Search Engine Land’s daily brief features daily insights, news, tips, and essential bits of wisdom for today’s search marketer. If you would like to read this before the rest of the internet does, sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox daily.
Good morning, Marketers, and how much TV do you watch?
Since having my daughter over a year ago, I have only been able to make time for The Great British Bake Off on Friday nights. But as a millennial and a latchkey kid, I was raised on TV. I just saw that Project Runway, one of my college TV favorites, is now in its 19th season!
In case you’re not a reality TV buff, Project Runway is a show where aspiring fashion designers face weekly challenges to create a garment based on the theme. As someone who never learned to sew well (sorry, mom) the fact that they could come up with a look, design it, create it, and have it modeled all in one week was mind-blowing.
The best part was Tim Gunn, a mentor to the designers throughout the week who helped them course correct and encouraged them when they were on to something. His famous catchphrase was, “Make it work, designers.” I still say it now to myself and to others when things are getting weird and we just have to push through. Make it work!
Tim Gunn proves the importance having a guiding hand can be in helping up-and-comers achieve their goals. As the Search Engine Land mentorship program winds down, our group’s mentees have achieved AMAZING things (new jobs, promotions, new projects, and more). They likely would have achieved these things on their own (they are awesome, after all), but having a guiding hand to help you choose the right path for you is ALWAYS a professional benefit.
We’re lucky to have our mentors joining us for a panel at SMX Next to talk about how to be a mentor (which could be great for new managers too!), and how they balance what’d they’d do versus guiding someone along their own path.
If you’re looking to mentor or manage people, it’s a don’t-miss. Register here!
Carolyn Lyden,Director of Search Content
Podcast knowledge panels go live in Google Search
Google seems to be rolling out podcast-based knowledge panels in Google Search. When you search for your favorite podcast, you might see a new knowledge panel show up in the search results.
Why we care. If you or your clients run a podcast, check to see if you are noticing this new knowledge panel in the Google search results. If not, it might be related to the RSS feed your podcast is produced on. Sadly, there is no official documentation on how your podcast can show as a knowledge panel.
What does Google’s infinite scroll on mobile mean for advertisers?
Google’s announcement about infinite scroll has many advertisers wondering what will happen to their Google Ads on mobile devices. This change, which is rolling out over the next two weeks, “does not affect how the ad auction works or the way Ad Rank is calculated,” said Mohamed Farid, Product Manager at Google Ads. But there may be some changes in metrics.
How will my metrics change? You may see more mobile impressions and a lower CTR on Search, Shopping, and Local Ads. “We expect clicks, conversions, average CPC, and average CPA to remain flat,” added Farid in the Q&A document. “Search campaigns may see more impressions from top ads and fewer impressions from bottom ads.”
Why we care. This is an important change to communicate to clients and stakeholders who may be invested in the minutiae of campaign metrics. Google recommends reviewing your advertising goals and “monitoring your campaigns and continuing to optimize them based on your business objectives.” This change is only for U.S.-based queries right now but will roll out to additional countries and languages in 2022.
Jobs: On the hunt for something new? Check out the latest jobs in search marketing
SEO Strategist @ TripAdvisor (remote)
- Salary: $90k-120k/yr
- Partner with other SEO team members to identify and size opportunities, define product specifications, establish milestones, and assure quality.
- Write specs, run tests, analyze results, and make decisions that have real effects on revenue and profit for the company.
Senior Marketing Manager @ Knoetic (New York, USA remote)
- Salary: $80k-110k/yr
- Create effective communications strategies that articulate Knoetic’s core benefits, and continually test, track, and report on results.
- Consistently produce high-quality content (including articles, white papers, blogs, emails, case studies, etc.) that drive inbound interest in Knoetic’s offerings.
Search Marketing Manager @ Bon Secours Mercy Health (USA remote)
- Salary: $86k-115k/yr
- Work with key stakeholders to get new content online and existing content optimized with search engine marketing best practices in mind.
- Create and manage ongoing pay-per-click search advertising campaigns for core areas of focus at the brand, service line and local levels.
Senior Search Engine Optimization Manager @ Freeman+Leonard (Chicago)
- Salary: $100k-130k/yr
- Lead day-to-day execution of organic search engine campaigns including keyword research, content gap analysis, strategic optimization of existing content, competitor analysis, on-page SEO factors and site architecture improvements.
- Work with content leads to create SEO content strategies for each of the verticals and work on executing evergreen strategies for existing and new content.
What We’re Reading: We’re all hackers now: Journalist “decodes” HTML to find PII
A local Missouri media publication warned the state’s administrative officials that their website exposed the social security numbers of multiple teachers. The reporter did so as a courtesy before publishing the news, as the PII was publicly available for anyone to find.
The news went “viral” after Missouri Governor Mike Parsons posted a tweet thread saying the website was hacked:
“Through a multi-step process, an individual took the records of at least three educators, decoded the HTML source code, and viewed the SSN of those specific educators. We notified the Cole County prosecutor and the Highway Patrol’s Digital Forensic Unit will investigate.
Upon receiving this notice, DESE immediately contacted the Missouri Office of Administration ITSD, who programs and maintains the web application, to remove public access to the portal and update the code. This matter is serious. The state is committing to bring to justice anyone who hacked our system and anyone who aided or encouraged them to do so — in accordance with what Missouri law allows AND requires.”
Search marketers know, of course, that there’s no “decoding” source code. A quick right-click and “view source code” makes it available to all. The issue is actually that social security numbers were included in the HTML, to begin with. The Missouri administration believes it was hacked, though.
We hope the misunderstanding is cleared up and that the Governor’s office stops putting social security numbers in the HTML of their sites.