Good morning, search marketers, are you ready for some inspiration?
We know you're going to be April Fools'd out soon enough, so let's turn our attention to a veritable search hero. If you're not familiar with Karen Spรคrk Jones, now's your chance. Her Inverse Document Frequency algorithm, released in 1972, continues to underpin nearly all sophisticated search engine algorithms today. Yes, that includes those in use by Google, Bing and Duck Duck Go. Jones' innovation led to users being able to conduct searches with more natural language.
The next time you're searching Google, see if you can spot the latest home page test. Marketer Joe Youngblood alerted us to a new look for the Google search menu that includes icons for maps, news, shopping and more as well as a re-ordering of its vertical search services.
Google Ads advertisers should take note that cross-device metrics will be included in all attribution reports starting in May. The hitch is the inclusion isn't retroactive, so reports spanning periods before and after the change will include both calculations.
Lots more to read below, including a tip for Google Ads Grant advertisers.
Ginny Marvin
Editor-In-Chief
Quick links to stories mentioned above:
+ All Google Ads attribution reports will soon include cross-device conversion data
+ Why SEOs should get to know Karen Spรคrck Jones, originator of search engine algorithms
+ Google testing new search menu with icons for maps, news, shopping and more