1. Google announced updates to news in search, adds 3D support to search results and more
Within Google search, Google will be rolling out improvements to the Top Stories section. The top stories section will not just contain the most authoritative stories on the topic you searched about but also share information about the topic, the story timeline, and even include playable podcasts. [Source: Search Engine Land]
2. What’s up with the latest Facebook algorithm change?
Facebook will be once more tweaking its algorithm. This time the changes are a series of ranking updates that will favor quality video content creators and publishers. This will definitely impact the way video is consumed on the platform. [Source: FALCON.IO]
3. Twitter upgrades its Retweet function
You will be able to add up to four multimedia elements to a retweet, which will definitely liven up our feeds. Twitter described this as a highly requested feature. [Source: FALCON.IO]
4. The Starter’s Guide to Using Google Data Studio
The Google Data Studio is a powerful business intelligence tool that connects all your separate business data sources to create beautiful, interactive reports. [Source: Logicserve Digital]
5. Facebook Automated Ads Help Small Businesses Meet Social Advertising Goals
Facebook has announced its new plan to help small businesses meet their Facebook and Instagram advertising goals: Facebook Automated Ads.
[Source: Social Media Today]
6. Google now rolling out podcast results in search
Users will now be able to search for and play podcasts directly in Google Search across Android, iOS, and desktop browsers, a step toward making audio a first-class citizen across Google. [Source: Search Engine Land]
7. Facebook makes ThruPlay default for video campaigns, begins phasing out 10-second view optimization
The ThruPlay video option, launched in September, optimizes ad delivery to target users who are likely to watch the entire video or at least 15 seconds of longer videos. The 10-second delivery optimization option focused on users likely to watch ten seconds or more of a video. [Source: Marketing Land]
8. Google is bringing Duplex to the web to help book car rentals and movie tickets
A year after Google surprised the audience with a realistically human-sounding AI that can book restaurant reservations and hair appointments, the company announced that it will extend the service to web-based chats such as car rentals and movie bookings. [Source: THE VERGE]
9. Google Search adds support for FAQ and How-to structured data
Google announced support for new structured data for FAQ and How-to markup. Yes, Google announced FAQ and How-to markup at the 2018 Google I/O event a year ago, but now Google has launched new structured markup to bring these rich search results to life. [Source: Search Engine Land]
10. Alexa is now hands-free on every Windows 10 device
The latest version of the Alexa app on the Windows Store notes that Amazon’s voice assistant will now listen for the Alexa wake word “when the app is running in the background or minimized. [Source: THE VERGE]
