Google I/O Keynote - Highlights Google’s biggest event of the year took place last week in San Francisco giving the company and developers the opportunity to showcase their latest projects.
A roundup of some of the key highlights from this event are listed below with further details available by following the attached articles:
Latest Version of Hangouts to integrate Talk, Google+ Messenger and also SMS texts.
http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/15/4334634/best-of-googles-i-o2013-keynote-hangouts-google-galaxy-s4
Google to launch music streaming service to rival Spotify called ‘Google Play Music All Access’.
http://www.ibtimes.com/spotify-vs-google-play-music-all-accesswhich-better-music-streaming-service-1271359#
‘Conversational Search’ goes live on Chrome, with an “OK Google” prompt feature to revolutionise Google search.
http://searchengineland.com/googles-impressive-conversationalsearch-goes-live-on-chrome-160445
Google Wallet to be integrated into Gmail, to allow easy access payment through the emailing platform.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/15/google-folds-wallet-support-intogmail-so-you-can-send-money-as-attachments/
Cross Device Measurement coming soon to Google Analytics allowing advertisers to track unique users across platforms.
http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/62754-cross-device-measurement-ingoogle-analytics-will-turn-mobile-marketing-on-its-head Key Impact on Search Google I/O Conference brought a number key developments that will directly impact search in the coming months and even years, with improvements to Google Voice making search on Chrome Desktop & Mobile more conversational in a similar fashion to Apple’s Siri on iOS as well as major developments in cross device attribution. While conversational search will mean searches will become a lot more casual and varied, it will be interesting to see how Google’s algorithm reacts to this change in search behaviour. Cross device attribution meanwhile has been a much demanded feature from many advertisers ever since mobile and tablet devices have become mainstream. User behaviour across devices will be invaluable to advertisers as they try to better optimise towards each device more accurately. Previously, it was unclear whether a user was abandoning an advertisers’ site on mobile completely for a competitor site, for example, or they were abandoning and returning at a later time on another device; making it hard to optimise accurately. This hurdle should soon be overcome with the developments Google are set to make within Analytics, although it will be interesting to see how accurate and reliable these results will be.
- Kevin Ting Watch the full Google I/O keynote conference here: https://developers.google.com/events/io/
Google Adwords Image Extensions BETA This week Google have launched yet another BETA in the form of image extension ads. This feature will allow users to submit up to 5 images within an adgroup allowing advertisers to display a preview of the product of service offered on the landing page. Only appearing if you are occupying position 1, this release will further emphasise position 1 advantages and encourage more competition for this top spot with the added visibility and exposure these ads will bring for your ad. (Availability may vary by country)
- Kevin Ting Read More: http://pip.net/adwords-image-extensions
New Google Ad Format in Google Maps Another feature announced at the big Google I/O conference last week was one involving new ad formats within the new version of Google Maps. This feature will enable ads with location extensions to appear directly below the search box in Google Maps as
well as on the map itself. Search ads without location extensions enabled will naturally not be eligible to appear on the map as an added ad. (Availability may vary by country)
- Kevin Ting Read More: http://searchengineland.com/google-testing-ads-in-new-google-mapspushes-adwords-location-extensions-160213
Google to Show Fewer Results from Same Domain Matt Cutts has announced that domain clustering within Google search results will be cut down. This means that when you search for a query, you will not be returned multiple results from the same domain in the Google search results. As Matt Cutts explained ‘The goal is to strike the right balance between offering diverse results but at the same time returning the best and most authoritative search results for the query’. This is good news for webmasters who may have faced stiff competition in the past from websites who would be listed multiple times for a particular query. I have come across the problem of seeing the same website rank multiple times for the same query to the point where it is almost a barrier to competition. I have noticed this taking place mainly for travel queries where the first page of results would be fairly varied but for any search results past page 1, the same website would rank for nearly all the search result pages thereafter, completely stifling out the competition. Let’s hope this change does indeed give users better search results whilst at the same time removing the dominance of certain websites appearing in the search results who do not merit being repeated several times.
- Alex Pye Read More: http://searchengineland.com/google-domain-clustering-change-159997
Do you suffer from SMAD? SMAD stands for Social Media Anxiety Disorder and many attribute the coinage of the term to Julie Spira, author of ‘The Rules of Netiquette’. SMAD can manifest itself in a number of ways but is generally defined as an ‘all-consuming and unhealthy obsession with what’s happening on social media’. This is not yet a widely recognised medical condition, but surely it is just a matter of time.
You can run an initial self-health check by asking yourself a few simple questions such as: -
Have you ever posted something on Facebook only to keep checking back every 10 minutes to see how many likes or comments you have? Have you ever pinned a picture on Pinterest and worried that no-one has repinned it? Have you tweeted from your bed last thing at night before you sleep, or checked emails on your phone from your bed as soon as you wake up?
If this sounds familiar - you’ve got SMAD.
- Artur Kozdrowski Read more: http://www.thesearchagents.com/2013/05/social-media-anxiety-disorder-doyou-have-it-how-can-you-manage-it/ SMAD case study in short story by Roger Gerald Scott ‘Social Media Anxiety Disorder and the Strange Case of Will Newman’: http://www.amazon.com/Roger-Gerald-Scott/e/B00BF8GXXY