🔍 'Global events' cause Google to extend parallel tracking for Video ads

Mar 13, 2020

Good morning search marketers, we've made it to Friday.

Google extended the deadline to switch over to parallel tracking for Video campaigns until June. The reason? "Global events." The coronavirus pandemic is wreaking havoc on work schedules, and while this is a seemingly minor implication, it hints at deeper productivity challenges for businesses to come.

We know many of you are having to transition to working from home. Our entire company is remote and we are spread around the U.S. If you have any questions about working remote — or just want to take a break to say Hi — send me or any of the other editors an email (gmarvin@thirddoormedia.com) or reach out on Twitter @ginnymarvin.

In other news, the search engine that uses its ad revenue to plant trees will soon be among the default search engine options on Chrome. Ecosia will join Google, Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo in Chrome version 81. Its user base is still small, but like DuckDuckGo, it's been growing. Ecosia has 15 million monthly active users, up from 8 million a year ago.

Keep reading for a script for local keywords and more.

Ginny Marvin
Editor-In-Chief

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Search Shorts

Bing algorithm updates happening more frequently

Google Webmaster Conference postponed. Google is postponing its series of free Google Webmaster conferences. Google hopes to move them to later on in the year and/or find other ways to hold these events, maybe remotely. The reason these events are being postponed is over the "growing concern around coronavirus and in line with the travel guidelines published by WHO, the CDC, and other organizations."

Bing algorithm updates at work. Bing's Frédéric Dubut said the "team was particularly busy since the New Year and the magnitude of the algo changes we made recently may be larger than usual." So if you notice quality improvements with Bing and changes to your rankings, do not be surprised.

Fewer pages for new sites. "I recommend erring on the side of having fewer pages, especially when starting up a new site," John Mueller of Google said on Twitter. "Too many pages makes it hard to find the unique value of each page, so unless they're significantly different, I'd try to keep them together."

Coronavirus impacting us. Longtime search community member and former SEL writer Tamar Weinberg was among those affected by coronavirus quarantine in Westchester County, NY. She shared her story over here.

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