Lane Ellis

Less than Half of Google Searches Now Result in a Click
Most Google searches don’t yield subsequent clicks, with 50.33 percent ending on the search giant’s result page, according to newly-released data from Jumpshot, also showing 45.25 percent of searches resulting in organic clicks and 4.42 percent in paid advertisement clicks. SparkToro

Spotify for Podcasters provides data on demographics, listening habits
Now out of beta, a new Spotify podcast analytics dashboard has brought marketers new engagement data and other information on the listening habits of the firms’ users, in an expansion of its targeted podcast advertising system. Marketing Land

Google: Says Dates On Articles Makes It Easier To Recognize High-Quality Evergreen Content
Google has reiterated its admonition that Web articles ought to include date information, which the firm considers a factor when it comes to recognizing high-quality online content, the search giant’s John Mueller recently noted. SEO Roundtable

US digital ad spend up 18% YoY, new IAB report says
Digital advertising expenditures in the U.S. increased by 18 percent year-over-over from the first quarter of 2018, hitting $28.4 billion, with paid search comprising some 40%, according to new report data from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). ClickZ

B2B Buyers Prefer Email, But That’s Only One Of Their Demands, Study Finds
41 percent of B2B buyers consider email as their preferred channel, with some 57 percent preferring quotes to come via the channel, while 33 percent choose vendors based on reference reviews, according to newly-released survey data. MediaPost

Report: Instagram Story ad share doubles while overall ad growth levels out
Instagram Story ad spending doubled from 9 percent to 18 percent year-over-year from the second quarter of 2018, reaching levels that are now similar to those of Facebook, according to newly-released report data from Kenshoo. Marketing Land

2018 B2B Video Completion Rates and Other Benchmarks
Business videos four minutes or shorter saw the highest completion rates — between between 50 – 68 percent — while those over 20 minutes saw the lowest, around 25 percent, just some of the research of interest to digital marketers in newly-released B2B video study data. MarketingCharts

New Study Looks at the Most Popular YouTube Content, and Highlights Key Trends
YouTube video content was the subject of a new Pew Research study that examined popular channels with 250K or more subscribers. Among them, just 10 percent produced 70 percent of the content, the research showed. Social Media Today

Less is more when it comes to online advertising, research suggests
Brand recall may decrease when ad exposure rises too much, according to newly-released research. Four or more digital ad exposures brought brand awareness rates down by 3 percent, while two and three online ad exposures increased brand awareness by 6 percent, new study data from Sublime has shown. Campaign

Google Makes YouTube Masthead Ads Available to All Advertisers
Google has eased restrictions on YouTube masthead advertisements, making the premium placement ad type — which had only been offered as a part of full-day takeovers — available to all advertisers. Marketers can also now buy on a cost-per-thousand basis, the search giant recently announced. Search Engine Journal

B2B Buyers Demand Personalization Above All Else, Study Finds
B2B buyers place the highest value on personalization, according to a newly-released report based on a survey of some 1,000 B2B leaders, which also showed that 30 percent make more than half of their purchases using digital platforms, up significantly from 15 percent in 2017. MediaPost

Influencer marketing spend grows 83%
Influencer marketing spending in the U.S. and Canada has seen 83 percent year-over-year growth, accompanied by second-quarter spending of $442 million, according to newly-released research data of interest to marketers. The Drum

How Will Twitter’s Redesign Impact Social Media Managers?
Twitter recently updated its desktop design to more closely resemble its mobile experience, a change that has affected how and what digital marketers can do on the desktop experience, and presenting both new opportunities and several challenges. Social Media Today

LinkedIn updates Campaign Manager, adds brand awareness, conversion campaign options
LinkedIn has rolled out a number of campaign conversion improvements and new brand awareness additions to its Campaign Manager. The updates are poised to enhance LinkedIn’s (client) objective-based ad platform goals. Marketing Land

Brands ‘Out Of Touch’ With American Women
61 percent see portrayal in advertising as completely out of touch, and 56 percent want brands to stand up for women, according to newly-released data from Kantar’s U.S Monitor survey of Americans’ attitudes, values and motivations. MediaPost

Survey Reports 60% of Marketers Ignore Consumer Expectations; Still Rely on Single-Channel Customer Engagement
Some 60 percent of marketers fail to take into account consumer expectations, while 95 percent see increasing expectations from customers — two of several findings of interest to digital marketers in new report data from Maropost. MarTech Advisor

Facebook brings back reach estimates for Custom Audiences
After a year-plus absence and with new security measures in place, marketers can once again use Facebook’s estimated reach data for Custom Audience campaigns, the social giant recently announced. Marketing Land

Google Maps Launches Place Topics
Google announced that its Google Maps now includes review-based data for a new Place Topics feature. The new local search information from this automated feature could potentially have the greatest impact on B2B firms. Search Engine Roundtable

Social ad spend reached almost $18bn in Q1 2019, but growth has halved in past year
Revenues from advertising on social media and messaging platforms climbed 26.2 percent year-over-year during the first quarter of 2019, but at a slower rate than last year, according to recently-released data from Warc Data. Some platforms are looking to diversify in light of social media usage times that have remained steady. Mobile Marketing Magazine