Google Blocked Over 5.2 Billion Ads In 2022 According To Annual Ads Safety Report

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Google released its annual Ads Safety Report this week, highlighting the company’s efforts to guarantee advertising on its platforms is safe and trusted.

Along with suspending more than 6.7 million spammy ad accounts over the last year, the report details how Google is fighting fraud, preventing potentially harmful ads from running, and protecting user privacy.

Using machine learning algorithms, Google is able to identify suspicious activity and patterns faster than ever and quickly remove fraudulent or harmful ads.

This has contributed to a huge improvement in Google’s abilities to detect spam and harmful activity at scale, leading to over 2 billion more ads being blocked in 2022 compared to the previous year. 

At the same time Google released the report, the company also announced it is launching an Ads Transparency Center to help users better understand the ads they are seeing and who is paying to display them. 

Highlights From The 2022 Google Ads Safety Report

The full Ads Safety Report includes a lot of details about how Google detects and removes malicious or spammy ads, but these were the details we think are most important for you to know:

  • Google blocked over 5.2 billion ads for policy violations
  • Ad restrictions were down by over a billion annually in 2022
  • Over 6.7 million advertiser accounts were suspended for “egregious” policy violations
  • The number of ads removed from web pages stayed largely stable compared to the previous year

What Is The Ads Transparency Center?

In response to the leap in blocked ads and suspended ad accounts, Google decided to create the Ads Transparency Center – a central knowledge hub containing information about verified advertisers and ads. 

Here you’ll be able to find detailed information about the ads a specific advertiser has run, what ads are being shown in a specific area, and more about ads appearing on the platform. 

Users can also access My Ad Center here, which gives them the ability to like, block, or report potentially problematic ads. 

For more about Google’s attempts to keep the ads on its platform safe for users, check out the full 2022 Ads Safety Report here or the Ads Transparency Center announcement here.

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Google Announces 5 New Ways To Learn More About Your Search Results

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Just ahead of International Fact-Checking Day on April 2, Google announced a wave of new features intended to make it easier for users to learn more about where their information is coming from.

As the company revealed in a recent announcement, Google is introducing five new features to verify information online:

  • Expanding the “About this result” feature worldwide
  • Introducing an “About this author” section
  • Making it easier to learn about websites using the “About this page” feature
  • Providing context for top stories with “Perspectives”
  • Helping spot information gaps

Expanding the “About this result” feature worldwide

Launched in 2021, the “About this result” feature gives searchers access to additional information about the sources and websites that appear in search results. 

Though English-speaking countries have been able to find this information by clicking the three vertical dots next to most search results for a while, users in other countries or speaking other languages are just now getting access to the feature. 

Introducing an “About this author” section

Google is adding a new section to the “About this result” feature which gives information specifically about the author of the content you see. 

At the time, it is unclear exactly where Google will be gathering this information, but it is worth keeping an eye on as the feature rolls out – especially if your site publishes blog content.

Making it easier to learn about websites using the “About this page” feature

Google is adding a new way to access the “About this page” feature, which details information about a webpage similar to the “About this result” feature.

Now, you can learn more about a page by typing the URL of a site into Google’s search. The following search results will include information from the “About this page” feature at the top of the page. 

Here, you’ll see information about how the site describes itself and what others across the web have said about the site. 

Providing context for top stories with “Perspectives”

The Perspectives carousel aims to provide additional context around Top Stories by sharing helpful insights from journalists and other experts.

The feature has been in testing since 2022, but Google says it will be widely available in the coming days. 

Helping spot information gaps

When Google is unable to confidently provide information about a topic – either because there are few good sources available or because the information is changing quickly around that topic – the search engine will display a content warning with the search results it provides. 

To learn more about these new features, read the complete announcement from Google here.

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LinkedIn Launches 4 New Features For Businesses

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LinkedIn revealed a slew of new features designed exclusively for businesses this week, including content creation, new ways to engage with other companies, and easier ways to have live discussions with others.

Let’s look at all the new features in a bit more detail:

Improved Post Scheduling

Though LinkedIn has offered the ability for regular users to schedule posts ahead of time since late 2022, the feature has not been available to business pages until now. 

Now, business pages can create and schedule posts up to three months ahead of time. Not only does this make it ensure you’ll be delivering steady content to your users, it gives you the chance to prepare a content calendar ahead of time to be more considerate of what type of content you are posting and when. 

While the feature is currently only available to desktop users, LinkedIn says it will be coming to mobile apps soon.

First-Party Audio Events

LinkedIn is rolling out a new, built-in way to hold live audio events on the platform. This means you’ll be able to host audio-based discussions with your followers and other experts in the field without needing to use third-party external apps. 

While hosts will have control over the discussion and who gets to speak, users will be able to engage with the conversation using emojis or requesting to speak in the chat.

Automated Job Postings

LinkedIn has created a way for small businesses with under 1,000 employees to automatically create and share job postings.

Once activated, the feature generates and shares an open role job posting as a pre-scheduled post which can be edited after it is posted.

However, the announcement says that the feature will not be available for what are vaguely described as “basic jobs.”

Follow Other Pages From Your Page

LinkedIn Pages can now start following other Pages, allowing you to have B2B conversations without necessarily going through a personal LinkedIn account. Additionally, this makes it easier to find conversations relevant to your field happening across the platform.

All of these new features aim to expand the functionality of business Pages and make it easier to engage with your audience. By using these, you’ll be able to find new connections, foster better relationships with leads, and be able to become an authority in your field faster.

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Meet Google Bard – Google’s Response To Bing and ChatGPT’s AI Tools

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Google has started giving users in the US and UK access to Google Bard, its answer to Bing and ChatGPT’s AI chat tools. The company is doing a gradual rollout through a waitlist at bard.google.com. 

What Is Bard?

Bard is a generative AI. That means it will generate content for you based on prompts that you submit through a chatbot. 

In today’s announcement (partially written with the help of Bard), the company suggested a variety of ways users might be able to take advantage of the AI tool:

“You can use Bard to boost your productivity, accelerate your ideas and fuel your curiosity. You might ask Bard to give you tips to reach your goal of reading more books this year, explain quantum physics in simple terms or spark your creativity by outlining a blog post.”

Is Bard an AI Search Tool?

Yes and no. 

Bard is something of a complementary tool to Google’s search engine. While it is not directly integrated into Google Search, it is “designed so that you can easily visit Search to check its responses or explore sources across the web.”

Along with suggesting queries, you can immediately open a new tab with search results for a given query. 

At the same time, Bard is not considered a direct part of Google search. Instead, the company suggests it will be adding other AI tools to its search engine in the future. 

Bard Is In Early Stages

Throughout the announcement, Google repeatedly described Bard as an early experiment, As with Bing’s AI tools, Bard is likely to have some early quirks and weirdness as users get their hands on it. 

Additionally, Google pointed out that the AI tool is far from perfect. It can get information wrong or phrase things in misleading ways. Some of these errors may be small. In Google’s example, Bard got the scientific name for a plant wrong – Zamioculcas zamiifolia, not Zamioculcas zamioculcas. However, the company cautions it may be inaccurate in other ways.

Still, it will be fun to see what Bard can do now that it is coming to the public.

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Google Confirms March Broad Core Algorithm Update Is Rolling Out

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Google has confirmed it is rolling out its latest broad core algorithm update, signifying yet another potential shake-up for the search engine’s results.

Google’s broad core algorithm updates serve as some of the most significant updates for the search engine compared to the smaller updates that are happening multiple times a day. They can affect rankings for search engine results pages (SERPs) throughout Google’s entire platform.

As is usual with Google, the search company is being tight-lipped about specific details regarding the update, only going so far as to confirm the latest update. The update is also expected to take up to multiple weeks for the full impact to be obvious.

With this in mind, it is wise for brands to take note and monitor their own search performance in the coming weeks.

What Can You Do?

Aside from always striving to provide the best online experience possible with your website, there are a few specific steps you can take to safeguard your site from updates like these:

  • Monitor site performance regularly to identify early signs of issues with your site
  • Create content geared to your audience’s needs and interests
  • Optimize your site’s performance (including speed, mobile-friendliness, and user experience) to ensure your site isn’t off-putting to visitors

TL;DR

Google has launched its latest broad core algorithm update, which could potentially affect rankings for search engine results pages. The update may take several weeks to have full impact, so brands are advised to monitor their search performance. To safeguard your site, monitor its performance regularly, create audience-specific content, and optimize its performance for speed, mobile-friendliness, and user-experience.

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TikTok Prepares to Introduce Sponsored Search Ads, Becoming a Competitor to Google and Microsoft

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TikTok is quickly becoming more than just a social media app for teens to showcase their dance moves and lip-syncing skills. It is becoming a lucrative platform for businesses to reach an increasingly diverse group of audiences, especially now that the company appears to be preparing to introduce sponsored search ads. 

This move aims to generate more revenue for TikTok and position the platform to be a direct competitor to Google and Microsoft.

The search ad market has long been dominated by tech giants like Google and Microsoft. The rise of social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram has driven a shift towards social media search ads in recent years, though. 

Now, TikTok’s entry into the market marks another step in this direction as the platform offers a chance for businesses to connect with a younger demographic who might not be as easily reachable through traditional advertising methods.

The new beta test of the advertising format on TikTok allows businesses to bid on specific keywords to appear at the top of search results. As usual, the search ads will be marked as “sponsored”, making it clear which results are paid and which are organic.

One thing that may help the ad option stand out is TikTok’s targeting capabilities. The app’s algorithm uses machine learning to personalize users’ feeds based on their behavior, search queries, and demographic information. 

This means that businesses can reach a highly specific audience with their ads, ensuring that their marketing strategies are more effective and efficient. This is particularly attractive to brands in a landscape where platforms like Facebook have gradually limited ad targeting options following criticism of its use of user data.

As with any new ad format, this move has the potential to be divisive. More ads in search results may potentially frustrate users. However, if search ads are relevant and engaging, they could enhance the user experience by providing relevant information.

Unfortunately, it is unclear when we can expect this ad option currently in a limited beta test to become available to all advertisers. In a statement to Search Engine Land, the company said:

“We are in the very early stages of testing search ads in select regions. For clarification – at this stage, advertisers do not have the ability to bid on specific keywords for advertising purposes. This part of our testing is managed by TikTok based on keywords that would be most relevant and impactful to the advertiser and their specific ad.”

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Microsoft Progress Report Shows Promising Signs For New AI-Powered Bing Experience

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Even though the new AI-powered Bing search experience is rolling out to a limited number of users, Microsoft says it is seeing record-setting growth and engagement that may indicate a big shift is coming to the search landscape. 

Though Microsoft is still only receiving a single-digit percentage of overall search volume, these early numbers could be a sign that Google might finally have a real challenger as the new AI-powered Bing and Edge browsing experience become more widely available. 

Additionally, Microsoft reports it is now seeing more than 100 million daily active users – with around a third of those users being entirely new to Bing. 

Importantly, Microsoft says users are returning to Bing more often each day thanks to expanded uses of the Edge browser and improvements to Bing’s search result relevance.

Microsoft reported that around a third of the users with access to the AI-powered search experience are using the Chat feature every day for a wide variety of tasks including search, content creation, and more. 

While the new AI-powered search experience is likely driving much of this increased engagement and usage, long-term data shows that use of the Edge browser has also been steadily growing over the past two years.

Additionally, Microsoft says the implementation of AI-assisted search has significantly improved the relevance of search results, saying: “The second factor driving trial and usage is that our core web search ranking has taken several significant jumps in relevancy due to the introduction of the Prometheus model so our Bing search quality is at an all-time high.” 

As we are in the early days of Bing’s new AI-powered search and browser experience, it will be interesting to see whether this growth continues – especially once Google’s AI-powered tools begin to develop. 

For more, read the full report from Microsoft here.

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