SearchCap: Microsoft HomeHub, Google Extremism, and Black Friday Ads

Here’s what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other sites across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

• Top 10 local search insights of 2016
  Dec 5, 2016 by Wesley Young

  Columnist Wesley Young of the Local Search Association looks back at 2016 to highlight the top 10 insights that local search marketers should keep in mind while planning for the upcoming year.

• Have Google and Facebook become unwitting tools of extremism?
  Dec 5, 2016 by Greg Sterling

  Google and Facebook aim for factual content and progress, but The Guardian suggests they might be inadvertently aiding in the spread of misinformation.

• Black Friday Report: Retail search ad spend shifted from text to shopping ads on desktop
  Dec 5, 2016 by Ginny Marvin

  Desktop spending on 2,500 popular product queries saw only a slight increase over the holiday weekend compared to the previous year.

• As a local business, you have to own your own back yard
  Dec 5, 2016 by Greg Gifford

  While neighboring markets may look appealing, Greg Gifford advises that local businesses should first focus on solidifying their presence in their own areas before branching out through local SEO.

• Report: Microsoft responds to Amazon Echo, Google Home with “HomeHub”
  Dec 5, 2016 by Greg Sterling

  The software approach would enable Cortana from the lock screen and incorporate other smart-home features.

• [Reminder] Live webcast: Social Media Marketing 3.0
  Dec 2, 2016 by Digital Marketing Depot

  Social media is now a crucial component of marketing, with spending expected to double to 25% of marketing budgets by 2020. Despite this, many digital marketers struggle to demonstrate the direct impact of social media on their businesses. Join our panel of experts on Thursday, December 8, 2016, as we explore this topic.

Recent Headlines From MarTech:

• 5 reasons advertisers should NOT ignore Bing Ads
• Canonical chaos: doubling down on duplicate content
• Should you hire a mobile marketing agency or keep it in-house?
• 5 New Year’s resolutions for analytics
• Report: What is data onboarding, and why is it important to marketers?
• AI’s star grows brighter in marketing, with new announcements from Amazon, Facebook, and Emarsys
• [Reminder] Live webcast: Social Media Marketing 3.0

Search News From Around The Web:

Local & Maps

• Google Maps Drops Outlining Local Boundaries, Search Engine Roundtable
• Mastering the Owner Response to the Quintet of Google My Business Reviews, Moz
• Minneapolis – St. Paul area transit information added to Apple Maps

Link Building

• Creating Link Worthy Content Using Competitor Research

Searching

• Celebrating iconic British fashion on Google Arts & Culture
• Google Adds “Buy e-Book” Options to Book Knowledge Panels
• Google removes anti-Semitic suggestion from autocomplete feature
• Google Testing Another News Card Styles in Desktop Search Results
• Is Google Rolling Out New Desktop Search Interface?

SEO

• 36 Experts Share Insights About SEO Around Europe
• Google Says Switching URL Structures & Going HTTPS Are Handled Differently
• How to Do an Advanced Content Audit to Improve SEO
• User Experience: Why it matters for SEO

SEM / Paid Search

• Google AdWords Editor: Not Available For Chromebook
• Think Straight When Your PPC Account Is Going Sideways

Search Marketing

• Why SEM and SEO are Valuable for Small Businesses