Instagram recently rolled out the ability for users to re-share posts from other accounts in their Instagram Stories.

This feature was spotted in testing earlier this year, and it is now available to everyone.

To re-share someone’s post in the form of a Story, tap on the paper plane icon that appears next to the like and comment icons.

From there, users will have the option to either share the post via DM with people they follow, and directly at the top there will be an option to add the post to their story.

When a post is shared in a story, the account that originally published the post is automatically tagged. Users can also add additional content similar to editing any other story. This could include text, GIFs, stickers, or drawings.

Re-sharing can only be done with posts from public Instagram accounts. So if you don’t see the option to share a particular post in your story, it’s likely that it was published by a private account.

To many users’s disappointment, there is still no built-in method for re-sharing posts in the actual Instagram feed. In order to accomplish that, users will have to continue using various third-party apps.

Re-sharing posts in Stories in the next best thing, I suppose, and now all users on Android and iOS will have the option to do so.

Instagram seem to be building on its Stories feature more so than anything else as of late, and this is just one more example of that.

Bing Ads Editor for Mac has recently added support for labels, nearly a year after adding the same feature to its Windows software.

The key benefit of using labels in Bing Ads Editor is that it allows users to better organize their ad campaigns and ultimately save time.

With the new shared labels library in Bing Ads Editor for Mac, users can create one shared label to add to multiple campaigns, ad groups, ads, and keywords.

When labels are added, users can then filter labels to see only items with that label applied to it.

So, for example, advertisers could create a label called “Summer Sale” to easily organize everything that has been created in an effort to advertise that particular sale.

Other New Features for Bing Ads Editor for Mac

As part of this update update, Mac owners who use Bing Ads Editor will also be able to bulk manage Structured Snippets. Structured Snippets enable advertisers to highlight specific aspects of products and services that are most important.

Another new feature is the ability to revert changes for all items included in a campaign or ad group ad one time. ‘Revert with all included items’ allows advertisers to revert changes to all items included in a campaign or ad group at once.

Coming soon for Mac users is the ability to create shared Structured Snippets Extensions. Bing Ads Editor has shared Structured Snippet Extensions, which allows advertisers to create one shared Structured Snippet, and then associate it with their account or multiple campaigns or ad groups.

Facebook has recently added support for home services to its Marketplace platform.

With this update, home service professionals can market their service offerings to other Facebook users in their local area.

Previously, Facebook Marketplace was limited to only selling physical goods. So those without tangible products to sell were not able to utilize the platform.

According to the company’s announcement, millions of people turn to Facebook for advice on home services by asking friends for recommendations.

“More people ask for recommendations related to home services on Facebook in the US than any other topic. Since the beginning of the year, millions of people have asked their friends for suggestions related to home services, such as house cleaners, plumbers and contractors.”

Now, those looking for home service providers such as cleaners, plumbers, and other contractors, can find qualified professionals directly via Facebook Marketplace.

Facebook will be working with Handy, HomeAdvisor, and Porch to provide the following solutions to Facebook users:

• An all-in-one destination to complete a home project — from proposal to completion.
• Hundreds of thousands of top-rated professionals across the US.
• Simplified decision-making by showing professionals’ ratings, reviews, credentials and location.
• Making it easy to get quotes: simply describe the project you need help with and send your request to multiple professionals at once.
• Real-time communications with service professionals via Messenger.

Support for home services in Facebook Marketplace has already started to roll out, and will be available across the US over time coming weeks. Marketplace is accessible via the Facebook mobile app.

A comparison of mobile speed metrics of the Internet from 2017 to 2018 reveals that websites are less mobile friendly today than they were a year ago. This is bad for the Internet. But it can be good news for you.

HTTPArchive is a sister project of Archive.org. Archive.org takes snapshots of almost the entire Internet and keeps a permanent record of it. HTTPArchive records the performance statistics of those websites.

Responsive is Not Always Mobile Friendly

Google has been warning web publishers of their mobile friendly index and publishers have raced to make their sites mobile friendly. While anecdotally it may seem that most sites are responsive and render in mobile devices, the surprising fact is that most sites are less mobile friendly.

First Contentful Paint

First Contentful Paint is the metric that measures how many seconds pass from the time a user navigates to a page until the main content is available to be consumed by the site visitor.

According to HTTPArchive.org, the median average number of seconds it takes before a user can use a mobile site is 5.9 seconds. That represents an increase of 22.9%.

Time to Consistently Interactive

This metric measures how long it takes from the moment a site visitor navigates to a web page until the page is fully useable and interactive. The amount of time the average site visitor needs to wait is 14.6 seconds. This represents a 20.7% increase over 2017.

This metric reveals the surprising amount of time mobile sites visitors need to wait for a single web page. While the next web pages may take less time to download, there will be less visitors to visit those other pages. Many visitors abandon a web page if it fails to download fast enough. View metric here.

Why are Mobile Friendly Sites Less Mobile Friendly?

To answer this question you have to review the data in detail. Here’s a quick breakdown:

JavaScript Weight 
The average weight of JavaScript files increased by 50.1%

CSS Weight 
The average weight of a CSS file has increased by 36.8%

HTML Weight 
The average weight of the HTML needed to create a web page increased by 117.5%

Font Weight 
The average weight of the font downloads has increased by 18.3%

Image Weight 
The average weight of images, measured in bytes, increased by 13.9%

Across every important metric, web pages are less mobile friendly in 2018 than in 2017. And this could be good news for you.

Why these Metrics Matter

According to Google:

…it was found that sites loading within 5 seconds had 70% longer sessions, 35% lower bounce rates, and 25% higher ad viewability than sites taking nearly four times longer at 19 seconds.

Additionally, the speed of a site affects earnings and sales. Here’s what Google’s data has shown:

“Slow sites have a negative impact on revenue, and the opposite is also true.

For Mobify, Every 100ms decrease in homepage load speed worked out to a 1.11% increase in session-based conversion, yielding an average annual revenue increase of nearly $380,000. Additionally, a 100ms decrease in checkout page load speed amounted to a 1.55% increase in session-based conversion, which in turn yielded an average annual revenue increase of nearly $530,000.”

Takeaway: Poor Performing Competition Can be Your Strength

One of my rules for competition analysis is to identify competitor weaknesses and consider making those your strength. Whether you are a big brand or a nimble mom and pop, improving your page speed is a useful way to improve sales and possibly improve your rankings.

Resources to Help Improve Earnings and Speed Metrics

Read the full State of the Web Report here.

How to verify if your site is ready for Google’s mobile first index 

Google’s updated support page that explains the basics of mobile friendliness

A free online course about mobile friendliness that is linked from Google’s support page.

Images by Shutterstock, Modified by Author
Image Graphs by HttpArchive.org, Modified by Author