Good morning, search marketers, how fast does your page load?
If you ever wonder about Google's power to move the internet, look at page speed. Google wanted site owners to make their mobile sites faster, and, in 2018, instituted a Page Speed algorithm update that got site owners to take action. According to new stats from the company, there was a 15-20% lift in performance metrics across the slowest one-third of traffic in 2018. In contrast, in 2017, those metrics hadn't budged.
On Wednesday, Bing introduced action extensions that make calls-to-action in text ads much more prominent. We've got a quick rundown on how to set up action extensions and more details on the capabilities action extensions support. You can add scheduling, which means there's the option to show different calls-to-action based on hours of operation, for example.
Google's Duplex "appears to be ready for prime time," reports contributing editor Greg Sterling, "as Google readies machine-based booking for categories beyond restaurants."
Soon more Android and even iPhone owners will be able to use the Google Assistant to book local restaurant reservations in most states in the U.S. The implications for marketers? "It's easy to imagine a near-term scenario when more telemarketing and lead-capture is done by very life-like sounding robots that can interact and respond to common questions," says Greg.
Lots more below including a tip on category page optimization after rel=prev/next.
Ginny Marvin
Editor-in-Chief
Quick links to stories mentioned above:
+ Machine reservations: Google's Duplex expanding to more Android, iPhone users
+ How to set up action extensions, Bing Ads' newest ad extension
+ Google data shows Page Speed update resulted in 15-20% speed increases among slower sites
