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 confirms it shortened search results snippets after expanding them last December
Time spent increasing meta descriptions for the longer Google search results snippets may have been wasted. Read more

Google to notify those who leave reviews when business owners respond
The new feature will be rolling out over the next few days. Read more

Driving calls with PPC: 5 mistakes most search marketers make
Most search marketers want the same thing out of their pay-per-click campaigns: driving conversions up and cost per conversion down. Read more

Improving e-commerce text ads with ad customizer data feeds
No more keyword-stuffed ad copy, please. Instead, use ad customizers to update feeds and shift your focus to value-based advertising that will drive sales. Read more

Pause underperforming ads with this updated AdWords script
If you are running tests on your ads but don’t know how to interpret the results, contributor Daniel Gilbert has an updated AdWords script to help you pick which ads are performing best. Read more

Search is more than Google: Mastering vertical search optimization
Vertical search engines, mobile and voice trends seem to be reshaping the search landscape. Read more

Google News no longer supports the standout meta tag and Editors’ Pick
A few months after Google drops support for the meta news keywords tag, Google removes two other webmaster-related publisher features. Read more

Beating remarketing addiction and testing for incremental value using Google Analytics
Trying to kick remarketing ads? Why you may be addicted to them and how KPIs directly aligned with business objectives help avoid the vicious cycle that comes from ROAS-based objectives. Read more

How to build an e-commerce SEO strategy for large retailers
Three factors deserve special attention in developing an SEO strategy for online retailers. Read more

AdWords sets parallel tracking deadline & will warn advertisers using HTTP landing pages
Advertisers using third-party click measurement systems need to prepare for parallel tracking. AdWords will automatically redirect some HTTP ad clicks to HTTPS landing pages. Read more

What negative SEO is and is not
In the first of a six-part series on negative SEO and its effect on links, content and user signals, contributor Joe Sinkwitz sets the tone by dispelling myths and providing definitions of key concepts. Read more

From Marketing Land

Common mistakes and quick fixes to improve poky page speed
Three page load speed issues and provides simple but effective workarounds that will enable web pages to load faster and gain favour with Google. Read more

Improve paid search lead-gen with cohort analysis
Adopting cohort analyses is a powerful means to assess trends, retention and path to purchase. Read more

Google issues updated GDPR guidance to publishers on how to gain consent from users
Despite publishers’ claims that some of Google’s policies are self-serving, the company asserts it is in line with GDPR. Read more

Snapchat begins rolling out redesign on iOS that reverses changes launched last year
iOS users’ Snaps and Chats will be in chronological order again, and Stories from friends are going back to the right side of the app. Read more

Facebook expands its list of marketing partners, while limiting what view tags can do
After July 1, Facebook’s view tags will no longer be used for measurement purposes beyond counting impressions. Read more

Twitter is changing how conversations happen based on user behaviour and conduct
The company says it will use thousands of behavioral signals to filter search, replies and algorithmic recommendations. Read more

Facebook updates Ads Reporting & introduces new ‘creative reporting’ metric
The creative reporting metric lets advertisers compare which ad creative elements deliver the best results across campaigns. Read more

Why your media decisions matter for campaign location attribution
Vendors may seem to hold all the cards for location-based campaign measurement, but how your media buys have a substantial influence. Read more

Beating remarketing addiction and testing for incremental value using Google Analytics
Trying to kick remarketing ads? Why you may be addicted to them and explains how KPIs directly aligned with business objectives help avoid the vicious cycle that comes from ROAS-based objectives. Read more

From Search Engine Roundtable

Google Can Treat 308 Redirects As 301s
Google can treat 308 redirects the same as they treat 301 redirects, says Google’s John Mueller. Read more

Google: We Process rel=canonicals On Initial Fetch, Not Rendered Version
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter that GoogleBot currently will process the rel=canonical attribute on the initial fetch Read more

Is A Google Search Algorithm Update Brewing?
I am seeing some very limited and niche chatter around a possible Google algorithm and search ranking update starting over the weekend. Read more

Google: 15% Of All Queries Are Still Never Seen Before
Since 2013, Google has been saying 15% of queries are new and never seen before by Google. Read more

Google Forums Has Private Replies
Google posted a very generic how we help webmasters blog post the other day during Google I/O. Read more

Google’s Danny Sullivan Defends Reducing Length Of Search Snippets
We reported that Google cut down the search snippets length by about half just a few months (December) increasing it to 320 characters. Read more

New: Google Dynamic Rendering To Help With JavaScript In Search
Friday I mentioned something new that Google introduced named Dynamic Rendering. Read more

Google: The Faster We Can Crawl, The More We Can Crawl
This seems logical, but I’ll say it anyway, since Google’s John Mueller said it on Twitter. Read more

Google: Personalized Search Results Is “Very Light”
Danny Sullivan of Google has just posted officially about this on Twitter saying “personalization of results is very light.” Read more

Google Rich Snippets Not Impacted By Shorter Search Result Snippets
As you know, Google has cut down the snippet length in the search results significantly from when they increased them in December. Read more

Google: Shared IP Addresses Are Fine For Search
Google’s John Mueller once again said on Twitter that using a shared IP with other web sites, even if some of those sites are slummy or considered bad neighborhoods, is fine. Read more

Google Posts Video Upload Feature Now Working
Last week we reported how Google said you can now upload videos to your Google Posts so they show up in your local panel. Read more

Did Google Search Console Send You An Inaccurate WordPress Upgrade Notice?
Google does send notices via Google Search Console to upgrade your WordPress install or other generic CMS platforms that are outdated. Read more