Google Starts Highlighting In-Depth Articles in Search, and Other Inbound Stories

Guys, I'm pretty psyched for the weekly news roundup today, if I may say so myself. There was a ton of stuff that happened in the news this week -- it seemed like Facebook, Twitter, and Google rolled out a bagillion features, and I was struggling to keep up with it all amidst my other marketing duties.

To help those who may have been a little busy this week, I weeded through the fluff and came back with a mixture of marketing stories you should know about, ranging from really important algorithm changes to some fun, inspirational marketing campaigns. In just a few minutes, you'll be caught up on last week's news and ready to rock your week ahead. Let's get to it!

Google Search Starts Highlighting In-Depth Articles on Search Results Pages (via TechCrunch) 

Google just announced that it will start to feature in-depth articles in search in a special section of the main results column. According to it's own research, Google indicates that around 10% of people are looking for links to more in-depth stories ... so it wants to help them discover those links. Though Google isn't clear about what "in-depth" means, this new feature is meant to "provide high-quality content to help you learn about or explore a subject." Here's what it will look like: 

As an inbound marketer, I am absolutely thrilled. This seems like a huge win for marketers who are truly trying to provide unique, valuable, and comprehensive content. If you fit into that category, you could be rewarded by being put into this select box in search. Google does give us a quick checklist you should follow if you want to help them categorize your content, and potentially be placed in the "In-depth articles" box. Learn more about this update over at TechCrunch.

Facebook Announces News Feed Changes, Gets More Transparent With Businesses (via HubSpot)

Facebook is changing the way stories are displayed in the News Feed, and trying to make life better for marketers, all in one swoop. This past week, Facebook launched an updated News Feed algorithm that will focus on resurfacing relevant stories from people who you recently have engaged with through three new features: Story Bumping, Last Actor, and Chronological by Actor. At the same time, Facebook got a lot more transparent with marketers by launching the brand new Facebook for business blog.

There are lots of takeaways for marketers -- in fact, we already wrote about several -- but your immediate action item boils down to one thing. Test. Test to see what type of content your Facebook fans want. Test to see if ads could help increase engagement. Test to see if posting more often -- or less often -- will benefit you. News Feed changes will affect everyone differently, so keep an eye on your Facebook stats to see how your content is performing. In the meantime, get the low-down on all the changes by checking out our blog post.

Get 75 Free Stock Photos ... No Strings Attached (via HubSpot)

Given that visual content is hot and yet internet copyright law is kind of a hot mess at the moment, what's a marketer with limited resources to do? We can't all throw lots of money at stock photo companies for photos that may or may not get lost in our company's labyrinth of files. To help solve this very frustrating problem, we created 75 free stock photos you can use any time -- and anywhere -- in your marketing without attributing them to us (though we could never refuse a lovely inbound link). Get your free stock photos here.

Facebook’s Graph Search Is Now Available to Everyone Using U.S. English (via The Next Web)

Heads up, marketers: Graph search is rolling out to even more users. Previously available to a select test group, then only U.S. users, now it's available to everyone using U.S. English (but who may not be in the U.S.). Not groundbreaking news, but definitely something marketers should keep an eye on.

Why? With Graph Search, Facbeook users will have more -- and different -- ways to discover your Company Page and content. Who knows, Facebook may be more open with marketers about how people can get found via Graph Search with its new Facebook for business blog. Just an interesting trend to keep an eye on that could have a huge impact on your brand's success on Facebook. Learn more about this new release on The Next Web.

Virtually Furnish a Room With IKEA's Augmented Reality Catalog (via Mashable)

Augmented reality -- where computer sensory input such as sound, video, music, or images interacts with the live, real-life, physical world -- is probably not in the budget plan for most marketers (including us) ... but it's pretty cool to hear about when marketers do use it. This week, IKEA released an augmented reality catalog app -- basically when you open the app and select an item, the app inserts the item into a realtime view of your home using your phone's camera. So next time you want to buy a couch from IKEA, you'll know if it will fit in your living room ... which is pretty awesome. Here's the app in action:

We included this story in this week's roundup for one reason: it's really just an awesome piece of inbound marketing. It's a free app that you can download that you can't help but engage with. We think it's so darn awesome because it solves a common problem for furniture buyers through a really interactive piece of content -- something that could be inspiration for your next inbound marketing campaign. Learn more about IKEA's catalog here. 

Trying to Reinvent Itself, Yahoo Searches for a New Look (via The New York Times)

Do you think Yahoo could ever be cool again? In 30 days we'll find out. In a recent campaign to support the launch of a new logo, Yahoo will unveil a failed design for their new logo each day for a month. Each day, the shot-down logo will appear on Yahoo's Tumblr blog.

The campaign is interesting, but we're more interested to see how it will affect usage of Yahoo. With Google and Bing currently crushing the search engine market share, we find it hard to believe that the search underdog could actually make a comeback. But hey ... you never know. So marketers, just keep an eye on your organic search engine traffic and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly. Learn more about Yahoo's new campaign over at The New York Times. 

Which story was most interesting to you this week? Tell us what you liked, and why, in the comments.