Industry Update for February 15th, 2019

This Week’s Industry News

Compiled by the Rocket Clicks Team

Top Stories

Google Enables “Join Waitlist” for Restaurants

Functionality is provided by DineTime as part of Reserve with Google

Google has added a “join waitlist” button to selected local restaurant profile pages. To participate, restaurants must have a DineTime account, which is a part of Reserve with Google.

This will have the same functionality of “reserve a table” button. With “join the waitlist”, you will see current wait times, input your party size, confirm your contact information, and you will receive a text updating your status. This is similar to the functionality of the Yelp app. Source: Search Engine Land

Google Ads Click Share in Search Campaigns

Google Ads has begun rolling out click share for search campaigns and it will be available at the campaign, ad group and keyword levels. Click share is the estimated share of all achievable clicks that a campaign has received. The lower the click share, the more opportunity there is to capture additional clicks. Google Ads’ estimation of the number of clicks an ad could have received is based on whether an ad had more extensions, higher bids, or higher budgets. Previously, click share was only available for shopping campaigns.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Reply to Reviews on Google Maps Desktop

Business owners with verified Google My Business listing can now reply to reviews left about their business directly in Google Maps on desktop. You will not need to use the Google My Business center or a mobile app. This functionality was created so webmasters can just reply next to their business reviews right in Google Maps.

Source: Search Engine Land

Google Testing Ads in Assistant Results

Google may be in the first stages of testing ad delivery in Google Assistant results. Gennaro Cuofan performed a search on an Android phone and saw an ad in the results, while the organic results were below the fold. Search Engine Land was unable to find any ads in their multiple attempts using Google Assistant, however they feel it’s only a matter of time until Google launches an official test.

Source: Search Engine Land

*Image from Search Engine Land

Analysis:

What to Know About Google My Business Service Areas

Google recently rolled out changes for service area businesses creating a Google My Business account. Instead of having a box to check that says if you deliver good and services, you now have the option to clear out your address. Clearing your address will turn your listing into a service area business, which will remove the direction icon, map pins, listings from Google Maps API and hide your address from the public.

When Google rolled this feature out, they automatically cleared addresses for any existing service area business listings. If your service area business address was cleared, don’t try to add it back, otherwise you will have to re-verify it.
Even though your address is missing, Google still knows where you are. The purpose of the feature is to hide the address from the public.
There is no longer an option to add a service area that is a radius around your location. You will need to add a list of zip codes, cities or counties.
Your ranking is still based on the address used for verification, not what you put in the service area.

Source: Search Engine Land

Optimize YouTube Ad Placement With These 3 Tips

YouTube Ads Can Show Up In Places Other Than YouTube – besides YouTube channels and videos, you can select placements on websites in the Display Network, apps, and specific app categories. Don’t forget about these additional placements in your strategy planning.
Your Placement Options Aren’t as Exact as You Think – not all recommended placements on Display Network have video ad space. Meaning you may never show up on some of the websites you thought you had selected. So, when running placement targeting on YouTube ads, be sure to check on the ad groups frequently after the initial launch to ensure the ads are showing on the sites you want.
It’s Okay to Embrace the Negative – make sure you utilize things like content exclusions your campaign settings. Choose from “inventory type” “excluded content” (i.e. sensitive content categories) and “excluded types and labels” (opting out of content that doesn’t fit your brand). You can also adjust delivery on different devices based on performance and exclude certain device types.