October’s fang-tastic marketing updates

Halloween is here – but this month’s news is no fright. October has been a busy month in marketing, with Google updating its spam detection capabilities, Microsoft launching a collaboration with Snapchat, and more. 

Let’s not wait any longer; here are October’s insights!

Google finishes rollout of October 2023 spam update

Google has completed the rollout of its October 2023 spam update. Introduced on the 4th of October in response to user feedback, the update is designed to target and combat thin, copied, misleading, or overly promotional content. 

To avoid being adversely affected by such updates, businesses are advised to review their content and SEO strategies, checking for issues like scraped content, hidden text, and excessive ads. However, high-quality, original content that adheres to Google’s guidelines is unlikely to be impacted. 

For more information about the update and its consequences, go to Search Engine Journal.

The future of SEO: AI search and qualified clicks

AI search is revolutionizing the way we approach search requests – but, as a result, some experts are predicting that SEO will end in its entirety and that web traffic will decline. 

Yet AI search is the future, offering greater opportunities for businesses and consumers thanks to qualified clicks. As Bing executive Fabrice Canel stated in a recent interview, “And this is something we’ve seen where clearly when people are clicking, [these are] extremely qualified clicks. And this translates [into a] benefit for the end user, for the website more, certainly more than… typical search engine.”

Learn more about qualified clicks here!

Rising costs mean TV’s payback advantage is now in question

The landscape of TV advertising is undergoing a rapid transformation, bringing into question the advantages it once held. In recent years, the cost of TV advertising has increased at a faster rate than other advertising channels. Viewing figures have simultaneously declined, creating concerns for brands.

The data shows that the cost of a thousand TV ad views has spiked by 50% since 2019, in stark contrast to other channels that have experienced modest or no price increases. This has led to a significant shift in the return on investment (ROI) for businesses.

Discover more in Marketing Week’s article.

Online searches for sustainable goods have risen by 71%

Increased awareness of climate change has created a dramatic shift in the behavior of consumers. People want sustainability – they want products they can trust were created without causing significant environmental harm. 

Online searches for sustainable goods have risen by 71%, but that’s not all; 66% of people consider sustainability when making a luxury purchase, and over 50% of consumers are willing to pay more for sustainable products. 

Crowd has covered this development in more detail, so head over to their website!

Microsoft collaborates with Snapchat to add sponsored links to Snapchat’s AI bot

Thanks to the launch of its latest collaboration with Snapchat, Microsoft is at the forefront of generative artificial intelligence (AI) innovation. The two titans have joined forces to implement sponsored links into Snapchat’s My AI chatbot.

As a result of this collaboration, businesses will now have the opportunity to reach over 750 million people per month. Moreover, My AI is now among the largest consumer chatbots available, with over 150 million people using it to send 10 billion messages!

Microsoft plans to evolve its chat capabilities to influence the next waves of innovation in generative AI. Visit Microsoft’s website to learn more.

October has been a month for innovation and creativity – what will November look like? Join us again next month for November’s round of insights.