Our weekly digest of what’s happening/trending in the digital world provided by Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and Search Engine Roundtable.

From Search Engine Land

Google tests showing answers under ‘people also ask’ feature
Google shows answers to the questions you didn’t even think you were asking with this new Google search results test. Read more

7 marketing and promotion tactics to get your content discovered
Seven tried-and-true content promotion strategies that will drive traffic to your content and website. Read more

Google My Business adds ‘women-led’ icon & attribute to business listings
Here’s how to add a ‘women-led’ icon to your Google Maps and local search listings. Read more

Google confirms core search ranking algorithm update
Google acknowledged the suspected update but says there is nothing webmasters can do to fix their sites if they dropped in rankings. Read more

AdWords custom columns now available at keyword and ad levels
Track and optimize to custom metrics tailored to your goals at all levels of your campaigns. Read more

Google tests rounded mobile search design without full Google logo
Google is yet again testing an even more curved design for its search results pages. Read more

5 conversion boosters to optimize your PPC campaigns
Earlier this year, Facebook broke some bad news. Organic reach is officially being choked, making it harder for brands to reach the audiences they’ve worked so hard to build. Read more

Google Images update: Captions added to images, pulled from the page title tag
To add more context to image results, Google will now display a caption with images in mobile Images search results. Read more

Notes are coming to AdWords, plus Recommendations & an Account Performance Score
Google has announced several productivity updates for the new AdWords interface, including the ability to note important changes right in the UI. Read more

Chat rate is the new CTR for AdWords message extensions
Google is rolling out message reporting metrics in the next few weeks for the US, the UK, Canada and other countries. Read more

Google says it removed more than 3.2 billion bad ads in 2017
The number of ads Google took down last year for advertising policy violations nearly doubled from 2016, and cryptocurrency ads will soon join the list of forbidden ad types. Read more

Creating landing pages that convert
Landing pages can make or break your digital marketing. Read more

4 concrete ways to use images to build links
Every picture tells a story and also may help you build links. Contributor Pratik Dholakiya shares four solid ways to use images to attract links. Read more

Google search results page displays answer without any search results
Who needs the ten blue links when you have the answer? Google is hiding the organic listings from some search results. Read more

Google adding business descriptions in Google My Business & local panel
Business owners will likely soon have the option to write and edit descriptions that show up in Google’s local knowledge panel. Read more

Google My Business updates the directions heatmap in Insights reporting
Check out the new report that shows you where people requesting directions to your business are located. Read more

From Marketing Land

No, we can’t say Facebook CPMs are up because of the News Feed change
Why new data doesn’t indicate whether people are spending less time on Facebook now. And what it does show. Read more

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey says the platform’s intention is to open verification to everyone
During a 45-minute livestream, Twitter’s CEO and three other executives answered questions around the site’s safety-abuse and misinformation issues. Read more

Report: Facebook owns the top mobile app in 10 out of 13 countries measured
Report from comScore examines key trends, shows mobile dominates user engagement but desktop still has greater reach in some markets. Read more

What does it take to run a successful email marketing program?
Get started with some tips from one of the world’s foremost digital marketers. Read more

Snapchat’s @-tagging test could help brands & influencers build their follower numbers
The company says the feature is in ‘test mode’ and currently works for any type of account, including ‘organic’ brand accounts. Read more

Creating the best lead-gen website, step by step
Before you jump into conversion rate optimization, your website must reflect a deep understanding of your customers, among other things. Read on for how best to approach the challenge. Read more

Bringing search intent to video: Google extends custom intent audiences to YouTube, launches TrueView for Action ads
The new ad format features more a prominent call to action and can reach people based on recent search history with custom intent audiences. Read more

GroundTruth adds ‘pay per SKU’ model to its performance location products
Targeting CPG brands, it only asks them to pay for actual in-store sales. Read more

Email marketing report: Email volume was up 18% in 2017
Yes Lifecycle Marketing analyzed data from more than 30B emails sent in 2017 to measure performance around open rates, subject lines and more. Read more

From Search Engine Roundtable

Search Buzz Video Recap: AMP To Go Standard, Google Search Updates, SEO & Heart Broken
This week I published the big monthly Google webmaster report, catch up quick there. Google said they hope to bring what they learned with AMP to the open web standards. Read more

Forget Making AMP Pages; Google Looks To Bring AMP Benefits To Open Web Standards
Google announced last night that they are looking to bring the benefits and techniques they have learned from the AMP efforts to the open web standards. Read more

Google Algorithm Update Over The Weekend – March 9th, 10th & 11th?
There may have been an algorithm update with the Google search rankings over the weekend, starting around March 9th. Read more

Google: Focused Search Updates Daily & Core Updates Every Other Month
When Google confirmed the Google update from the weekend, Danny Sullivan explained that it was a “core update” that happens only several times per year. Read more

Google Confirmed Weekend Algorithm Ranking Shift As “Core Update”
Yesterday we reported that we thought there was a Google algorithm ranking update over the weekend and to my surprise, Google actually confirmed it. Read more

Google Tests Dropping Full Google Logo On Mobile Search Results
As I covered at Search Engine Land via Android Police, Google is currently testing a new rounded design that actually cuts out the full Google logo and replaces it with the small G icon. Read more

Google Image Search Adds Captions To Search Results From Your Page Titles
Google announced yesterday they have added captions to the image search results in Google Image search. Read more

Google Automatically Ignores Many Links Including Amazon Affiliate Links
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter that Google does not “pass signals through a lot of different kinds of links,” when asked if Google automatically nofollow Amazon affiliate links. Read more

You Can Edit Your Business Description In Google My Business, Again…
Google is bringing back the feature to edit your business description for your local listings. Read more

New Google Search Console Doesn’t Default To Mobile Friendly Index
Tuesday, while I was on stage on the mobile-first Google panel I heard a rumour that Google’s Gary Illyes may have said that the new Google Search Console shows data only. Read more