Weekly SEO News – Bing Ads and Google Make Bold Plays for Advertisers, and More

RankZ

June 11, 2018
Both Bing Ads and Google have been busy over the last week rolling out new tools and features. Our Weekly SEO News reveals just what they’ve been up to plus, gives you the early scoop on upcoming events you’ll definitely want to keep tabs on.

Bing Ads Makes In-Market Audiences Available to all US Advertisers

Following a successful pilot run, Bing Ads announced that its In-Market Audiences feature is now available to US customers only. In-Market Audiences allows advertisers to reach out to “audience segments who have recently shown interest” in a particular product or service and are deemed “ready to buy.” Bing Ads states that advertisers can target over “170 In-market Audiences for search campaigns across many popular industries.” Pilot participants reportedly saw 28% and 48% increases in click-through and conversion rates, respectively.

Bing Ads Reveals Advertisers will be Allowed to Target LinkedIn Audiences

While responding to a question posted on its Feature Suggestions Forum, Bing Ads disclosed that advertisers will soon be able to target its huge LinkedIn audiences. The fact that Microsoft owns both Bing Ads and LinkedIn (which it acquired in December, 2016) was cited by the poster for making the suggestion. The Bing Ads reply revealed that “functionality will be available before the end of the year.”

Google My Business Agency Dashboard Launched

A June 5 blog post from Google announced the launch of its Google My Business Agency Dashboard which allows agencies to “manage multiple listings faster, simpler and more intuitively.” Google which had piqued interest when it announced a month ago that the new dashboard would be coming on stream, included a link in its latest post for interested agencies to register for the service. This follows on the heels of Google AdWords, earlier in May, reaching the beta stage of development with its new responsive search ads format.

Upcoming Events

CTAConf – A Conversion Marketing Conference

The Unbounce Call To Action Conference 2018 (CTAConf) takes place in Vancouver, Canada between August 27 – 29. This conversion marketing conference bills itself as “A Conference Revolution for Marketing Evolution” with a line-up of presenters which includes Hana Abaza, Head of Marketing, Shopify Plus; Krista Seiden, Product Manager, Google Analytics; and Michael Aagaard, Senior Conversion Optimizer, International Keynote Speaker. Other enticements for attendees at CTAConf are breakfast, snacks and lunch so you can “Fuel up, all day, on the house.”

State of Search – A Search Marketing Conference

With the tagline “Search is Just the Start,” State of Search is set to take place in Dallas. Texas on October 11 and 12, 2018. The event’s website shows a preliminary list of presenters with the promise of many more to come. Those already confirmed include Microsoft’s Purna Virji and both Mark Traphagen and Eric Enge from Stone Temple Consulting, as well as Yext’s Duane Forrester. While Super Early Bird and Early Bird ticket sales have ended, those wishing to attend can still purchase ticket at Regular and Last Minute prices.