Welcome to this week’s Digital Discovery. Each week we cover the latest developments and everything you need to know in the world of digital marketing. This week we cover:
- Bing removes waitlist and continues to roll out new AI features
- Google also removes waitlist for Bard and showcases future of generative AI in search.
- Google announces new Core Web Vital metric: Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
- New SEO office hours – May 2023
- SEO best practices for news sites
- Meta announces new AI tools to help advertisers create and optimise ads
- Tesla to start advertising for the first time in its history
Plus we look at some of the best ads discovered and look ahead at key content dates coming up.
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Ok, let’s dive into this week’s update…
Bing removes waitlist and continues to roll out new AI features
Microsoft are continuing to introduce new AI innovations in its search engine Bing and web browser Edge. On 4 May the company announced several upcoming updates and scrapped the waitlist for Bing Chat.
This week a number of features have been released:
- Chat history: Users can view their recent chat activity by tapping the clock icon in their chat. This feature is currently available on mobile and will be rolled out on desktop within a week.
- Mobile widget: A Bing Chat widget can be added to the home screen of iOS or Android devices, providing quick access to Bing Chat and voice input.
- Conversations across platforms: Users can seamlessly continue their conversations from desktop to mobile and vice versa. This feature will be available on iOS and Android devices within a week.
- Multilingual support: Bing Chat now supports more countries and languages for voice input, offering users a variety of language options and voices.
- SwiftKey updates: SwiftKey, the AI-powered mobile keyboard, now integrates with Bing, allowing users to search and chat within their favourite mobile apps. New features include tones, translation, and more. These updates will be available on iOS and Android devices within the next two weeks.
- Edge updates: Bing Chat in Microsoft Edge mobile enables users to ask questions and request summaries related to the webpage they are viewing. Selected text options allow users to get more information about specific text on a webpage directly in the mobile browser.
Google also removes waitlist for Bard and showcases future of generative AI in search.
The Search Generative Experience (SGE) is still under development, but it has the potential to make Google Search more informative and useful. While SGE is still under development, Google has stated that it will continue to allow search ads to appear in dedicated ad slots throughout the page.
Google is planning to roll out SGE more widely in the coming months.
Google announces new Core Web Vital metric: Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
Google announced that it is retiring one core web vitals metric, First Input Delay (FID), and replacing it with a newer one called Interaction to Next Paint (INP). INP has been promoted from experimental to pending status, which means that it is now considered a viable replacement for FID. However, Google is not making the change just yet. To give the ecosystem time to adjust, INP will officially become a stable Core Web Vital metric in March 2024.
Website owners can start optimising their pages for INP now using Lighthouse to measure their scores. Here are some tips for improving INP scores:
- Use a CDN to deliver your static assets.
- Minify your CSS and JavaScript files.
- Combine your CSS and JavaScript files.
- Use lazy loading to load images and other resources only when they are needed.
- Avoid using too many large images.
- Use a caching strategy to store frequently accessed resources in the browser’s cache.
Find out more about our Website Maintenance Services
New SEO office hours – May 2023 (Blog here)
SEO best practices for news sites
Meta announces new AI tools to help advertisers create and optimise ads
Meta is introducing a new AI Sandbox for advertisers, which will allow them to test early versions of generative AI-powered tools to make ad creation faster and easier. The AI Sandbox will include tools for text variation, background generation, and image outcropping.
Meta is also expanding its Meta Advantage suite of tools for advertisers, which includes features like Advantage+ shopping campaigns and one-click switch from manual campaigns to Advantage+ shopping. Advantage+ shopping campaigns use AI to help advertisers reach more people with their products.
Meta says that the AI Sandbox and the expanded Meta Advantage suite will help advertisers create more effective ads and reach more people with their products.
Ads of the week
Tesla to start advertising for the first time in its history
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Tuesday that the company will start advertising for the first time in its history. This is a major reversal for Tesla, which has long prided itself on not needing to advertise.
Musk said that the decision to start advertising was made because of increased competition in the electric vehicle market. He said that Tesla needs to reach a wider audience in order to continue growing.
Musk said that Tesla’s advertising campaign will focus on educating people about electric vehicles. He said that Tesla wants to help people understand the benefits of electric vehicles and why they are the future of transportation.
It remains to be seen how Tesla’s advertising campaign will be received. Some people may be skeptical of Tesla’s decision to start advertising, while others may welcome it as a sign that the company is serious about growing its business.
KEY CONTENT DATES
Pride Month – Whole of June
01 June 2023: World Milk Day, Global Day of Parents, International Children’s Day
02 June 2023: National Fish & Chips Day
03 June 2023: World Cider Day
04 June 2023: International Corgi Day
05 June 2023: World Environment Day
07 June 2023: Download Festival (7th-11th) Begins
08 June 2023: Best Friends Day, World Oceans Day
10 June 2023: World Gin Day, UEFA Champions League Final
12 June 2023: International Falafel Day
14 June 2023: World Blood Donor Day
15 June 2023: National Beer Day (UK)/Beer Day Britain, World Tapas Day, Clean Air Day
16 June 2023: Special Olympics World Summer Games (16th to 25th) Begins
18 June 2023: Father’s Day, International Sushi Day, International Picnic Day
19 June 2023: National Picnic Week (19th-25th) Begins
20 June 2023: World Refugee Day
21 June 2023: Summer Solstice, Glastonbury Festival (21st-25th) Begins, National Selfie Day, World Music Day, International Yoga Day
22 June 2023: Windrush Day
23 June 2023: National Writing Day
24 June 2023: Armed Forces Day
27 June 2023: Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day
28 June 2023: Eid al-Adha (28th-29th) Begins
30 June 2023: World Social Media Day
Thanks for reading!
I hope you enjoyed this week’s newsletter and found it useful.
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See you next week.
