Good morning, search marketers, have you recovered?
Google said over the weekend that its latest core search algorithm wasn't its biggest. The company also responded to several other questions we asked. If you're wondering if the update incorporated some new use of neural matching, it didn't.
Was the March 2019 core update a reversal of last August's update? No, but early patterns seen across several sources are interesting. Nearly 60 percent of respondents to our survey on the core update said they have seen a recovery from a previous core update. Meanwhile, several venerable publishers seem to have lost visibility with this update after seeing gains in August, according to Search Metrics data. It's still early, and we continue to gather data via our survey. Let us know what you've seen so far.
On the ads front, Google Ads users will find reporting column recommendations on by default in the UI now. With that, you might choose to get some column width back because Bid Strategy Type is no longer a required column.
Waze has several new initiatives to bring digital to out-of-home. It can now target in-car ads around out-of-home billboard locations. It tested a campaign with McDonald's in which it showed ads to drivers along routes in a target market that had McDonald's billboards. The ads called on drivers to go to the nearby McDonald's. The companies said the campaign drove 8,400 "navigations" to McDonald's locations.
Lots more below, including a Pro Tip on where to find new audiences and improve conversions.
Ginny Marvin
Editor-in-Chief
Quick links to stories mentioned above:
+ Waze conquers 'digital dark zone' with in-car, out-of-home ad coordination
+ Google on the March 2019 core update: This is not the biggest update we've released
+ Early data on Google March 2019 Core Update show an interesting pattern
+ Google Ads now makes reporting column recommendations
