June 2024 Digital Marketing Highlights

• The genie is out of the bottle on Google “AI Overviews” – but the results are less than magical.
• Google expands its indexing to include the most popular e-book file format, but there’s a catch.
• Big G’s crackdown on Site Reputation Abuse and Expired Domain Abuse continues to gain steam.
• Google Analytics is better than ever at showing you exactly what’s happening on your website.
• Don’t look now, but Reddit may be more useful than ever for canny content marketing experts.

Google AI Overviews Under Fire for Inaccurate and Misleading Information

Google has weathered a storm of bad press since it unveiled its AI Overviews – a feature that purports to “do the Googling for you,” in the words of Google Search Head Liz Reid. Instead, AI Overviews have gotten quite a few unflattering headlines for, among other things, suggesting that users add glue to pizza sauce and eat rocks.

What does it mean? Google is undoubtedly one of the world leaders in generative AI right now. But, with the highly public and unflattering growing pains experienced by its generative search functions, odds are good it will enforce higher quality standards in the future, including on AI-generated content in content marketing.

Google Is Now Indexing EPUB Files

Since the advent of the popular Amazon Kindle e-reader, EPUB files have been the de-facto industry standard. Now, they are no longer invisible to search. Eagle-eyed search engine watchers noted Google has updated its documentation to show EPUB files are being indexed, but they don’t yet appear in search rankings.

What does it mean? Organizations that are accustomed to releasing their digital marketing content in several formats to maximize search reach should consider adding EPUB to that rotation. If you have existing content in EPUB format, think about making it publicly available to prepare for potential advantages in search.

Google’s “Site Reputation Abuse” Policy Continues to Get Teeth

In the wake of a new policy update that defines Site Reputation Abuse as publishing third-party pages with little or no oversight to take advantage of an authoritative website’s ranking signals, many website owners reported a suspicion they had been hit with algorithmic enforcement actions, which Google currently denies.

However, it is well known that manual enforcement of Site Reputation Abuse policies is taking place. Likewise, a growing number of signs point to algorithmic enforcement of the policy on Expired Domain Abuse, which is far easier to detect. “Expired Domain Abuse” refers to the use of spammy tactics on a previously owned domain.

What does it mean? If you’ve ever worked with a freelance digital marketer or a small “boutique” digital marketing firm, verify that you aren’t using these outdated and harmful tactics, and roll them back if so.

Google Analytics Real-Time Reports Gets a Granular Upgrade

Google tools have had the ability to show live user counts in the last five minutes since Universal Analytics received an upgrade in 2022, but now that information will be easier to surface than ever. Google Analytics’ real-time user reports now show the 30-minute timeframe and the 5-minute timeframe side by side.

What does it mean? Google Analytics continues to improve when it comes to delivering real-time service to your visitors, recognizing changes in key traffic sources, and responding to user queries as soon as they occur.

Reddit Is the Unexpected Winner in Google’s Latest Updates

In all this news about Google, it might seem odd to hear about Reddit – a social media network notorious as an underperformer in digital marketing. Despite having an estimated 73.1 million daily active users, it’s often been looked at as a bad bet for marketers due to lackluster ads and a user base that is often hostile to advertising.

As Google’s AI push incorporates Reddit posts into its results and summaries however the oft-maligned social media platform is coming out as a big winner with a massive surge in traffic. Ranking a Reddit post is becoming easier, burnishing the website’s potential as an auxiliary channel for search engine optimization.

What does it mean? Businesses that can identify a subreddit where their audience is active and engaged may wish to take a second look at Reddit. Informative, useful long-form content on the network is becoming a more effective means of driving quality traffic with an intriguingly fast turnaround time.

The digital marketing world is heating up as AI continues to make its mark, and it’s already changing the rules on the best ways enterprises like yours can make the most of marketing. Contact us to work with a full-service marketing agency that’s always up on the latest.