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Good morning, Marketers, and we hope your weekend was everything you wanted and more.
It’s officially been summer for a while now, but the heatwaves that rolled throughout North America last week had people searching for relief in all kinds of different ways. Check out the trends in the indicator graphic below.
Along with waves of heat, we’ve also seen waves of Google algorithm updates. While the July update is still rolling out, we just wanted to remind you that the page experience update (which is not a core update) has been going on for a while and will continue to August, too. If you need to get your house in order before then, we’ve got a guide to help you below.
Plus, Pinterest made some ad policy changes to protect their main audience — young women.
Carolyn Lyden
Director of Search Content
How to audit Core Web Vitals (and prioritize the fixes)
Google’s page experience update is in the process of rolling out now (until August). And while it will not be the end of the world for many sites, it’s still a best practice to ensure people can access your site and use it quickly.
Core Web Vitals focuses on loading, interactivity, and visual stability, and it really just means your site is actually usable for visitors. If you’re having trouble figuring out how to figure out if your site needs fixes, or you need help prioritizing which fixes are most important, we’ve got the guide for you.
Pro tip. You can also use our guide to editing CWV to help get your (or your client’s) devs on board to make some of the most important changes. As we learned at SMX Advanced, data is often the key in helping other stakeholders understand the urgency behind SEO changes.
It’s like a heat wave – burning in my heart
“U.S. searches about heat waves and sunscreen reached all time record highs this month, and ‘air conditioner installation service’ spiked more than 2,150% over the same period of time,” wrote Molly McHugh-Johnson for Google’s blog The Keyword.
McHugh-Johnson looked into how searches around summer weather have changed over time. Some fun ways to talk about some un-fun weather? Heat wave, hot one, scorcher, and more. What are your faves? Mine has to be the Southern saying (that I just discovered via Googling), “It is hotter than a jalapeño’s armpit.” Hope you’re staying cool out there.
Pinterest is the first platform to prohibit all weight loss ads
Last week Pinterest officially banned ads with weight loss imagery and language. “According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), there’s been a steep rise in unhealthy eating habits and eating disorders in young people since the COVID-19 pandemic started last year,” the company wrote in the announcement.
As many youths use Pinterest to plan their summers, this move helps them focus on summer fun. Almost 75% of Pinterest users are women and 32% are 18-29 years old, according to data from Statista. This makes Pinterest the first major social media platform to ban weight loss ads, an expansion of previous policies that prohibited body shaming and dangerous weight loss claims.
The expanded ad ban means the following are now also prohibited:
- Any weight loss language or imagery;
- Any testimonials regarding weight loss or weight loss products;
- Any language or imagery that idealizes or denigrates certain body types;
- Referencing Body Mass Index (BMI) or similar indexes; and
- Any products that claim weight loss through something worn or applied to the skin
Ads that promote fitness services, healthy habits, and healthy lifestyles will NOT be a part of this ban as long as the focus of the ad is not weight loss.
Why we care. Many businesses have yet to tap the power of Pinterest for their own marketing. However, 82% of active users on Pinterest say they’ve been influenced to buy products based on the brand’s content on the platform. Pinterest has been expanding its ads options recently and is providing more tools for creators and influencers. This ad ban is another opportunity they’ve taken to protect their community and listen to their target market.
The truce is over: Microsoft and Google can jump back into the ring
Did you know that Google and Microsoft were in an official “truce” starting in 2015? I didn’t. Technically, this agreement expired in April of this year, which means all bets are off. We saw a taste of it earlier when Microsoft agreed with Australia’s move to make Google pay publishers and Google responded by snarking on Microsoft’s SolarWinds hack.
But before the legal agreement, the battles between the two tech companies were pretty heated: “During the height of Windows Phone in 2013, there was a particularly bitter battle between Microsoft and Google over YouTube. Months later, Microsoft was out selling anti-Google mugs and T-shirts, and acting rather nervous about Chromebooks,” wrote Tom Warren for The Verge.
So, it’s time to grab the popcorn again and see how the two major search engine companies approach each other with mounting investigations, calls for regulation, and valid criticisms of each platform.
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