If rankings or traffic drop following these updates, a new SEO strategy may be required. We are committed to staying ahead of these changes and ensuring your campaign benefits from our expertise and strategic approach. By adapting to Google's latest updates, we have helped our partners maintain a competitive edge in search rankings, providing them with the best tools and strategies to thrive in the evolving digital landscape.
THE LEAK OF GOOGLE’S DOCUMENTATION
In addition to the algorithmic updates, a recent leak of Google’s internal API documentation has confirmed many practices incorporated in our SEO campaigns. Key insights from that documentation include:
Focus on quality backlinks.
Despite recent articles and opinions stating otherwise, authority is still a major part of Google’s algorithm, and it’s all about quality and diversity over quantity.
User engagement.
Clickstream data tracked via Google Chrome in addition to metrics such as time on site and bounce rate are critical.
Focus on quality backlinks.
Despite recent articles and opinions stating otherwise, authority is still a major part of Google’s algorithm, and it’s all about quality and diversity over quantity.
User engagement.
Clickstream data tracked via Google Chrome in addition to metrics such as time on site and bounce rate are critical.
Content authenticity.
A focus on authentic content from industry experts receives more attention than generic content.
Technical search engine optimization (SEO).
Importance of site structure, schema markup, and secure connections. Technical search engine optimization (SEO).
These insights confirm that our methodologies align with Google’s guidelines, ensuring optimized success for our partners.
A focus on authentic content from industry experts receives more attention than generic content.
Technical search engine optimization (SEO).
Importance of site structure, schema markup, and secure connections. Technical search engine optimization (SEO).
These insights confirm that our methodologies align with Google’s guidelines, ensuring optimized success for our partners.
Advertising in The Cookieless Future
Google has begun the advertising world’s transition into the cookieless future. Google recently disabled cookies for 1% of their Google Chrome users (30 million people). Chrome has about 65% of the internet browser market share. So when they sunset cookies, cookies won’t be able to be used for ads targeting Chrome users. This shift is happening as we speak, prompting a need for new strategies in data collection and ad targeting.
WHAT IS A COOKIE, ANYWAY?
Does your company website include a pop-up that says, “We use cookies to improve our user experience and analyze website traffic,” and asks the consumer to accept or change their user preferences? This type of cookie isn’t the ooey-gooey chocolate chip kind; it’s a small file that websites send to consumer devices that the site uses to monitor and remember certain information about the consumer. Cookies know what’s in their shopping cart or even login information. What does “cookieless” advertising mean, and why is this transition happening? When cookies go away, data providers and advertisers must rely on solutions that don’t use cookies to track users and their information.
For example, if a consumer is in the market for a new pair of running shoes:
WHAT IS A COOKIE, ANYWAY?
Does your company website include a pop-up that says, “We use cookies to improve our user experience and analyze website traffic,” and asks the consumer to accept or change their user preferences? This type of cookie isn’t the ooey-gooey chocolate chip kind; it’s a small file that websites send to consumer devices that the site uses to monitor and remember certain information about the consumer. Cookies know what’s in their shopping cart or even login information. What does “cookieless” advertising mean, and why is this transition happening? When cookies go away, data providers and advertisers must rely on solutions that don’t use cookies to track users and their information.
For example, if a consumer is in the market for a new pair of running shoes:
Google Gemini in Search - New For 2024
Search experience will improve again in 2024! Gemini is Google’s most advanced AI model yet, capable of understanding and generating text, code, and images.
Google hinted at a gradual rollout of Gemini in 2024 - early access is already available through specific applications like Google AI Studio.
Gemini should improve the search experience, personalizing results to a user based on their needs and location, and even adapting in real-time to events and trends. This makes up-to-date and valuable content even more important to advertisers.
Check out this article on everything you should know about Google Gemini today.
Google hinted at a gradual rollout of Gemini in 2024 - early access is already available through specific applications like Google AI Studio.
Gemini should improve the search experience, personalizing results to a user based on their needs and location, and even adapting in real-time to events and trends. This makes up-to-date and valuable content even more important to advertisers.
Check out this article on everything you should know about Google Gemini today.
Google Business Profile Websites Ended
Creating websites with Google Business Profile is no longer supported. Existing websites with Google Business Profiles were turned off on March 5, 2024. When customers click the website, they will be redirected to the Business Profile, which will work until June 10, 2024.
If you’re running Local SEO, our campaign managers will reach out if you are affected.
To support our customers through this change, we recommend our SaaS Affordable website option that could have you up and running with a fully functioning website in a few days.
Click here for more information from Google on this change.
If you’re running Local SEO, our campaign managers will reach out if you are affected.
To support our customers through this change, we recommend our SaaS Affordable website option that could have you up and running with a fully functioning website in a few days.
Click here for more information from Google on this change.
Google Business Profiles Performance Report Streamlined for Driving Directions
In a recent update, Google announced a reduction in data sharing within the driving directions report of the Google Business Profiles. Effective January 2024, businesses may experience fewer direction requests. Google attributes this change to privacy concerns, emphasizing the importance of enhancing privacy measures for more accurate results. While the correlation between less data and increased accuracy is still being determined, the focus remains on safeguarding user privacy.
Google's Universal Analytics (UA) Has Stopped Tracking Website Data
Effective July 1, 2023 Google has change the way it tracks website analytics. Data collected up to that point will be available for download up to July 1, 2024. Current UA data will not be moved over to GA4.
This means that all Google Analytics users will need to be setup on GA4.
Click here to learn more about GA4 and how Nimble can help.
This means that all Google Analytics users will need to be setup on GA4.
Click here to learn more about GA4 and how Nimble can help.
Google Metrics Update as of February 20, 2023
Google is making changes to the reporting metrics. These changes will
cause analytics/traffic to appear lower than previously, but that is expected. The changes will improve accuracy and
give you true online presence analytics in Google.
These changes will only affect the data as of February 20, 2023.
Google has improved their duplicate traffic detection, which will reduce metric values. In addition, while some data will be removed, there will be new data added or replacing existing metrics:
1. Google map views and search views are now referred to as impressions.
2. Google search queries is being replaced by Google search term impressions.
3. The number of times a Google post was viewed will no longer be available.
4. The number of times the call to action button was clicked on a Google post will no longer be available.
EXAMPLE
A user is looking around for a restaurant to visit. They have typed "Restaurants near me" into Google Maps on their phone and are browsing that list. A business called "Pizza Place" appears in several locations in the app and is rendered a few times while looking around on the maps. As a result, the user sees this business seven times in this mobile maps session.
They decide to go to Pizza Place but want to print the directions out first. They go to their desktop computer and search "Pizza Place", thus logging a desktop search impression. They then click the directions button in the place sheet. This takes them to the desktop maps site, where they print the directions, thus logging another impression on desktop maps.
Previous Google Metrics: In total, we have nine impressions (seven mobile maps, one desktop search, and one desktop maps impression). The impressions for this user would have been reported as eight map views and one search view.
New Google Metrics: Now, a user is only counted once for each impression. So now we have three impressions (one mobile maps, one desktop search, and one desktop maps impression). Next, we only count the first impression type/metric per user. In this case, the user started on mobile maps, so that is the impression we keep.
Now, this user has gone from logging nine impressions to logging only a single impression with the new analytics.
cause analytics/traffic to appear lower than previously, but that is expected. The changes will improve accuracy and
give you true online presence analytics in Google.
These changes will only affect the data as of February 20, 2023.
Google has improved their duplicate traffic detection, which will reduce metric values. In addition, while some data will be removed, there will be new data added or replacing existing metrics:
1. Google map views and search views are now referred to as impressions.
2. Google search queries is being replaced by Google search term impressions.
3. The number of times a Google post was viewed will no longer be available.
4. The number of times the call to action button was clicked on a Google post will no longer be available.
EXAMPLE
A user is looking around for a restaurant to visit. They have typed "Restaurants near me" into Google Maps on their phone and are browsing that list. A business called "Pizza Place" appears in several locations in the app and is rendered a few times while looking around on the maps. As a result, the user sees this business seven times in this mobile maps session.
They decide to go to Pizza Place but want to print the directions out first. They go to their desktop computer and search "Pizza Place", thus logging a desktop search impression. They then click the directions button in the place sheet. This takes them to the desktop maps site, where they print the directions, thus logging another impression on desktop maps.
Previous Google Metrics: In total, we have nine impressions (seven mobile maps, one desktop search, and one desktop maps impression). The impressions for this user would have been reported as eight map views and one search view.
New Google Metrics: Now, a user is only counted once for each impression. So now we have three impressions (one mobile maps, one desktop search, and one desktop maps impression). Next, we only count the first impression type/metric per user. In this case, the user started on mobile maps, so that is the impression we keep.
Now, this user has gone from logging nine impressions to logging only a single impression with the new analytics.
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