Good morning, search marketers, happy almost-weekend!
What do we call this thing? We have been calling this week's big Google search algorithm update the "March 12 core search algorithm update." Industry veteran Brett Tabke dubbed it the Florida 2 update but, don't confuse it with the original Florida update of 2003. This is a very different animal.
Yesterday afternoon, Google's Danny Sullivan floated the idea of naming these core updates either Core + date (Core Update March 2019) or Core + number. This would be Core 3 "because it's the third major core update since we began confirming core updates in this manner," said Danny. What's your vote?
We know a lot of people are digging into their data and tracking fluctuations to identify what Tuesday's core search algorithm update was all about. Take our (quick, I promise) survey, and let us know what you're seeing!
Next month, advertisers will find a new Policy Manager in Google Ads. It'll be the central place to view and manage policy-related issues affecting your accounts. Google also announced a couple of other features around disapprovals that will be rolling out this spring.
Speaking of disapprovals… Google said it took down 2.3 billion ads last year in its annual "bad ads" report. That's actually more than a million fewer ads than last year, but the search giant pinned more focus on banning bad actors altogether. Google terminated nearly 1 million advertiser accounts last year, twice as many as in 2017.
Don't miss Fred Vallaeys' Pro Tip on RSA inventory and more below.
Ginny Marvin
Editor-In-Chief
Quick links to stories mentioned above:
+ What are you seeing? Help us analyze Google's March 2019 core algorithm update
+ Let's clear things up: Google's 'Florida 2' algorithm update is not related to original Florida update
+ Google launching Policy manager in Google Ads
+ Google took down 2.3 billion bad ads, 1 million ad accounts in 2018
+ SMX Overtime: Enterprise SEOs explain tactical approaches for large implementations
+ Back to Basics: A beginners guide to voice search and digital assistants in 2019