Weekly Digital Marketing Roundup

May 1, 2017 – By Aaron Hockel

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

Google Expanding Ratings Presence in Local Search Results

This update, while not yet being seen globally for all searches, could be a major one. It appears that Google is now incorporating the quality element into search results when users included quality superlatives in their search terms. Checkout the below picture of the results for “best Atlanta personal injury lawyer”. The small ratings drop down only appears for searches that include words like “best”, awesome”, and “outstanding”. For a full explanation on the changes, read Conrad Saam’s complete breakdown on Search Engine Land.

Facebook Improves Tracking Pixel

Facebook has upgraded its tracking pixel to begin capturing more information from both users and websites themselves. It will track more user interaction information, such as button clicks, and structured website data. Tracked actions will now include things like button clicks which are very helpful for ecommerce oriented sites. The functionality will be live for everyone on May 20th. You can read more about this on Facebook’s posting covering the update.

Google Expands Hate Speech Policy

In a topic that has been in the news recently, Google continues to battle with ad placements next to offensive content. The expansion now covers “dangerous or derogatory content” and can even be applied at a page level. The previous policy blocked content at the site level. For a full breakdown, checkout Ginny Marvin’s coverage on Marketing Land.

Facebook Launches Retargeted Ads Containing Flight Information

Looking to travel? Facebook will now allow all airlines to show flights with prices for specific seats on exact flights through Ads Manager. Facebook gathers information about when and where a user is looking to travel, then allows advertisers to promote the price of a seat on an exact flight. The offering is very similar to one that was rolled out for hotels last year and was considered a success after an initial beta test with Cathay Pacific and Delta. Here is a full explanation of the new ad formats in the Facebook business help center.

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.