Hey!

Ready for some digital marketing tea?

• Let’s look at the difficulties of tracking AI traffic and aligning conversion attribution. This SEJ article notes the zero-click nature of AI traffic can be assigned as “Direct” traffic in GA4, hiding the conversion value of AI-driven visits to your website. To be fair, the author recognizes that attribution issues existed before AI and there’s a movement to look beyond the linear funnel and take a more holistic, multi-channel view of results. 

• … There are other ways to capture AI traffic data and conversion activity the SEJ author above does not mention. One is to create a custom channel for AI traffic in GA4 instead of using the default channel settings. The other is to create AI filters in your reporting tools. We use both approaches at DBE to report on SAIO success. The only AI traffic that is not yet filterable comes from Google itself as it combines AI Overviews and AI Mode data within the Organic Search channel. (Read our latest blog on how this is one of Google’s recent data double whammies.)

• No, really, you should read the new Google Double Whammies piece… it may change your mind on KPIs. Permanently. *shocking dramatic music plays*

• Your public Instagram posts will be made available for search engine indexing in more regions. In the past they’ve generally requested that search engines don’t show user photos and videos, but now public reels and posts uploaded from January 1, 2020 onward may be indexed. This means social SEO is increasingly more important, y’all!

• If you’re deep into Google Analytics set ups and management, Clickvoyant has a super helpful post on the making of clean data layers.

• Optimism About the Economy Among US Luxury Consumers Is Dropping Quickly is the headline for EMARKETER’s chart showing YoY and QoQ drops. This shouldn’t be a surprise if you manage SEO or PPC for a luxury goods company and you are tracking keyword search volumes regularly.

• Google has been pushing its Shopping agenda in SERPs for a while now. Clicks are surging, but get this — Amazon, Temu, and Shien slashed their Google Shopping ad presence. This means openings in Google Shopping auctions. 😲 Here’s your chance to support your ecommerce sites, friends!

The more you read about and spend time in nature, you realize how connected we are to the environment. There are so many ways to protect it. The Center for Biological Diversity is helping by guarding endangered species. From legislation to media outreach to scientific analysis, they have their hands in a slew of species conservation efforts. Learn more today: Center for Biological Diversity.

My dog, Reya, was in a cone the past two weeks. (Don’t worry, she’s fine, just some stitches.)

No, she does not like the cone. (Who would?) 

But she never cries or hides when it has to go back on after eating. She seems to trust me to know that it’s good for her (even though I swear it drains her energy.)

Zooming out, there are times when we have to place full trust in someone/something else. We can’t do everything ourselves. Giving and accepting support can help us all thrive.

Keep on keepin’ on!

Natalie

You made it to the end of this lengthy edition of PM! Go you! 🙌🎉🎊