Welcome back, My Digital Darlings,
It looks like G’s still in the hot seat thanks to their AI Overview blunders… but we’ve got the scoop on how SEMs and SEOs can navigate AIOs (say that 5 times fast). In the social sphere, Instagram’s unskippable ads are causing outrage, and LinkedIn’s new AI tools are giving B2B marketers some much needed attention. Let’s dive into the details.
Google (sort of) admitted they messed up with AI Overviews
AI Overviews (AIOs) visibility in the SERP has dropped significantly following last week’s snafu where AOIs delivered many inaccurate and sometimes dangerous responses. In a recent blog post, Google said the crazy search results are happening because their AI has difficulty interpreting nonsensical or satirical queries like “how many rocks should I eat?” Since these aren’t ‘real’ questions, there isn’t much info on the web that Google’s AI can use to answer them. And what info does exist online is satirical, which AI has trouble interpreting.
They listed some changes they’ve made to improve AIOs. The first is that they’ve “built better detection mechanisms for nonsensical queries that shouldn’t show an AI Overview, and limited the inclusion of satire and humor content.” That’s a good start!
I get that new technology typically doesn’t work perfectly out of the gate. But c’mon Google, you gotta admit… this whole scenario has been pretty funny. AI Overviews aren’t going anywhere so…
Here’s how SEMers can prepare for AI Overviews
PPC advertisers are rightfully concerned about impending drops in site traffic if searchers no longer need to click links to get information. Not only will revenue decline due to fewer site visits, remarketing lists and audiences will shrink due to the decrease in click data. The top tip to prepare for the shift is targeting more broad match keywords so that when Google starts incorporating ads into AI overviews, your site can be featured. The article also recommends embracing value based bidding, leveraging PMAX and Demand Gen campaigns, and more. Give it a read to prep for the AOI-powered future of search. And if you’re more of an SEO girl…
Here’s how to SEO your way into AIOs
SEOer Shepard Cyrus tweeted (sorry…Xed?) a ‘mini case study’ on how to get your site to show up in AI overviews. He simply updated the text on his web page to match the text that the AI Overview provided… groundbreaking. That said, he noted that if a site wins a link in the AOI, it’ll lose its structured snippet (for context, sites that have historically had structured snippet features are most likely to appear in AIOs). Google also released a patent that explains how Google selects links for AI overviews, so feel free to use that to game the system. In other Google news…
Google will deindex sites that don’t work on mobile
If you’re site isn’t accessible via smartphone, Google will stop ranking and indexing it starting July 5th. John Mueller explained, “The largest part of the web is already being crawled like this, and there is no change in crawling for these sites.” However, “after July 5, 2024, we’ll crawl and index these sites with only Googlebot Smartphone.” For up-to-date brands, this shouldn’t be an issue, but if you happen to get a new client and their site doesn’t load on your phone, making a mobile friendly site should be priority #1. And in my final bit of Google news…
Google offered guidance to advertisers on data privacy changes
With privacy law provisions going into effect in Texas, Florida, Oregon, Montana and Colorado, Google is making product changes to help PPC advertisers comply with the new regulations. These changes will result in less personalized ad inventory, a decline in the size of customer match and remarketing lists, less accurate reporting, and more. Which is a bummer, but kinda inevitable. Now for some social news…
Instagram tested unskippable ads and users were not happy
Instagram is testing a new feature called “ad breaks” - 3-5 second unskippable ads that are sure to disrupt users’ beloved doomscrolling. I get that they’re trying to compete with TikTok and like, make more money or whatever, but this is just too annoying. I stopped using TikTok because of the intrusive TikTok Shop ads, and I’ll do the same with Instagram… Don’t tempt me! In other social news…
LinkedIn shrinks link previews for organic posts
LinkedIn’s algorithm has long punished posts that link to external sites, and now they’re taking it a step further. Link preview images for organic posts have shrunk to ¼ of their original size. Which is frustrating since posts with images have much higher engagement than those without. It’s a rule of thumb for LinkedIn - every post needs an image in order to perform well. But now, you’ll only get the full size link preview image if you pay for a sponsored post. LinkedIn said the smaller previews for organic posts are meant to “help members stay on LinkedIn and engage with unique commentary.” No… y’all just want my money.
To mitigate the image shrinkage, advertisers can include an image directly in the post instead of having LinkedIn generate the header image from the link in your post. The image won’t be clickable, so this isn’t quite as good of a user experience, but adding an image to every post will help with engagement, and so will the fact that users have to expand your post to find the link. That makes it worth it, IMO. And in our last bit of social news…
LinkedIn created AI tools and expanded video ads for B2B marketers
The first change is the addition of in-stream video ads, which LinkedIn is calling “The Wire Program.” They also added new features to Accelerate, their tool that leverages AI to “create optimized ads in under 5 minutes.” New features include a Microsoft Designer integration for creative design, better targeting via exclusion lists, and an AI assistant that provides strategic campaign guidance. It’s nice that us B2B advertisers are getting some attention for once, and I’m excited to test out these new features.
And that’s a wrap on this week’s digital dish. From Google’s AI missteps to the latest social media upheavals, it’s clear that staying ahead means staying informed. Keep optimizing, keep questioning, and most importantly, keep reading This Week in Digital 🙂. Until next week, Darlings…
You know you love me.
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