Five years after EU antitrust fine, 53% of UK Google Shopping ads still come from Google

Someone using Goolge on a laptop.

Five years after the EU commission fined Google 2.4 billion Euros ($2.65 billion) and ordered it to open up its Google Shopping service in Europe to external competition, a new study suggests around 53% of ads on the platform in the UK, still originate from Google itself - up from around 49% in 2019.

The research from Searchmetrics indicates that after Brexit, Google is no longer trying to increase competition on its shopping platform in the UK.

On top of this, the...

5 May 2022 | Advertising

Kevin the Carrot ranked most Googled Christmas advert character

Kevin the Carrot.

Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot is the most Googled Christmas advert character, according to data from Google trends.

The friendly little vegetable has been crowned the best Christmas advert character, after data comparing Google searches over the last five years revealed that Kevin the Carrot is the most Googled Christmas advert character.

The data as compiled based on the top six UK retailers, who release hotly anticipated Christmas adverts every year, including John Lewis,...

4 January 2022 | Advertising

Half of top websites fail to meet Google’s user experience requirements

Someone using Goolge on a laptop.

Around 50% of the top 100 most visible websites on Google.com still fail to deliver a ‘good’ page experience on desktop as defined in the search engine’s Core Web Vitals update which finished rolling out in August 2021. 

And 44% of the top 100 websites fail on mobile, according to research by research from Searchmetrics.

As of October, Walmart.com, Target.com and Tripadvisor.com as well as social sites such as Facebook.com, Instagram.com and Pinterest.com were...

1 December 2021 | Best Practice

How M&S increased engagement and achieved listings consistency with 1,063 stores

Marks & Spencer's St Helens store.

Marks & Spencer (M&S) is a leading British retailer bringing quality, great value food, clothing and homeware to millions of customers across the UK and around the world, from everyday style on M&S.com, to the very best prawn sandwiches at convenience M&S Simply Food locations.

The problem:

M&S continued to serve its customers throughout lockdown and strived to find new ways to help them shop with confidence and find the information they need online...

18 November 2021 | Automation

How marketers can overcome data privacy challenges as Google and Apple increase consumer protection

A gate with a sign that reads 'private'.

Consumers care about data privacy. In 2021, they know more about how their data is collected, stored, and shared, and they want more control. This presents a unique set of challenges for marketers because data collection has become so closely tied to the modern consumer experience. Would we have witnessed the same exponential growth in e-commerce without personalised advertisements and targeted promotions? Likely not, because consumers and marketers alike have become dependent on...

10 October 2021 | Data-driven marketing

Google delays Chrome tracking cookies ban until 2023

Google Chrome

Google has pushed back its planned blocking of third-party cookies on its Chrome internet browser from 2022 until 2023.

Cookies are used by websites to track users' browsing activity to enable digital publishers to better target their adverts.

Many of Google’s competitors, including Apple, Microsoft and Mozilla, have already blocked them. 

Vinay Goel, privacy engineering director for Google's Chrome browser, said: "While there’s considerable progress...

29 June 2021 | Advertising