Techcetera 6.19

The advancement of these different platforms is going fast. If you only have 30 seconds, you should check out:

• Instagram Broadcasts
• Youtube's lowered the bar for creators
• Local SEO Expert proves showing your address DOES matter

Social Channels

Instagram launches Broadcast channels. Remember when you could DM everyone who liked your page on Facebook, it's a bit like that. I'd highly recommend jumping on this and letting Meta push your content while it lasts. (IG)

• TikTok is testing visual search. Every time I've tried that with Google Lens it's been a big waste of time. File this in the "neato" column. (Source)
• TikTok has an agency hub. Truthfully, I've not checked it out, but I already have clients on TikTok. If you don't you probably should check it out to see what's there.
• Twitter's CEO has a great feel-good e-mail that you should read if you're a fan of Twitter.

Youtube is lowering it's standard for paid creator status.

Previously, to qualify for the partner program, creators were required to have at least 1,000 subscribers and either 4,000 watch hours in the past year or 10 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.

The new, more lenient conditions now include having 500 subscribers, 3 public uploads in the last 90 days, and either 3,000 watch hours in the past year or 3 million Shorts views in the last 90 days.

Organic Search

• Google had an event in Tokyo about AI and while it's nothing too much new, this image for the new features in Google Search Console were a great insight and improvement. (Source)

• Backlinks are still a very important part of your strategy. Please don't be fooled into magical PR campaigns and/or Fiverr vendors. Reaching out to the owner of the website and the paying for the link is probably still the most viable and scalable strategy for links in 2023.
• Google launches a new spam reporting tool. You'll feel better than 100% of the messages are deleted after you click send and save valuable resources related to storage.
• Joy Hawkins, Local SEO expert, finally sets us straight. Hiding your address is killing your local business. If you sell locally, you need to read this.

Google hosted a Marketing Live event at SMX to show how they moving forward with products and aren't scared at all of Amazon, Microsoft and Meta. A few insights tough:

1. People are trusting the internet more and reducing their research when buying.
2. People are optimistic about AI which is surprising given how it's calculating our impending doom. (Source)
3. At the same event, MSFT gushed about how well it's AI is doing and how ad revenue is up.

Paid Search

• Google post this Ad propaganda with supposed social proof, but none of it looks like a human wrote it, even the profile photos look fake (Sorry, Laura). Cyberdyne, is that you?
• Google Ads updated it's interface to try and hide useful tools behind new tabs and to make it harder for new people to learn the tool based off old tutorials. (Source)

Google Takes Users Direct To Cart?

In a move that looks like it'll have short term benefits for merchants, Google is trialing direct to cart call to actions. This means when you click on an add, you go right to shopping cart. Cool, right? This is the first step in Google platformizing itself like Meta has. In my opinion, they are moving this direction to try and build defensively against the massive AI growth coming for everyone's job. (Source)

Other Tech News

• Squarespace bought your Google Domain. Nothing to see here, but really any product you buy from Google is likely to be sold off or discontinued. Just ask Google Stadia, Glass, Plus, Wave and Hangout users (among others).
• Looker Studio (Google Data Studio) has added a bunch of new fields. This is really a great thing, since it might be the only way you get anything out of G4. (SEJ)
• Mistral AI raises over $100 million for it's AI startup... except it's not real. Bubble, much? (Source)

From the image on top

Nikon touts "Natural Intelligence" in a ad campaign that is pretty awe-some! It's unironically good. Essentially making a case for nature but using AI as a tool. (See it)