Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.
Google suffered a fire in a data center that caused Google Search outages, search quality issues, and weird indexing issues - and sadly injuries to three Google workers. Google Search rich results people also ask rose but FAQs dropped. Google clarified that GTIN values must be numeric in the structured data. Google keyword planner gains a new organize keywords into ad groups feature.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Search Is Very Broken Now: Outages, Indexing Issues, Pages Missing & More
Last night, Google suffered a pretty big outage with Google Search that is still lingering through this morning. It seemed to be larger than just an outage because there are tons of complaints about indexing issues, pages dropping out of the index, and super poor quality and dated search results being shown in Google this morning. - Google Clarifies GTIN Values Must Be In Numerical Form
Google has quietly updated its product structured data document to specify that the GTIN value must be presented is in numerical form. Google said it does not support the URL form for GTINs. - Google Rich Results: People Also Ask Rises While FAQs Drops
Google may be displaying more people also ask rich results and showing fewer FAQ rich results. Semrush and RankRanger are reporting that there are big swings in some rich results and how often they are showing. - Google Keyword Planner Newish Feature: Organize Keywords Into Ad Groups
Google has added a newish feature to the Keyword Planner tool to organize keywords into ad groups. The reason I say newish is because Search Engine Land explained it was in beta but now it is available to everyone. - Google Local Service Ads New Weekly Email Performance Summary
Google has revised the emails they are sending Local Service Ads advertisers with a new email that says "Weekly recap | See how your ads did this week." - Riding A Google Bumper Car
We have seen the Google branded bumper car a couple of times but here is a photo from a few years ago where someone named Sarah is actually sitting in the bumper car. I don't know if it works, I doubt
Other Great Search Threads:
- This looks new to me: Many 'best' carousels are now smaller cards w. option to expand each card When you expand a card there's a series of "best of" articles that feature the entity. Google keeps going for a more, Mordy Oberstein on Twitter
- This is working as intended and July data will be available in Keyword Planner later this month., AdsLiaison on Twitter
- URLs with parameters get indexed normally, there's nothing special about them. If anything, it might just be the site:-query that's ignoring them (I'd use Search Console instead, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Want to speak at SMX? Now’s the time to submit a pitch!
- T-minus 1 month to submit your Search Engine Land Award entry!
- How to craft a winning Search Engine Land Awards entry: Past judges share their advice
- Google updates Business Profile posts spam policies
- Google launches new image preview interface in web search
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Meet the team responsible for hacking Google, Google Blog
- 3 critical hurt after Google facility 'electrical incident', San Francisco Chronicle
Links & Content Marketing
- Copious Content: 5 Creative Ways B2B Marketers Can Benefit From Twitter's New Long-Form Publishing, Online Marketing Blog
- Stop Treating Design Teams as Vending Machines for Your Content's Graphics, Content Marketing Institute
- Why Creating Competitor Link Gaps Is Just as Important as Closing Them, Moz
Local & Maps
- 5 things you didn't know Google Maps could do, T3
- Apple Hopes Up-to-Date Maps Will Stop Users From Switching to Google Maps, AutoEvolution
- Doctor & family drive SUV straight into canal after following Google Maps, Cartoq
- Utterly Annoying Google Maps Bug Returns to Haunt Android Auto Users, AutoEvolution
Mobile & Voice
- Assistant features to help you soak up the rest of summer, Google Blog
- Google sues Sonos over smart speaker and voice control tech, The Verge
- How to start experimenting with Google Lens, The Verge
SEO
- Going International: 15 SEO Steps for a Successful Expansion, Moz
- SEO strategy case study: Instacart, Kevin Indig
- What Is Black Hat SEO and Why Should You Care?, I Love SEO
- Yoast SEO Premium 19.1: new front-end SEO inspector, Yoast
PPC
- How Apple's secretive ad tech strategy goes beyond search ads, Ad Age
- Google Ads Eligible vs. Approved: What do They Really Mean?, PPC Expo
Search Features
Other Search
- How Hash-Based Safe Browsing Works in Google Chrome, Google Online Security Blog
Feedback:
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