Welcome to our weekly review of major happenings in the digital space. Here are a few significant updates that might interest you;
- Google Launches ‘Shops’ Section in Mobile Search Results
Google has just launched a “Shops” section in mobile search results. This feature was launched to help present more seller options to users on Search. It currently shows 3 merchants and users can then expand to see up to 10 merchants depending on availability. The selection of results shown and their order are based on organic search ranking.
This is another milestone for Google’s organic shopping efforts. For a few years now, Google has expanded shopping-related results from being a paid product to also offering plenty of visibility organically. This started with the free product listings in April 2020. The new “Shops” feature helps retailers potentially generate and increase awareness for their brands. However, since the Shops section is based on organic search ranking, retailers who don’t rank well may not be able to enjoy its benefits. Google also introduced the “deals” section in the search results and launched Shopping integrations for Shopify, WooCommerce and GoDaddy, among other e-commerce platforms. Shops” is currently available on mobile devices for select US-English shopping-related queries. For more information, click here.
- Yoast SEO to Launch on Shopify
Yoast SEO will now be available for Shopify starting January 18, 2022. Unlike the WordPress version, which operates under a freemium model, Yoast SEO for Shopify will cost $29 monthly (after a free 14-day trial). Yoast SEO is a widely used SEO app in the WordPress ecosystem and the launch of an app for Shopify speaks volumes to the rise of e-commerce over the years. This new app is primarily aimed at SMBs, just like the available Google and Bing Shopify integrations. For more information, click here.
- LinkedIn Launches Test of Audio Rooms, Announces New Formats for Live Events
LinkedIn is introducing some new elements to its live events tools, which will provide more capacity for connection and interaction within the LinkedIn environment. LinkedIn first launched the initial test of their audio events platform, which will enable users to tune into live discussions in the app, and participate by raising their virtual hand to join as a speaker, or posting likes in response to the chat. The live audio tool has been in development since March 2019.
LinkedIn explained that its new events options will be tested by “a few thousand creators who will host events across different topics and themes. Then it will be expanded to more creators in the coming months. Video Events format will later roll out this spring. For more information, click here.
- Twitter Adds Spaces Replay Stats for Recorded Broadcasts
Twitter has added additional context to its Spaces insights, with new data on total replays for recorded Spaces which can now be viewed by hosts. Now, hosts will be able to see how many listeners tuned into the stream live, and how many replays the session has garnered. This new feature comes as part of the effort to add more context to Spaces analytics and help users plan their strategy with the information they get from the audience. With more specific insight, this feature can help users broaden their approach to Spaces and audio connection. After the rise of audio early last year, it is ideal that Twitter is still developing Spaces on the app. Twitter is working to make Spaces a more functional, valuable element in the broader tweet experience. For more information, click here.
- Facebook Adds New Features to Creator Studio, Including Stories Highlights and Timeline View for Posts
Facebook has introduced new features to Creator Studio to celebrate the new year. The features include a Stories preview option for video uploads and a new way to preview how posted content looks in-stream. The main addition is the Stories highlight clips for video uploads, which takes a 20-second preview segment from a full video to post as a Facebook and/or Instagram Story. This new option enables users to share a video highlight clip to their story in order to drive views of the full video clip.
The process is simple. Creator Studio will automatically highlight a preview segment from a full video to choose a segment to use as the preview. After choosing the segment, users can now post that clip to their Facebook Story, with a ‘See More’ CTA button at the bottom of the Stories panel to drive people to your main clip.
Another new feature for Creator Studio is a timeline view for published Page posts in the app, providing more transparency as to how posts look in user feeds. This adds another element to Page management options through the app, which remains a key posting tool over third-party platforms. For more information about this update, click here.
Thank you for reading. See you next Friday for more news and interesting reads in the digital space.
