3 Key Insights from the Google Leak Marketers Should Know About

August 14, 2024

In late May, over 2,500 internal documents were leaked from Google. The documents, which the company confirmed were authentic, were an unprecedented peek into how the search giant’s algorithm surfaces information to millions of people around the world. While some of the findings were expected, others surprised marketers and even represented direct contradictions from what Google itself told the market about its mysterious algorithm and where their priorities truly lie.

I’ve heard many marketers say something similar to, “It’s Google’s world; we’re all just living in it.” So what did these documents tell us about search, and how can marketers use them to their fullest advantage? Our team dove in, so you don’t have to!

Original digital content drives traffic

The best brands think of themselves as publishers. Whether you’re a resort in Puerto Rico or a clothing brand, your brand has a unique perspective on storytelling within your industry, and an audience of consumers eager to hear it. Creating content – blogs, quizzes, or videos (see below!) – is a great way to drive traffic to your site and engage with your audience.

Video is critical

While many tech giants have signaled the importance of video – even causing the infamous “pivot to video” that had publishers scrambling to add it to their sites a few years ago – these documents prove it definitively. The algorithm favors websites with multimedia elements such as video.

It sounds straightforward, but video can be expensive and time consuming to produce. Choosing a partner like Clicktivated that combines patented technology with an available in-house production team makes it much easier to get all the advantages of video without the headaches.

Interactive elements drive success

One of the less obvious insights from the leak is the importance of interactive elements on web pages. Items like quizzes and polls can add a fun and engaging touch point with your audience, but they are limited in their real impact.  Adding interactive elements to video, the most impactful form of storytelling adds an incredible amount of value, ROI, brand recognition and 1st party data!  

How Clicktivated can help

Interactive video is a great way to combine two of the most important insights we learned in Google’s documents: multimedia and interactivity. At Clicktivated, we are all about interactive video and making any video better. We can help you transform  any new or existing video into an interactive/shoppable experience, empowering your audience to click on any item, location, or experience in the video to learn more or even make a purchase! Check us out in action below.

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