Bitesize hubbub: Voice Search, LIAs, Bing Ad Extensions & More
Welcome to our first instalment of ‘Bitesize hubbub’; small weekly chunks of the latest Paid Search & SEM News, with a few top tips and takeaway insight. So sit down, relax, and have a taste of this week’s Bitesize hubbub. Mmmmm…
The hubbub this week:
- Voice Search – Give me the answers and less search results!
- New Look Local Inventory Ads
- Bing Ads adds Ad Extension Scheduling
- Amazon Testing Product Listing Ads
Scroll down to find all the bitesize hubbub you need!
1. Voice Search – Give me the answers and less search results!
Stonetemple published an interesting survey this week that all search marketers should take notice of! The main takeaway was that 60% of voice search users want more answers rather than search results.
Credit: Stonetemple, 2017
Overall, they found that making calls, searching, texting and map lookups were the most common use cases for voice search.
Users often find it annoying to have to trawl through search results to find the answer they need themselves. Instead, they expect Voice Search to provide them with the answers directly; meaning that they don’t have to visit your site so often.
What does this mean?
According to Google, 20% of searches on it’s Mobile App and Android devices come from Voice Search. Voice Search is rising and this is going to grow exponentially in 2017. This means that it’s going to get better at answering user queries, this is a huge opportunity for businesses and marketers to optimise towards voice search. On the flip side, it can also be seen as a scary thing as it means that as Voice Search grows; less and less users will want to go to your website.
What can you do?
I’m an optimistic guy, and I believe that Voice Search provides everyone with awesome opportunities. Search Engine Land have given you some great tips from ensuring that everything from your Structured Data to your Google My Business data is up to scratch. Great for your organic traffic, but below we have outlined some things that you could look to do with your Paid Search activity…
Target longer-tail keywords – Voice Search queries tend to be questions. Try targeting such keywords that ma be relevant to you and your business.
Target longer-tail keywords – Voice Search queries tend to be questions. Try targeting such keywords that ma be relevant to you and your business.- Rich Ad Copy – give users a reason to click on your ad. Use Expanded Text Ads to answer their questions better.
- Utilise Ad Extensions – Get your Google My Business data up to date and ensure that you are utilising (where possible) Location Extensions, Call Extensions and test Message Extensions.
2. New Look Local Inventory Ads
Google look to be testing a new format for Local Inventory Ads which shows a deeper integration with the Google Local Pack. It was originally spotted by Mike Blumenthal below..
Credit: Mike Blumenthal on Twitter, @mblumenthal
PPC hubbub has managed to find the ad format being tested in the UK too for “near me” searches…
Credit: PPC hubbub on Twitter, @ppchubbub
What does this mean?
Google are always testing, and the above is a limited test for Local Inventory ads. Local searches are growing 50% faster than overall mobile searches so it’s no wonder that they are continually looking to improve on their local inventory ad format. You’ll also notice that they integrate very well with the Maps, something we know that Google are really looking to push for 2017.
What can you do?
- Get ready for some changes – for now, it looks to be just a test on a small scale but will no doubt look to be rolled out. Keep an eye on performance and use search query reports to monitor performance for terms such as ‘near me’. Optimise accordingly; find out more here.
- Utilise In-Store Visits data to help you quantify your online to offline performance. If Google roll out the above, do you see a better performance and higher footfall to store?
- Ensure your Google My Business data is up to date – you don’t want to be giving customers incorrect information!
- Test Local Inventory Ads – Are you running Google Shopping Campaigns? Do you have brick-and-mortar stores? Not yet tried out Local Inventory Ads? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING?! Go, test them. Find out more here.
- Target “near me” searches with Keywords and your standard Text Ads too! Take over the Google SERP by maximising on the growth of “near me” search queries and have both your LIA and Text Ads in the same auction #winning
3. Bing Ads adds Ad Extension Scheduling
Bing Ads is finally rolling out Ad Extension Scheduling across all Bing global markets. You can now control when your ad extensions are delivered.
What does this mean?
This added control helps you to target the times the matter most and ultimately reduce any wasted spend.
Ad extension scheduling is available for the following extension types:
- App Extension
- Sitelink Extension
- Callout Extension
- Call Extension
- Review Extension
- Location Extension
- Structured Snippet Extension
You can implement Ad Extension Scheduling through the Bing Ads UI, Google Import, Bing Ads API and Bulk Upload.
What can you do?
- Analyse your data and identify the times of day that matter the most to you and your business. Schedule your ad extensions accordingly.
- Schedule different ad extensions for when you have offers, sales or deals live – providing users with even more reason to click on your ad.
4. Amazon Testing Product Listing Ads
Panic hit the Paid Search industry earlier this month when Amazon was spotted testing Google Shopping Ads in the US.
What does this mean?
At the moment, it looks to just be a small test over a small subset of homeware products in the US. Could it be an admission from Amazon that Google Shopping is eating into it’s market share? Are we about to see the total domination of Google Shopping from Amazon? Or are they just testing to see what all of the fuss is about?
Let’s face it, Amazon have the potential to be a huge player in the Google Shopping space. Smaller businesses and advertisers will be the first to feel the squeeze if Amazon bully their way through.
What can you do?
So what can you do to ensure that you still have a fighting chance if they decide to implement Google Shopping as part of their Paid Search activity?
- Use Search Query Reports to optimise your Product Feed. You can use Search Query Reports to optimise your Product Titles and Product Descriptions. Do this regularly and test the performance.
- Keep an eye on updates for Google Shopping Feed Specifications. We haven’t been told what needs to be updated for 2017 as yet. For now, you can find more information on the 2016 specifications (as well as some hints for what’s to come for 2017) in our blog here; 2016 Google Shopping Feed Specification
Other interesting reads…
- Google AMP carousels are multiplying
- Four Resolutions for Shopping Success in 2017
- Year in Search 2020 by Google - December 21, 2020
- The Ash Taba Show | Dan Roberts speaks about culture, automation, search and more - May 29, 2020
- We’re back! Sorry we haven’t posted in a while… - April 18, 2020