1. Google postpones page experience update rollout
Google announced that it is postponing the rollout of the page experience update, specifically the ranking change, from May 2021 to be a gradual rollout that won’t start until mid-June 2021 and won’t be fully rolled out until the end of August. [Source: Search Engine Land]
2. Facebook Announces Social Audio that Goes Beyond Clubhouse
Facebook announced a suite of tools and Social Audio offerings to engage Facebook members in new ways. Among the offerings is a competitor to Clubhouse, which has made audio the hot social media trend. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
3. Microsoft Announces Private Search, New Ad Units, Paid & Organic Social Integrations & More
Microsoft unveiled several new features and technologies at Microsoft Advertising Elevate. In addition to new ad units, the announcement included new tools and technologies that are noteworthy even for businesses that aren’t currently advertising with Microsoft, such as private search technology and an upcoming small business hub with paid and organic social integrations. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
4. Google Search Console adds Page Experience report and filters for Search Performance report
Google has postponed the rollout of the page experience update, one of the reasons for doing so is to give site owners more tools to improve their pages for this update. With that, Google launched some new features in Google Search Console to aid developers with making these improvements. [Source: Search Engine Land]
5. Pinterest Expands Shopify Integration, Adds New Promotion Options for Shopify Merchants
Pinterest has announced that it’s expanding its partnership with Shopify to 27 new countries, a significant update to the initial pool that it first launched in May last year. They will also offer newer promotion optins for marchants like Dynamic Retargeting, multi-feed support for catalogs, etc. [Source: Social Media Today]
6. WordPress proposes blocking FLoC by default
A proposal that would block Google’s replacement for third-party cookies, Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC), by default across WordPress sites was put forth on Sunday. It is estimated that over 40% of all sites use WordPress (according to W³Techs), meaning that if this proposal gets implemented, a substantial share of browsing behavior may be hidden from Google’s ad-targeting technology. [Source: MarTech Today]
7. Facebook & Instagram Let Businesses Schedule Stories
Facebook is rolling out several updates for businesses which include the ability to schedule stories across Facebook and Instagram. In addition to scheduling stories, the tool will soon be capable of managing photo albums and saving draft posts. [Source: Search Engine Journal]
Facebook has announced new topic-based targeting options for its in-stream ads, as well as the first stage of ads in Instagram Reels, expanding its outreach options. [Source: Social Media Today]
9. Google local car dealership inventory search results
Google appears to be testing local car and auto dealership inventory in search results. The company has not commented on this news yet but you may be able to access local automobile inventory in the US by visiting google.com/local/cars. [Source: Search Engine Land]
Apple’s controversial new data tracking pop-ups, which will directly ask iOS users to opt-in to tracking of their activity within each individual app, will come into effect next week as part of the launch of iOS 14.5. [Source: Social Media Today]
