March – SEO and marketing news

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Apr 13, 2018 / by
March – SEO and marketing news

As New EU Data Regulations Loom, Grapeshot Empowers Marketers to Increase Digital Scale and Delivery with Contextual Intelligence

The company Grapshot, through contextual intelligence, is claiming to be able to work with and thrive with the impending GDPR, which is going into effect on May 25th. Through real-time context and not relying on cookie ID or historical third-party data, they can keep ads compliant with the GDPR. “GDPR is possibly the best thing that could happen to brands. It forces an entire industry to rethink its reliance on data and understand how valuable it is to focus on advertisers’ own first-party data and discover unknown audiences without a reliance on cookie opt-in,” said John Snyder, CEO of Grapeshot.

Google confirms core search ranking algorithm update

Earlier in March, Google confirmed it ran a ‘broad core algorithm update’ that has impacted the appearance of results pages and the search ranking of some websites. For a long while this had been nothing but rumours and speculation, but Google has confirmed it via Twitter, elborating that these updates happen several times per year. Some sites have found themselves with poor rankings, with Google stating the only solution is to have more human sounding content. Google’s tweet stated,

As with any update, some sites may note drops or gains. There’s nothing wrong with pages that may now perform less well. Instead, it’s that changes to our systems are benefiting pages that were previously under-rewarded. There’s no “fix” for pages that may perform less well other than to remain focused on building great content. Over time, it may be that your content may rise relative to other pages.

How this change will affect us in the long run, or if it will change in further updates, is again up for speculation.

UK webmasters prepare for #Brexit – the EU is coming for your .eu domains

If you own a .eu domain and live in the UK, you are in for some changes thanks to Brexit. The European Commision has announced that companies and residents will have to surrender their domain names if it is a .eu. “As of the withdrawal date, undertakings and organisations that are established in the

BrexitUnited Kingdom but not in the EU, and natural persons who reside in the United Kingdom will no longer be eligible to register .eu domain names or, if they are .eu registrants, to renew .eu domain names registered before the withdrawal date.” the announcement stated.

It is advised to get a new domain now as this will give you time to set up new marketing and redirects. The full announcement can be found at this PDF.

How Facebook’s shutdown of third-party data affects advertisers

Facebook has shut down its Partner Categories program in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, throwing many ad companies into a small panic. The Partner Categories program allowed  brands to use third-party data outside of Facebook for targeted ads. The move seems counterproductive, as Facebook investors have backed this by 10-15 percent.

It’s speculated this move is to try and improve user privacy while passing the buck about improper use of data. The majority of marketers rely on third-party data, and a shift to first-party data and its collection may have to take place to adjust to this new shift. Despite Facebook trying to look good to the public, many see this as simply a gesture and are more concerned about their marketing campaigns and whether other companies will also adopt this new potential new standard.

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