Your alternative source for digital marketing news

Welcome to our Monday edition of our chosen 5:5 digital marketing news stories. Today we look at an array of stories from Google mobile search to Apple removing apps that block ads. As we always say, there’s never a dull moment in the world of digital marketing!

Globally, More Than Half Of Google’s Searches Happen On Mobile

At the beginning of the year Google announced that for the first time they were seeing more searches conducting via mobile than desktop. This was noticed in ten countries, however, Google has stated that now the shift has increased globally.

A lot of you are probably thinking that you know this already, or that it was bound to happen which you are quite right. But is this old news? According to Search Engine Land it isn’t. They followed up with Google and that senior vice president for search Amit Singhal referred to the term worldwide meaning that mobile has officially overtaken desktop.

One thing to take into consideration as Search Engine Land point out, is that “It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean that desktop searches have diminished.Stats on desktop search from comScore routinely show the overall amount has risen from month to month.” (Search Engine Land, October 2015).

Mobile searches have been growing a new segment that has caught up with desktop. Looking for a quick search? Most likely you have searched for a query via your mobile than finding the nearest computer to you. This non-stop digital age we live in has therefore played an overall role in increasing search growth.

Image Source : Image Source : Revive Digital Media

Twitter Reports Of Access Issues In Turkey

Many Twitter users in Turkey over the weekend were unable access to the micro-blogging site after the suicide bombs that killed 86 people in the capital Ankara on Saturday.

This is not the first time that Turkish users have had trouble accessing Twitter, back in 2014, President Erdoğan blocked the micro-blogging site (and Youtube) after torrents of audio files were spread online which alleged him and his government members being involved in political scandals.

Back in April, Turkish parliament agreed to tighten controls over the internet by allowing the government to block websites without prior judicial authorization. (Phys.org, October 2015).

Do you have any friends in Turkey? If so, how did they tackle using social media in 2014 and over the weekend?

Image Source : Fight For The Future

More Speed For Bing Ads Editor

For those of you who use Bing Ads, the Bing Ads Editor 10.9 is now available.

As mentioned in the heading the new version delivers more speed, but how?

Bing/Search Engine Land have mentioned that for those who manage big accounts should notice the acceleration as displaying large accounts is more than twice as fast, plus downloading large accounts is 30 percent faster.

Moreover, across all accounts of all sizes, switching to built-in views is twice as faster and replacing ads is 4x faster than before. Switching between tabs is also faster.

For those who have Bing Ads Editor already installed, an alert will appear to update within the next few week, or you can download here.

Image Source : Search Engine Land

Pinterest Announces Localised Search To Expand Globally

Pinterest has announced that it has made some improvements to create a better localised experience for its users.

In a recent blog post, Pinterest mention that it has found pinners in many countries such as Brazil, France, Germany, and Japan who local pins and as a result has got Pinterest thinking about of localising its search function. The company has stated that overseas pinners such as from countries like Brazil, France, Germany and Japan will now be able to find more local based pins that are more familiar and relevant to them.

According to International Business Times, “Pinterest has also added spell-check and search suggestions especially for pinners in French, German, Japanese and Portuguese. The company’s engineering team has designed new language detection models and improved search algorithms to bring enhancements to search such as localised results, international autocomplete and international spellcheck.” (International Business Times, October, 2015).

The San Francisco based company says that the new development will attract more international users, as the number of Pinners outside of the United States to neatly half of all 100 monthly active users. Localising their search function has definitely stepped up a gear for the pinning site who are constantly competing with other social platform such as Facebook and Twitter.

Image Source : Taste Trekkers

Apple Removes Apps That Block Ads

As we always say there’s never a dull moment in the world of digital marketing and news and updates change the likes wind and this is a perfect example of how things move quickly.

Apple has already pulled ad-blocking apps like Been Choice over privacy concerns.

As many have stated on this issue, it was surprising to see that Apple allowed this particular type of app to be featured in the App Store. The major concern with regards to these add blocking apps is that root certificates let these apps have access to user’s private data such as secure transactions and communications from unpacking the data they collect from the apps the users interact with according to Marketing Land.

Been Choice have stated that they will modify its app in order to comply with Apple’s privacy and security terms.

It is worth noting that this move by Apple does not affect iOS 9 content blockers that only block ads in Safari such as Blockr, Purify, and Crystal.

Want to know how to remove root certificates from your iPhone or iPad? Click here.

Image Source : Marketing Land

What are your thoughts?

Which story has interested you the most today in our 5:5 digital marketing news round-up? Feel free to leave us a comment via our Google Plus and Facebook pages. Alternatively, you can tweet James, Mark, and myself (David Dhannoo).