1. Google launches new search menu with icons
Google has started rolling out the new search bar with icons. Instead of just using text to show the various search categories or verticals for news, video, images, maps, shopping and so on – Google is showing icons that represent those categories as well. [Source: Search Engine Land]
2. LinkedIn Officially Launches Photo Tagging, Adds Video Within Messaging
LinkedIn has added a heap of new tools of late, and it continues to evolve its platform with smaller enhancements and updates aligned with boosting on-platform engagement. [Source: Social Media Today]
3. Bing now supports batch mode for submitting URLs to Bing
Bing announced it has added support to submit URLs to the search engine in batch mode. That means instead of making an API request for each URL you submit to Bing, you can batch multiple URLs into a single API request. Bing said it supports up to 500 URLs per batch submission. [Source: Search Engine Land]
4. Google Search Console performance overview report now shows 90 days of data
Google has updated the Google Search Console performance report overview section to go from 28-days of data to 90-days of data. This is a small update to the overview report, but it is very useful as this report can give you a quick visualization of the changes your site is experiencing over time in Google. [Source: Search Engine Land]
5. Mary Meeker: Social media usage is flat globally, mobile ad spend continues to climb
Mary Meeker has released her annual internet report, giving marketers a glimpse of where we are globally in terms of social media use and online ad spend, among other trends. While overall internet usage keeps growing, social media usage is flattening — but that’s not slowing down online ad spend. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]
6. Is voice over-hyped? A new survey suggests lower adoption than previously thought
A new report from SUMO Heavy suggests that despite the hype around voice and virtual assistants, adoption is seemingly not happening as quickly as expected. Also, majority of voice usage is happening on smartphones. [Source: MARTECH TODAY]
7. Facebook Releases New Guide on Reaching Your Audience at Key Moments
As per Facebook’s report ‘Moments that Bring People Closer Together’, an overview of these more specific audience-celebrations and events – here are some of the key highlights. [Source: Social Media Today]
8. Facebook backs social commerce startup Meesho in first India investment
Facebook explores ways to generate revenue from WhatsApp. The company is now turning to a startup that already has a lead. The social giant has invested in social-commerce startup Meesho in what is the first time the firm takes equity in an Indian startup. [Source: Tech Crunch]
9. Google tests showing weekly site visits in automated ad extension
Google has several types of automated extensions that can display in search ads — seller ratings, call extensions, dynamic sitelinks, etc. It’s currently testing a new version that highlights a site’s popularity. [Source: Search Engine Land]
10. Facebook ads aren’t what they used to be, so it’s time for smarter social ad buying
Facebook ads were once a hotbed for Lookalike audiences and bottom-of-the-funnel conversion actions, it’s now a crowded space that enables ad blindness and brand apathy on a foundational level.[Source: Marketing Land]
