News

 

10 Second Takeaway: Google changes its search ranking factors fast, but perhaps never as fast as in 2016. This week, I was testing local search by using Twitter to send an emoji to Google. The response I received in seconds was an abbreviated local search for the emoji. Try telling that to someone 15 years ago. Search is irrevocably changed when an emoji gives you results. If you’re not strategizing about that or voice search or social search, you need to start right now. Here is the full scoop from Mashable.

 
 

Have you used Houseparty yet? The company says that it is receiving 1 million daily active users (DAU). That would put the video group chat app comfortably within the top 1,000 websites in the world. That means you need to start thinking about it for your organization.

Here are 11 other fascinating marketing facts about today’s digital landscape.

Here is what making me think about Google. I looked at previous issues of Spotlight from earlier this year and saw a clear trend. Changes so far in 2016:

  • At least two sets of results, including the main one, for mobile!
  • Removing the ads from the right side of the page and changing the number of ads and “organic” results on each page.
  • Warnings about mobile-friendliness and overall page speed.
  • New emphasis on local search
  • More focus on original content. If you just publish manufacturer specs or other generic information, your site will not receive as much search traffic as others who publish unique content.
 

Global WebIndex is adding mobile surveys in 40 countries to its research data.

They created a benchmark to start, and the results skewing to younger consumers was just one finding. In this chart, you can see that nearly half of “mobile-only users” are aged 16-24.

This is a tricky stat that’s worth over-explaining since it’s early and it’s Monday. Of the mobile-only, nearly half are 16-24. This does not mean half of 16-24 year olds are mobile-only users, although that day is coming too.

 

Lights. Camera. Search.

Google is experimenting with a thumbs-up and thumbs-down measurement of movies and television shows right on the search results page. 

Remember our caution about unique content? IMdb and Rotten Tomatoes will eventually be dwarfed by the number of ratings left by billions of Google users worldwide. Remember it’s nothing complicated–thumbs up or thumbs down. 

Think about what changes you could be making to give your organization that kind of unique data. Have a look at the details by clicking this link to Search Engine Land or by clicking their snazzy graphic above.

The Most Useful Thing I Read This Week: Google’s news isn’t all gloom-and-doom and we’re-taking-over-the-planet info this week. They’ve released a new service called “Trusted Contacts” that lets you choose loved ones or friends who can learn your whereabouts without having to call or text you. The feature can be turned on or off at your discretion, and you’ll always see a message when someone has used the feature to find out where you are. It isn’t just for the chronically tardy, but I’ll use it too. Lifehacker has all the details.

News

Technology companies made headlines this week by reinventing features they or their predecessors had launched before. They took old functions and made them new again.

That’s because the benefits that people want remain consistent. How your organization creates those customer benefits is part of your secret recipe. Here are some new programs that launched in the past few days.

  • Strangers will soon be able to chat in a “Rooms” feature that Facebook built in its Messenger app even though online chat rooms were the norm in the 1980s.
  • Google launched a new photo app to replace the thousands of apps and hardware pieces that currently digitize photographs.
  • Twitter is rolling out a “mute” feature to block words, phrases, and topics from displaying. That’s a twist on the 20 year old V chip television technology.
  • Slack is now up to 4 million users. Its basic premise is also many years old–a private Internet site for organizations or colleagues.

These are the new ways of delivering customer benefits that people have always wanted.The technology is only the method you use. Don’t get lost in the gee-whiz aspects.

Novelty effects have a short shelf life.

Your Marketing Spotlight for November 21

Now your photos look better than ever – even those dusty old prints
Now your photos look better than ever – even those dusty old prints

The new Google Photos app lets you take digital pictures of paper images without glare or other issues.

Facebook Launches Public Chat Rooms
Facebook Launches Public Chat Rooms

Facebook is testing a new public chat feature for its Messenger app. Called Rooms, these are nothing more than the public chat rooms you remember from sites like AOL.

Demographics of Social Media Users
Demographics of Social Media Users

Pew’s research is among the best in the world. We recommend that every organization leader review the new social media data in this report.

Twitter introduces a mute button for trolls as it struggles to fight online abuse
Twitter introduces a mute button for trolls as it struggles to fight online abuse

Twitter is in a continuing struggle against hate language and trolls. Their latest idea–a way to block certain words, even hashtags, from appearing on your Twitter timeline.

Google makes massive AMP changes

Googe AMP is going to be a new file format. We told readers and clients not to implement AMP because we knew that big publishers were complaining about the first version. Google just revamped the whole thing. And no, you still shouldn’t implement AMP.

Slack Hits 4 Million Active Users
Slack Hits 4 Million Active Users

This chart shows daily active and paid Slack users. Slack is like an Intranet–a private Internet site. What you need to know is that big firms are using it for collaboration, and the site now has 1.25 million *paid* users.

Digital Life – Don’t Believe Everything You See

20+ Amazing Images Before And After Photoshop
20+ Amazing Images Before And After Photoshop

When the name of a software becomes a verb, you can imagine the impact it has had on the industry. Straight out of the don’t believe everything you see category is this compilation.