What were the updates you may ask? Let’s check them out:
#1. Google’s Site Ranking Algorithm (Penguin) Finally Updated
If you know what we’re about at Aumcore, you would understand that Google search crawling and SEM strategy is what we’re experts in. Late September, Google officially confirmed on their webmaster blog that they updated their search engine spam filtering algorithm known as Penguin and that is now part of their core algorithm. The update allows Penguin to now act in real-time, which means that crawl/index times will be faster and more efficient, and website changes in Google’s search engine will be noticeably quicker.
Google also worked on how Penguin devalues spam by changing up the systems it uses to rank certain parts of a websites content. Hopefully with time to come, the web will be a cleaner and less spam filled place for internet browsing.
#2. Google Releases Smart Messaging App “Allo”
On September 20th, the world stood still when Google announced the release of their own smart messaging app called Allo. Texting and messaging used to be a form of communication that was quick, easy, and emotionless. Now with consistent updates from Snapchat, Facebook’s messaging app, iMessage, etc. we’re noticing a trend towards more innovation and exciting ways to communicate with mobile devices.
Allo, released for Android and iOS, is the newest way to chat with friends. Smart Reply makes messaging easier by intelligently offering text suggestions based on something someone sends you. The app’s big theme is “express yourself”, and it sure doesn’t disappoint with the vast amount of ways you can send pictures, emoji stickers, and drawings. You can also type @google and make Google your own personal assistant by asking directions, restaurant suggestions, and much more!
If you want to read more about this awesome new messaging application, check out the official Google blog post on the subject!
#3. Google Calendar Events are now Visible in Google Maps
Saving time and making things less tedious, that’s what technology is about in today’s digital driven society.
At the end of the month, Google announced that Android users worldwide will now begin to see their Google Calendar events on Google Maps. By just simply clicking on a saved event posting, the app now automatically pinpoints its location. Allowing you to do things like get directions or see how far you need to travel. Labeling different names for commonly visited places can make daily actions quicker like locating your daughter’s school or favorite restaurant from wherever you are.
#4. Twitter Introduces “Moments”
Late in September, Twitter finally released its own version of a storytelling feature called “Moments”. With the likes being seen on other big time social media platforms, this was something that the declining application needed to bring to the forefront in order to stay competitive.
Moments are pretty much a collection of tweets that can be liked, shared, or embedded on other websites. All of these being time-relevant and from sources that are directly involved with what’s happening. These moments can be anything from the 2016 presidential election to cute pictures of sea otters. Will this resurrect Twitter back its glory days? It’s too early to tell, but at least we get another cool feature for the way in which current events reach us.
#5. Bing Releases Structured Snippet Extensions for US-Based Advertisers
Microsoft’s web search engine Bing is making some noise with their newly announced Structured Snippet this past month. These allow brands to highlight specific parts of the products/services that they want their customers to know when viewing them on Bing search results. They show short and sweet descriptions of just exactly what companies have to offer in ad form.
#6. YouTube Introduces Beta Version of New Community Tab
For all you big time YouTube video producers out there or even big time YouTube fans, you’re going to love to hear about this!
On September 13th, YouTube introduced a beta version of a new feature on their video platform called YouTube Community. This gives video creators new ways to engage with viewers and “express yourself beyond video.” Channel owners can now post live text, live videos, pictures, GIFs, and much more. Users who follow these channels on YouTube, will get notifications every time something is posted. Read more about it on their official blog release.
#7. New Google My Business Features
Throughout the month, Google has been releasing updates for their Google My Business. Some of the features include being able subscribe for push notifications every time a customer submits a fresh review or new URL abilities that allow users to add a restaurant’s menu into reviews.
The biggest feature listed on the official support page is that “Owners of listings can invite additional users to own or manage a listing” and “Adding Owners and managers lets users share management of a listing without having to share personal account info.” This can tremendously help businesses when managing multiple accounts and trying to maintain a successful strategy.
#8. Photos and Videos No Longer Count Toward Your 140 Characters on Twitter
Remember when we would have a nice photo with an even nicer caption, but couldn’t tweet it because the photo took up a good chunk of that 140 character limit?
Well, the sadness this brought on is no longer existent! Due to popular demand on the 19th of September, Twitter announced that photos, videos, GIFs, polls, and quotes no longer go against 140 character limit. Everyone can enjoy the fact that visual content doesn’t go against their tweet limit. This is truly a time to celebrate.
#9. Instagram Brings Pinch Zoom to Photos and Videos
One of the more bothersome features of Instagram has always been the inability to zoom in on pictures. Thankfully earlier this month, Instagram updated their application for iOS users to pinch zoom on uploaded photos and videos. Users will now be able to see high resolution photos for what they are and not just how big your phone’s screen will allow them to be.
#10. Google Limits Keyword Data Tool for Advertisers Only
We’re all familiar with the Keyword Planner tool, which helps businesses build their search ad campaigns by finding keywords that are highly relevant to what they’re offering. According to practicalecommerce.com, “Recently, however, Google decided to provide the detailed data within the tool only for AdWords customers with active accounts.”
What this means for smaller businesses trying to advertise on Google is hard to say for now, more info and cases will be looked at closely for months to come.
Well that just about sums it up for September, but be sure to come back to the Aumcore Blog for more trending topics in the always-advancing age of Digital Marketing.
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