Internet Marketing News November 2014 Recap
December 3, 2014It’s December! Here is an overview of the top internet marketing news stories of November 2014.
- Google redesigned Maps to align with Android Lollipop’s design. Google Maps now includes Uber and OpenTable, and provides price estimates.
- Google has redesigned their search app for Androids running Lollipop OS. The new search app includes new events and to-do list Now Cards and can provide reminders for events from Gmail.
- Google News added a “suggested for you” section in order to “surface narrow and local topics specific to you.”
- Google is dropping its horizontal local search Carousel in categories such as restaurants, nightlife, entertainment and hotels. It is replacing it with a 3-pack of organic listings pictured below.
- After months of testing, Google is now including a “mobile-friendly” text table before the meta description for mobile-friendly sites. The Googlebot automatically detects sites based on those without flash, mobile-friendly text and display size, and easy-to-tap links.
- Google AdWords now displays charts on gender, age and parental status for campaigns running on the display network including retargeting campaigns. These charts make it easier for advertisers to understand who their ads are reaching.
Bing
- Bing announced it will roll out app extensions in the spring displaying the app’s icon and a call to action to download the app. Advertisers will be able to promote apps on iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices.
- Building on Bing’s close variants on exact match and broad match modifier keywords, Bing is creating close variants phrase match.
Yahoo
- Yahoo buys programmatic video platform BrightRoll for $640 million, enabling cross-platform video syndication and distribution. According to ComScore, BrightRoll served more video ads and reached more consumers in the US in 2014 than any other platform.
- Yahoo began integrating Flurry’s in-app video inventory into its ad platform. Yahoo purchased Flurry in July to allow advertisers to buy Flurry’s ad units in Yahoo’s Ad Manager.
- Firefox announced that Yahoo will be their default search engine replacing Google. This five-year partnership should boost Yahoo’s percent of queries significantly. Google’s partnership with Apple’s Safari is also ending in 2015; Yahoo and Microsoft are pitching to become the new default search engine there.
- Flickr has invited a select few photographers to begin selling photos via the Flickr Market Place. Photographers will receive 51% of the revenue while Yahoo/Flickr receive the remaining amount.
YouTube
- The highly anticipated YouTube Music Key has finally arrived! The subscription service is invitation only for now, priced at $7.99/month for the first six months. The regular price is $9.99/month. Similar to other competitors, YouTube will offer a free desktop and mobile version with ads while the subscription service removes these ads and allows for offline listening.
- Facebook has updated and simplified its privacy policy removing more than 6,000 words. The new policy, which rolls out in January, is only 2,700 words in hopes that more users will read and understand it.
- Rolling out in January, Facebook will begin throttling organic Facebook posts that seem too promotional. Facebook will identify page posts that read like advertisements and serve the post to fewer users. Facebook’s goal is that all promotional content be put into Facebook ads instead of page posts.
- Facebook launched a free separate app for groups. Unlike Facebook Messenger, users can still see groups in the main Facebook app without needing to download a separate app.
- Instagram now allows users to edit picture captions after posting the picture.
- Twitter now allows users to search within the full archive of public tweets, making Twitter history more accessible.
- Twitter has made improvements to its direct messaging feature, now allowing users to share and discuss tweets privately.
- Twitter announced it will now track which apps have been downloaded on a user’s phone which will improve their targeting capabilities.
- Vine now allows users to “favorite” certain accounts and receive push notifications when the account posts a new Vine video.
Snapchat
- Snapchat announced a partnership with mobile payment company Square, enabling users to send money over their platform.
Have any questions about any of the above stories or think we missed something? Let us know in the comments section below. Also, be sure to check back in early January for our December recap. In the meantime, check out our Thoughts Page featuring our latest publications, blog posts, and featured articles; and sign up for the Catalyst Must-Have Digital Insights e-Newsletter for the latest thought leadership, industry updates, and Catalyst news.
