It was yet another busy month in terms of Google algorithm updates, all of which are unconfirmed. But we had six, maybe seven, unconfirmed updates in March. This is all while we wait for the next Google core update. The good news, featured snippets returned to normal levels in the Google search results.
There was a lot of debate around a new zero click study that Google disputed and then Rand Fishkin added more clarity to later.
I covered a lot of information around the Page Experience Update and core web vitals, including how it might roll out, the updated FAQs, how top stories won't need the core web vitals to be cleared for eligibility and much more. I also covered how Google has one last batch of sites to move over to mobile-first indexing in the upcoming month or two.
Google came out with free hotel listings this month. Google released new rich results for practice problems and math solvers, and released a bunch of Search Console features or updates. Plus there was a lot of topics on the local front including two-pack testing and suspension notices and more.
There are a lot of these details categorized below, plus if you missed the March report catch it here. Finally, the ongoing WebmasterWorld thread has discussions around a possible reversal of the latest update - I may cover that later - maybe. It might just be Easter weekend slowness, so hard to tell.
Google Algorithm & Ranking Updates:
- Google March 2021 Search Ranking Algorithm Update
- Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update/Instability Over Weekend
- Large Unconfirmed Google Local Search Algorithm Update Yesterday
- Yet Another Unconfirmed Google Search Ranking Update Last Night
- March 19th Google Search Ranking & Algorithm Tremors
- Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update This Weekend?
- Featured Snippets Back To Normal Levels In Google Search
- Google Page Experience Update Rollout: Slowly Or Abruptly
- Google Updated The Core Web Vitals & Page Experience FAQs
- Google: Core Web Vitals Does Not Need To Be Met For Top Stories Inclusion
- Google: Bad Idea To Make Your Images Low Quality To Improve Core Web Vital Scores
- Can Browser Extensions Impact Your Google Core Web Vitals Scores?
- Google: Pages With Core Web Vitals May Have Tiny Ranking Advantage
- Many SEOs Will Prioritize Core Web Vitals Google Page Experience Efforts
- Google To Move Last Batch Of Sites To Mobile-First Indexing Soon
- Google's New Free Hotel Listings Option
- Google PageSpeed Insights Now Supports HTTP/2 - Scores Might Go Up
- Google Search More Critical Of E-Commerce Sites That Sell Medical Equipment
- Video: E-Commerce & Products In Google Search
- Google Video SEO Tips In New Video & Updated Help Docs
- Google Limits Key Moments Feature To Small Set Of Video Providers
- Google To Update Robots.txt & Robots Tags Help Docs - Asks For Feedback
- Google Added To The Help Documentation For Meta Robots Directive
- Google On When To Canonical Category Landing Pages To Others: It Depends.
- Google: Words In A URL A Very Light Weight Factor But Less After Indexing
- Google Officially Adds Full Coverage News Links From Search Results
- Google News Algorithmic Inclusion Is A Failure For Publishers
- New Google Structured Data & Debugging Tools For Practice Problems & Math Solver Search Results
- Google Adds Free Property To Dataset Structured Data Docs
- Google Search Console Job Posting Rich Results Report Change
- Google Search Console Q&A and FAQ Reports Upgraded
- Google Crawl Stats Report Internal Data Issues March 10-23, 2021
- Google Search Console Security Notice For SharedArrayBuffers
- Study Says 65% Of Google Searches Do Not Click On Results But Should They?
- Google Disputes Zero Click Study, Shares More Data, But It's Not Enough
- Rand Updates Metrics On Zero Click Study; Google, It's Now Your Turn
- Google Search Dropping Three Pack For Two Pack (Local Results)
- Google Local Tests Estimated Prices Near You (Local Service Ads)
- Google My Business Suspension Email Notifications
- Google My Business Review Removal Request Status Tool
- Google New Label For Local Business Reviews Now Live
- Not Helpful Button On Google Local Reviews
- Google Maps To Improve Curbside Pickup & Delivery Features
- Creepy: Google Maps Street View Images For Service Area Home Businesses
- Google Local Adds Custom Order URLs To Online Order CTA
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
