In this weeks digital news, Google looks at about 40 different signals to pick the main URL from a group of similar pages. Google evaluates about 40 different signals when choosing between duplicate pages. Strong signals like canonical tags and redirects lead, but can be overridden when conflicting. Google advises prioritising field data over lab data for Core Web Vitals, as PageSpeed Insights throttling is adjusted.
Technology brands are shifting their marketing and communications focus as they begin to emerge from a tough global market that has lasted for the past few years. The second Global CommTech Report finds the industry recognises AI as its greatest challenge but shows alarming inaction when it comes to mitigating risk.
Table of Contents
New Google Ads Customer Match For Google Analytics Audiences
Google Analytics now integrates with Google Ads’ Customer Match feature. This enables exported audiences to include first-party consented, hashed customer data alongside tag-based user identifiers. Carly Boddy from Google announced this development on Bluesky.
The hashed customer data can be collected and sent to Google via user-provided data collection, enhancing Analytics audiences through Customer Match. This feature bridges gaps by allowing linked Google Ads accounts to match hashed customer data with Google’s own, expanding addressable audiences when other identifiers are unavailable.
Customer Match simplifies audience management by using already collected data, removing the need to manually create customer lists in Google Ads, thus streamlining setup and reducing redundancies. While Customer Match in Google Ads traditionally involves uploading a CSV file or connecting new data sources, the integration with Google Analytics aligns these processes, ensuring consistency across platforms and optimising campaign targeting.
Read more here.
UK retail sales fall 5.8% in Nov, weakest since January 2021
UK retail sales in discretionary categories fell by 5.3% in November, the worst since January 2021, according to BDO. Online sales dropped 7.8%, the lowest since March 2022, while in-store sales declined 5.5%, with fashion hit hardest (-8.0%). Despite heavy discounting and major shopping events like Black Friday, consumer spending remained weak.
BDO’s Sophie Michael called the results “disastrous” and warned of tougher conditions in early 2025, citing pressures from Autumn Budget measures. She urged government action to support the struggling sector.
Read more here.
Google Uses About 40 Signals To Determine Canonical URLs
In a recent Google Search Off The Record podcast episode. It was confirmed that Google uses around 40 signals to determine canonical URLs when choosing between duplicate pages. Whilst canonical tags and redirects are the main ones. They can be overridden when there are other conflicting signals on site, which highlights the need for consistency in signals required across the site. Other signals include HTTPS bs HTTP, sitemaps, internal linking and URL length.
Read more here.
Google: Focus On Field Data For Core Web Vitals
Google have advised site owners to focus on field data over lab data for Core Web Vitals scores as they prepare to adjust PageSpeed Insights throttling to give a more realistic score. The focus of improving Core Web Vitals metrics should be to improve actual performance, not just Lighthouse scores. This includes creating websites that load quickly, respond well and are visually stable.
Read more here.
Tech Brands Have To Use More Channels, More Savvily, Than Ever Before
CCGroup CEO Richard Fogg outlines how the tech sector is evolving comms strategies in a continuing tough market. As global standards organisation ETSI appoints the agency to lead its PR. Technology brands are shifting their marketing and communications focus as they begin to emerge from a tough global market that has lasted for the past few years. According to Richard Fogg, CEO of leading B2B tech PR and marketing consultancy CCGroup.
Fogg said the priorities for tech marketing teams have started to change. “We did some research recently among tech marketers to understand the direction of travel. Two years ago it was about through-the-funnel marketing, with brand and comms at the top, then integrating social, content marketing and account-based marketing. What seems to have happened since is a reduction in focus on the brand and comms side of things. With KPIs in tech business all around short term lead generation.
Read more here.
PR Profession Is Not Keeping Pace With Speed Of AI
The second Global CommTech Report finds the industry recognises AI as its greatest challenge. But shows alarming inaction when it comes to mitigating risk. The second Global CommTech Report from consultancy Purposeful Relations. In partnership with PRovoke Media, found 82% of respondents think AI skills are essential or important, but just 43% have received AI training. The report, which aims to understand attitudes towards and use of AI and technology in public relations, communications and corporate affairs. Found a similar picture of inaction when it comes to mitigating the risks of AI.
Read more here.
For more information on any of these stories, or for support with your digital marketing. Get in touch with our team of digital specialists. If you’re looking for improved PPC campaigns, long term SEO strategies or interested in trying our Digital PR Services, send us an email to team@modo25.com
