Hello and welcome to our monthly news recap, a column where we provide our readers with an overview of the most relevant news and events that happened within the digital marketing landscape over the last month or so.

Let’s see what August 2020 brought us:

• Google Maps is Now a Social Network? 
• Instagram Reels Might Replace TikTok
• Fast Pages To Be Highlighted by Google Chrome on Mobile
• Your Content’s Performances More Transparent With New Google Search Console Insights
• Suggested Posts Are Now Added to Instagram Feed

 

Let’s dive right in!

 

Google Maps is Now a Social Network? 

It seems that Google Maps is going social. Judging by their latest update – you can now create your personal profile and practically use the app as a social network, namely by following other users, along with standard options of posting photos and videos, as well as making reviews. 

It started off as Google’s experiment with allowing users to follow select Local Guides which became a great success and opened the door for broader use. The basic principle is the same as with other social networks – you can follow other members and receive notifications about their posts as, well as interact with them. On the other hand, If you like to keep to yourself, there are restriction options available as well.

You can also use filters to see which topics the user is interested in the most. 

 

Instagram Reels Might Replace TikTok

It has been a turbulent few months for ByteDance’s most prominent product and bad news seems to just keep coming. Mark Zuckerberg has decided to make another change “inspired” by other platforms and has introduced Instagram Reels.

So, what are the main differences? Well, apart from logos, there aren’t many.

• The most prominent difference would be the identity tied to the country of origin. This will probably be one of the reasons for American and European TikTokers to migrate to Reels.
• Time limit is another difference – while TikTok has extended the time limit for their videos to 60 seconds earlier this year, Instagram has opted for a 15-second limit. This, however, will not pose any serious issues with the users since TikTok contents are usually within the said time limit. 
• The choice of music will probably be another more significant difference since the people from Facebook have confirmed the launching of licensed music in the near future.

 

Fast Pages To Be Highlighted by Google Chrome on Mobile 

In their constant quest to provide the best possible user experience, Google Chrome is introducing a Fast Pages label for pages that meet or exceed all metrics thresholds for the Core Web Vitals.

This will give the users more precise information on the page’s stability, speed, and responsiveness in a simple and visually appealing way.

“To help users identify great experiences as they browse, we are excited to announce that Chrome will begin to highlight high quality user experiences on the web, starting with the labelling of fast links via the link context menu on Chrome for Android. This change will be rolling out starting in Chrome 85 Beta.”

The said label will be assigned in accordance with the page’s historical data, if applicable. If not, the evaluation will be based on the history of the website’s host. 

Another reason for you to consider working on your Core Web Vitals is the fact that the next year’s Google algorithm update will turn them into one of the ranking signals. 

 

Your Content’s Performances Is More Transparent With New Google Search Console Insights

Google is updating its Search Console with new insights options to help content creators have more control and comprehension concerning their content and its performance.

As Google describes this new option:

“Search Console Insights is a new experience tailored for content creators and publishers and can help them understand how audiences discover their site’s content and what resonates with their audiences. This new experience is powered by data from both Search Console and Google Analytics.”

Search Console Insights will basically improve on the following information that is invaluable for every content creator: 

• Best performing pieces of content
• Performance of latest published content
• Your website’s top queries on Google Search
• How people discover your content
• New links to your content

The tool is currently being tested by a selected few beta testers. Sadly there is no option to be included in it until the full version rolls out. 

 

Suggested Posts Are Now Added to Instagram Feed

As you’ve probably noticed by now, Instagram’s main feed started suggesting content from people you don’t follow as a new way of providing you with relatable data and improving your user experience. 

There is now a new section called “Suggested Posts” that appears in users’ main feeds right after the “You’re All Caught Up” screen.

However, even though Instagram’s team believes that users will find this new way of organic content reaching people useful and engaging, a number of Instagramers are not happy with this new update since they are now seeing content they have not opted for. 

 

Summing Up

That’s it for this edition of monthly news recap. See you next time, and in the meantime, feel free to check out our blog for more informative and useful articles from the industry we call digital marketing.