This day in search marketing history: March 22

Google Search Console to show event rich results errors for missing locations

2022: Google Search Console’s rich results report could now show you more warnings for event structured data markup if the event is missing a location.

Merchant Center can now be linked to Google Analytics 4

2022: Plus, you could now “see your conversions from free product listings by connecting your Merchant Center and Google Analytics property.”

Microsoft Advertising updates reporting dashboard with recent reports, real-time previews and more

2022: The new reporting dashboard was aimed at streamlining workflows by making reports easier to customize and access.

Instagram product tags rolling out to all U.S. users

2022: Product tagging would make it easy for people to discover and buy your products via Instagram Shopping.

Zero-click Google searches rose to nearly 65% in 2020

2021: Study found that on desktop, 46.5% of searches were zero-click, compared to 77.2% on mobile devices.

Video: Dan Toplitt, SVP, Head of US SEO at Reprise Digital, on enterprise SEO

2021: Other topics discussed: Google My Business, Google Shopping, passage ranking and more.

Google apologizes for rel=next/prev mixup

2019: Related: SEOs frustrated by Google’s belated pagination announcement

New personalized, Shopping Actions-enabled Google Shopping debuts in France

2019: Personalized recommendations and universal checkout were front and center in the update.

AdWords now shows ad version history

2018: Advertisers could compare old ad variations in the new AdWords interface.

Google Posts now gives museums, movies, musicians & sports groups dedicated space in search

2017: The program opened in US and Brazil. The expansion was a sign Google no longer saw it as just an experiment.

Data show that search query volumes on the PC peaked in 2013

2016: 2013 was the high-water mark for desktop search.

Google Webmaster Tools Improves Verification Reporting & Process

2013: Google announced three improvements to the Google Webmaster Tools verification system.

Google Says No To Phone Numbers In PPC Ads, Forcing The Use Of Call Extensions

2013: Starting in April, AdWords ads with phone numbers in the text would be disapproved.

Google Pushes Google Search App With Commercials

2013: Despite the ads, which were clever and cute, they didn’t seem to help uptake on iOS. 

Microsoft Shows Off Coming Improvements To Bing App’s Voice Search

2013: Microsoft shared video of what was a confidential, employee-only demonstration of new voice search capabilities in its Bing app for Windows Phones.

Search In Pics: Google Wonder Girls, Fish, Cylon & Seniors Workshop

2013: The latest images showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have, and more.

Display Gets Its Own Interface, New Keyword Targeting In AdWords

2012: The new interface was built to run display campaigns and enable advertisers to bid, target and optimize display campaigns in one place.

Two Weeks Later, Google Lifts Ban On BeatThatQuote

2011: A search for their name in Google once again returns them at the top result.

The Leaky New York Times Paywall & How “Google Limits” Led To “Search Engine Limits”

2011: How we went from the New York Times seeming to single out visitors from Google with a “5 free visit per day” policy to supposedly all search engines being limited in such a way.

Goodbye “Ads By Google” & Hello “AdChoices” As Google’s Backs Industry Label Effort

2011: Google was moving to comply with an industry initiative from the Self-Regulatory Program for Online Behavioral Advertising.

Google Touts Conversion Boost With Call Tracking Solution

2011: Use of Call Metrics helped one client increase response rates by almost 30% and conversions by nearly 20%.

DoubleClick Updates Somewhat Neglected Search Management Tool

2011: DoubleClick unveiling DoubleClick for Search version 3, only the third major update in the campaign management tool’s five-year history.

Googlers: Single With No Kids & Drinking Mountain View

2011: A report matched 6,000 Google employees and 16,000 Microsoft employees email addresses with grocery purchase behavior in partnership with a loyalty card aggregator to determine differences.

Google Book Search Settlement Rejected By Court

2011: Judge found that the proposed settlement terms were not “fair, adequate, and reasonable.”

Survey: Android Most Desired OS By Non-iPhone Users

2011: “A whopping 40% of consumers across our survey suggested their next handset would be an Android phone vs only 17.9% going for iPhone.”

Google Stops Censoring In China, Hopes Using New Domain Meets Legal Requirements

2010: Rather than the expected “pullout” from China, Google hoped to continue operating within the country.

Bing Updates iPhone App

2010: Including private search option as well as search history options, and more.

Magnetic Brings Search Re-Targeting To The Masses

2010: Newly launched company wanted to make search retargeting available to potentially any publisher, ad network or ad exchange that wanted to buy the query data.

For Your Sunday Bullshit Reading: Search Ads Are “Misdirection” Advertising

2009: Search advertising – the biggest form of online advertising – was all about misdirection? Really? (A rant.)

Google Adds Related Phrases To Definitions

2007: Google added “related phrases” to the Google definitions feature.

Yahoo Says 12 to 15 Percent Of Clicks Are Discounted

2007: 12 to 15 percent of Yahoo’s search ad clicks were filtered out due to being fraud, invalid or for other reasons.

Yahoo Appoints New Click Quality Czar

2007: Related: Yahoo Appoints New Click Quality Czar

Microsoft Appoints New Head Of Search & Ads

2007: Microsoft appointed Satya Nadella to head the newly formed Search and Ad Platform Group.

News Corp. & NBC To Launch YouTube Competitor

2007: News Corp. and NBC Universal planned to announce an online video site stocked with TV shows and movies, plus clips that users can modify and share with friends.

From Search Marketing Expo (SMX)

Past contributions from Search Engine Land’s Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

These columns are a snapshot in time and have not been updated since publishing, unless noted. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the author and not necessarily Search Engine Land.

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