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🔍 Amazon's ad biz still booming

Good morning search marketers, brands keep spending more on Amazon.

That shorter holiday season didn't slow Amazon's advertising business last quarter. The company's ad revenue grew some 41% year-over-year to top $4 billion for the first time. For 2019, advertising increased roughly 40% to $14 billion, up from $10 billion in 2018. The company highlighted unpaid features such as Stores and Posts as part of its efforts to support brand marketing programs on the platform. 

While Amazon doesn't give details on how advertisers are spending, Merkle reported ad spend on Amazon Sponsored Products shot up 63% year-over-year in the fourth quarter and average ROI from the search ad format rose 26% compared to the previous period a year ago, among the agency's client base. At Tinuiti, client spend on Sponsored Products increased 30% year-over-year and sales attributed to the format increased 21%, the agency reported.

If you've used Google Tag Manager to verify your sites in Google Search Console, you should double-check that your properties are still verified. Google confirmed yesterday that it had fixed a bug that affected that verification process. 

Keep reading for a Pro Tip on winning pitches for new PPC tests and more. 

Ginny Marvin,
Editor-in-Chief

 
 
 
Pro Tip
 

How to get buy-in for trying new PPC tactics

"If your client is hesitant to try a new PPC tactic, present a clear plan with a budget, a timeframe and KPIs to help meet their concerns," explains Tim Jensen of Clix Marketing. "Perhaps they're concerned about wasting money. Determine the minimum spend to achieve statistically significant results, and ask if they're willing to spend enough to determine whether or not the tactic will work for them. Of course, this amount will vary based on the client's industry and the types of conversions you're tracking, but you should be able to determine a rough estimate based on overall cost per lead goals and previous experience with the type of campaign you're pitching."

Learn more »

 

Guide to Google Shopping, Amazon, and more

As the websites of retailers like Amazon, Walmart and Target become not only distribution channels, but also marketing channels, many campaign management software vendors are adding functionality that allows marketers to extend their campaigns to these new platforms. Download our Digital Commerce Advertising Management Platforms guide to find the right one for you.

Get it now »

 
Search Shorts
 

Google search algorithm update rumors

Google search algorithm update. While not confirmed, there's chatter in the SEO community around a possible Google search algorithm update, along with indexing issues that Google denies.

Safeguarding elections. Google has posted how they are supporting the 2020 U.S. elections through new safeguards and techniques across Google Ads to YouTube and more.

Toxic links. Google will not be adding a filter to show "toxic" links in Google Search Console because most sites don't have toxic links, said John Mueller of Google.

Domain authority. Yet again, Google is reminding people that it does not use DA, a Moz metric.

 

Your next step towards search marketing success

In just two weeks, hundreds of marketers like you will head to San Jose for Search Marketing Expo. They'll access 100+ in-depth sessions on SEO, SEM/PPC, and Digital Commerce Marketing — loaded with actionable tactics that drive traffic, conversions, and sales — and trade solutions to complex marketing challenges. Will you be there?

See the agenda! »

 
 
 
What we're reading
 

We've curated our picks from across the web so you can retire your feed reader

2020 Prediction Month: Why Visual Search Will Surpass Voice Search in 2020 – Eric Enge // Perficient Digital – Search Metrics

Google Maps 'hack' creates virtual traffic jams [Video] – 9to5Google

Google Search Console Speedy Indexing Issues? – Search Engine Roundtable

Have Teachable Moments at Google Been Replaced with Related Questions? – Go Fish Digital

How Google's Featured Snippet Update Will Affect Search – iPullRank

Little Doodle, big impact: Honoring the Greensboro sit-in – Google Blog

Supporting the 2020 U.S. election – Google Blog

Tracking a Brexit SEO Bubble – SISTRIX

What's A Good Outgoing Link? Use Common Sense – Ian Lurie

Why Google Backtracked on Its New Search Results Look – New York Times