🔍 Google Ads wants to recommend | Key local stats

Plus, reporting bug update, conversational search and SEO and more. May 07, 2019 Good morning, search marketers, want more recommendations? Google wants to show them to you. Those auto-generated recommendations in the Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising UIs have come a long way in the past year. Now, it looks like [Google is going to start surfacing recommendations in more places]( in the UI. Thanks to KoMarketing’s Andrea Cruz for tipping us off to a new keywords recommendation card showing on the Keywords tab in one of her accounts. I haven’t seen this myself, but it makes sense that Google would want to show suggestions on related pages in the UI. Google Ads is still working on clearing up that reporting bug. [Data through April is now correct](, so you can wrap up those monthly reports, but May 1 and a few hours of May 2 have not been fixed yet. Google hasn’t said what data was wrong, and from what I’ve seen and heard from others, the variances don’t look all that drastic. It would be hard to tell anything was wrong — which makes it all the more frustrating to me that the only place the notice shows up is in the UI at the top level of an MCC or account. The message doesn’t show in the app or in Editor. As digital marketers, it can be easy to dismiss the significance of local and the interconnection of online and offline. “Stop thinking of local as ‘plumbers and restaurants,’ it’s really about trillions in annual consumer spending,” says our own Greg Sterling. To prove the point — and provide a handy resource — he’s compiled a rundown of [key local stats every marketer should know](. Consumers, since the beginning, have used the internet as a tool to support offline buying. They’ve never ascribed to the idea of silos separating online and offline, and it’s time marketers stopped. Lots more below, including Search Shorts and a pro tip on conversational search. Ginny Marvin Editor-In-Chief Pro Tip Here’s why conversational search should be part of your SEO strategy “When strategizing for voice, the SEO must understand the conversational journey as well as the next three follow-up questions someone is going to ask,” explains Jim Yu of BrightEdge. “Your current strategy may involve wading through a list of keywords from keyword planner manually looking for conversational searches, or turning to a point solution with display-only capabilities and lacking in search volume, as it’s completely disconnected from your SEO workflow. Understand which portion of your keywords are quick answers, and which percentage you are winning. Listings and business data accuracy are crucial in both regular and voice search. Here’s what you can do: 1) Enable voice search on your site by incorporating speech recognition. In doing so, you can extend the hands-free functionality that brought a consumer from search to your website as they continue their journey with you. 2) Make sure that your content is optimized, structured and marked up properly to show Google you are the best answer – and then to deliver on that promise to searchers with top quality content, whether the query was text or voice-based.” [Read More »]( Live Webinar: Identity Resolution: Secrets to Success - May 9 Sponsored by Infutor Today’s consumers operate in real time and the need to be in front of them at the moment of decision is more critical than ever. You need to know who your consumers are at the moment of both inbound and outbound engagement to provide in-the-moment, personalized experiences. Join us for a discussion on how top brands are resolving identity and personalizing engagements during the key moments in the customer journey. [Read More »]( Search Shorts Meet Gary Illyes, keep learning and 404s aren’t cheap. Change of Address tool. There are some reports of [bugs with the change of address tool]( in Google Search Console. Learn more. Google’s John Mueller said it [can be useful to learn about information retrieval algorithms](. Meet Gary Illyes. This Wednesday in Sydney, Australia, [Gary Illyes from Google is holding an informal meetup]( — pizza may be served. 404s not cheap. [404s are not always that cheap]( says Google’s John Mueller, so take care of your web site. What we're reading We've curated our picks from across the web so you can retire your feed reader [Google Shopping: How to Set Up, Optimize, and Execute Your Campaigns]( – Go Inflow [In the Game of SEO, You Need These 5 SEO Lessons]( – Conductor [Localize your PPC with Geo Ads Customizers]( – Metric Theory [May 2019 Google Webmaster Report: Massive Bugs & New Features]( – Search Engine Roundtable [Optimize at the Speed of Search – Introducing BrightEdge Instant]( – BrightEdge [The Guide to Combine Content Marketing with PPC]( – PPC Hero [The Importance of Redirects and Technical Review When Launching a Site: Why Doesn’t Joe Biden’s Campaign Site Rank in Google?]( – Keylime Toolbox [Upcoming breaking changes to the Google Ad Manager API]( – Google Ads Developer Blog [We Live in the Age of Voice Assistance]( – Stone Temple Join Us Gain expert SEO & SEM tactics to drive your campaign's success. Attend SMX Advanced, June 3-5! 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