Welcome to a new week and a new month! In this week’s digital news to watch, we discuss brands showing their humorous side with April Fool’s pranks, why podcast ads perform well and how only 4% of marketers think you should be in the office full time. There’s lots of Google updates, including Vehicle Listing Ads beta testing now available on Google Ads, and rumours that SGE will be launched at the next Google conference.
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April Fool’s Day 2024: The best pranks, stunts and fake news
April Fool’s Day is now typically seen as more of a chance for brands, celebrities and the media to have a go at flexing their funny bone. While concerns about the rise of online disinformation have made cynics of many of us, the annual prank-based celebration remains the one point in the year when we can put that to one side and celebrate the abundance of fake news stories, from diamond-encrusted air-fryers to dog-friendly gym classes. To that end, it’s fair to say that April Fool’s Day has become something of a marketer’s dream, offering businesses the opportunity to think outside of strict brand guidelines as they create fake stories, spoof ad campaigns, and ludicrous new products. It’s no surprise that so many find the lure of April Fools’ Day hard to resist. Here’s our round-up of the best – and the silliest – April Fools’ pranks of 2024.
Vehicle Listing Ads within Google Ads are now live
Vehicle Listing Ads (VLA) are now available for beta testing in the UK, Denmark, and France, expanding from their previous availability in the US, Canada, and Australia. This format allows auto advertisers to showcase their full inventory directly to consumers searching for vehicles on Google. VLAs provide essential details like images, make, model, price, and mileage within search results, helping businesses connect with interested buyers and generate high-quality leads. VLAs are set to roll out in the Netherlands, Italy, and Spain by the end of the second quarter, offering marketers in these countries an opportunity to reach potential customers actively looking for vehicles.
Just 4% of marketers think 5 days in the office is necessary
Just 4% of marketers think they should be working from an office five days per week, according to a poll carried out by Marketing Week on LinkedIn. The survey of 2,827 people finds the vast majority of marketers (68%) feel they should be in the office between one and three days per week. More than a fifth (22%) would prefer to work remotely, while 7% believe four days in the office is most appropriate. The poll follows findings from Marketing Week’s 2024 Career & Salary Survey, which shows more than half of respondents are seeing a trend to return to office-based work.
Google still has not announced a launch date for SGE
There have been rumours that Google are planning to fully launch SGE at their biggest developer conference, Google I/O, on 14th May. SGE has been left in their Google Labs experiment well past the previous December 2023 deadline, due to rumoured concerns around how monetize the new search experience. To be clear, Google have not confirmed that this date will be the full launch, but it’s worth being prepared in case.
Five reasons podcast ads outperform
In an age where consumer attention is scarce, marketers are turning to podcast advertising as a highly effective platform to invest their advertising budgets. Here are five reasons why podcast advertising has become the preferred choice for capturing and retaining consumer attention:
- Targeted audience reach: Podcasts offer precise audience segmentation, allowing advertisers to reach niche interests and communities, leading to more engaged listeners.
- Influence of the host: Listeners form strong connections with podcast hosts, viewing them as friends, which increases trust and engagement with sponsored content.
- Storytelling engagement: Podcasts excel at storytelling, activating the brain’s regions responsible for complex information processing and enhancing listener engagement with advertisements.
- Minimal distraction environment: Unlike visual media, podcasts provide a distraction-free environment, allowing listeners to fully absorb content and advertising messages even while multitasking.
- High action-taking propensity: Podcast advertising prompts high action-taking rates, particularly among younger generations, due to the personal recommendations and direct calls to action from trusted hosts.
The effectiveness of podcast advertising is grounded in attention science principles, offering a targeted, engaging, and distraction-free platform for capturing consumer attention in a crowded media landscape.
How is Core Web Vitals a ranking factor, without actually being one?
Core web Vitals is a ranking factor, but improving them has minimal impact on search rankings, as discussed in the latest episode of Google’s Search Off The Record podcast. Whilst Google do still use this in their ranking systems, Mueller advised that achieving the perfect Core Web Vitals scores won’t make a difference in the search results, so you shouldn’t get over-fixated on incremental fixes in these metrics as long as your actual page experience isn’t terrible for real users.
For more information on any of these stories or for support with any digital marketing campaigns, get in touch with our team by sending us an email to team@modo25.com
