🔍 Google's new tool for reporting false security issues

Aug 27, 2020

Good morning Search Marketer, have you ever been flagged for something that wasn't really an issue?

We've all been there, and I mean that: Google's systems once misidentified Search Engine Land as being hacked and removed us from the index for a brief period. But, Google had to take notice before it could restore us in the search results. To enable sites to alert it of security issue false positives, Google is testing a "Report a Security Issue" button, which should help sites mistakenly removed from Google get the problem sorted out sooner.

With more than 80 million customer calls per month being driven by Google search ads, there's an enormous opportunity to use call analytics to turn engagement into conversions and cut underperforming campaigns. During his session at SMX Next, Bill Hyatt, senior director at Invoca, explained how call analytics could integrate with Google Ads campaigns to track the true cost of conversions for customers that fill out contact forms as well as the ones that bypass forms and go straight to calling your business. Read more about Hyatt's insights and other ways that call analytics can be used for sales enablement, marketing attribution, personalization and retargeting right here.

Today our Editor-in-chief Ginny Marvin makes her return from some well deserved time off, so tomorrow morning you'll be hearing from her. It's been an honor to write the newsletter for you over the last week-and-a-half. Until next time, take care!

George Nguyen,
Editor

Indicators

B2B digital advertising thrives as traditional B2B spend plummets

Despite representing only a small piece of total U.S. digital ad spend, B2B digital advertising is thriving – even as the pandemic continues to hamper economic growth. eMarketer forecasts that U.S. B2Bs will spend $8.14 billion on digital ads this year, up 22.6% from 2019 when spending was $6.64 billion.

Why we care. Over the past few years, B2B digital ad spend has "outstripped digital ad spending growth overall, with a CAGR from 2016 through 2019 of 24.7%, vs. 22.6% for all US digital advertising," reported eMarketer. "But due to the pandemic and the unique conditions for B2B marketers who are rapidly shifting spending from in-person events, growth will reaccelerate this year by 22.6%."

Read more »

Webinar Today! Boost Your Google Ads ROI with Call Tracking & Conversational Analytics

The needs of your customers and their buying behavior are changing more rapidly than ever. Optimizing your paid media campaigns is no longer part of quarterly planning—now it takes unprecedented agility and adaptation to keep up. Attend this webinar and find out how to optimize and automate your bidding strategies using Google Smart Bidding and call tracking.

There's still time to register! »

Search Shorts

Microsoft Flight Simulator and how Bing Maps helped.

Microsoft Flight Simulator and Bing. Check out this behind-the-scenes video showing the technology Bing Maps is bringing to the new Microsoft Flight Simulator.

Google unconference explained. Martin Splitt from Google was heartbroken not everyone could join the Google webmaster unconference and he explained on Twitter why not everyone was able to fit. Oh, and here is Aurora Morales from Google prepping for the event.

It depends. For anyone who follows Google's John Mueller, you know he says "it depends" a lot. So he asked on Twitter "To balance some of the "it depends" in messaging around SEO, I've been wondering about alternatives. What are some absolute truths in SEO that you've come across?"

Report: Insights-led engagement for the mobile-first consumer

Sponsored by MoEngage

The mobile-first consumer is different. They are tech-savvy and are aware that brands collect a ton of data about their tastes, preferences, likes, and more. They expect marketers to use these insights and then engage them with personalized and relevant communication across channels.

Unfortunately, marketing and product teams often struggle to meet these expectations. A typical marketing department is usually stuck with a complicated network of tools for campaign management, automation, analytics, and more. These tools are siloed and provide an incomplete view of the consumer journey and behavior. Instead of leading with consumer insights, marketers often end up running campaigns first and then rely on reporting tools to see if it worked.

Read More »

Enter the 2020 Search Engine Land Awards before this Saturday!

Submit your most impressive search marketing campaigns for your chance to win industry-wide recognition, boost team morale, and impress new clients! The Early Bird period ends this Friday August 28 at 11:59pm PST – don't miss out!

Enter now! »