This Week in Search: Google Releases Annual Webspam Report for 2017 and More!

Google’s Annual Webspam Report for 2017

Google recently released statistics for their annual Webspam Report. This outlines how the huge search engine combats spam on the web that violates webmaster guidelines.

According to Google, for many years less than 1 per cent of search results that users visited were considered spammy. The search engine giant further reports that they’ve managed to further reduce this number by half.

In the past year, they’ve fought against website hacking. Hacked websites pose serious threats to users because they can take complete control of a website and a user’s information. Google also removed unnatural links, reducing spam links by almost half as well.

Google’s Response to Organisation Accounts Feedback

The new Google My Business agency dashboard has been taking some hearty feedback from its users. While they’re still working on addressing all the feedback, they’ve released a FAQ that may prove useful for those handling Organisation accounts and syncing locations in Google Ads.

Here’s a quick overview of the Organisation Accounts FAQ:

Q: Does the person granting access downshift to manager?

A: Yes. Google recommends that agencies request manager access, or have the business owner add the agency account directly to their listing using the Location Group ID. This access level should provide an agency with all of the capabilities they need.

Q: I heard the business dashboard on Google search disappears when I move my listings into an organization account. Is that true?

A: No, the business dashboard continues to appear on Google with no changes for listings in organisation accounts.

Q: Will AdWords be able to sync and retrieve locations from under an Organisation account?

A: Yes. Google is actively working on a fix and will have a resolution over the next few weeks.

Q: Requesting access to my client’s listings isn’t working! What can I do?

A: An alternate way of accessing a client’s listing is to have the current listing owner add the Org Accounts Location Group ID to the listing as an owner or manager instead.

Facebook Lets Users See All Ads a Page is Running

Users can now view all the ads a page is actively running on Facebook – including ads run on Instagram, Messenger, and any Facebook partner networks.

This information can be accessed by going to a Facebook Page and selecting “Info and Ads”. Users are also now able to report ads if they see anything “suspicious”.

“Giving people more information about any organization and the ads it’s currently running will mean increased accountability for advertisers, helping to prevent abuse on Facebook.” – Facebook

New Automated Features on Google Ads

Google Ads is improving every day when it comes to Machine Learning and automation.

Here’s a breakdown of the new automated tools that Google Ads currently offers:

1. Smart Campaigns for small business. Currently available only in the US, Smart Campaigns allows small business owners to create and run automated ads that promise to produce significantly better results.
2. Universal app campaigns. This automated campaign type is geared toward helping advertisers get more app installations or drive in-app conversions.
3. Goal-optimised shopping campaigns. This automated tool makes managing Shopping ads easier, predicting bids that achieve maximum sales value.
4. Automated bidding. Google automatically predicts the likelihood of conversions, feeding the automated bids used for every unique action.
5. Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs). This tool automatically lets Google advertise a page’s site with an automated headline if it matches a user’s search.

Pure SEO – The Local SEO and SEM Experts

Pure SEO has a team of experts who can help build your brand’s online presence. To see how we can help your business grow, contact us today for a free consultation at 0800 SEARCH!