Here were this week’s top stories:
#1 Instagram removes the IGTV button from the home page
Apparently almost no one was using the button to explore IGTV (much more common to see the video previews in the main feed or in the explore tab) so IG is removing the orange IGTV button from the home screen.
#2 Instagram is dabbling with bringing DMs to desktop
Soon you may be able to reply to DMs on a desktop instead of relying on the mobile app! They are testing this feature with a small number of accounts right now.
#3 Pinterest is now the third most popular social media platform
It surpassed Snapchat in 2019 and is expected to hold this spot throughout 2020.
#4 Early reports on the January 13th Google algorithm update are in
Many website owners are reporting favorable trends after the January 2020 Google algorithm update.
This is true for my own website too – we had a 25% increase in organic search traffic!
The update officially began midday on January 13th and, according to Google, is pretty much done rolling out now.
#5 YouTube introduces profile cards
You can now see a YouTube user’s comment history and for any given video on their profile card!
The goal is to promote a nicer commenting community. People may think twice before leaving an aggressive comment, knowing it will be visible on their profile card. However, users can turn these options off within their profile settings,
#6 New features for LinkedIn pages
LinkedIn pages can now invite people to follow them, broadcast live streams, and easily toggle between engaging as an individual or an organization. More details on these updates can be found here.
#7 Google adds a “popular products” shopping section in search
This is a new type of organic search results (meaning you don’t have to pay to have your products displayed there). It’s pretty cool… you can see it in action here.
Implementing product structured data may help you get placed there, as well as signing up for Google’s Merchant Center and creating a product feed.
#8 Google Search Console error reporting bug
If you had a spike in “unparsable structured data errors” in Google Search Console between Jan 13-16th, you can ignore them. There was a bug that has since been resolved.
#9 Favicons are now displayed on Google’s desktop search results
Most people believe this was done in order to make ads blend in more with the organic search results…. since ads always have an “ad” favicon displayed next to them… and thus, lead to more ad clicks and revenue for Google.
Although, the official word from Google is that this was done to make brands front and center and help people scan the search results and decide where to click 😉 Learn more here.
Hope you enjoyed this update!
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Erica Julson is a registered dietitian turned digital marketing pro. She has over 12 years of experience blogging and building online businesses and has taught over 900 wellness professionals inside her signature program, SEO Made Simple.
