A lot has changed in the past twelve months when it comes to data, marketing and eCommerce, so we have put together a quick rundown to see what went on!

Q1

Google announces the sunsetting of Universal, and with it, introduces users to Google Analytics 4. While the old Universal platform won’t be retired fully until 2024, smart marketers are making the move now, to make sure their data is properly captured. For more details on what to expect from GA4, check out our blog: https://vuzo.co.uk/what-do-i-need-to-know-about-google-analytics-4/

Elon Musk agrees to buy Twitter, taking the company private and with a raft of proposed site changes. We all know the deal took a lot longer to be pushed through, so the impact of this for marketers is still to become clear. One to watch!

Amazon continues their July Prime Day discounting, which started in 2015. The results from the now two-day event which ran across more than 20 countries, showed it was the biggest Prime Day event so far.

Google release their Helpful Content Update – For years we’ve been telling our clients to create content for humans not search engines, and it seems like Google has finally had enough of this ‘SEO’ content too! This is part of their ongoing effort “to ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results.” In real terms, this means putting the User in the driving seat when it comes to content strategies, and making sure the experience has been satisfying. For tips on how to practically implement changes and make sure you are on the right side of these updates, check out our blog here.

It’s a busy year for Google, as it releases two updates that deal with Product Reviews. The aim is to promote review content that is above and beyond much of the templated information you see on the web. Importantly, the second of these cracks down on those who are incentivising customers to leave positive reviews or remove negative ones from their sites. This is great news for customers, giving more trust in the reviews they are reading.

Amazon launches a Prime Early Access Sale, a new two-day event that acts as a follow up to July’s Prime Day event. This is usually a once a year extravaganza, but it now seems that Amazon is throwing discounting events whenever they like. THis one was particularly interesting for eCommerce retailers to note, as it came so close to the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend promotions.
Google Data Studio announces it is officially changing its name to Looker Studio. No serious changes to report on – the platform is still free and has the same features as Data Studio, but for all you data nerds, note the new name!

The Football World Cup coincides with Black Friday for the first time, and the results matched expectations! Marketers feared there would be a dip in sales during the match, which is exactly what happened, only to be followed by a boost once the football was over. Check out our results post on LinkedIn for some nifty charts: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7004415006406561792

Not content with their flurry of updates earlier in the year, Google releases an additional Helpful Content Update – This update adds to the one in August, drilling down further on bad content and spam tactics, all part of its “ongoing effort to reduce low-quality content and make it easier to find content that feels authentic and useful in search.” Nothing to worry about for all of you producing helpful content that people actually want to read!