[vc_column][vc_column_text]
CORONAVIRUS
The recent impact on our industry
As the new coronavirus continues to spread around the world, we thought it was about time we shared some updates on how the outbreak is affecting our industry.
+ Facebook: Last week, Facebook introduced a ban on ads promoting cures for the coronavirus. Okay we didn’t report about this at the time, because… Was it necessary?
However, this new update confirms that Facebook will now start banning every ad that uses the coronavirus to create a sense of urgency, such as implying limited supply for example. So, if care about your accounts, don’t create virus-related ads.
+ China: Businesses all around the world are definitely feeling the impact of manufacturers and couriers shutting down. Amazon sellers, for example, are battling against the algorithm as it tries to depreciate their search ranking due to being out of stock for too long.
Chinese manufacturers are expected to get back to work on March 1. However, it will take some time before they can get back to a normal working rhythm.
+Italy: It took just a handful of days for Italy to become the third most infected country in the world. Despite this, apart from the closure of public gathering places, shipments shouldn’t be hurt. The towns that are currently in lockdown aren’t big enough or widespread enough to cause any delivery issues either.
Not much to report, we know, but we did see some people concerned about their Italian operations. So we thought we should do some research and keep you informed. And “fortunately” you don’t have to worry.
Well, that’s all for now, hopefully we won’t have to report any more bad news about the outbreak, even though it looks like it might get worse before it gets better.
PS: For more updates, we found this website that shares daily updates about shipping around the world. You can definitely find more detailed information.
E-commerce sites going 3D in Google Search
Promised last year at Google I/O and fulfilled this week, 3D images with augmented reality are now live in search for e-commerce sites.
How will it look in SERPs? Here’s an example of a Burberry bag showing up with a “view in 3D” option in the Google search results.
When users click on “View in 3D,” Google will show them a 3D image using augmented reality, giving users a more detailed look of the item through their mobile phone’s camera lens.
In fact, one can even use their camera to place the object in their surroundings, so you can put it on desks and tables to get a closer look at the item. You can also rotate items and examine them from various angles.
Now the big question is this: How can you get 3D images from your e-commerce stores on Google Search? You will need a 3D markup to get this done.
Check out this article, which shows a detailed guide on how to add 3D markup to your images to help them show up as 3D images in mobile search.
There are many other apps that already support augmented reality, often allowing customers to see how furniture and other objects will look in their homes or to see how different glasses and makeup looks on them.
With Google also starting to enable those kinds of capabilities in the SERP for commercial queries, it’s an exciting feature for e-commerce sites to include 3D images and structured data on their sites.
SPONSORED
📈 Jumbleberry helps you ride the D2C e-commerce wave with Carousel & Pipeline
Ever heard the term DTC or D2C? It means direct-to-consumer and it usually refers to brands like Casper, Purple, Snow and countless others… It’s a big trend right now in e-comm!
Jumbleberry is right on top of the game, establishing their two new programs: Carousel and Pipeline – built from the ground-up with Jumbleberry’s holistic People, Process and Technology approach. Let’s explain what each program does…
Carousel offers you access to exclusive D2C brands through high converting campaigns with everything you need for success: full-funnel analytics, content assets, ads, pre-landers, audience data, just to name a few. The best D2C brands that are ready for your scale!
And if you are a D2C brand… Well, Carousel might be the way to pour more fuel on those lit sales! Visit Carousel to learn more.
Now about Pipeline… It’s about riding the wave in affiliate marketing, including e-commerce.
- Want the highest performing campaigns in nutra, health & beauty and e-comm?
- Are you an affiliate interested in capitalizing on trends by running large volumes of traffic with the highest possible EPCs, clockwork-like weekly payouts and the support of the best people in the industry?
- Are you an advertiser looking to have a cap filled with quality, high-volume traffic for your newest hot offer?
Pipeline takes all the things you know and love about Jumbleberry to a fresh and higher level. Visit Pipeline to learn more.
Sign up for an account and learn more about the latest offerings that have just arrived in town.
SEO
Google cracking down on guest post link building?
This was brought to our attention by Steven Kang from SEO Signals Lab. The conclusion from this is that it looks like Google is cracking down on sites accepting guest posts.
Fellow SEO Israel Gaudette received this email from Google, which read:
“We have detected that some of your articles are guest posts… We have disabled your authority for your outbound links. Please set your outbound links to nofollow and submit a review request.”
And he is not alone, there are several other publishers that reported manual action on guest posts from Google.
So the question is this: Are these manual actions being imposed on all sponsored guest posts, or just on over-optimized posts?
Looking at the content of the email, it looks like this specifically targets sponsored posts.
Another interesting thing is that, in Google’s example of a problem page, they were able to accurately identify one single guest post out of a total of five outbound links in the reported article.
This means Google was able to determine which of these links benefited the person writing the guest post.
There has been no official confirmation on this from Google’s end, apart from a Tweet from Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes where he claims to have no idea of any such action.
Should you stop accepting guest posts?
Well, Google’s manual links warning requests that the publisher adds a nofollow attribute to all paid links embedded in guest posts. So, there’s nothing wrong with accepting or asking to publish such posts.
It’s just that if there are paid links involved, be sure to add a nofollow link attribute on the sponsored link.
PS: Publishing guest posts without a nofollow link attribute may be risky at this time, at least until Google issues a formal announcement.
Google’s email also mentions compensation. So, it looks like Google’s main concern right now is to stop paid links artificially influencing search results.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
- FROM THE CREW: What turns a beginner affiliate into a great one? How to apply poker strategies to media buying and some more business wisdom in this interview with Stacked Marketer (previously known as WHAT THE AFF) founder, Emanuel Cinca.
- TOOLS: Tired of manually going through your placement reports to exclude inappropriate websites and apps from your display campaigns? Here’s a tool to help you create exclusion lists.
- ADVERTISING: Robert J Miller met Donald Trump’s campaign manager and unveiled some stats. Hint: We feel that CPMs will go up!
- AMAZON: If you’re a Brand Registered Vendor, Amazon is giving you access to its Vendor Central platform data. This was $30k at first, now it’s faah-reee!
- INFLUENCERS: David Morneau shared an updated list of 100+ fashion and lifestyle influencers with great content, including their email addresses.
- SEO: Instead of being limited to specific table views, you can now download complete information from almost all reports of Search Console.
- BOT MARKETING: A tip from Mackensie Liberman for creating better copies for One Time notifications.
BRAIN TEASER
What becomes white when it’s dirty?
You can find the solution by clicking here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things affiliates like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
The lazy way to a longer existence
What’s your personal record for time spent on the sofa watching Netflix?
If you’re a lazy marketer, like all of us, you probably have an interesting score in your trophy cabinet.
However, you can never be as lazy as this wild salamander. The lazy amphibian has been stuck in the same spot for over seven years. Yes, seven years hanging around doing basically nothing.
These little slackers can achieve these dizzying heights of laziness thanks to their very low metabolism. They eat snails and crustaceans, but can actually survive years without food.
They have a good reason, too: This lifestyle allows the species to live up to 100 years… And all those doctors that say exercise is important… Pfft, we’re cancelling our gym membership right after finishing this post…
And listen, this makes us think that being a marketer is the best way to ensure a long life: You spend most of your days sitting in front of your laptop, brainstorming campaigns and checking stats!
So, now you know, if you want to live longer and make moolah till you die, you just have to do one thing: Never ever leave that work station and feed yourself with the dust and the crumbs stuck in your keyboard.
The extra time on this Earth you’ll get by following this strategy will surely be decisive in beating your competitors!