In this month’s Digital Roundup, we take a look at some of the newest developments and trends in the world of digital marketing, including Google’s additions to their core algorithm, a potential rival to ChatGPT, GA4 & UA integration and more.
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Google Rolls Out Core Algorithm Update March 2023
Google has confirmed the latest update to the core algorithm began rolling out 15th March 2023. The regular core updates usually take a couple of weeks to complete so the full extent of any changes is as yet unknown. Keep a close eye on your analytics for any changes.
Google has revealed that the broad core update will impact all regions and all languages. As with some previous updates rather than penalising specific pages and sites, According to Google, “the changes are about improving how our systems assess content. These changes may cause some pages that were previously under-rewarded to do better in search results.”
The latest update promotes or rewards websites with valuable, high-quality content. Core updates impact Google Discover and other features, also feature snippets and more.
The key for website owners now is to monitor metrics, assess and ensure quality content, and prioritise the user experience including technical SEO.
If you were hit by the latest core update then it’s time to reassess your content. You can read Google’s advice for more information.
GA4 Audience Builder Now Available Through Google Ads
There is a new feature being added within Google Ads which lets you access the GA4 audience builder directly through the Google Ads interface. Due to be rolled out to all in the coming months, this latest improvement helps to simplify the audience creation process.
For marketers to use this new facet first you’ll need to link your Google Ads account to your Google Analytics property. Marketers will be able to create and apply GA4 audiences to their campaigns to get a better understanding of customer cycles and strengthen remarketing efforts without leaving the platform.
We’re looking forward to using this!
Two New Ad Types From Instagram
Is your audience on Instagram? If the answer is yes, you’re going to love this one. Instagram has announced two new ad types and one is already available on the platform.
- Reminder Ads – This ad type can be a great way to create hype and excitement around an event you’re promoting. With these ads you’ll now be able to use ‘Remind me’ as a call to action on your Instagram Ads. If people click on the ad and choose ‘Remind me’, Instagram will notify them 3 times, one day before, 15 minutes before and at the time of the event. Go ahead and give it a try, let us know about the results.
- Search Result Ads – These ads will show up once you click on a post on Instagram’s search results page and start scrolling. This will be a big opportunity for businesses to reach more people on Instagram, but we’re going to have to wait for this for a little while longer as they’re only beginning to test this ad type and only said that they are planning to launch it in the coming months.
Open-Source ChatGPT Clone Dolly Makes its Debut
ChatGPT and the concept of human-instructed AI have swiftly begun to dominate the cutting edge of the marketing landscape, finding use across SEO, social media and content writing. It often seems the lifecycle of a new technology involves an inevitable transition from its originators into the hands of the general industry through open-source models – could Databricks’ Dolly spell the end for ChatGPT’s monopoly?
Its developers aren’t unaware of what they’re doing, naming the new OpenAI after the world’s first cloned sheep. Databricks have stated they aimed to show that with “30 bucks, one server and three hours” they could teach Dolly to perform to the level of ChatGPT’s seemingly human-level interactivity.
If Dolly acts well in the hands of consumers the team wouldn’t be mistaken – their model stands at 6 billion parameters, compared to the current favourite’s 175 billion, and aims to put the ability of building and teaching customised chatbots into the hands of the many instead of a few select companies.
“Every organization on the planet will probably utilize these,” they have stated, “our belief is that in every industry, the winning, leading companies will be data and AI companies that will be leveraging this kind of technology and will have these kinds of models.”
With democratisation often comes a speed of new user-generated advancements that can outrun the big players, so it isn’t naïve to project that Dolly or a similar clone could usher in a spree of advancements to the field of OpenAI that further cement its growing position.
Knowledge Graph – the First CMS to Generate its Own Content
Software company Yext announced the latest addition to their Knowledge Graph product in their Spring 2023 release, following yearlong trials with their customers of a new system that they claim can reliably and proactively produce its own content.
The model uses machine learning to study a business’ writing style and tone of voice, to create brand-specific, relevant content: from blogs, headlines, descriptions and more, all with minimal human instruction.
Yext hopes that with industry-specific input and smaller scope, their model will avoid the snags and pitfalls of more general large language AIs such as the contextually unrelated or factually incorrect responses referred to as ‘hallucinations’.
The use of such a system, along with Yext’s other products including AI SEO services, is clear – regardless of the questions it raises of authenticity and substance, the time and manpower these products claim to save will mean only that their use will continue to grow, and further be integrated into the systems we use as marketers.
Ways to better optimise product listings for e-commerce
In March, there was some exciting news for e-commerce vendors from Google Search Console. They’ve released new reports to showcase the clicks and impressions for product snippets and merchant listings. These reports will help e-commerce businesses identify any potential issues with their product listings and track how well their products are performing in Google Search. Essentially, the reports will show online merchants how often their products are being shown in Google Search, how many clicks and impressions they’re getting, and the search queries that triggered them to appear. This information will be very useful in optimising product listings and improving visibility in search results. Happy e-commerce optimising!
Watch out for new GA4 & UA property integration
You may have noticed a suggestion from Google Analytics to generate a GA4 property that links up with your historical Universal Analytics property, pulling across existing site tags and goal configuration. Be aware that if you have already created a GA4 property, UA is likely to attach to that one, which may confuse any new configuration that you have set up. With the launch of GA4, a wonderful opportunity has arisen for businesses to have an in-depth review of the conversions they are tracking and the website events they want to focus on monitoring. A suggestion from SocialB would be to create another GA4 property which you can highlight for UA configuration if you would like to review the benefits of that data, without unpicking any fresh GA4 formation you have implemented so far.
Google Ads CPC to rise by up to 30% across all industries in 2023
According to a report from Videnglobe, Google Ads costs are projected to increase by 20-30% in 2023 compared to a 5-19% rise in 2022. WordStream also reports that the Google Ads cost per lead (CPL) has increased for 91% of industries YoY, and Insider Intelligence points out that conversion rates have fallen in 21 of 23 industries. Although this may be a bit discouraging for business prospects, it’s important to remember that maintaining strong KPIs relies on a multi-channel approach, and remarketing ads are more valuable than ever before. It’s likely that inflation is playing a role in these rising costs, so it’s crucial for marketers to stay vigilant and double down on omni-channel marketing strategies while keeping an eye on ROAS and other performance indicators.
