Google Adds Third-Party Links in Featured Snippets & the Latest Digital Marketing News [PODCAST]

Last week on Marketing O’Clock, hosts Greg Finn and Christine “Shep” Zirnheld cover the digital marketing news you missed while eating turkey and hopefully getting such much needed time to relax.

If you’re unable to listen on Spotify, be sure to catch the video version of the show on the Search Engine Journal YouTube channel.

Snapchat Pays Content Creators to Use New ‘Spotlight’ Feature

Snapchat’s “Spotlight” feed, aimed at competing with rival TikTok, surfaces 60-second video content for Snapchat users based on topics that they’re interested in.

Snapchat users can submit their snaps to the Spotlight feed and, if they perform well, could get a big payoff from Snapchat for doing so through the end of 2020.

Snapchat will give away up to $1 million every day to creators whose Spotlight videos generate the most unique views.

Third-Party Links Appear in Google’s Featured Snippets

Shard on Twitter from Search Engine Journal contributor Brodie Clark, Google is adding links to featured snippets in the search results that take users to third-party sites.

Publishers are likely to be very unhappy about this new feature as it could lead to even fewer clicks through to the featured snippet result.

Hmm. Not liking where this is headed. For the most part, Google is very careful with the content they're "repurposing" in AMP Stories. Here's an example where they've produced a Featured Snippet with content from other sites, with sources included. pic.twitter.com/JStaObCCGO

— Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) November 23, 2020

New Branded Content Features for Instagram

Instagram announced a slew of new features aimed at making branded content creation easier for both brands and influencers.

First, branded content tags are compatible with Reels and Instagram Live to disclose sponsored content.

Brands will now be able to create and publish content on creators’ behalf. Creators will maintain control with the ability to approve branded content before it goes live and pause any ads that were published from their profile.

Finally, new features are now compatible with branded content in Stories such as mentions, locations, and hashtags.

In our take of the week segment, Jess Reilly created an epic meme out of one of our favorite Google Ads recommendations.

Stolen memes from my team. 😂😂 #ppcchat pic.twitter.com/afjfwScWp1

— Jess Reilly (@rebel_reilly) November 18, 2020

Then, ICYMI, Mark Thomas figured out a genius strategy to reverse engineer HARO for his own personal benefit.

I actually got backlinks by being the reporter. I used the best quotes in a blog post and then asked the source to share the article with their network.

This worked many times and made the article so much more interesting. They actually rank well too.

— Marc Thomas (@iammarcthomas) November 22, 2020

Then, we’re answering your burning digital marketing questions during our lightning round segment:

• Who is at risk of losing their Twitter verification under the new policy?
• What are the hottest takes in PPC?
• When is Google shutting down the Google Pay web app?
• Where can you find search trend insights for your Google Ads campaigns?
• Why Facebook might have seemed a little nicer after the election
• How you can get fashion advice from the Bing SERPs

For all the articles from this episode, head over to the Marketing O’Clock site. Be sure to subscribe while you’re there!

Thank you to our sponsor, Upfluence!

With Upfluence’s all-in-one platform, marketers can streamline their influencer marketing campaigns and scale their influencer programs in no time.

Featured Image Credit: Cypress North