May 2022 – SEO and Marketing News

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May 13, 2022 / by
May 2022 – SEO and Marketing News

While we continue to witness atrocities happening in Ukraine and we face a grave cost of living crisis at home, the SEO and marketing sector keeps chuffing along with Google, as ever, the cause of much of the relevant news. So, what has happened so far this May and how much longer can we go before mentioning Elon Musk, Johnny Depp or Vladimir Putin?

Google launches new digital marketing certificate

Google has announced the launch of a new career certificate in digital marketing and e-commerce in an effort to help job seekers and employers acquire the necessary skills to be successful in online business. The new certificate is endorsed by the American Association of Advertising Agencies (the 4A’s) and the American Advertising Federation (AAF). In addition, Google promises to give every US business up to 500 Google Career Certificate scholarships to help upskill their employees.

TikTok Pulse puts brands next to the top 4% of videos

TikTok Pulse is an advertising revenue-sharing program that will launch in June in the US for creators with at least 100,000 followers. This “contextual advertising solution” will let advertisers get visibility next to the top 4% of content in TikTok’s For You feed. This is TikTok’s first exploration of an advertising revenue share program with creators, public figures and media publishers, the company said. Ad revenue will be split 50-50 with creators.

Google blocked 3.4 billion ads and suspended 5.6 million accounts in 2021

Google blocked or removed 3.4 billion ads in 2021, according to its annual Ads Safety Report, which was released today. Google also tripled the number of account-level suspensions for advertisers in the last year. The top three categories of bad ads were abusing the ad network (652 million); adult content (287 million); and trademark (137 million).

Microsoft Advertising brings cashback incentives to ads

Microsoft Advertising this week announced several new features at their yearly summit event, Microsoft Advertising Elevate 2022. The biggest announcement at Elevate was the addition of cashback promotions. Microsoft has been working feverishly on Edge and Rewards, and this has now matriculated into ads. This is a new ad offering that will incentivise shoppers via a rebate upon purchase. Microsoft will choose the “right amount of cashback for the right ad and right user” allowing for advertisers to gather the best possible return on ad spend.

Google lets users limit ads about dating and weight loss

If you’ve grown tired of seeing countless ads for personal events in your life, there’s good news ahead. Google is now expanding its categories of “sensitive ads” on YouTube and Display, specifically, letting users limit how many ads they see about certain things. Up until now, Google’s sensitive categories on YouTube limited ad frequency on addictive gambling or alcoholic products. Now, Google is looking to limit ad serving for more personal, and sometimes traumatic subjects including dating, pregnancy, weight loss, alcohol and gambling.

LinkedIn is rolling out a new website link feature

LinkedIn is adding links on profiles that have enabled creator mode. The goal is to increase visibility for a creator’s business, personal website, online store, event or another type of resource, according to LinkedIn. The link will appear in the introduction section, beneath your user name and description and above your number of followers and connections. The link will no longer appear on your profile if you turn off creator mode.

Google and Microsoft report strong search ad revenue growth

Search advertising revenue grew in the most recent quarter for both Google and Microsoft. Last week, Alphabet released its Q1 2022 report, while Microsoft released its Q3 earnings report. Overall, Alphabet reported revenue of $68 billion, up from $55.3 billion in Q1 2021. Microsoft, meanwhile, reported revenue of $49.4 billion, up 18% from $41.7 billion in Q3 2021. The company combines search and news advertising. That revenue was $2.9 billion in Q3 2022 vs. $2.4 billion in Q3 2021.