This may be one of the largest set of links in my Google monthly recaps ever. Truth is, there weren't any major algorithm shifts, but lots of medium to small things that need to be mentioned.
We did see a potential Google update but it was not Penguin - at least not yet. We may have learned something new about Panda as well. I should add that the ongoing WebmasterWorld thread has some vibrations of chatter from the update I mentioned above.
The big news was AMP went live in Google but it is not yet a ranking signal.
Google did penalize a Japanese link network, told us they act on 65% of user generated spam reports and Google was caught buying a link for Chrome ;-).
On the ad side, Google dropped the right ads is testing carousels like crazy and referrer spam seems to have died down.
Finally, The Google Dance rocked even if Google doesn't have an SEO partner program. And it is sad to see Amit Signhal retire from Google this past month.
Here is the recap and you can see last month's over here.
Google Updates & Algorithms:
- Google Search Update Sign? Seeing Some Early Signs
- Google Panda Continuous Update But Gets Prepared Between Roll Outs?
- Google: No Announcement Dates On Penguin 4.0 Launch
- Google Changes Penguin Messaging To "As Soon As It Is Ready"
- Google Penguin 4.0 Still On Target For Q1? I Don't Know Says Google
- Google's Gary Illyes: I'm Done Estimating Penguin 4.0 Launch Dates
- Google AMP Goes Live Now
- Google: AMP Not A Ranking Signal Yet
- Google Reserves News Carousel For AMP Pages Only
- Google Is Strongly Embracing AMP Everywhere There Is Content
- Google Sends Notices To Fix Errors On Your AMP Pages
- Top Stories With AMP Section Added To Structured Data Google Developer Docs
- Google Adds AMP Webmaster Help Forum
- Google Japan Issues Link Network Penalties
- Google: 65% Of User Generated Spam Reports Are Acted On
- Google Gives Update On Crawling JavaScript Sites & Progressive Web Apps
- Google: We Did Not Remove The Link Command/Operator
- Yes, Google Has A Hacked Spam Site Takeover Issue In US Results Also
- Review Stars Returning To Google Search Results
- Google Chrome Caught Buying Paid Links For $350,000?
- Google's Chrome Link Was Nofollowed & Discounted
- Google Now Blocks Sites With Deceptive Download Buttons
- Google Indexes PDF Documents But Refreshes Them Slowly
- Google: Features Snippets Not Counted Separately In Search Console Reports
- Google Explains Why The Search Console Reporting Is Not Real Time
- Social Engineering Content Detected Google Search Console Notifications
- Google Data Change: Internal Index Updates For Mobile Apps Only
- Google Major Spam Problems Notification Replaces Pure Spam Notification
- Google Incorrect Hreflang Implementation Notifications Sent Out Yesterday
- Google Spam Squad On Polish Hacker's Trail Over Vapor URLs
- I Want A Google No Date/Timestamp Penalty
- Knowledge Graph Clicks Not Counted In Google Search Console
- Google Officially Adds JSON-LD Support For Reviews & Products Structured Data Markup
- Google Spammy Structured Markup Manual Actions Spike Due To WordPress Recipe Plugins
- Google Adds One Click Verify For My Business Listings Through Search Console
- Tell Google Why You Want More Data In Search Console Analytics #moredataSAN
- Google Confirms Four Ads At The Top & Removing Right Side Ads
- Test: Google Local Business Cards With Animated GIFs In Search Results
- Google Elections On The Issues Quick Answers For Trump, Clinton, Sanders & More
- Google Organic Results Showing Phone Number & Phone Icon
- Google Send To Phone Feature Now On Local Knowledge Graph Panel
- Paul Haahr: Position 10 In Google Gets More Clicks Than Positions 8 Or 9
- Google Working On Conversational Shopping
- Google: Crawl Rate Increases Are Not Related To Algorithm Updates
- Google: We Don't Want To Clutter The Search Results With Too Many Rich Snippets
- Google Knowledge Graph Edits By Owner Happen Quickly
- Google Analytics Referrer Spam Issue Decreasing?
- Google Now Offering Google Certified Partners For SEO?
- Google: No, We Don't Have An SEO Partner Program
- The Google Dance Was About Webmaster Relations
- Amit Singhal, The Head Of Google Search To Retire But Why?
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
