Searchlite: What is Brave Ads? + Other Search News

Happy (almost) spring! These past four weeks have been chock full of fun events for our team.

Before the snow melted, we got outside and hit the slopes at Afton Alps for one last run on the mountain. We also journeyed over to the charming cafe Stewart's for a delicious team lunch. Finally, we topped it all off with an awesome MnSearch event on technical analysis.

That's what's new with Uproer - now onto the good stuff. This month's newsletter includes important info on data privacy, the impact of Google's recent featured snippet update and how to make the most out of your agency relationship.

Read on to find out more.

What Is Brave Ads? An Advertiser’s Guide

by Uproer

The Story: Brave, the privacy-first web browser, has launched its own in-browser advertising platform, Brave Ads. The cryptocurrency-backed browser has spent the last few years working to refine a model for advertising that rewards users and content creators alike.

Why it Matters: While Brave is still relatively small, it’s shown incredible growth over the course of 2019 and has continued that into 2020. This trend has extended into Brave Ads, which has boasted average click-through-rates of 14% and higher among early users.

Adding the macro-industrial tailwind of increasingly stringent privacy regulations only makes Brave Ads more novel and potentially game-changing.

In our eyes, this overlap of industry-wide changes with a solid platform and a unique user value proposition makes Brave Ads something worth testing into. Check out the article for more details on how to sign-up and get started.

The state of tracking and data privacy in 2020

by Search Engine Land

The Story: Andrew Garberson gives an in-depth look at the state of tracking in 2020, including what it means for marketers and what we can expect in the future.

Why it Matters: As Garberson says, the issue of data privacy seems to have hit a turning point. After years of limited regulation around data privacy, legislators on both sides of the aisle are now acting swiftly to curtail marketers’ ability to collect and store user data. Tech companies are also responding; Google announced in January that Chrome will no longer support third-party cookies by 2022.

While it’s still unclear just how big of an impact this will have on search marketing in the months and years to come, it’s inevitable that tracking and attribution will become increasingly difficult. A loss of persistent tracking data means we’ll know less about our audiences. In the meantime, businesses and marketers alike should keep a close eye on these changes and seek to understand and measure their impact.

Planning to Hire an Agency? Here’s How to Be a Great Customer

by Animalz

The Story: This article covers several recommendations on how companies can get the most value out of their marketing agencies. At the heart of their advice is approaching these relationships as partnerships and not outsourced work.

Why it Matters: Hiring any agency is a big investment. Clients, understandably, want to reap the full value from their talents and expertise. This relationship, however, is a two-way street.

By bringing a few simple things to the table - like, being open to collaboration, prioritizing their goals, and giving regular feedback - clients can maximize the return from their agency partnerships. Agencies can follow this same advice to make sure they're communicating what is needed from their clients to succeed.

Unpacking the CausalImpact of Google’s Double-Dipping Featured Snippet Update

by Search Engine Journal

The Story: In January, Google de-duplicated featured snippets without warning. Merkle’s John Caiozzo used CausalImpact to determine the direct consequences for 5 websites and hints at what de-duplication might mean for the web as a whole.

Why it Matters: When de-duplication of featured snippets first rolled out, SEOs were immediately worried that the change would result in lower click-through rates for whoever owned the featured snippet. Among Caiozzo’s small sample size, these fears were confirmed.

While there’s not yet conclusive evidence one way or another, it’s likely that featured snippet de-duplication has already resulted in significantly lower CTRs since the roll-out. The lack of additional real estate in the SERPs simply means that in many cases, fewer users will click through to the site. We still recommend optimizing for featured snippets and the increased visibility they bring. However, expectations should be tempered. Whatever you do, we do not recommend attempting to “de-optimize.”

How Low Can #1 Go? (2020 Edition)

by Moz

The Story: In 2013, the average distance to the number one listing on google was 375 pixels. Today, it’s 616. This article gives us a sense of just how much things have changed and just how much farther we are from those 10 blue links.

Why it Matters: Organic search still drives the bulk of traffic, but results just feel like they’re getting more competitive. SERPs are becoming hyper-relevant and hyper-engaging. Rich features and adaptive SERPs are becoming the new normal. But we have to remember that it’s all in the name of user experience. And it doesn’t change best practice.

Yes, some listings are lower, but each update and feature puts so much more information up for grabs. It’s our job to navigate those opportunities. Whether with an increasingly robust structured data backbone or more detailed, long-tail keyword research, it’s on us to find the right content for the right users.

Other Interesting Stories

• Google Using Website Representation Vectors to Classify with Expertise and Authority

  by Go Fish Digital

Free Tool of the Month: Hemingway App

We're excited to launch the newest section of our newsletter - Our Favorite Free Tool. Each month, we'll feature a free tool that our team and clients use to make our jobs easier.

This month's tool is none other than Hemingway App, a free desktop app that helps you write way better copy. This free editor highlights lengthy sentences and passive voice to help you simplify your copy and make it more actionable.Try it out with your ad copy, blog posts, product descriptions & more!