Commentary

Search: And It's A Wrap For 2018

Goodbye 2018. There was no shortage of headlines this year.

Google AdWords rebranded to Google Ads and changed Android licensing terms in Europe that affect search. Bing pushed ahead. Sexual misconduct came to the forefront, and Google denied building a search engine for China and then agreed to discontinue the project.

Apple expanded its Search Ads Platform, and Amazon and Facebook entered the search space.

The voice assistant became a reality. Google and Bing began allowing cryptocurrency ads.

Politics, data, privacy breaches and freedom of speech were major topics. Bing, Google and Facebook announced changes to their respective political ad policies.

Nearly half of tech workers said they lack the political freedom to speak their mind at work, Google defended its right to protect search algorithm IP, and Elite SEM along with other agencies built an expertise in Amazon advertising.

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Consumers also began demanding a better experience and GDPR became top of mind. An analyst estimated that Amazon's business would hit $25 billion by 2021, and Verizon voiced its commitment to Oath and then changed the division's name to Verizon Media Group.   

You, the reader, wanted to know more about Apple and Amazon. The most-read article in the Search Insider -- Apple To Make History On Amazon -- ran on November 12. The article also re-ran on December 12, coming in at No. 2. Hey Google, Alexa Loses Her Voice And Ranks No. 1 came in as the No. 3 most-read article in Search Insider. All Aboard, Google Express Predictions came in at No. 4, and Microsoft Revenue From Bing Search Ads rounded out the top five.

For Search Marketing Daily, the top five articles were: Most Expensive Search Keywords Surpass $200 Per Click; Google URL Inspection Tool Shows Marketers What The Search Engine Sees; Search Icon WordStream Sold To Publisher Gannett for $130 Million Cash Deal; Google Induces ‘Ad Strength,’ New Metrics And Measurement Relevance; and Google Releases Leaderboard at MWC To Rank Web Site Speed and Tools To Verify Increases.

With my background in technology I am able to write about just about any topic. The top five-read articles that I wrote ran in a variety of MediaPost publications. The top article -- titled Revcontent New Program Guarantees Revenue Increase For Publishers -- ran in Publishers Daily. No. 2 -- titled Unilever Unveils Blockchain, Threatens Billions In Ad Spend -- ran in Digital News Daily.  No. 3 -- titled Most Expensive Search Keywords Surpasses $200 Per Click -- ran in Search Marketing Daily. No. 4 -- titled Hackers Hijack Google DoubleClick Ads -- ran in Digital News Daily. And the fifth-most read article, Google URL Inspection Tool Shows Marketers What The Search Engine Sees, ran in Search Marketing Daily.

I don’t want to try to make any solid predictions for 2019, but I think we will talk more about Amazon and will see additional consolidation, refer to search as performance marketing, and see voice embedded in many more devices with automation playing a major role.

If you have a topic of interest or tip, want to contribute commentary or just want to say "hello," drop me a note at sullivan@mediapost.com.

Happy New Year. Be safe. Welcome to 2019!

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