week. Google said a reviews update will also be coming next week. Google said this “will also mark a point when we’ll no longer be giving periodic notifications of improvements to our reviews system, because they will be happening at a regular and ongoing pace.”

More details. Google posted a more detailed Q&A over here, explaining more about the new core update and the upcoming reviews update.

  • Why another core update so soon? Google said, “We have different systems that are considered core to our ranking process; this month’s core update involves an improvement to a different core system than last month.”
  • Difference between a ranking update and ranking system? Google said, “Ranking systems are what we use to generate search results. We use multiple ranking systems that do different things. We have a guide to Google search ranking systems that explains some of our more notable ones. Updates are when we make an improvement to a ranking system.”
  • What do updates do? Google said, “We use automated systems to rank search results, and like anything, these aren’t perfect. We’re always looking at ways to improve these systems to show better results.”
  • Why do some updates overlap? Google said, “We do try to separate notable updates, so that if they produce changes, site owners can better identify which system is involved. However, given we have so many updates overall, it’s not always possible. In addition, when an update is evaluated and approved because it will make Search better, we don’t want to hold that back.”
  • Why are some updates during the holiday season? Google said, “We do try to avoid having updates during the late-November to mid-December period when possible. But it’s not always possible. If we have updates that can improve Search, that have been developed over the course of several months, we release them when they’re ready.”

What to do if you are hit. Google has given advice on what to consider if you are negatively impacted by a core update in the past:

  • There aren’t specific actions to take to recover. A negative rankings impact may not signal anything is wrong with your pages.
  • Google has offered a list of questions to consider if your site is hit by a core update.
  • Google said you can see a bit of a recovery between core updates but the biggest change would be after another core update.

Why we care. Whenever Google updates its search ranking algorithms, your site can do better or worse in the search results. Knowing when Google makes these updates gives us something to point to understand if it was something you changed on your website or something Google changed with its ranking algorithm. Today, we know Google has released a core ranking update, so keep an eye on your analytics and rankings over the next couple of weeks.

Although with the spam update rolling out at the same time, it might be hard to isolate which update or updates impacted your site.

Previous core updates. Here’s a timeline and our coverage of recent core updates:

Other recent Google algorithm updates. Google recently rolled out the October 2023 spam update, while rolling out the October 2023 core update and in September, Google rolled out the September 2023 helpful content update over a 14-day period.

Google recently fixed a bug with the core update a couple of days ago, that impacted Discover traffic.

You can read more about past Google updates here.

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Wednesday, November 1, 2023

Google rolls out generative AI tools for product images in the U.S.

Google has released a range of new generative AI product imagery tools for advertisers in the U.S.

Merchants can leverage these capabilities to create product imagery simply by using text prompts, completely free of charge in Product Studio.

Why we care. These tools have the potential to save advertisers significant time through instant product image creation and recreation, and they may also cut costs by reducing the necessity of hiring professional picture editors. However, the quality of Product Studio’s AI-generated images is still unverified, and copyright issues related to AI-generated content should be considered.

Capabilities. Advertisers can leverage these new features for various purposes, from basic tasks like altering the background color behind product images or creating a solid background, to more advanced jobs such as customizing product placement within specific scenes. The tools can also be used to enhance low-quality images without the need for a reshoot.

Availability. The new tools have already started being rolled out to all Merchant Center Next users in the U.S, as well as users of the Google and YouTube apps on Shopify.

Metadata AI label. The AI-generated images won’t have a clear tag or watermark to inform users that they were manipulated, however, Google states that this information will be stored in the image’s metadata.


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What Google is saying: Matt Madrigal, Vice President, GM, Merchant Shopping, said in a statement:

  • "In e-commerce, eye-catching images are a business’s digital window displays — and merchants with the right mix of imagery online can get better results. In fact, while many product offers on Google have just one image, we see an increase in both impressions (+76%) and clicks (+32%) for product offers that include more than one image."
  • "It’s not always easy to get a range of high-quality images, though. Businesses tell us creating lifestyle images gets expensive and time-consuming."
  • "Our new Product Studio, designed with Google's Ai Principles top of mind, brings the benefits of generative AI to businesses of all sizes, helping them easily create unique and tailored product imagery for free and get more value from the images they already have."

Deep dive. Read Google's original Product Studio tools announcement for more information.

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