Weekly Digital Marketing Roundup

March 26, 2017 – By Aaron Hockel

Here are the biggest announcements, product updates, and news stories impacting the digital marketing industry last week:

New Ad Formats Coming To Facebook

Will “collection” ads on Facebook become the most immersive in internet history? With their combination of video, pictures, and product catalogs all in one place, the answer could be yes. The ads are engaging, with a video on top followed by additional product images below, and a click anywhere on the ad will take users to product catalogs containing up to 50 items. Below is a picture of the new ad format. For more on this story, click here to read the full story on Social Media Today.
 

Facebook Testing GIF’s In Comments

A functionality that users have been requesting is finally coming to Facebook, maybe. In the coming weeks Facebook will be testing GIF’s in comments. They will work very similar to how they currently function in Messenger, with users accessing a library of GIF’s from providers like Giphy then choosing and inserting the GIF into posts. For full coverage, checkout this article from TechCrunch.

Google Confirms FRED Update

Last week we reported on an unconfirmed Google algorithm update nicknamed “FRED”. This week we can report it was confirmed by Gary Illyes of Google via his twitter account. The confirmation noted the update specifically targeted SPAM sites that go directly against Google’s webmaster guidelines and the penalized sites would have eventually been penalized with or without the update. The specific violations were not disclosed. For more on this, checkout SEO Roundtable’s coverage by clicking here.

Google’s Mobile First Index Is Coming….Eventually

While search officially crossed over to a mobile first world last year, the mobile first search index is still months away. Google’s Gary Illyes confirmed it is still coming and the plan is to launch it this year. His comments came at the SMX West Conference last week. Click here to read the whole story on Search Engine Land.

Missed last week’s roundup? Click here for the biggest digital marketing stories from last week!

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Aaron Hockel

Aaron Hockel is a Partner and the VP of Digital Marketing at AltaVista Strategic Partners. A University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) alumnus, Aaron expertly crafts digital marketing strategies that drive success for clients, leveraging his deep industry knowledge and innovative approach.