First Thing Monday – May 29 2017

There’s never a dull moment when Google has its annual Marketing Next Event.

Google announced Google Attribution and AdWords integrations for Optimize and Surveys 360. And a new cloud-based BigQuery measurement system for YouTube advertisers. And offline conversions are now easier to import into AdWords.

But even then the week wasn’t over — it was only Wednesday. While the rest of the week went by in a blur, here’s what stayed in focus:

Google Attribution — the end of last click takes all?

That’s what Google’s hoping, at least. Announced last week, Google Attribution is free, requires no additional tagging and integrates with Google Analytics, AdWords and Doubleclick.

AdWords advertisers will be able to adjust bids based on the attribution model of their choosing. However, they must have had 15,000 clicks or more in the past 30 days (and at least 600 conversions).

While we can’t wait to get our hands on it, we’ll have to — Attribution is still in beta, and yet to become widely available.

2017 SEO stats report: On-page SEO most effective; Link building hardest

What do SEOs think the most effective SEO tactic? For its first annual survey, SEO ranking tool Advanced Web Ranking (AWR) surveyed over 1,200 marketers.

Nearly half (49%) say it’s on-page SEO, but they also agree it’s one of the easiest tactics to perform. The hardest? Link building, by a New York mile. It may be the third most effective SEO tactic, but it’s much harder to execute than Content Creation (the second most effective tactic).

Success metrics are important — but which ones?

Brands and their agencies can struggle to agree on which Key Performance Indicators are most important. Both agree they should collaborate in deciding KPIs, but their views on what should be considered important are widely different.

More Featured Snippets showing in Google Search Results

A new study reveals 30% of Google search results have “Featured Snippets”. These are the ANSWERS shown at the top of Google’s search results, often used for Google Voice search results by Google Assistant. Having your website used for a Featured Snippet can drive extra traffic, but what can you do to make that happen? Stone Temple’s report has some answers.

Now schedule AdWords to import offline conversions

Easier is good. If, like us, you’ve always wanted to make sure that your AdWords campaigns are optimised for consequent offline conversions, Google just made it easier. The import process can now be automated for daily or weekly upload. Oh joy.

Bing adds chatbots to local search results

The little search engine that could is doing something Google isn’t. With its Business Bot program, Microsoft is providing SMBs with chatbots in local search results. It’s for restaurants only, at this stage, with Australia and 12 other countries (no, not New Zealand) invited to the Bing Places party.

What we’ve been reading this week

Saatchi LA Trained IBM Watson to Write Thousands of Ads for Toyota

How Visual Cues Can Help Lift Conversions

The big debate: Is coding a must-have skill for marketers?

Why increasingly efficient UX might not always be a good thing

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