Digital Marketing Month in Review by Four Dots: January 2022

Hello and welcome to Digital Marketing Month in Review by Four Dots. This is our monthly column where we comb through some of the most relevant news and events that took place within the digital marketing landscape over the last month or so.

Let’s see what the January 2022 edition brings us:   

• Google Search Console Updated With Page Experience Desktop Report
• Google Uses Different Algorithms For Different Languages
• Google Ads Introduces New Experiments Page
• LinkedIn Adds 3 New & Free Marketing Courses
• Instagram Increases Response Options in Stories Polls, Facilitating Expanded Engagement
• Instagram Adds Scheduled Live Display on User Profiles to Improve Discovery of Upcoming Streams
• Instagram Launches Live Test of Fan Subscriptions, Providing More Monetization Options for Creators

Alrighty then, let’s dive right in! 

Google Search Console Updated With Page Experience Desktop Report

Google Search Console has a new report dedicated to evaluating Page Experience criteria on the desktop versions of web pages.

This report can help you prepare for the launch of the page experience algorithm update on desktop, which will begin rolling out in February and finish at the end of March.

In an announcement on Twitter, Google states:

“To support the upcoming rollout of page experience ranking to desktop, Search Console now has a dedicated desktop section in its Page Experience report to help site owners understand Google’s ‘good page experience’ criteria.”

The desktop report can be accessed from the Page Experience tab in Search Console, directly underneath the mobile report.

Screenshot from https://search.google.com/search-console, January 2022

Google has confirmed the three Core Web Vitals metrics: LCP, FID, and CLS, and their associated thresholds will apply for the desktop ranking.

Other aspects of page experience signals, such as HTTPS security and the absence of intrusive interstitials, will remain the same as well.

Google Uses Different Algorithms For Different Languages

Image source: Search Engine Journal

In response to a Reddit thread titled: “Does Google use the same algorithm for every language?”, Google’s Search Advocate John Mueller responded that Google “mostly” uses the same search algorithms for every language, but there are some algorithms that are only used on specific languages. 

The thread reads:

“The BERT update had to do with semantics, so it got me wondering if it would be the same in every language. Which then made me think of other ranking factors, and how their importance might differ among different languages/cultures. Anyway, I want to ask anybody with experience in SEO in another language, if you’ve found any differences between ranking factors?”

Mueller does not address the topic of ranking factors, but he does discuss the use of search algorithms in different languages. Some languages, for example, don’t separate words with spaces. That makes it necessary to use a different algorithm than what Google uses for languages that do use spaces.

Many people think of the Google Search algorithm as a single entity, but it’s actually made up of “lots and lots” of algorithms. Some of these algorithms are utilized for all language searches, while others are used specifically for specific languages.

To sum up, Google can’t detect when a piece of content in one language is the same, or similar, to a piece of content written in another language. Knowing that Google can’t determine the equivalency of different language content on its own, it sheds more light onto why Google has certain algorithms for certain languages.

Source: Google Search Central on YouTube

Google Ads Introduces New Experiments Page

The days of confusing Google Ads drafts and tests are past. The interface of Google Ads has received a much-needed upgrade, and the new experience is a welcome change to beginner and experienced Google Ads users alike.

Let’s take a look at the new and exciting changes.

The New Experiments Page

With the new Experiments update, you can now create an experiment (or test) in one step. That means no more creating drafts first.

Additionally, you will now be able to monitor all tests on the Experiments page. From this page, you are able to apply any experiment changes in one click.

Image source: Search Engine Journal

The New Syncing Experience

Google now also has a new way to sync experiments to campaigns. This change makes it easier for you to run experiments. 

Before this new and improved rollout, copying changes from your original campaign was a manual process, not to mention time-consuming for the user. Google Ads will now automatically sync any changes from the experiment to the original campaign being tested.

Users will benefit from the new Google Ads experiments rollout in numerous ways, including:

• Saving time on experiment creation
• Better transparency on results
• Easier to create and sync changes to existing campaign(s) during the testing phase
• Less room for implementation errors

LinkedIn Adds 3 New & Free Marketing Courses

If you are looking to get more out of your LinkedIn marketing efforts in 2022, you are in luck, as LinkedIn is rolling out three new courses to its on-demand learning center which is full of free resources for marketers

Image source: LinkedIn

LinkedIn Learning Labs launched last year and offers courses ranging from basic to intermediate, which covers marketing practices for a variety of industries.

Course material is presented in a step-by-step learning path and is available on-demand for people to complete at their own pace. It’s estimated that each course takes an hour or less to complete from start to finish.

This resource center is an ideal solution for marketing professionals who want to learn the best practices of LinkedIn, refine their advertising strategies, and stay informed about new marketing tools.

Instagram Increases Response Options in Stories Polls, Facilitating Expanded Engagement

Instagram has quietly updated its Poll sticker for Instagram Stories, which now enables you to add up to four response options for your poll, doubling your response choices.

Image source: Instagram

That could great for social media managers who are looking to generate more engagement with their Stories, with the simple, one-tap response process of polls providing a great lure for interaction, which can then help to maximize both response and reach.

Additionally, user Hammod Oh has also reported via Twitter that users can now change the color of the poll sticker question text.

Instagram Adds Scheduled Live Display on User Profiles to Improve Discovery of Upcoming Streams

Instagram has outlined its new display of scheduled live streams on creator profiles, providing another way to raise awareness of upcoming live broadcasts in the app.

Image source: Instagram

As you can see in these screenshots, the new display option will enable you to list your upcoming IG live streams on your profile, which, when tapped, will provide additional info in a pop-up prompt, where people can also sign-up for a reminder of when the stream is set to begin.

IG Live has become a key connection surface in the app, particularly throughout the pandemic, and as Instagram looks to expand the option into eCommerce, facilitating more direct engagement between brands and fans, the capacity to map out a more effective IG Live strategy could be a big help in maximizing your on-platform efforts.

Instagram Launches Live Test of Fan Subscriptions, Providing More Monetization Options for Creators

Instagram has launched an initial test of its new Subscriptions option for Instagram creators, which will provide another income avenue for platform stars, hopefully providing more motivation for them to remain posting on IG rather than TikTok or YouTube.

As explained by Instagram:

“With Instagram Subscriptions, creators can develop deeper connections with their most engaged followers and grow their recurring monthly income by giving subscribers access to exclusive content and benefits, all within the same platform where they interact with them already.”

Those that do have access are able to charge a variable monthly amount for a subscription – between $0.99 and $99.99 – which will give paying members access to:

• Subscribers-Only Lives – Creators can broadcast exclusive Lives to their subscribers, allowing them to engage more deeply.
• Subscribers-Only Stories – Creators can create exclusive stories, just for their subscribers where they can share behind the scenes, create special polls, among many other options. Additionally, they’ll be able to save these stories to subscribers-only highlights. Subscriber stories will have a distinct purple ring to signify exclusivity. 
• Subscriber Badges – Creators will see a subscriber badge next to comments and primary and request inbox messages so they can easily identify their subscribers.

Parent company Meta says that it won’t be taking in any cut of the fees from fan subscriptions till at least 2023, though any funds transferred will be subject to relevant app store fees and charges, as normal.

Given the restricted availability of the feature, it’s not a significant improvement just yet, but it’s a smart move from IG that might have significant long-term benefits for the app.

Wrapping Up

That would be all for this installment of Digital Marketing Month in Review by Four Dots. See you next month.

Radomir Basta

CEO and lead SEO strategist at Four Dots and lecturer at Digital Marketing Institute Also an angry driver and huge tattoo fan. In love with growth hacking.

See Full Bio