In this update, we cover Meta’s expansion of Advantage+ campaigns, Microsoft’s new LinkedIn audience targeting, Google’s expanded display ad placements, and LinkedIn’s latest attribution tools. On the SEO front, we break down a local ranking algorithm update and how LLMs are (or aren’t) impacting search.
Here’s what you need to know to keep your marketing strategy sharp.
Paid Media
Meta Expands Advantage+ campaign types
Meta announced the introduction of Advantage+ leads campaigns, after seeing success with Advantage+ sales campaigns. Advantage+ campaigns are automated ad campaigns that leverage machine learning to serve ads to audiences with higher chances of converting. Advertiser feedback on Advantage+ sales campaigns is positive, so being able to leverage this campaign type for lead generation campaigns is a welcome addition.
Microsoft Ads targeting now includes LinkedIn Audiences
Microsoft announced enhancements to Performance Max, including the ability to use LinkedIn audience targeting (including company, industry, and job functions).
Microsoft also rolled out impression-based remarketing, so that advertisers can reach people who have previously seen ads but not clicked through.
Google Ads Updates
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- Display placements have been expanded. Demand Gen will start serving image ads to the GDN. Expanded GDN inventory, including TelevisaUnivision, MLB, and FOX News.
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- A new preview gallery has been added, making it easier for teams to review assets, including AI-generated assets.
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- Responsive search ads may now display titles as sitelinks, when Google thinks leveraging it may enhance ad performance.
LinkedIn launches attribution tools
LinkedIn announced two tools to improve conversion tracking and attribution. The Conversions API (CAPI) connects first-party data to LinkedIn campaigns, and the Revenue Attribution Report (RAR) extends reporting timeline to 365 days by connecting with CRMs.
SEO
Updates by Brett Woodward
A new Google update is affecting local rankings
After extensive testing, local SEO agency Sterling Sky has identified an algorithm change that appears to demote a site’s organic SERP rankings if the business already ranks highly in the Map Pack.
It appears to be an effort to help diversify the local search landscape, which is better for the competition than your business or clients. Sterling Sky recommends changing the site link of your Google Business Profile to a different page than what ranks organically to remedy this issue.
LLM usage isn’t denting Google’s search market share (yet)
A preview of a study by Sparktoro using Datos clickstream data indicates that 99.8% of sampled LLM users also used traditional search engines, suggesting that while LLMs like ChatGPT and Perplexity are growing in usage, they aren’t taking a significant portion of Google’s market share just yet.
Think about your own LLM usage. Many of the queries typed into LLMs are productivity or process based instead of “search” based. Anecdotally, many of us still look for a brand or specific product in Google over LLMs. For now, it seems traditional search isn’t going anywhere, but that could change in the coming years.
Some additional food for thought: the same data source also indicated that less than 2% of ChatGPT sessions ended with a click to the open web (and around 0.01% for Google Gemini), demonstrating how LLMs send even less traffic to independent websites than traditional search engines like Google.
