🔍 Structured data + JavaScript = A-OK | New Amazon Sponsored Display targeting

Apr 06, 2020

Good morning search marketers, we hope you're taking care of yourself.

We are all managing and processing these times in different ways, but before we get to the news, I wanted to call out today's Mindful Moment (below) sent in by Allison Chaney, chief digital training officer at Boot Camp Digital. Breathing exercises are excellent, but so is busting a move. Thanks for sharing, Allison.

If you have been shying away from using structured data in JavaScript, shy away no more.

Google has provided advice on generating structured data with JavaScript using Google Tag Manager or custom JavaScript.

And a reminder, as of today, Google no longer supports data-vocabulary,org structured data for rich results. It's time to switch to schema if you want that content to remain eligible for rich results.

Like Google My Business, Facebook has now rolled out new ways for businesses to communicate hours and service updates related to COVID-19 on a Temporary Service Changes page in Page Settings. The updates will appear in several spots across Facebook.

Amazon is likely postponing Prime Day until at least August, Reuters reported Friday (link below in What we're reading). The company's logistics have been severely strained by the surge in demand for household items. The delay is yet another disruption for merchants as well who count on Prime Day to drive sales the slower summer doldrums of July.

In the meantime, Amazon has rolled out discovery targeting for Sponsored Display ads. Sellers can now use these ads for more than retargeting people who viewed their product detail pages. With the new product targeting for Sponsored Display ads, advertisers can target people viewing similar or complementary products. It's available now to U.S. merchants via Seller Central.

Keep reading for a Pro Tip form Aaron Levy on evaluating your campaign automation during this time.

Take care,

Ginny Marvin
Editor-In-Chief

Pro Tip

Review how your automation performed during the last volatile period

"Every crisis is unique, volatile and requires different tactics to address. Algorithms can't necessarily differentiate between an unprecedented crisis and a really good Black Friday sale," explains Aaron Levy of Tinuiti. "You can generally assume that most bidding algorithms will favor the last 30 or so days worth of data. Take a look and see how long the last volatile period affected your campaigns. If it's a spike then drop (or a valley then climb), make sure the tool is making the right decisions."

"A safe way to predict the future is by looking at the past. Find your best day/week and your worst – did Smart Bidding keep up and make the correct decisions? Did it lag behind, and leave spend on the table? Did it react too quickly, or assume the good period would last longer than it did? The answer isn't simple for any of these questions."

Learn more »

The reason websites are losing valuable traffic from Google

In 2019, companies dependent on search traffic found out that, for 51% of all searches performed, Google fails to deliver a click to any external website. The data behind the growing number of these "Zero-Click Searches" prompted preeminent search expert Rand Fishkin to proclaim that Google is now undeniably "everyone's competitor" in search. This white paper from LongtailUX demonstrates the solution is to beat Google to the punch — creating landing pages that serve longtail search better than Google can.

Learn more »

Mindful Moment

This is a difficult time for us all. We are sharing a mindfulness exercise daily to help those interested to take a moment to decompress and regain focus. If you have a tip or exercise to share with the community, please email me at gmarvin@thirddoormedia.com.

Today's exercise is a fun one and comes from Allison Chaney, chief digital training officer at Boot Camp Digital: "My tip is to get up and have a dance party! Bonus points if you get your friends to join in on Zoom. As a digital marketer, it's easy to get sucked into the screens and lose track of time when there's no place to go. Getting up and moving around will help you shake off the funk and get into a more positive mindset and regain focus."

Search Shorts

Stay Home. Save Lives.

Stay Home. Save Lives. Google Doodle. Google has a special Google Doodle reminding us all to stay home – it will save lives. See the Doodle over here.

Search Console COVID-19 tool. A new beta tool in Google Search Console is available for a limited number of health organizations to post announcements in the search results.

Refine keywords. Google keyword planner tool has new refinement options.

Stay up-to-speed on modern marketing

Join us online April 21-23 for Discover MarTech, a free virtual event featuring live keynotes from MarTech Program Chair Scott Brinker and Real Story Group's Tony Byrne, in-depth marketing technology training, and exclusive community networking.

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