Google has announced updates coming soon to Google Analytics 4 (GA4) properties.
As of mid-October 2023, specific attribution models will be removed from the platform.
At the same time, Google is introducing a new “calculated metrics” feature that allows you to create custom metrics tailored to your business needs.
According to a statement from Google, the First Click, Linear, Time decay, and Position-based attribution models will be phased out for all GA4 properties next month.
The default attribution will switch to paid and organic data-driven models for any accounts currently using those models. Other models like Last Click will remain available.
Removing the rule-based attribution models marks a shift toward automated, AI-driven attribution in Google Analytics.
Implications Of Removing Rule-Based Attribution
Removing the four attribution models could impact marketers who have optimized campaigns and strategies around those models.
This could push Google Analytics users toward Google’s AI-powered attribution models. This reliance on Google’s proprietary systems could make it harder to understand how attribution works.
To offset this change, Google Analytics is launching calculated metrics – a way for users to combine standard or custom metrics using mathematical formulas.
As an example, Google said a calculated “Item margin” metric could subtract “Item COGS” from “Item price.”
“You can adjust any metric to fit your business needs or logic,” explains Google’s announcement. Calculated metrics allow weighting, discounting, and combining other metrics.
Utilizing Calculated Metrics
According to Google, calculated metrics enable direct decision-making by letting users incorporate fundamental business logic into the metrics.
Users with admin access can build up to five calculated metrics per standard property or 50 for Analytics 360 properties.
The new feature will be available across reports, explorations, and the Analytics API.
While calculated metrics provide more customization, there are potential downsides.
Allowing users to create complex calculated metrics could lead to confusion or inconsistencies across teams and reports.
Proper governance will ensure that calculated metrics are well-documented and structured logically. Users will likely need training on how to build metrics that provide actual value rather than overly complex formulas.
Preparing For The Changes
To avoid these changes, Google recommends auditing your existing attribution setups. Any reports or strategies relying on the four removed models must be transitioned to alternate attribution methods.
Testing different attribution models ahead of time is advised. Marketers should develop a plan for how calculated metrics will be created, managed, and utilized in their organization.
Google’s advanced notice of the changes gives analytics teams time to prepare. However, adapting workflows and strategies to align with Google’s evolving platform will remain an ongoing balancing act.
Looking Ahead
The changes reflect Google Analytics’ continued evolution as it adapts to a post-cookie world.
While rule-based attribution goes away, custom-calculated metrics provide more flexibility to tailor metrics to specific business use cases.
Building a successful business is no easy feat, especially in a world where consumers have more options – and distractions – than ever before.
That’s why market research is essential to any business marketing plan and marketing strategy.
Market research lets you learn more about our target consumers and their behavior, spot emerging trends, uncover important data, and make informed business decisions.
But with so many target consumers out there and so many places and methods to reach them, where should you start?
In this article, we’ll cover some of the best market research tools available to you across a variety of tactics and approaches.
Let’s get started.
1. SurveyMonkey
Screenshot from SurveyMonkey, September 2023
One of the more well-known survey tools, SurveyMonkey offers a broad list of features and capabilities for creating audience surveys.
Whether you want to create your own survey or choose from one of its 250+ expert-created templates, SurveyMonkey offers a user-friendly interface that enables you to customize your surveys to your needs.
It also offers a suite of helpful features, including AI-powered knowledge to help you pose the right questions, as well as built-in reporting and analytics.
Pricing:
SurveyMonkey offers a free Basic tier with unlimited surveys featuring up to 10 questions and 10 responses per survey.
Individual plans start at $39/month with unlimited surveys and questions, and up to 15,000 responses per year.
Team plans start at $25/user/month, starting at three users. This level also gives you unlimited surveys and questions, but offers 50,000 responses per year.
2. Typeform
Screenshot from Typeform, September 2023
Typeform is an easy-to-use tool focused on helping users create intuitive and engaging forms, surveys, quizzes, polls, and more. Its selling point is the ability to create truly conversational, beautiful forms.
With Typeform, you can create slick surveys with customizable interactive elements, such as images and videos, that encourage your audience to take action. Its focus on interactivity makes it an appealing tool for market research.
Typeform offers plenty of useful features – from conditional logic to creating dynamic surveys – that adapt based on answers to real-time data analytics and integrations with tons of popular tools, from Slack to Google Analytics.
The company even offers a standalone video tool, VideoAsk, where users can create “video forms” to prompt responses.
Pricing:
Typeform offers a Free plan with unlimited typeforms and 10 responses per month.
Paid plans start at $25/month billed annually for Basic, $50/month billed annually for Plus, and $83/month billed annually for Business.
The company also offers an Enterprise plan.
3. BuzzSumo
Screenshot from Buzzsumo, September 2023
BuzzSumo is a content research and analysis tool that can help you gather some powerful market insights.
Regarding market research, BuzzSumo can help you understand the content landscape in your industry (and beyond), find out what’s resonating with your target consumers, identify influencers in your niche, and track how your content is performing vs. your competitors’.
The BuzzSumo tool analyzes articles (over 5 billion!) and social media posts across the internet to identify top-performing content. It allows you to comb through five years of data so that you can discover the right content ideas for your audience.
Pricing:
30-day free trial (no credit card required).
Membership tiers start at $159/month billed yearly for Content Creation (individual) plan, $239/month billed yearly for PR & Comms plan, $399/month billed yearly for the Suite plan, and $999/month billed yearly for the Enterprise plan.
4. Qualaroo
Screenshot from Quaraloo, September 2023
Want to capture user feedback and deepen your understanding of market trends? Qualaroo might be the tool for you.
Qualaroo is a customer and user feedback tool that claims to be “10X more valuable than email surveys.” Using Qualaroo, you can add a survey to a page on your website or integrate it into your product.
The tool uses behavioral triggering to show surveys or feedback prompts in response to specific user behavior, so you know you’re targeting the right people with the most relevant questions.
Qualaroo also offers visual customization so you can get the branding right, automatic language translation, a library of survey templates, audience targeting, and IBM Watson Sentiment Analysis to help you organize your results.
Pricing:
15-day free trial (no credit card required).
Plans start at $69/month billed annually for Essentials, $149/month billed annually for Premium, and $299+/month billed annually for Business tier.
5. SpyFu
Screenshot from SpyFu, September 2023
SpyFu is a great choice if you’re looking to conduct competitive analysis as part of your market research efforts.
It allows you to effectively “spy” on your competitors by viewing their marketing strategies, advertising history, what keywords they’ve bought on Google Ads, and more – which can help you find gaps in the market and optimize your own approach.
You can feed the SpyFu tool a URL, and it will instantly show you its results for SEO topics like organic keywords, top pages, backlink analysis, total traffic, competition, and more.
Not only can SpyFu help you gain an understanding of the SEO landscape for your industry and gain a competitive advantage, but it can also tell you how hard it might be to dominate a specific niche.
Pricing:
SpyFu offers paid plans starting at $16/month for Basic, $36/month for Professional, and $149/month for Team (billed annually).
6. Ahrefs
Screenshot from Ahrefs, September 2023
Another great tool for SEO and competitive analysis, Ahrefs is a popular choice of many marketers for good reason.
Using Ahrefs, you can learn more about the search landscape of your market, discover what keywords your customers are searching for, track your competitors, and analyze content in your industry to inform your own strategies.
With its keyword and content capabilities, Ahrefs will help you find gaps and opportunities in the market so that you can improve your content, your site, and your search visibility.
Pricing:
Website owners can sign up for Ahrefs Webmaster Tools for free limited access to its Site Explorer and Site Audit tools.
Paid plans start at $83/month for Lite, $166/month for Standard, $333/month for Advanced, and $833/month for Enterprise (billed annually).
7. Delve AI
Screenshot from Delve AI, September 2023
User personas are a crucial facet of an effective marketing strategy – and as such, developing them is a common step in any market research process.
Thanks to tools like Delve AI, it’s easier than ever to build user personas.
Delve AI offers a suite of persona-building tools based on your needs and the data available to you. Depending on what stage your business is in, you can generate:
Competitor personas using Delve AI’s data.
Social personas based on your social audience.
Customer personas using your customer information.
Live personas for your website based on Google Analytics data.
Beyond its multi-channel capabilities, Delve AI uses AI algorithms for accuracy in personas, offers behavioral insights, real-time updates to your personas, and more.
Pricing:
The company offers a free Lite plan.
Business plans start at $71/month for Standard, $159/month for the Growth tier, and $439/month for Pro (billed annually).
Agency plans start at $167/month for Standard, $343/month for Growth, and $687/month for the Pro tier (billed annually).
8. Sprout Social
Screenshot from Sprout Social, September 2023
We don’t need to tell you about the importance of social media when it comes to connecting with your audience and driving business success. It can also play a major role where market research is concerned.
Sprout Social offers a robust suite of social media management features. Perhaps the most useful for market research are social listening features – which allow you to track market trends, industry keywords, and social conversations – and its competitor analysis capabilities.
It also provides insights into audience demographics, behavior, and interests, which you can use to inform your marketing approach.
Pricing:
Free 30-day trial.
Plans start at $249/month for Standard, $399/month for Professional, and $499/month for Advanced.
Sprout Social also offers an Enterprise tier plan.
9. Google Trends
Screenshot from Google Trends, September 2023
How can you supercharge your market research efforts? Look to search data.
Google Trends is an incredible tool that enables you to analyze real-time and historical search data to discover market trends, up-to-date consumer insights, and more.
By using this tool to access the latest information on how people search on Google, you can spot emerging interests and opportunity areas, and keep an eye on what consumers are most interested in.
It also offers location filtering so that you can see what’s trending in any given market.
Pricing:
10. Statista
Screenshot from Statista, September 2023
If you’re looking for data and statistics on pretty much anything in the world of business and marketing, you might want to check out Statista.
It’s a business intelligence platform that provides “statistics, reports, and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries.” This means that if you’re looking for specific market research insights, Statista most likely has something to fit your needs.
From in-depth reports to data visualizations and industry forecasts, Statista can give you reliable insights into what’s happening in markets around the world, and highlight market and consumer trends.
Pricing:
Free Basic account available.
Paid accounts start at $149/month for Starter and $490/month for Personal (billed annually), with more options available.
11. Qualtrics
Screenshot from Qualtrics, September 2023
If you’re looking for something extremely robust, Qualtrics’ market research platform is an all-in-one, AI-powered solution for your market research needs.
It offers a suite of features and capabilities, including:
Panel Management: Enables you to create research panels from email lists, site visitors, social followers, and more.
On-Demand Respondents: Companies can pay for access to survey respondents that match their target demographic.
Product Development: Get access to early feedback on your new products and services from customers.
Purchase Behavior: Explore data on what is fueling purchase decisions among your target customers.
And more.
While it requires a more dedicated investment, Qualtrics’ software is scalable and powerful. It comes with automation and integration with many other tools, and customers have access to a support team.
Pricing:
Qualtrics offers a free survey maker tool with up to 500 responses.
For pricing details, reach out to the Qualtrics team.
12. Temper
Screenshot from Temper, September 2023
It’s important to stay on top of how your customers feel about your business, services, and products – and Temper provides a super simple way to do just that.
The concept is simple: Come up with a simple question you want to ask your question, and your customers can respond by clicking a smiley face that corresponds to how they feel.
You might want to ask your customers, “How do you feel about our new product?” or “Please rate your experience with our customer support team.” With just a little bit of code, you can place a Temper widget on your webpage, in a blog post, or in an email footer and get quick feedback on audience sentiment.
Pricing:
Plans start at $12/month for Hobby tier, $49/month for Pro, $89/month for Business, and $199/month for White Label.
Temper offers a 60-day risk-free, money-back guarantee.
13. Quora
You’ve likely heard of the question-and-answer site Quora, but have you considered its potential as a market research tool?
Quora is an online community where real people can go to ask questions about anything they’d like, and share their experiences and opinions with others via answers.
It offers a unique opportunity for brands to conduct market research within their specific industry or area by connecting with Quora’s diverse community of consumers, professionals, and others.
Try searching Quora for topics related to your business or niche, and look at what types of conversations are trending. Or, you could ask a question yourself!
Quora is free to use, though it also offers separate business solutions.
14. Crunchbase
Screenshot from Crunchbase, September 2023
Crunchbase is a handy tool for getting a good picture of your industry landscape and how your competitors are faring.
It’s a database of companies that includes information like funding round data, investors, and financial information for each business. It also includes information such as employee headcount, leadership data, and more.
You can search Crunchbase by region or industry, allowing you to see how other companies in your niche are growing, and who is deciding to fund them. This can help you identify investment opportunities and market gaps, or even just gauge the overall health of your industry.
Pricing:
Crunchbase offers a Free plan where you can preview profile pages at no cost.
Paid options start at $29/month for Starter and $49/month for Pro (billed annually).
An Enterprise option is also available with custom billing.
15. Google Market Finder
Screenshot from Google Market Finder, September 2023
Another excellent market research tool from Google is Market Finder. This free, interactive tool is focused mostly on researching target markets – so you can use it to discover which markets might have the most potential for your company, monitor demand for your products or services, and more.
There are two primary features within Market Finder:
Test your export readiness. By providing your company’s URL and completing a short quiz, the tool will grade your “readiness” to expand into new markets abroad.
Dive into new markets. You can take another short quiz that will suggest new market recommendations based on the information you provide, as well as external data like search volume and Google Ads.
Market Finder can also integrate with your Google Analytics data for more accurate information.
Pricing:
16. Semrush
Screenshot from Market Explorer, September 2023
Semrush is a one-stop marketing tool that can be leveraged to gain incredibly useful market research insights.
The company offers features dedicated to this type of research, such as its Market Explorer tool, which enables you to get quick information on your specific industry, conduct an analysis of market share, and benchmark your business against your competitors. You can also use the tool to analyze the potential of a new niche or market region for your business.
You might also find Semrush’s traffic analytics tool useful, as it allows you to go deeper with competitive analysis and target consumer demographics.
Pricing:
Semrush offers a free account with limited capabilities.
Paid accounts start at $108.33/month for Pro, $208.33/month for Guru, and $416.66/month for Business (billed annually).
17. Pew Research Center
Screenshot from Pew Research Center, September 2023
While not a traditional marketing tool, the Pew Research Center is a widely known and respected resource that can be super effective when it comes to market research.
The site hosts a robust catalog of reports, surveys, and research covering everything from tech and digital media to politics, cultural trends, and more. The data is unbiased and credible, offering a unique perspective into what today’s consumers think and feel on various topics.
You can use the Pew Research Center as a tool to further hone your market research efforts, providing you with insights into the attitudes and behaviors of your target consumer, as well as the various factors that are impacting their desires and purchasing decisions.
Pricing:
18. Exploding Topics
Screenshot from Exploding Topics, September 2023
We all know the saying, “I liked it before it was popular” – well, with Exploding Topics, your business can be the one to say this.
Exploding Topics helps you spot trends before they become super popular by analyzing searches, mentions, and conversations across the web to identify products, topics, and industries that are on the rise.
You can use Exploding Topics as a resource to help you predict shifts in the market and consumer interests, which can inform everything from your product design and strategy to your marketing approach.
It’s a lot like Google Trends, with some key differences; it pulls in data from a variety of sources and is focused on highlighting emerging trends before they take off.
Pricing:
Exploding Topics offers a free version of its Trend Database.
Paid tiers begin at $39/month for Entrepreneur, $99/month for Investor, and $249/month for Business (billed annually).
19. Loop11
Screenshot from Loop11, September 2023
In today’s day and age, you can’t build a successful business without an effective website. But how can you know whether your website will resonate with your target consumer?
You can use Loop11, a usability testing platform that helps facilitate user testing of your products.
Loop11 makes it simple to create a usability test and secure participants.
It enables you to view the user’s experience through video, audio, and screen recordings. Then, it presents you with in-depth insights and UX metrics to help you understand what’s working with your website, app, or product and what’s preventing people from converting.
Pricing:
Free 14-day trial with full capabilities.
Paid plans start at $179/month for Rapid Insights, $358/month for Pro, and $533/month for Enterprise (billed annually).
In Summary
Market research is key to any business plan, no matter what industry you’re in, what stage of growth your business is at, or what customers you’re serving.
From competitive analysis to keyword research, user feedback, and more, focusing on your market research efforts will pay dividends to your business in the long run.
And while there are plenty of different ways to approach market research, these represent some of the best tools available to you – and can be a great jumping-off point for you to get started.
Dmytro Gerasymenko, the CEO of the popular Ahrefs SEO tool announced that they will not renew about 15% of legacy subscriptions in order to improve service for the majority of users.
Account Sharing And Data Scraping
It’s not uncommon for some in the search community to share their SEO tools subscriptions, and not just at Ahrefs.
When several people share one of the more expensive accounts they are able to unlock more advanced tools, so it makes sense for some users, especially those who are casual users.
But according to Gerasymenko, there are some legacy account subscriptions who use an enormous amount of data to the point that the service slows down or crashes the entire system.
The heavy load is created by a subset of users who share accounts or engaged in heavy data scraping, which resulted in sudden increases in usage.
Ahrefs initially dealt with the issue by increasing resources to handle the load and create a credits system to reduce the sudden jumps and make it fair for all users who don’t consume as much resources.
However, these actions may not have been enough to stabilize Ahrefs for everyone, so they will begin not renewing legacy accounts.
According to a tweet by Gerasymenko:
“Now it is time to finish this transition.
To do that we will stop renewing around 15% of legacy accounts that consume the most data.
These accounts will start getting notifications soon, and will come one month before the legacy subscriptions expire.
There will be plenty of time to explore if Ahrefs provides enough value, and if these accounts want to continue with Ahrefs under the new terms or move somewhere else.
Ultimately we will level out the playing field for all customers, so that everyone is using Ahrefs under the same terms.”
User Reaction On Twitter
Some of the users responding to Ahrefs weren’t happy with the announcement, saying that the move was a betrayal of users who have been customers for a long time.
One person responded:
It could be 15, it could be 50, or it could be all – as end users we will never know and that’s unsettling.
Here’s the thing: those loyal, early customers are the very people who propelled you to the stature you have today.
We stood by you during your growth stages, provided…
This post was sponsored by DeBugBear. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.
We all want a website that’s fast and has good SEO. But there’s a long list of things to check and it’s easy to miss small issues.
Luckily, Google offers its own tool and testing playground to help you discover if your website is up to speed.
Google’s Lighthouse tool is essentially a long automated checklist for your website.
Instead of manually checking your website, learn how you can generate a detailed report in less than a minute.
What Is Google Lighthouse?
Lighthouse is an automated website analysis tool that tests your website and assigns it a score across four different categories:
Performance.
Accessibility.
Best Practices.
SEO.
Each score ranges from 0 to 100, with 100 being a perfect score. Scores are made up of individual checklist items called Lighthouse audits.
In addition to these four scores, there’s also a Progressive Web App (PWA) section that looks at various features that make your website behave more like a native mobile app.
Checking your website with Lighthouse can help you ensure your website is fast and doesn’t have obvious accessibility or SEO issues.
Screenshot of a Lighthouse report on PageSpeed Insights, September 2023
PageSpeed Insights Vs. Lighthouse: What’s The Difference?
Lighthouse is a free tool developed by Google with the source code publicly available.
PageSpeed Insights is just one way to run a Lighthouse test, but many other products also include it. For instance, you can also install Lighthouse directly on your computer and run it there.
The normal Lighthouse report only runs the automated speed test and doesn’t provide any real user metrics. However, if you use PageSpeed Insights or the DebugBear speed test, you get both the real user data and the Lighthouse test result.
Does The Lighthouse Performance Score Impact SEO?
No, your Lighthouse Performance score does not directly impact SEO.
However, Lighthouse does give you insights that can help you influence your website’s page speed, which is a ranking signal.
Google looks at three performance metrics called the Core Web Vitals (CWV) to help make that determination.
The underlying data for CWV is collected from real Chrome users as part of the Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX). Lighthouse, on the other hand, pulls its data a little differently; it runs its performance test in a simulated test environment.
In the end, what counts for Google is how real users experience your website. So, Lighthouse helps you improve key parts of your website that should, if done correctly, reflect in future real-user traffic.
So, a slow Lighthouse score correlates with a slow experience for real users. Lighthouse can point out valuable opportunities for page speed optimization.
The Lighthouse SEO category also looks at whether a page can be indexed or whether image alt attributes are missing. So, optimizing Lighthouse scores can still help you rank higher in Google.
Simply enter your website URL, and start the test!
Screenshot of the PageSpeed Insights landing page, September 2023
Step 2: Get Real User Data & Lighthouse Test Results
PageSpeed Insights actually reports both the real user data we mentioned above and the Lighthouse test result.
From there, you can:
Discover what your real users are experiencing (this refers to the CrUX data that’s collected from Chrome users).
Diagnose performance issues (this is where the Lighthouse test data lives).
Real user data and Lighthouse test result on PageSpeed Insights, September 2023
Step 3: Aim For All Green Scores
You can find the Lighthouse Performance score and the individual page speed metrics at the top of the Lighthouse report. The score will show up as green if it’s 90 or over.
Lighthouse Performance score and metrics on PageSpeed Insights, September 2023
Pro Insight: Run Lighthouse On Both Mobile Vs. Desktop
Lighthouse tests can be run using different device configurations.
The default mobile and desktop configurations differ not just in screen size or the user agent that the device uses to identify itself. Selecting a device also controls other aspects of the test environment:
Network latency: how long does it take for data to travel between the client and the server?
Network bandwidth: how much data can be exchanged between client and server per second?
CPU speed: how quickly can the browser run code or perform tasks like rendering page content?
Lighthouse uses the following default settings for desktop and mobile devices:
Mobile
Desktop
Latency
150 milliseconds
40 milliseconds
Bandwidth
1.6 Mbps
(200 kilobytes per seconds)
8 Mbps
(1 megabyte per second)
CPU Speed
4x throttled
No throttling
When a Lighthouse test is run on a computer with a fast internet connection then the network speed will be throttled down to those of the test configuration.
The simulated test environment is much slower on mobile than on desktop, so the mobile scores and metrics reported by Lighthouse are much worse than those of desktop tests.
How Is The Lighthouse Performance Score Calculated?
The Lighthouse Performance score is made up of five individual website performance metrics:
Metric
Score Contribution
What It Measures
Total Blocking Time
30%
Could a large amount of CPU processing on the page lead to slow user interactions?
Largest Contentful Paint
25%
How quickly does the main page content show up?
Cumulative Layout Shift
25%
Does page content move around after appearing and disorient the user?
First Contentful Paint
10%
How quickly does the first bit of page content show up?
Speed Index
10%
How long does it take for most of the page content to appear?
Each metric is assigned a subscore and these subscores are then combined into the overall score using the weights from the table above.
For example, to get a score of 90 for the Largest Contentful Paint metric the metric value has to be below 2.5 seconds.
How Can I See A Detailed Lighthouse Performance Score Breakdown?
You can click on the “See Calculator” link in the Lighthouse report to see a detailed calculation for your website.
Screenshot of the Lighthouse Performance score calculator, September 2023
This is especially useful when testing sites that run on a local server, pages that require login, or to test user interaction as part of the speed test.
To run Lighthouse in Chrome you can:
Open the website you want to test.
Right-click on the page and select “Inspect” from the menu.
Open the “Lighthouse” tab.
Click on “Analyze page load”.
The page will then reload and the test result will be ready within a minute or so.
Screenshot of the Lighthouse tab in Chrome DevTools, September 2023
Lighthouse in DevTools offers three separate modes:
Navigation: reload the page and grade performance, accessibility, and SEO.
Timespan: collect data on a page that is already open, for example measuring how long a page interaction takes.
Snapshot: analyze accessibility and SEO of the current page state.
The Timespan mode is especially useful as it lets you start the test, interact with the page contents, and then generate a report on the interaction. This way you can measure the Interaction to Next Paint metric that becomes one of Google’s Core Web Vitals in March 2024.
Screenshot of a Lighthouse timespan recording with a user interaction, September 2023
DevTools also provides an option to configure the throttling method. Click on the gear icon in the top right to open the advanced Lighthouse settings. By selecting the DevTools throttling option you can get more reliable data than when using the default simulated throttling.
Screenshot of advanced Lighthouse settings in Chrome DevTools, September 2023
Is Google Lighthouse Data Reliable?
Lighthouse supports different operating modes and some produce more reliable results than others. The default mode that’s used by PageSpeed Insights is called simulated throttling and can sometimes result in inaccurate data.
When running a performance test PageSpeed Insights doesn’t collect data using a slow connection. Instead performance metrics are measured on a fast connection. This initial data is referred to as observed metrics.
After collecting the data Lighthouse applies a simulation that estimates how quickly the page would have loaded on a slower network connection.
This way tests can be run quickly even when using a slow device configuration. But the simulation can also introduce inaccuracies.
You can use the Site Speed Chrome extension to see both the simulated metrics and the original observed data when running a test on PageSpeed Insights.
Screenshot of PageSpeed Insights with original observed metrics inserted via a Chrome extension, September 2023
You will sometimes find that the page load time is faster after slowing down the network. When this happens, this is a clear indication that the Lighthouse simulation is running into an edge case it doesn’t support.
How Can I Get More Reliable Test Results?
To get high-quality data you can use the free DebugBear website speed test. This test collects metrics directly in a throttled environment, ensuring reliable test results.
Screenshot of the free DebugBear page speed testing tool, September 2023
How To Improve Your Lighthouse Performance Score
To get started optimizing your score, check out the opportunities section of the Lighthouse performance category.
Lighthouse automatically identifies potential improvements and ranks them by the estimated savings on your page load time.
Screenshot of Lighthouse performance recommendations, September 2023
Looking at a waterfall visualization that shows what resources your website loads and when content appears also provides a lot of insight into your metrics. This allows you to understand what’s holding back each metric.
Screenshot of a DebugBear test showing what resources were loaded by a page, September 2023
You can often achieve some improvements just by removing unnecessary third-party code or reconfiguring your website theme. However, for a custom-built website you will often need help from your development team to implement fixes.
Should You Worry About A Poor Lighthouse Score?
As long as your real visitor metrics are in the green, you won’t get penalized by Google.
However, you may still wish to optimize your website further to provide a better experience to people using slower mobile devices and who have worse internet connections.
If you want to run a lab test that uses more typical settings for real users you can use DebugBear and select the “Mobile Fast” config when setting up your page.
Screenshot of device and network configuration options in DebugBear, September 2023
Google Lighthouse Troubleshooting
Sometimes, the differences between Lighthouse tests and CWV tests can be striking, so let’s talk through what you may be seeing.
Why Are Lighthouse Test Results Worse Than Google’s Core Web Vitals?
When running a test on PageSpeed Insights, you’ll often find that the metrics reported by Lighthouse are noticeably worse than the real user data.
Screenshot showing a discrepancy between Lighthouse and real user data, September 2023
What’s Responsible For The Score Discrepancy?
The network conditions that Lighthouse uses are significantly worse than what a typical real user would experience.
And that results in lower page speed scores.
For example, Lighthouse uses a network latency of 150 milliseconds, while 40 milliseconds of latency is more common in the United States. Lighthouse uses a mobile latency of 1.6 megabits per second, compared to a typical real user bandwidth of 35 megabits per second.
Google looks at the 75th percentile when calculating the real user metrics. If your Largest Contentful Paint score is 3 seconds that means 75% of visitors wait less than 3 seconds and 25% wait longer than 3 seconds.
In contrast, the metrics reported by Lighthouse are more representative of the slowest 5-10% of user experiences.
Why Does The Lighthouse Performance Score Vary Between Runs?
Each Lighthouse result only provides data on a single load of your website.
No two page loads will be identical and have exactly the same load time.
There can be many reasons for this, for example:
Random variation: your website is loading 10s or 100s of resources and the servers involved will sometimes be quick to respond and sometimes respond more slowly.
Different content: if your page contains ads or frequently-changing content and page speed varies with the content that’s being loaded.
Variation in background activity: if other websites are open in the background or the computer is performing other tasks this will affect your Lighthouse result.
In addition to that, Lighthouse scores that were collected in different environments – for example on PageSpeed Insights and on your own computer – will not be directly comparable. That’s because your computer may have a faster CPU than the Google server, or you might be located closer to the data center serving the website.
Set Up Continuous Monitoring For Lighthouse Scores & Core Web Vitals
Want to improve your Lighthouse scores and overall page speed? DebugBear allows you to go beyond one-off tests and test your website continuously.
With DebugBear you can:
See how your Lighthouse scores change over time.
Access detailed a detailed analysis that goes beyond the Lighthouse report.
Get alerted to and understand score regressions.
Show off the improvements that your team has implemented.
Monitor Google CrUX metrics and collect custom real user data.
Getty Images, the visual content giant, recently partnered with NVIDIA, a leader in computing technology, to introduce a groundbreaking service: Generative AI by Getty Images.
This AI-driven image generation service is powered by NVIDIA Picasso, a custom AI model tailored to transform the content creation landscape in commercial safety and scalability.
Generative AI By Getty Images Offers Commercial Safety
Built on NVIDIA’s reliable computing infrastructure, the AI Generator aims to enhance creativity and content creation by synthesizing high-quality images.
The service offers an end-to-end solution that combines seamlessly with Getty Images’ extensive library of licensed content. The partnership signals a move toward automating visual design without sacrificing quality or safety.
Introducing Generative AI by Getty Images – a new tool that pairs our best-in-class creative content with the latest AI technology for a commercially safe generative AI tool! Trained on Getty Images’ world-class creative content, the tool works seamlessly with our expansive… pic.twitter.com/qSG9CG2CFh
Perhaps most intriguing is the technology’s commitment to commercial safety.
Because the NVIDIA Picasso model was trained on Getty Images’ curated library, Getty Images promises “uncapped indemnification” (financial protection) from intellectual property claims.
Such a feature must not be underestimated in a rapidly changing legal and regulatory environment.
The system’s API allows for text prompt-to-image generation.
Customers can describe their desired visuals, and the AI tool produces corresponding images in real-time.
This could prove transformative for industries such as advertising, design, and digital marketing, who can now fine-tune their visual assets easily.
Despite the technological prowess, questions about responsible AI use persist.
Getty Images ensures precautions have been taken to block prompts that could generate problematic content.
Additionally, the partnership includes a model that compensates original content creators, aligning with ongoing discussions about AI ethics and creator remuneration.
The announcement from Getty Images follows a succession of recent updates from companies working to expand generative AI image creation and editing.
Shutterstock Partners With OpenAI For Generative AI
Shutterstock launched its AI image generator in January 2023.
The company partnered with OpenAI to develop its generative AI features for customers and to compensate artists when their artwork is used as part of AI training data.
While the implications of AI in the creative field continue to be hotly debated, Shutterstock presented a well-thought-out framework that addresses ethical concerns.
It also indemnifies customers using the AI image generation tool for commercial projects.
In addition to its generative AI plans for customers, it also announced a Contributor Fund. The fund aims to equitably compensate Shutterstock contributors whose work was used in developing AI technology.
Shutterstock has also partnered with NVIDIA to create generative AI tools for 3D workflows.
Adobe Adds Firefly To Creative Cloud Membership
Adobe recently added Firefly to its lineup for Creative Cloud subscribers. Firefly’s generative AI capabilities are expansive, covering many creative tasks.
For instance, with Generative Fill and Generative Expand in Photoshop, users can utilize simple text prompts to alter content within any image. The tool even allows the canvas to be effortlessly expanded, filling the added space with matching content.
In Adobe Illustrator, the Generative Recolor feature offers the possibility of infinite color combinations through simple text prompts, speeding up the often laborious task of color matching and palette creation.
Adobe Express also gets a dose of Firefly magic. The app now includes generative AI Text to Image and Text Effects features, making creating captivating social media posts more accessible than ever.
Adobe ensures this technology’s ethical and responsible use through its commitment to the Content Authenticity Initiative (CAI) and the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity (C2PA).
Like Shutterstock, Adobe plans to compensate Adobe Stock contributors whose work was used in AI training.
Canva Adds Google And OpenAI Image Apps
A week after Adobe’s announcement, Canva revealed that its users now have access to three apps for AI-powered image generation: Text to Image by Canva, Imagen by Google Cloud, and DALL·E by OpenAI.
Initially launched in 2022, Canva’s Text to Image has been a groundbreaking feature. This app allows users to input text descriptions and produce images almost instantaneously.
The rapid adoption of this feature, demonstrated by the creation of nearly 290 million images, attests to its utility across various sectors, from social media management to business communications.
In addition, partnerships with Google Cloud and OpenAI offer additional avenues of generative AI creativity for Canva users.
Unlike Text to Image, which is integrated into the Canva experience, DALL·E and Imagen are accessible through Canva’s app marketplace, bringing top-tier AI technologies into one centralized platform for creative professionals.
Screenshot from Canva, September 2023
Though Canva’s apps operate independently, they are designed to be harmoniously integrated into the platform’s overall user experience. Users can jump from text to image without the hassle of navigating multiple tools or platforms.
While the ethical and safety aspects of AI in design are under constant scrutiny, Canva notes that it has invested heavily in responsible technology.
However, Canva does not explicitly say that images generated with AI tools are safe for use in commercial projects.
DALL·E 3 Is Coming To ChatGPT, Bing, And Microsoft Designer
OpenAI’s latest text-to-image model, DALL·E 3, will become available in ChatGPT Plus, Bing Image Creator, and Microsoft Designer this fall.
Regarding commercial use, OpenAI’s support page notes the following:
“Subject to the Content Policy and Terms, you own the images you create with DALL·E, including the right to reprint, sell, and merchandise – regardless of whether an image was generated through a free or paid credit.”
With regards to Microsoft’s tools powered by DALL·E, Bing Image Creator terms specify that images are for non-commercial use only.
General Microsoft terms also state that “Unless otherwise specified, the Services are for your personal and non-commercial use.”
Making Generative AI Tools Safer For Commercial Use
As major tech platforms and services integrate generative AI features, it democratizes the design process for marketers and SEO professionals to produce high-quality, compelling content more quickly and intuitively.
It’s important, however, for users to consider acceptable usage terms and available legal protections when using AI-generated images for commercial projects.
After being temporarily pulled from ChatGPT on July 3, 2023, the Browse with Bing feature has reappeared in the latest update of the ChatGPT iPhone app.
While it had difficulty with my first request, it could browse the web and accurately answer a question about local events for the current date.
It is also noticeable in ChatGPT’s response using Browse with Bing: a link to the source it used. Users can also review the links browsed by Bing through the browsing steps.
Screenshot from ChatGPT, September 2023
Why OpenAI Disabled The Feature In July
OpenAI removed the feature “out of an abundance of caution” to address copyright concerns and content ownership issues.
Initially launched as a beta option exclusively for ChatGPT Plus subscribers, this function lets the AI chatbot scour the web for up-to-date information to answer questions that may require current data.
OpenAI cited that Browse with Bing was removed to correct unintended behaviors.
Specifically, if a user requested the full text of a URL, the AI could, in some cases, provide the entire content, raising red flags for copyright infringement.
OpenAI emphasized its commitment to “do right by content owners” by working diligently to resolve the issues and bring back the beta feature as quickly as possible.
The removal of the “Browse with Bing” feature had raised eyebrows, considering it was designed to enhance the capabilities of ChatGPT by incorporating real-time web searches.
For OpenAI, the goal is to present information in a way that is accurate and respectful of intellectual property rights.
While some users may have considered the removal an overreaction, industry experts argue that OpenAI’s caution underscores the complexities around AI and copyright laws.
The tech company’s decision to act swiftly and pull the feature rather than wait for a legal impasse indicates the industry’s evolving standards.
Questions Remain About Browse With Bing
The return of “Browse with Bing” to ChatGPT for iPhone is a step forward, but many questions remain unanswered.
When will the feature reappear on the browser version of ChatGPT? And will the revised part be foolproof against similar issues in the future?
And as AI continues to weave into our digital lives, how will companies like OpenAI adapt to ensure they’re on the right side of the law?
For now, ChatGPT Plus subscribers with the ChatGPT iPhone app can once again use the feature, but the episode serves as a cautionary tale for both users and developers alike.
This incident highlights the constant tug-of-war between technological advancement and legal constraints, particularly in AI and intellectual property.
OpenAI recently shared details about DALL·E 3, the latest version of the text-to-image AI system, set to arrive this fall on ChatGPT Plus, ChatGPT Enterprise, Bing’s AI Image Creator, and Microsoft Designer.
This update promises improved image accuracy, greater nuance, and attention to user input text.
What’s New With DALL·E 3
Previous iterations of DALL·E required users to fine-tune their prompts through a process known as prompt engineering.
DALL·E 3 aims to eliminate that hassle by generating images that adhere more closely to the user’s initial text instructions.
For instance, where DALL·E 2 might render a vaguely nebulous basketball player, DALL·E 3 will create a more expressive, precise representation based on the text provided.
Huge news: @OpenAI DALL-E 3 will soon available in ChatGPT Plus and ChatGPT Enterprise 🤯
This latest DALL-E model is absolutely incredible, I have been blown away by what it is able to generate. pic.twitter.com/eTWzxiOHgB
The new system builds upon ChatGPT, allowing seamless interaction between the text and image platforms.
Users can engage ChatGPT as a “brainstorming partner” to refine their image ideas. If a user likes a generated image but wants minor changes, a conversation with ChatGPT can produce those alterations with a sentence or two.
DALL·E 3 Safety Mechanisms
An added focus on safety mechanisms also distinguishes DALL·E 3. These include mitigations to prevent the generation of violent, adult, or hateful content.
Additionally, DALL·E 3 will decline to generate images that include living public figures or imitate the style of living artists.
These precautions were developed in collaboration with domain experts known as “red teamers,” who rigorously test the system for safety vulnerabilities.
Developers are also exploring ways to help users identify AI-generated images. They’re researching a “provenance classifier,” an internal tool that can recognize whether an idea originated from DALL·E 3.
This tool is in the experimental phase, but its development indicates a proactive approach to addressing misinformation and image manipulation issues.
When Will DALL·E 3 Be Available?
DALL·E 3 is slated to become available to ChatGPT Plus and Enterprise customers this October.
OpenAI plans to offer liberal licensing, allowing ChatGPT users to freely use, sell, or merchandise the images they create without requiring permission from the platform.
How Artists & Content Creators Can Opt Out Of DALL·E 3 Training
As with all AI models, DALL·E 3 learns its capabilities from a wide array of public data, including text and images. This learning process mirrors the way humans acquire knowledge.
For instance, after examining various pictures of cats, the AI can generate an entirely new, unique image of a cat—much like how a person might sketch a cat after seeing enough examples.
It’s essential to note that once these models have assimilated their training data, they no longer have direct access to it. When a user interacts with the model, it draws upon its internalized concepts rather than pulling from an external database.
OpenAI, in an attempt to address the ethical considerations around content ownership, has offered artists two ways to opt out of AI training.
Website owners can block the GPTBot, a web crawler designed to gather training data, from accessing their site. Adding GPTBot to the site’s robots.txt protocols can be a more efficient route for those with high volumes of images.
Alternatively, OpenAI provided a form for individuals to request the removal of their content from future training data sets.
It’s worth noting that OpenAI also acquires licenses to datasets, so if you’ve permitted third-party licensing on other platforms, filling out the form might not ensure complete removal.
The Future Of Content Creation With Generative AI
This update to AI-image generation from OpenAI represents another significant advancement for marketers and content creators.
While it will make graphic design accessible to more people, advances in this area open the door to more complex legal and ethical issues.
Microsoft announced the rollout of its AI assistant, Copilot, across Windows 11, Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365 this fall.
Yusuf Mehdi, Corporate Vice President and Consumer Chief Marketing Officer at Microsoft, described Copilot as an “everyday AI companion.”
The objective behind Copilot is ambitious yet straightforward: to embed an AI-powered “copilot” in Microsoft’s most popular products to ensure that the most people possible have access.
Microsoft Copilot Comes To Windows 11, Bing, Edge, And Microsoft 365
Copilot aims to provide context-sensitive assistance synthesizing data from your web activity, work data, and immediate actions on your PC. Privacy and security have been cited as top priorities.
So, what sets Copilot apart? It’s the integration.
Rather than being isolated within specific applications, Copilot promises a seamless experience across multiple Microsoft products.
The service is slated to roll out as part of a free update to Windows 11 starting September 26, with further implementations in Bing, Edge, and Microsoft 365 coming this fall.
Copilot For Windows
In its preview version on Windows, Copilot streamlines your workflow, simplifies complex jobs, and reduces mental fatigue.
Access to Copilot’s capabilities has been made effortless, with it available on your taskbar or just a Win+C away.
It offers support across all applications and adapts to various screen sizes, whether in a professional setting, educational environment, or home.
Copilot In Microsoft Shopping For Bing And Edge
In Bing or Edge, Copilot enhances your online shopping experience.
When you inquire about a product, Bing gathers further details by asking supplementary questions, utilizing that data to give you more customized suggestions.
You can also be confident you’re securing the best deal; over the past year, Microsoft Edge has presented shoppers with over $4 billion in potential savings.
The platform will allow you to initiate your shopping journey with a photo or stored image shortly.
Microsoft 365 Chat For Enterprises
Microsoft 365 Copilot is set to become available for enterprise customers on November 1, 2023. Among its features is a new AI assistant, Microsoft 365 Chat, intended to revolutionize workplace productivity.
This isn’t just about smarter email drafting or advanced calendar scheduling.
Microsoft appears to envision a future where AI is crucial in tackling the complexity of modern work environments.
The company cited statistics showing that some users interact with up to 11 different apps in a single workday.
Microsoft 365 Chat aims to tame this complexity, acting as a digital Swiss Army knife for the modern worker.
Microsoft Continues Integrating AI Across Its Services
The ability of Copilot to integrate across multiple platforms and applications could be a game-changer in workflow automation and productivity for marketing managers, SEO professionals, and agency owners.
Microsoft also announced that Copilot would be in open beta next year for Microsoft Advertising customers and new ad formats for its Bing AI chat interface. In addition, Bing will support OpenAI’s DALL.E 3 in its AI chat.
Microsoft has announced an expansion of its Bing Webmaster Tools Performance Report, providing website owners and SEO professionals with more detailed insights into how their sites perform on Bing’s search engine and chatbot.
Data From Bing Search & Chat
The improved Bing Webmaster Tools Performance Report now offers insights beyond the previously available data related to web and crawl indexing performance.
The key change is the consolidation of metrics from both web search and chat onto a single dashboard. This gives a big-picture view of a website’s clicks, impressions, and engagement across Bing.
The report breaks out key numbers like:
Click-through rates for web pages and chat answers
Pages indexed and URLs crawled
Performance in verticals like images, videos, and news
Fabrice Canel of the Bing Webmaster Tools team states in an announcement:
“This update empowers webmasters to access crucial metrics, including clicks, impressions, and click-through rates for web and chat combined.”
The report provides a wealth of analytics for website owners to fine-tune sites for better discoverability and user experience.
Click-Through Metrics
Previously, the Bing Webmaster Tools performance report focused mainly on indexing statistics like the number of pages crawled.
Now, it incorporates click-through metrics across Bing services.
Canel explains:
“By accessing granular data across most information displayed, SEO professionals can gain deeper insights into their website’s performance across Bing, enabling them to compare, refine their strategies and, optimize their content and online presence to maximize clicks, impressions, and overall performance.”
The new report aims to help website owners understand how people interact with their content across Bing. With more data points, they can better optimize for search and measure the impact of SEO changes.
Update To Search Performance API
The updated Performance Report is accompanied by changes to the Search Performance API.
The API now reports on all traffic, not just web traffic. It allows performance data to be pulled into other applications, automating analysis workflows instead of manual exports.
The Bing team indicated a future update would allow data access per area, similar to the website.
This opens up many possibilities for segmentation and custom reporting. And it allows correlating Bing search data with other data sources.
In Summary
Microsoft’s update to Bing’s Webmaster Tools Performance Report and Search Performance API provides more granular data, consolidating metrics from web search and chat.
This upgrade allows website owners and SEO professionals to better understand their site’s performance on Bing and make informed decisions for content optimization.
Microsoft is rolling out an update to Bing Webmaster Tools’ sitemap reporting capabilities.
This update is designed to provide you with a deeper understanding of how Bing indexes your sites.
From the Bing Webmaster Tools team, Saral Nigam explains how to leverage this report to address website indexing issues and ensure comprehensive and relevant sitemaps.
New Features in Bing Webmaster Tools Sitemap
The new features in Bing’s Sitemap Index Coverage Report offer various benefits.
One of these is a page displaying all submitted and organically discovered sitemaps for a site, complete with submission dates, status reports, last crawl dates, and a count of URLs found.
Additionally, the page provides a link to Index Coverage when data is available and an option to resubmit sitemaps.
Nigam states in the announcement:
“We try to download valid and relevant sitemaps at least once a day, unless your lastmod indicates that your sitemaps have not changed.”
Per each sitemap index file, Bing lists all included sitemaps and any problems detected.
A new feature offers a detailed breakdown of the indexing status for URLs, focusing on those indexed and those that need attention.
Utilizing New Sitemap Features For Improved Index Coverage
The enhanced sitemap feature in Bing Webmaster Tools can aid in improving a site’s index coverage.
Step One
The process begins with ensuring Bing knows all pertinent sitemaps associated with a website.
If any relevant sitemaps are missing, they should be submitted to Bing, referenced in the robots.txt file, or included in a sitemap index file cited in the robots.txt file.
Step Two
The next step involves identifying and rectifying issues with sitemaps. For instance, if Bing cannot crawl a sitemap, ensure that no settings in the robots.txt file block Bing Bot’s crawl.
It’s also essential to organize individual sitemaps, keeping the number of URLs per sitemap below 50,000 and each sitemap file size under 50 MB for optimal discovery.
Step Three
Lastly, the new indexing report can help identify why specific URLs listed in sitemaps are not indexed, focusing on URLs that require attention.
Benefiting from the Sitemap Index Coverage Report
The Sitemap Index Coverage report details the number of pages from your sitemaps that Bing has indexed, those it has excluded from indexing, and the reasons for their exclusion.
You can see sample URLs, the last crawl date, index status, and exclusion reason by clicking on each category.
The report summarizes the sitemap’s index coverage, including the total number of pages indexed and not indexed and a breakdown of the exclusion reasons.
Nigam suggests utilizing the following strategy:
“Consider removing unnecessary or outdated URLs from your sitemaps. Optimal sitemaps should list only all relevant valid URLs from your websites and should be refreshed at least once a day.”
Lastly, the data can be exported as a CSV file for further analysis or action.
In Summary
Using the updated Sitemap Index Coverage Report in Bing Webmaster Tools ensures sitemaps are accurate, current, and relevant for Bing’s crawler.
This can help improve site visibility in Bing’s search results and enhance user experience for visitors.
