SEO Wash-up Monday 8th November 21

Google Update

Google merchant center unique product identifier enforcement – Google have mentioned on the 15^th of September this year that Google will enforce correct unique product identifiers (UPIs) for your products uploaded to Google Merchant Center, even for free listings. So they are expanding this enforcement and applying it to products listed in free listings.

They then go on to explain that by providing the correct unique product identifiers (UPIs) for your products it ensures that Google recognizes them and can provide optimal customer experience. Some examples of common unique product identifiers (UPIs) include Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), Manufacturer Part Numbers (MPNs), and brand names.

In order to unify the enforcement of UPIs across programs, specifically the enforcement for multiple different products that use the same GTIN, they are expanding this enforcement and applying it to products listed in free listings. Below are the following enforcement will apply to products shown in free listings;

• Different products that use the same GTIN with the same variant attributes will be considered ambiguous and will be disapproved.
• Variant attributes include condition [condition] and multipack [multipack] for all products, as well as color [color] and [size] for apparel products.
• If a group of products are identified as duplicates, only one will remain active and eligible to show in free listings.

Google is testing larger sitelinks block design – They seem to be testing a larger sitelinks layout block design again. They have tested a load of sitelinks formats over the years including this one. It began testing this look again a few months ago but the tests seem to be increasing, so maybe we will see this new look rollout soon.

Bing Updates

New Microsoft advertising optimisation Score platform- Bing have announced optimization score for the Microsoft Advertising platform. The optimisation score will be available on the Recommendations tab in the platform.

The Microsoft optimisation score estimates and displays how well your account is set to perform in Microsoft advertising. It shows how you are running from 0% to 100%, “with 100% indicating that your account can perform at its full potential,” according to Microsoft.

In order to check your optimization score, you can simply visit the recommendations page in Microsoft advertising. With this, you will see a percentage score in blue. Each category of recommendations is shown with an aggregated score uplift from the recommendations belonging to it, and each recommendation is indicated with a score uplift in an ellipse on the top right of the card with a value from 0.1% to 100%, representing its estimated impact on your account or campaign performance. Once you apply or dismiss the recommendation, your Optimization Score will be increased accordingly.

So how does the score work? Well they look at the bidding and budgets, keywords and targeting, and ads and extensions, then evaluate whether they’re fully optimized, and offer recommended actions for improvements. The recommendation is evaluated by its impact to your performance: the more performance impact from the recommendation, the greater effect on your overall score. Optimization Score is calculated in real-time, and considers factors like your account and campaigns status, relevant impact from the available recommendations, and your recent recommendation history. It may vary as new recommendations become available over time.