Weekly SEO and Marketing Recap: Aug 13, 2024

SEO Insights🚀

1. Google Warns: URL Parameters Create Crawl Issues

This issue particularly affects e-commerce sites, creating potentially infinite URLs for a single page. Webmasters should be mindful of their URL structures, use canonical tags, and consider robots.txt to guide crawlers effectively.

2. Survey: 92% of SEOs suspect their competitors buy links

While purchased links may offer quick ranking boosts, they come with significant risks, including Google penalties and poor ROI. Experts advise focus on organic link building strategies for success and using tools to verify link authenticity.

3. AI Narratives for Google Ads Now Available in the Semrush App Center

The Semrush App Center, offering marketers a way to create compelling Google Ads narratives. With AdLLM Spark, businesses can streamline their advertising efforts and potentially boost campaign performance through AI-driven creativity.

4. Google Search Ranking Volatility August 9th and 10th (No HCU Progress)

While no official core update has been announced, the fluctuations have impacted search results globally. Webmasters report issues with geotargeting, AI-generated content, and traffic drops.

5. Google’s Mixed Messages: Does Googlebot Really “Follow” Links?

This insight contradicts Google's own documentation and challenges long-held SEO assumptions about crawling and indexing. This may impact strategies related to crawl budget, site architecture, and internal linking.

Affiliate Marketing Updates💰

6. Affiliates Concerned Over the Persistence of the Black Market in Gambling

The persistence of illegal gambling sites poses significant challenges, including unfair competition, lack of player protection, and potential links to organized crime. Industry stakeholders are calling for increased enforcement and promote a safer, regulated gambling environment.

7. Affiliate Marketing Tool Industry Future Trends Analysis

Key trends include AI integration, mobile optimization, and influencer partnerships. As businesses seek more cost-effective marketing strategies, affiliate marketing tools are expected to evolve, offering advanced analytics and personalized solutions to meet the needs of marketers and publishers.

Media Buying- AdTech News📢

8. X files federal antitrust lawsuit charging GARM with coordinating a platform boycott

The suit alleges that GARM coordinated a boycott of X's platform, violating antitrust laws. This legal action tells ongoing tension between social media platforms and advertisers over content moderation and brand safety concerns.

9. Meta Removes Detailed Targeting Exclusions From Ad Campaigns

This change, driven by advanced AI systems, aims to increase ad effectiveness and simplify campaign creation. Meta's data shows a 22.6% improvement in cost per conversion when removing these exclusions.

Social Media Highlights📲

10. Instagram Expands Carousels to 20 Frames

This update, offers creators more flexibility to showcase content. The expanded option, reminiscent of a live photo album, provides storytelling capabilities for sharing experiences and themed content.

11. YouTube creators can soon run ads during livestreams

Picture-in-picture feature is a innovative approach aims to boost ad revenue without disrupting the viewer experience, as users can continue watching live content while ads play. The experiment of YouTube's with mid-roll ads and could increase creators' instream ad revenue by over 20%.

Affiliate Network of the Week💸

PlayCash

PlayCash is an online gambling platform that offers attractive opportunities for affiliate marketers and advertisers. The site emphasizes team-based affiliate programs, providing bonuses, budget allocations, and landing pages for traffic generation.