Full Transcription
[Introduction] – 00:00
Hey everyone, welcome back to the TWIMshow. This is episode 91 and your host Sajid Islam. Today, I’ll be going over the notable news and updates from the week of January 10 – 15, 2022. First of all, this seems to be a relatively quiet cool week. I guess people are or businesses are still returning from their holiday mode and they still haven’t like you know, really released a lot of stuff with that. Let’s dive in.
[Update 1 – Open Enrollment For The Microsoft Advertising Partner Program Has Begun!] – 00:29
First of all, just a quick update from anyone who is in the Microsoft Bing world or Advertisers and Microsoft Bing. Or if you’re a listener who wants to become a Microsoft Advertising partner, then this is the update for you. Microsoft has opened up an open enrollment and usually the open enrollment runs from January to March 31 where you can apply to become a partner for Microsoft Advertising. And obviously, if you become a partner and depending on how much you spend, they give you different levels, and based on that level you get access to different programs. Now if you ask me or if you follow us, which is marketANDgrow, you know how I feel about these partnership programs and we are not partner of any company or with any company. Why is that? So number one is just something I think we have our duty towards our customers, not towards this company. It’s like imagine if your doctor has a partnership with XYZ Pharmaceuticals. You would be questioning every time
your doctor is giving you prescribing a medicine specially from that pharmaceutical. Do you want that doctor to be not have any affiliation of any pharmaceutical company. Similarly, I don’t want us to become like either a
partner of Google or partner of Microsoft only because the partnership there is a minimum required ad spend. We have to spend a certain amount of money and I don’t want to really go deep into it. However, if you become a partner, it does help you to become visible to potential customers who are looking through Microsoft certified partners. It’s a double-edged sword. Use it whichever way you like it. For us, it doesn’t make any sense because we want to remain platform agnostic and do what is best for our clients. With that, let’s move on to the next update.
[Update 2 – Google Ads Allows Sports Gambling Ads In New York Now] – 02:37
The next update is from Google Ads, a very short one which is Google Ads is now allowing you to run sports betting/gambling ads in New York State. The only caveat to that is that you have to have a company that is certified and state licensed entity. The reason why Google Ads changed that program is
because New York State approved on mobile gambling or online gambling last year because they want to add some more revenue to their State. So with that. So in the past if your ad was disapproved and if you’ve been following us, I think two episodes back we talked about how Google Ads will now flag previously disapproved ads as eligible to run ads. So this is one of those things updates that’s going to help you from the past. With that, let’s move on to the next update.
[Update 3 – 4 New Messaging Features From Snapchat] – 03:37
The next update is from Snapchat. Well, this is the only update this week from
a platform and they have updated and they have rolled out four things in their messaging. One is chat replies, Bitmoji reactions, polls and revamped audio and calling interface. First of all, the polls stickers allows you to create emoji focus polls that you can share in snaps and stories. This is something your friends can comment on it and you get to see who not comment, but vote on it and you get to see who voted what snaps like the second update, they’re also allowing you to reply to individual messages in a group chat. Microsoft, Microsoft Facebook Messenger since 2019. So this platform is copying it. And the third one is they’re rolling out Bitmoji reactions, which are similar to reactions options in other social apps. You can just reply with icon or emoji saying oh wow, cool and things like that. The fourth and the final update is this. Snap has updated the video and audio calling interface in order to make live conversations more fun. The one thing I like about it is that they’re just making it easier to add lens in video calls. So if you’re in a video call you can add a lens and you can look like something else. I think it’s fun, especially snaps. Target demographics are usually younger people, so they like to have some fun. So I think this is really good. With that, let’s move on to the next update, which is on SEO and from Google.
[Update 4 – Google: Nofollow Is Not A Substitute For Noindex] – 05:19
So someone asked Google’s John Mueller during his office hours, hey is nofollow substitute for noindex? Now what are no follow and no index?
Just very quickly is nofollow is basically thing that you put in it’s a command that you put in your HTML that tells hey, Google, do not follow this link and transfer the page rank. And the other one is noindex. So what Google’s John Mueller is saying that hey, you need to be careful. Nofollow is just treated as a hint for the Google bot or Google web crawler to say you don’t want the crawler to follow but it will eventually follow it depending on how it decides. And noindex is basically you’re strictly telling the Google crawler that please do not index the page that is linked here. So how does this help you on your business? Well, number one is if you have guest authors and they are posting and commenting on your blog, usually people tend to use nofollow and they say you know what, do not. And that’s a way to keep that link of the other page that the guest post is referring to not going to get the SEO credit. Well that doesn’t really happen. So if you want to do that, then use noindex. But if you want to be kind of give Google the ability to decide as they see fit, then use nofollow. That’s all there is.
[Update 5 – Google Has Two Types Of Crawling – Discovery & Refresh] – 07:04
Okay. The next update on the SEO front is that Google has two types of crawling, discovery and refresh. And this was a question again asked to Google John Mueller during his office hours. I see from a Google search console report that the crawler is coming in at various times of the week and sometimes it crawls the whole website. Sometimes it just only crawls my home page. And John Mueller says, you know what? Look, we crawled for two reasons. One is discovery, which is like there are new sites and new pages that were not crawled before and we’re going to update and add it to our index. And the other one is we have a page in our index and we need to refresh it. Depending on how we determine which page gets refreshed, how often we come back and we can probably just reindex that page. So if your homepage was changing a whole lot, or if you have a blog page and it just updates every week, like for us, our URL is marketandgrow.com/twim The TWIM page changes every week. So Google bot will probably crawl that page more often and refresh their index because it changes every week versus a home page, which is fairly static and doesn’t change. I think it changes only once every six months. And it’s going to change again in the near future because as we are changing our website as we speak, I mean, we are working behind the scenes, we are on the drawing board. But I hope this helps you to understand what the two differences are with that.
[Update 6 – YouTube Launches Understanding Performance Trends by Highlighting Similar Videos] – 08:37
The next update is from YouTube. Youtube has launched a new thing. It’s called Understanding Performance Trends by highlighting similar videos. And you’ll find this inside the Advanced Analytics Elements in YouTube studio with that. What this does is you can now view a scatter plot of all your videos and their comparative performance on variable timelines. This new element enables you to select show videos with similar topics from the plot display, which will then switch the graph to a specific listing of uploads on the same subject. What this means is that you’re getting a better comparison of video performance as you’re comparing more like for like clips as opposed to measuring each video against every other video. This could be a very good way for you to contextualize video engagement while also helps you to highlight the specific topics that are resonating over time. Okay, I hope you go check it out and you try it out because this is something a very cool feature. Youtube analytics has a lot of stuff and if you are on YouTube, which you should all be on YouTube, this is something that’s going to help you kind of find. Ok, what are the videos that are doing? Well, what should I be doing next? What should I be creating next? Things like that while talking about YouTube and organic search results. I think this is the last update that is really, really helpful for you and we covered this in our last episode, episode 90 and it shows up again on episode 91. Is that
[Update 7 – IndexNow Enables Data Sharing Between Bing And Yandex] – 10:19
IndexNow, which was covered last week and I even did a video and it should be on our channel. How to use IndexNow, IndexNow actually now when you submit a new URL through IndexNow, it helps you with your index shows up to Yandex or vice versa. So currently only Microsoft Bing and Yandex. The two search engine supports IndexNow. Google as a search engine is testing it out to see if they will support it or not. What Microsoft came out with an announcement. If you submit through either Microsoft IndexNow or through Yandex or through the IndexNow endpoint, basically it’s going to go to all the search engines as part of IndexNow, which is obviously right now Bing ans Yandex now, why does it matter? It matters because unless you like to pay for new traffic and you love running ads and spending money, you should be focused on organic search results as well. And this is a great way to get started on your organic journey because you don’t have to submit to each individual search engines. Obviously, it’s going to be amazing if Google joins the game and it also submits to Google. But nevertheless, for now, Bing is good. Even if you get like two sales from Bing a month and if your average sale is $1,000, that’s $2,000. I would take the $2,000 any day for taking ten minutes of my time to set up something like IndexNow I don’t know about you, but that’s just me. Free traffic is free traffic. Why would I going to pay for something and run ads and add those two sales things like that? Because it’s something one of those things that you can set up and forget. So I hope this is helpful. Again, do follow our page. Whether you are on YouTube or whether you are on Instagram because I will be doing an updated IndexNow tutorial to show about the third option, which is the IndexNow endpoint so that you don’t have to go through either a Bing plugin or a Yandex plugin and you just want to go to IndexNow endpoint. You could do either or. It doesn’t matter. But I just want to show it out. So follow us.
[Announcement] – 12:02
So hope this is helpful. Again, do follow our page. Whether you are on YouTube or whether you are on Instagram because I will be doing an updated IndexNow tutorial to show about the third option, which is the index now endpoint so that you don’t have to go through either a Bing plugin or a Yandex plugin and you just wanna go to IndexNow endpoint. I mean you could do either or, it doesn’t matter, but I just want to show it out. So follow us.
[Closing] – 12:31
Ok with that folks, that’s it for This Week In Marketing. Now you know everything to be in the know. Once again this is your host Sajid Islam signing off until next week. Take care bye-bye.
1. Open Enrollment For The Microsoft Advertising Partner Program Has Begun! (00:29) – Open enrollment for the Select and Elite tiers of the Microsoft Advertising Partner Program will run from January through March. The opportunity to enroll at the Partner tier and begin unlocking benefits will remain available year-round. If you’re ready to enroll but aren’t sure what tier you qualify for, reach out to Microsoft Advertising support or your Microsoft Advertising representative.
Elite and Select partners are eligible to enroll only during the annual open enrollment cycle (January 1st to March 31st). Partner tier partners may enroll throughout the year. Eligibility and participation are based on meeting a set of criteria, including being an existing Microsoft Advertising customer for at least six months and maintaining a minimum combined total Microsoft Search Network spend for the geographies that you serve.
The Microsoft Advertising Partner Program tiers are determined by the level of investment in Microsoft Advertising, in addition to other requirements. Your Partner Program tier will remain for a calendar year and will be evaluated every December to take effect January 1.
2. Google Ads Allows Sports Gambling Ads In New York Now (02:37) – As of Jan 8, 2022, Google Ads, is allowing certified and state-licensed entities in New York to run ads for sports betting. This was previously disallowed but now that the state Gaming Commission in New York changed the rule, it is now allowed in New York State.
3. 4 New Messaging Features From Snapchat (03:37) – Snapchat introduced four new messaging (Chat Replies, Bitmoji Reactions, Polls, and a revamped audio and video calling interface) features, which will roll out to Snapchatters “in the coming days” on Android and iOS.
First off, Snap’s added Poll Stickers, which enable you to create emoji-focused polls that you can share in Snaps and Stories. Per Snapchat, “Our visual Polls work across iOS and Android, so all your friends can weigh in and show their thoughts. Plus, our Polls were designed with transparency in mind – you can see how your friends voted to help ensure responses stay thoughtful and kind.”
Snapchat also adds a new option to reply to individual messages within an ongoing group chat, enabling you to specifically address any comment with a separate chat thread. The functionality will be familiar to those who engage in group chats on Messenger, given Meta added the same functionality back in 2019. The option will make it easier to ensure your messages are understood, while additionally providing more context to all group chat members.
Snap’s also rolling out Bitmoji Reactions, which are similar to the reaction options in other social apps but utilize your Bitmoji character for a more personal touch. As you can see here, within a chat thread, you’ll now be able to choose one of seven Bitmoji reactions, providing a quick way to respond to messages, while also incorporating Bitmoji use.
And finally, Snapchat’s updated its video and audio calling interface in order to “make live conversations more fun”. The new process makes it easier to add Lenses in video calls, a key engagement element for Snap’s video calling option, while you’ll also now be able to preview who’s on a group call before you join.
4. Google: Nofollow Is Not A Substitute For Noindex (05:19) – Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller advises that the nofollow link attribute isn’t a substitute for the noindex directive. Googlebot is capable of can finding and indexing nofollowed links. So it should not be used in hopes of keeping a page out of Google’s search index.
Mueller addresses a submitted question asking if rel=”nofollow” can be used as noindex. The person who submitted the question notes they’ve been nofollowing internal links to pages that they don’t want to be indexed in search results.
When asked if rel=”nofollow” can be used to keep a page out of Google’s search index, Mueller says:
“No. Essentially, nofollow tells us not to pass any PageRank to those pages, but it doesn’t mean that we will never index that page. So if you really want a page to be blocked from indexing, make sure it has a noindex on it.
Don’t rely on us not accidentally running across a random link to that page. So I would not assume that those two are the same.”
Mueller goes on to reference an article from Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes, which explains the difference between nofollow and other types of link attributes.
In the article, Illyes explains how nofollow is treated as a hint and not a directive.
That means it can’t always be relied upon to do what it’s designed for.
Nofollow tells Google that a site doesn’t want to pass PageRank from one URL to another, but Google may decide to do so anyway.
With that being the case, it’s sometimes used by Google as a signal for link discovery.
5. Google Has Two Types Of Crawling – Discovery & Refresh (07:04) – Google utilizes two types of crawling methods when it goes through web pages — one to discover new content and one to refresh existing content.
You can find out how often Googlebot crawls your site via a report in Search Console, and there may be periods when your site is crawled more than others. When questioned about the report, Mueller confirms the fluctuations are normal and discusses the two types of crawling:
“That can happen. It’s not so much that we crawl a website, but we crawl individual pages of a website. And when it comes to crawling, we have two types of crawling roughly.
One is a discovery crawl where we try to discover new pages on your website. And the other is a refresh crawl where we update existing pages that we know about.”
Not only can crawl frequency vary for the whole site, but it can also vary by individual web pages. If your homepage is updated more regularly than other pages, for example, then you’ll see more Googlebot activity on that page.
6. YouTube Launches Understanding Performance Trends by Highlighting Similar Videos (08:37) – Inside the advanced analytics element in YouTube Studio – you can now view a scatter plot of all your videos and their comparative performance on variable timelines. This new element enables you to select ‘Show videos with similar topics’ from the plot display, which will then switch the graph to a specific listing of uploads on the same subject.
That means that you’re getting a better comparison of video performance, as you’re comparing more like-for-like clips, as opposed to measuring each video against every other.
It could be a good way to better contextualize video engagement, while also helping to highlight the specific topics that are resonating over time.
Fun fact: You can display up to 100 videos at once in the chart and sort the listing by ‘First 24 hours’, ‘First 7 days’ or ‘First 28 days’. You can also compare various metrics, including views, impressions, and average view duration.
It is an amazing addition for your YouTube analytics and planning – to access your video performance chart, go to:
Channel analytics > Advanced mode > Compare to’ > ‘First 24 hours video performance’
7. IndexNow Enables Data Sharing Between Bing And Yandex (10:19) – The Microsoft Bing team said that the IndexNow protocol is now at a place where those participating are co-sharing URLs submitted, meaning if you use IndexNow to submit URLs to Microsoft Bing, Microsoft will immediately share those URLs with Yandex, the company announced.
The promise of IndexNow was to submit a URL to one search engine via this protocol and not only will that search engine immediately discover that URL, but it will also be discovered on all the other participating search engines. Right now, that is just Microsoft Bing and Yandex, but Google is exploring using this protocol. Microsoft said…
“The IndexNow protocol ensures that all URLs submitted by webmasters to any IndexNow-enabled search engine immediately get submitted to all other similar search engines. As a result of co-sharing URLs submitted to IndexNow-enabled search engines, webmasters just need to notify one API endpoint. Not only does this save effort and time for webmasters, but it also helps search engines in discovery, thus making the internet more efficient.”
Also, you no longer need to submit the URLs to https://www.bing.com/IndexNow?url=url-changed&key=your-key or https://yandex.com/indexnow?url=url-changed&key=your-key. IndexNow.org is also directly accepting these submissions at https://api.indexnow.org/indexnow?url=url-changed&key=your-key