Following the roll out of Penguin last week – what else has been in the news this week? Well the first presidential debate in the USA saw Trump and Clinton go head to head, Amazon finally dispatched Echo to loving homes worldwide and Snapchat have designed their very own self-recording sunglasses.

But enough about that, let’s take a look at the stories that grabbed the headlines in the world of SEO and social media.

Penguin recovery has started

With the launch of the long anticipated Google Penguin update last Friday, webmasters have finally started to see recovery from previous Penguin penalties.

The latest unveiling of Penguin shows it’s now a real-time update meaning that websites with a bad link profile should be caught sooner and won’t dominate the rankings as they have done in the past. In case you missed it here’s our post from last week.

Twitter Moments here for all

For anyone that wants to create their own Moment on Twitter, the time is now. First launched in October 2015, Moments was a way to curate stories by influencers, creators, and brands but now this feature is live for everyone. It lets users stitch together multiple tweets into slideshow style stories that include images, Vines, GIFs and more. Who knows you might be the next Kim Kardashian.

Website conversions objective live on Twitter

Twitter advertisers will now have a new objective to choose from when building a campaign. The new objective is built with performance-focused marketers in mind to help Twitter advertisers see better performance and greater scale in campaigns. By using data from Twitter website tags, interest and intent signals – advertisers can optimise their campaigns to deliver more conversions while meeting their cost per conversion goals.

Facebook inflates video metrics

Just last month Facebook let advertisers know about an error regarding viewing time for videos. The average video watch metric was off by 60 to 80 percent. The good news for advertisers is that it didn’t affect paid campaigns but some harm was still done. Facebook’s walled garden approach means that third party measurement is not available which brings a big trust issue. Have your numbers been affected?

Apple launches search ads in the App Store

On the 5^th of October Apple will be opening up search ads to all publishers and developers on the App store. The aim of this is to boost app discovery letting developers and publishers promote their apps. Adverts can be targeted based on keywords as well as by using target audience features such as; customer type, gender, age, and location.

So the next 3 weeks will be taken up with the summer Olympic Games and hopefully plenty more gold medals for Team GB but what else has been happening in the world? Well, the Bank of England has cut the base rate to 0.25% and New Zealand gets the first ATM machine for mood deposits to see how people are feeling. In the world of SEO and social media, there have also been a few exciting announcements this week and we take you through these below.

Instagram introduces 24 hour stories

No doubt you will have heard by now (and tried it for yourself) but Instagram have launched a new feature which allows users to upload images and videos which then disappear after 24 hours. Sounds familiar, right?

We tested this ourselves on Instagram and whilst we found it lacked the basic snapchat features, such as filters and stickers, it was still fun to use and gave us another good reason for distraction.

Snapchat introduces geostickers

So the saying ‘don’t get mad, get even’ doesn’t seem to have been lost on Snapchat. Whilst Instagram was only just joining the 24 hour party, Snapchat were out launching new features. This time we see them introducing Geostickers. Similar to geofilters, the stickers are location specific and so far, are only available in major cities.

Nearly 60% of Google searches come from mobile

Unless you have had your head stuck under a rock for the past couple of years, you can’t have failed to notice the popularity of smartphones. Since overtaking desktop searches last year mobile usage has continued to climb and now accounts for nearly 60% of all search traffic from Google. This report just goes to show how important mobile is in the modern world. Unsurprisingly industries such as Food & Drink have the highest share of mobile searches while banking has the lowest.

AMP coming to Google search results

It looks like Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) are moving beyond the “Top Stories” news items and being shown in the main organic mobile search results. There are currently no plans to give AMP pages a rankings boost but Google has already stated that page load time and page speed will become mobile ranking factors so we’d expect AMP pages to offer a slight rankings boost in the future.

Native video coming to Pinterest

With all the other platforms offering in-stream video, Pinterest is finally joining the party with the announcement of native video. As well as native video Pinterest is looking at more personalised recommendation tools to help users to discover videos that they’re interested in. With a 60% increase in videos on Pinterest last year alone, it’s more important than ever for video integration to be seamless.

Facebook trying to eliminate clickbait

We all know how annoying clickbait is, tantalising headlines that then lead to a website which doesn’t live up to the hype. Well, it looks like Facebook has had enough and is putting algorithmic changes in place that work in a similar way to email spam filters. This means that if a publisher or website is identified as a repeat offender there will be a very low chance of its links appearing in your news feed. We’re looking forward to seeing an end to click bait once and for all, although that is still unlikely to happen.

Hey Siri – Tell me a joke

Did you know that there are over 500 commands that you can use with Siri, nope neither did we. The Hey Siri website is an ever growing list of commands that you can use on iOS for everything from playing your music to finding information and even controlling your automated home. There are even a number of amusing commands you can try such as: “Will you marry me?” or how about “Knock Knock”. Go on give it a try today.

The Queen is looking for a new gardener to join her team at Windsor Castle and could the old navy blue British passport be on the way back following Brexit? We also spotted several interesting news stories from the world of SEO and social media which we have summarised below.

Google sunsetting Ads converted clicks

Introduced way back in 2001 the “converted clicks” metric is set to be scrapped in September this year being replaced by the more advanced “conversions” metric which has been around for a couple of years now. Advertisers will have until the 21^st of September to make the switch within Ads and affected advertisers will receive an email with a migration tool for making the change. Converted click reporting will be unavailable after September so make sure you download any historical data you need before then.

Facebook adds new birthday video tool

In a new feature to get more people posting on Facebook, the social platform has added a new feature which amalgamates your birthday posts into a video. Once you have watched the video you will be able to edit it to replace photos and posts as well as share it with your friends. Providing you have listed your birthday on your profile and receive at least 3 wall posts or tags in posts on your birthday you will see the new feature.

Ads rolls out expanded text adverts

The time has finally arrived for the rollout of Google’s expanded text adverts on the Ads platform. Boasting a double headline and a longer combined description line they will let advertisers get even more information into their adverts than ever before. With bigger advertising spots now available following the removal of the right-hand side adverts, this latest move by Google helps advertisers stand out even more. Expanded text adverts will replace standard text adverts with standard adverts no longer allowed after the 26^th of October.

Facebook hits a billion active daily users on mobile

Facebook continues to defy belief with its rate of growth on mobile with a 20% growth in a year on mobile. Daily mobile levels have now hit 1 billion for the first time in the company’s history thanks in part to the growing popularity of the Facebook Lite app in developing countries. Mobile is an important revenue stream for Facebook and accounts for a massive 84% of its total revenue.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, although we’re not sure that Michelle Obama would agree following the plagiarism of her speech by Melanie Trump earlier this week. Also in the news: Pippa Middleton gets engaged and of course Big Sam Allardyce is named England manager. Moving away from current events let’s take a look at some of the biggest stories from the world of SEO and social media for the past week.

Twitter introduces food council

Food is one of those things that bring us all together, from a family Sunday lunch to a meal out with a loved one, great food gives you something to talk about. Food lovers can now rejoice by sharing experiences and talking about all things food related using the hashtag #FoodFlock on Twitter. From places to find great food to tips and recipes this new group could be your go-to place for culinary inspiration. We’re sure as the weeks go by, we’ll see more opportunities for brands to get engaged.

Tweet with the #FoodFlock as we debut the inaugural Twitter Food Council https://t.co/ap8bkIQjGp pic.twitter.com/qToWm6kIaY

— Twitter Food (@TwitterFood) July 21, 2016

Twitter changes verification process – now anyone can be verified

Twitter has opened up the verification process so now anyone can apply for a verified account. Previously the feature was only available to celebrities and key individuals and organisations to mark the account as genuine. Whether this is truly open to the public is yet to be seen as the feature is only meant for accounts that are determined to be of public interest, but hey if Katie Price has a verified account then why can’t the rest of us?

Google launches speed test feature

Want to find out how fast your internet connection is? It looks like Google is testing a feature to show internet speed from a browser search. The new feature means you won’t have to download an app on your phone or visit a specific website and will be able to run the test right from the search results page. At the moment we don’t seem to be able to replicate this in the UK but it is only a matter of time before this feature should be rolled out around the world.

Average time in store coming to Google Maps

As well as showing you the busiest times and the quietest times to visit a store, a new update to Google Map Business Listings will also show you how long people typically spend in a store. So if you want to know how busy your local Café Nero is on a Monday morning and what the average time they spend in store is, well now you can. Of course, the data only gives you an average time and probably won’t take into account all those people spending time looking for Pokemon just yet.

Snapchat suggestions

Remember the Memories feature launch on Snapchat earlier this month? It turns out that there was another feature which they decided to sneak into the launch. The Suggest feature does pretty much what you would expect it to do, allowing users to suggest that their friends follow other users. You can find the Suggest feature by tapping and holding a user’s name and then tapping the blue arrow on the right and adding friends. Could this be a new way to become Snapchat famous?

Changes to Facebook Business Page layout

Haven’t logged in to your Facebook business page for a while? Well, the layout has been updated fairly drastically to help you see more of the information that you need. Some of the changes include moving the navigation and profile photo to the left-hand side as well as showing weekly statistics in the right-hand column. Rather than a tabbed navigation, the list navigation on the left-hand side is able to feature more links making it quicker to get to where you want to go.

Another exciting news week, Wales bowed out of Euro 2016, Andy Murray reached Wimbledon semi-finals and we learnt there’s a prospect of a female fronted government party. There were also a couple of news stories that hit the headlines from the worlds of SEO and social media that we thought we’d share with you all.

Google testing removing estimated results number

The latest Google search engine results pages seem to be lacking something familiar to most Google users, namely the estimated results numbers. This feature has been in place for as long as any of us can remember and gives you an indication of how many results there are for a certain query, but do people actually care how many millions of results there are? Well, this looks like a question Google is asking itself in this latest test.

Snapchat adds “Memories” feature

Snapchat announced a major update to one of the fundamental functions of its app with the addition of “Memories”. All saved content will include geo filters, timestamps, stickers and anything else that has been added at the time of composition. The new section is divided into sections which are: All, Snaps, Stories, Camera Roll and My Eyes Only. My Eyes Only section is a private, password-protected section where you can store any private photos, but beware there is no password recovery option.

Yahoo News utilises Facebook Messenger Bots

Yahoo has launched a number of bots on Facebook Messenger including news, weather and finances giving users the ability to send news articles directly to friends, search for stocks, follow trends and keep updated on the local weather. This is an interesting move for Yahoo which has its own messaging platform where bots are not supported yet. However these bots probably won’t be as popular as the Yahoo Monkey Pets bot which lets you send emojis and it will share its travels with you, reminiscent of the Tamagotchi trend of the 1990’s

In the news this week: Android Pay finally arrives in the UK allowing users to use contactless payments on their smartphones and the campaign for the EU vote in June intensifies. We also saw a number of SEO and social media stories that got our attention over the week.

View live videos from around the world on Facebook

A new feature on Facebook will let users view an interactive map of live video feeds all over the world. Currently, only available on desktop, this new feature displays blue dots all over the world of live feeds. Hovering over the dots will bring up the streams while on the left-hand panel you will be able to see popular live feeds from around the world. This change should mean that live video will see a boost, but is the content quality up to scratch or are we about to see hundreds of streams of cats at home and people eating their breakfast?

Twitter to stop counting images and links in character limit

Good news for businesses if the rumours are true, it looks like Twitter are set to stop counting photos and links as part of the 140 character limit on posts. While this is good news for businesses what will it mean for normal users? In theory users will have more freedom to compose longer messages but do users really want the extra 47 characters and to see longer tweets?

Facebook’s Power Editor is being upgraded

It finally looks like Facebook is reacting to feedback from digital marketers with some much needed upgrades coming to its Power Editor and Ads Manager over the weekend. Changes to Power Editor will include a larger layout with edit panel as well as enhanced search functions and filters to quickly refine and edit ads. There are also updates to the Ads Manager to bring reporting and performance data into the interface. It now allows more bulk editing features to help users make more changes directly within the tool. Let’s hope these changes help to make the tools less clunky and more in line with the marketing workflow.

LinkedIn Password Breach

Following a previous data breach in 2012, LinkedIn has become aware of a further release of data from this breach that contains users’ password data. The breached data is said to include the email and hashed password combinations of more than 100 million LinkedIn members from the same theft in 2012. LinkedIn is taking steps to invalidate the passwords and requesting members reset their passwords. Two-step verification is one way to make your digital accounts more secure and one that is easy to implement.

In the news this week: Sadiq Khan becomes the new mayor of London, the Queen is caught criticising Chinese officials and Britain’s most expensive former council flat goes on sale for a massive £1.3 million. We also saw some exciting news this week from the world of SEO and social media.

Instagram launches new logo and redesign

In a big change to upgrade the gram, the company have introduced a brighter look for their logo and app. The logo now features a rainbow of colours as a hat off to their old design and brings the app to life. As for the aesthetics inside the app, Instagram has a chosen a more simplistic monochrome look. The new design reflects how “vibrant and diverse storytelling has become.” What do you think of the redesign?

WhatsApp launches desktop app

WhatsApp launches a desktop application to help users stay in touch no matter what device they are using. The application is available for products above Windows 8 and Mac OS 10.9. The new app syncs with WhatsApp on your mobile device and runs natively on desktop. Although we love the idea of this app, we will not be installing it at work as we can see it becoming a distraction in a big way.

Google bans payday loans from Ads

Starting on the 13th of July adverts for payday and high-interest loans will no longer be accepted in Google Ads. The topic will be added to their banned list as part of their policy with all payday loans with an interest rate of 36 percent or higher or any payday loans requiring repayment within 60 days. The move will be welcomed by many groups as a step in the right direction helping to stop lenders taking advantage of people who can’t afford the high repayment costs.

Facebook updates dynamic adverts

Dynamic adverts will now be available on Instagram as well as custom audience updates such as spending long periods of time on sites

LinkedIn to launch instant articles feature

In a bid to make its news feature stronger, LinkedIn is reportedly in talks with a number of major media outlets to introduce new publishing features. The new feature is said to be similar to Facebook’s Instant Articles but more geared towards the business market. They’re working on getting the right content to the right person at the right time.

Panoramic photos to be turned into 360 photos for feed

Facebook is looking at ways to turn all of those panoramic images we have on our phones into 360 photos. The new feature will allow people to upload panoramas which will then be morphed into a scenic photo for your newsfeed. Users will then be able to hold and drag to pan around the photos or move their heads to look around them on the Gear VR. Facebook has also released Gear VR usage stats saying VR has 1 million monthly users and spend on average 25 minutes a day on the device.

In the news this week: local elections see voters heading to the polling stations ahead of the EU Referendum vote in June, Chanel became the first major fashion house to hold a runway show in Cuba and Donald Trump becomes the Republican presidential nominee. There were also some exciting news items in the world of SEO and social media

Periscope jumps on bandwagon and lets users save live streams

By simply including #save in the title of a Periscope video, broadcasters can finally save live streams and savour those sweet memories forever. This is currently a live beta test and is available on both iOS and Android platforms. This feature already exists on Snapchat and Facebook Live and will come as a welcome addition to users of Periscope.

Facebook Live update comes to Android

Android users should soon see the Facebook Live button taking centre stage in the latest update to the app. The new button takes users to a never ending scrollable list of videos which are ordered in what Facebook thinks you might find relevant as well as the most popular videos from the past 24 hours. Live or not, click on a video and see real-time comments from other users.

Instagram testing business profiles

Business profiles look to be coming to Instagram with a range of new business tools in the pipeline over the coming months. The new profiles include a contact call-to-action button, access to maps and directions, category of business, and an email function. A small group of users currently have access to the new business profiles and there is yet to be a confirmed date for when these might be rolled out globally.

Instagram introduces video ad carousel

Video carousel adverts are set to come to Instagram over the coming weeks as the social platform looks to continue its growth into promoting more video content. The new type of ads will let advertisers share up to five separate videos with a single ad purchase. Videos can be up to 60 seconds long giving advertisers a potential of 5 minutes of video content per carousel.

Giphy makes the social media team happy with a built-in keyboard for iOS

Sometimes there are not enough words to describe how you’re feeling over text but now with the new iOS Giphy keyboard; you can finally express it through a hilarious GIF. Install the app and have instant access to a whole library of GIFs with anything from The Simpsons to Kim Kardashian. You should definitely expect to see more GIF’s heading your way from our social media team.

Viv – the next generation digital assistant

Ahead of its public unveiling on Monday the 9^th of May, a next generation virtual assistant known as Viv is seeking to revolutionise the way we use voice search. Until now voice has not allowed direct commerce but that could be set to change with Viv. In a live test of the new virtual assistant the team behind it asked Viv “Get me a pizza from Pizz’a Chicago near my office”, Viv responded with “Would you like toppings with that?” and following the toppings the Pizza was ordered and paid for and delivered 40 minutes later, all without any further interaction by the user. We’re looking forward to seeing more about how Viv works and what third-party providers will be supporting the new virtual assistant.

This week, Beyonce dropped her sixth studio album ‘Lemonade’ – causing her fans, the media and our very own social team to be whipped into a frenzy! However, we’ve taken a step away from the world of pop and rounded up the latest SEO and social media news

Is Talkshow the new Peach?

The new text messaging app became the hottest new social media app of the week. Similar to Periscope, Talkshow’s can be viewed live or once they have finished  allowing users to share conversations, post reactions and co-host another Talkshow. Where Talkshow differs from messaging apps such as iMessage and Whatsapp is that each stream is publicly released like a radio broadcast with users able to read in real-time or after the event.

Snapchat booming

In the latest figures released by Snapchat it appears that its users can’t get enough of the video sharing platform with 10 Billion videos being watched daily. This is a 25% increase from February where the figure was 8 Billion. With users spending on average 25 – 30 minutes on the app each day, Snapchat is quickly growing into a viable marketing channel for businesses.

Facebook building another camera app

Yet another Facebook camera app looks to be in development failing the 3 previous failed attempts. In yet another attempt to challenge Snapchat and get more users sharing photos and videos as well as live streaming video the new app will make it easy for users to jump between these features. Will it be fourth time lucky for Facebook, or will this be another potentially expensive crash for the social giant?

Unskippable adverts coming to YouTube

A new ad format is coming to YouTube which will not give users the options of skipping. This short 6 second format will be available to purchase through the Google Ads platform and will guarantee advertisers that users will be seeing all of their video ad content. The new ad unit will be called “Bumper” and will be shown to phone and tablet users.

Google Play Store highlights apps with adverts

A new label has been added in the Google Play Store to highlight apps which contain adverts. Similar to the existing In-app purchases label, now users will be able to see if an app contains adverts before choosing to install them. This move will help bring more clarity to users and may help influence purchase decisions for new apps.