1.Google Shopping expands to India in English and Hindi
Google is bringing its successful Shopping product to India, where it will also support product searches in Hindi. The service will also be available through Google Lens, which users can use to take pictures of products and automatically search for them on Google Shopping. [Source: Search Engine Land]
2.Instagram launches walkie-talkie voice messaging
Voice messaging is rolling out globally on Instagram Direct. Users can hold down the microphone button to record a short voice message that appears in the chat as an audio wave form that recipients can then listen to at their leisure. [Source: TechCrunch]
3.YouTube sunsetting call-to-action overlays in favor of new ad extension
Starting in January, YouTube will phase out the call-to-action overlays that have been around since 2009. In its place will come a new ad extension. [Source: Search Engine Land]
4.Google Q&A: Google’s Newest Knowledge Panel Feature
A few days back, Google announced it is expanding support for rich results within Q&A pages on the web. Google’s aims to use the Q&A feature to offer customers with additional information about a particular organisation or brand. [Source: Logicserve Digital]
5.Facebook’s Adding Search as an Ad Placement Option, Providing New Opportunities
Facebook will look to re-introduce search ads, which it originally tried back in 2012.The ads will essentially be the same format as regular News Feed ads, and will appear as an additional placement option within Ads Manager, though video ads will not be available. [Source: Social Media Today]
6. 6 new features coming to WhatsApp
WhatsApp has been testing several new features lately, like consecutive voice messages,picture-in-picture mode, private reply, dark mode and QR codes. [Source: Mint]
7.Google Maps’ ‘For You’ tab comes to iPhones and a whole lot more countries
In May, 2018 at Google I/O, the company introduced a range of updated or new Google Maps features, among them a new ‘For You’ tab that just got a wider roll-out. [Source: Search Engine Land]
8.Facebook expands Ad Breaks to 14 more countries, launches Watch globally on desktop
Facebook announced that it is rolling out Ad Breaks to 14 more markets, bringing the total number of countries with access to the 15-second in-stream ads to 40. It is also launching Watch globally on desktop and Facebook Lite. [Source: Marketing Land]
9.Google Lens can now be accessed directly from the search app on iOS
Google Lens, the search giant’s visual identification tool, can now be accessed directly from within the Google app on iOS. This move makes the service a lot quicker and easier to access, allowing you to tap on an object to identify it without having to take a photo first. [Source: The Verge]
10.Google officially drops support for several old Search Console reports
Google announced that it has officially removed several of the old reports within the old Google Search Console. This comes as no surprise as we reported earlier that Google would be dropping these reports on December 13. [Source: Search Engine Land]
