Episode 161 contains the notable Digital Marketing News and Updates from the week of May 15-19, 2023. And the show notes for this episode was generated using generative AI. And like always, I curated the articles for the show.

1. HomeAdvisor Penalized by FTC for False Claims -
HomeAdvisor, a popular online marketplace for home improvement services, has been penalized by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for making false claims about the quality of leads it sells to service providers.

The FTC's complaint alleged that HomeAdvisor had made false, misleading, or unsubstantiated claims about the quality and source of the leads it sells to service providers. The complaint also alleged that HomeAdvisor often told service providers that its leads result in jobs at rates much higher than it can substantiate. Some of the false and misleading claims made by HomeAdvisor are:

The FTC's complaint also alleges that HomeAdvisor failed to disclose that its leads were often generated by bots or other automated means, and that they were not always from people who were actually interested in buying home improvement services.

As part of the settlement, HomeAdvisor will pay $50 million to the FTC and will be required to change its business practices. These changes include:

If you believe that you have been the victim of false or misleading claims about leads, you can contact the FTC at https://www.ftc.gov/complaint.

2. Meta Adds New Lead Generation Tools to Facebook -
Meta is adding new lead generation tools to Facebook, making it easier for businesses to collect contact information from potential customers. The new tools include a lead form builder, which allows businesses to create custom lead forms, , a lead magnet library,  a lead generation chatbot and a lead generation ad, which allows businesses to promote their lead forms to a wider audience.

The lead form builder allows businesses to create custom lead forms that can be embedded on their website or in their Facebook posts. 

The lead magnet library provides businesses with a selection of pre-made lead magnets, such as ebooks, checklists, and white papers. 

The lead generation chatbot allows businesses to collect contact information from potential customers through a conversation in Messenger.

The new lead generation tools are available to all businesses that use Facebook. To use the lead form builder, businesses will need to create a Facebook Page and then add the lead form builder to their Page. To use the lead generation ad, businesses will need to create a Facebook Ad and then select the "Lead Generation" objective.

The new lead generation tools are a great way for businesses to collect contact information from potential customers. The lead form builder is easy to use and allows businesses to create custom lead forms that fit their needs.

Meta says that the new lead generation tools are designed to help businesses "grow their audience, increase engagement, and drive sales."

3. Meta Starts Refunding Advertisers for Overspending Glitch -
Meta has started to issue refunds to advertisers impacted by a glitch last month that resulted in overspending and higher than usual CPAs.

The glitch occurred on April 23, when Meta's automated system overspent advertisers' daily budgets in a matter of hours. CPAs also tripled.

Meta has said that it is still investigating the cause of the glitch, but it has apologized for the inconvenience and promised to make it right.

If you were affected by the glitch, you can request a refund by visiting Meta's website.

4. Google Merchant Center COVID-19 Update -  Starting from June 2023, Google is making a significant change to its COVID-19 policy under its Sensitive Events Policy. The company will be lifting restrictions on COVID-19 related content, meaning that Shopping ads and free listings containing COVID-19 related terms will no longer be restricted. In addition, the approval via LegitScript or Project N95 will no longer be required. This policy update will allow Shopping ads and free listings for certain types of face masks, vaccines, and other COVID-19 related products.

However, it's important to note that all content related to COVID-19 will still be subject to all other Shopping policies. These policies prohibit content that could be harmful to users and the overall shopping ecosystem, including any form of misrepresentation.

5. YouTube to Offer Unskippable Ads on Connected TV -
YouTube is the most popular streaming service on TV screens in the U.S., with an estimated 150 million unique viewers. Now, the company is testing a new ad format that will allow advertisers to show unskippable 30-second ads on connected TV devices.

The new ad format is called YouTube Select, and it is currently being tested with a small group of advertisers. If the test is successful, YouTube plans to roll out the format to more advertisers in the coming months.

YouTube Select ads will be placed before, during, or after videos on connected TV devices. Viewers will not be able to skip these ads, which will last for 30 seconds each. Advertisers will be able to target their ads based on a variety of factors, including the viewer's interests, demographics, and viewing history.

The introduction of unskippable ads on connected TV is a significant development for the advertising industry. It is a way for advertisers to reach a large audience with their messages, and it is a way for YouTube to generate more revenue. These ads can be a more effective way to reach your target audience, since they will be guaranteed to see your ad.

6. Google Analytics 4 Audience Builder Refresh - Google Analytics 4 has recently refreshed its audience builder, adding new dimensions and metrics, enhanced ways to manipulate event value and event count, and a new option to match dates.

Here are some of the new features:

These enhancements make it easier to create more sophisticated audiences in GA4. If you're using GA4, I encourage you to check out the new audience builder and see how it can help you improve your marketing campaigns.

7. Google Search Console to BigQuery Bulk Data Export Feature Does Not Include Historical Data - Google announced in February 2023 that it would be adding a new feature to Google Search Console that would allow users to export their data to BigQuery. his feature allows users to export all of their Search Console data to BigQuery, where it can be analyzed using SQL queries. 

BigQuery is a cloud-based data warehouse that offers powerful data analysis capabilities. By exporting their Search Console data to BigQuery, users can gain insights into their website's search performance that would not be possible with the Search Console web interface alone.

For example, users can use BigQuery to analyze the following:

This information can be used to improve the website's search performance and make it more visible to potential visitors.

However, it has now been revealed that this feature will not include historical data.

This means that users will only be able to export data from the day that they set up the export. This could be a problem for users who want to track their performance over time.

Google has not said why it has decided not to include historical data in the export feature. However, it is possible that the company is concerned about the amount of data that would need to be stored.

8. Google Releases New Crawler for Testing Tools - Google has released a new crawler, Google-InspectionTool, which will be used by Google Search's testing tools, such as the Rich Result Test and Google Search Console's URL inspection tool. Google-InspectionTool mimics Googlebot, except for the user agent and user agent token.

If you are a crawler junky and you analyze the crawling activity and bot activity in your log files, you might see Google-InspectionTool show up. That is especially if you use the Rich Result Test and URL inspection in Google Search Console.

Google-InspectionTool is a valuable tool for webmasters and SEOs. It can be used to test how Googlebot sees your website and to identify any potential problems. If you are having trouble with your website's search engine ranking, Google-InspectionTool can be a helpful tool to troubleshoot the issue.

This new crawler is a helpful tool for webmasters and SEOs who want to test their websites and make sure that they are crawlable by Google. If you are having trouble with your website's crawlability, you can use Google-InspectionTool to troubleshoot the issue.

9. Will SSL Boost Your SEO Rankings? - Google's John Mueller has stated that an SSL certificate does not boost a website's SEO. This means that having an SSL certificate will not improve your website's ranking in Google search results.

An SSL certificate encrypts the data that is transmitted between your website and a user's browser. This helps to protect users' privacy and security. However, it does not have any impact on how Google ranks websites.

If you are concerned about the security of your website, you should still get an SSL certificate. However, you should not do it in the hope that it will improve your SEO.

10. Google's John Mueller on "Gambling with SEO shortcuts"​ - I want to share with you a thought-provoking discussion from a recent Mastodon thread that I believe has valuable insights for everyone in the SEO and digital marketing community.

The conversation started with Preeti Gupta (@ilovechoclates_) posing a hypothetical scenario in which a site, filled with scraped reviews from established platforms like Capterra, G2, and Trustpilot, is created to gain traffic and revenue. The question raised was whether such a practice is ethical, especially the review scraping part.

Simon Cox (@simoncox) responded that while he wouldn't engage in such practices on ethical grounds, the lack of a strong brand would likely render such efforts futile. He emphasized that there are no shortcuts in building a trustworthy business.

John Mueller (@johnmu) replied that while sites taking such shortcuts might temporarily gain traffic from search, the majority won't. He compared it to a gamble, and cautioned that when things go south, there won't be any sympathy. He emphasized that attempting to cut corners with SEO, such as using low-quality content or artificial backlinks, can lead to more harm than good. Rather than providing a shortcut to better rankings, these tactics can actually harm your site's reputation and visibility in Google's search results. 

Mueller advises that sticking to Google's guidelines and focusing on creating high-quality, relevant content is the best approach to SEO. He stressed the importance of building a long-term, value-based presence rather than relying on short-term, potentially unethical strategies. This is a timely reminder for all businesses about the importance of ethical SEO practices.

This discussion serves as a stark reminder that ethical, long-term strategies are at the heart of successful digital marketing. There are no shortcuts to building a reputable brand and a loyal customer base. Scraping content and attempting to profit from others' work might seem tempting, but such tactics are likely to backfire in the long run.