Winter 2022 – SEO and Marketing News

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Nov 18, 2022 / by
Winter 2022 – SEO and Marketing News

With another new Prime Minister in Number 10 and a legitimate recession on the horizon, the world is certainly not left wanting bad news. In the digital world, however, Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter seems to be monopolising the headlines. But what about the digital marketing world? What nuggets of notable news have managed to make an impact on us these last few very busy months? Let’s find out, shall we?

15,000 sites hacked for massive Google SEO poisoning campaign

Hackers are conducting a massive black hat search engine optimization (SEO) campaign by compromising almost 15,000 websites to redirect visitors to fake Q&A discussion forums. Each compromised site contains approximately 20,000 files used as part of the search engine spam campaign, with most of the sites being WordPress. The researchers believe the threat actors’ goal is to generate enough indexed pages to increase the fake Q&A sites’ authority and thus rank better in search engines.

The campaign likely primes these sites for future use as malware droppers or phishing sites, as even a short-term operation on the first page of Google Search, would result in many infections. Sucuri security solutions, the company that initially discovered the hacking campaign, couldn’t identify how the threat actors breached the websites used for redirections. However, it likely happens by exploiting a vulnerable plugin or brute-forcing the WordPress admin password. Hence, the recommendation is to upgrade all WordPress plugins and website CMS to the latest version and activate two-factor authentication (2FA) on admin accounts.

Instagram Lets Users Schedule Posts & Reels in The App

Instagram users with professional accounts can schedule posts and reels up to 75 days in advance directly from the mobile app. Until now, it hasn’t been possible to schedule Instagram posts in the app. Users previously had to go through third-party tools or use desktop solutions like Meta Business Suite.

Now you can schedule Instagram content with nothing more than the iOS or Android app that’s already on your phone. The only caveat is you need to have a professional account. If you use Instagram for business, you likely have a professional account. If not, it’s free and easy to upgrade from a standard account.

Research Finds Evidence of User Dissatisfaction with Google Results

New research published by SEMRush indicates that a certain percentage of people searching on Google “aren’t satisfied with the results… and need to refine their queries” in order to find what they are looking for, as well as other findings that indicate some users may be having difficulty finding what they need on Google.

According to the research published by SEMRush:

“There’s a great deal of keyword refinement at play here. If we combine the number of Google clicks with the number of keyword changes, we see that almost 30% of people are either refining or extending their searches in some way.”

Repeating search queries with slightly different keywords is an indication that users might not be satisfied with Google’s search results.

It’s not just non-SEOs who are noticing that Google keeps searching for the wrong things. SEOs are noticing, too. Sarah Carling recently tweeted a screenshot of a search for how many calories are in a bottle of wine. Google changed the query and insisted that she was searching for how many calories are in a glass of wine instead. So, sort yourself out Google!

Is Elon Musk about to put all of Twitter behind a paywall?

Everyone’s favourite IRL Bond villain Elon Musk has scraped off about $92 billion of his wealth this year after purchasing Twitter, the platform that he is now considering putting entirely behind a paywall, according to multiple reports.

Bloomberg reported that shares of Musk’s other business venture, Tesla Inc. — which makes up the biggest part of his fortune — were traded as low as $186.75 on Tuesday this week. Per the outlet, the drop in value is due to investors in the electric car company raising concerns after his acquisition of Twitter.

71% Of Marketers Are Struggling to Meet Customer Expectations

Most marketers say they’re struggling to meet customer expectations, and a new report on the current marketing landscape reveals why. The eighth edition of Salesforce’s State of Marketing report looks back on 2022’s challenges and triumphs as the year starts to wind down.

Additionally, the report looks ahead to how marketers plan to adapt to future challenges, such as the deprecation of third-party cookies. Data in the report is compiled from a survey of 6,000 marketers across 35 countries and an analysis of trillions of outbound marketing messages sent using the Salesforce platform.

Key takeaways from the report include: –

  • Nearly three-quarters (71%) of respondents say meeting customer expectations is more complex than a year ago.
  • It’s not due to lack of effort, as 83% of marketers say their organizations engage customers in real-time across one or more marketing channels.
  • Additionally, marketers have more data sources to reconcile than ever: 10 sources in 2021, 15 in 2022, and expect 18 sources in 2023.
  • A third (33%) of marketers say budgetary constraints are a challenge, with those in life sciences, manufacturing, and technology sectors particularly feeling the pinch.
  • Despite the budget and talent shortages, 87% of marketers say their work provides greater value now than it did a year ago.

So not all bad news then!

Apple Offers New Ad Placements in App Store

Earlier last month, Apple hinted towards new, coveted placements in the Apple app store in an email invitation to developers. The rumours are true as Apple officially announced two new advertising placements this month: the Today tab and the product page ad placements. Starting immediately, advertisers can showcase their app on the front page of the Apple app store – a placement that the App Store’s editorial staff had previously handpicked.

Until now, Apple Ads inventory focused on Search campaigns, where demand could only be captured by search volume and keyword match types. The Today tab can be one of the first places users land when they visit the app store. Being front and centre to a potential new user is crucial when building brand awareness. The Today tab ad placements allow marketers to diversify advertising budgets further to build awareness.

Microsoft Launches Import Tool for Google Ads Performance Max

Microsoft Advertising is rolling out a solution within its Google Import tool that allows advertisers to duplicate their Google Ads Performance Max campaigns. Microsoft is launching the import capability for Performance Max campaigns that use a Merchant Centre.

Microsoft will import the campaigns as Smart Shopping Campaigns and Local Inventory Ads. Microsoft is working on a solution for importing other Performance Max campaigns that do not utilise a Merchant Centre, with a priority on Search campaigns.

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