March 2017 Google Webmaster Report

This past month, we had a fairly significant Google algorithm ranking update on February 7th which Google did not confirm so we suspect it was a Phantom update. Then shortly after, Google penalized Natural News and they were back in the index a few days later after a ton of controversy. Google Image search in Germany, France and some other countries changed resulting in the appearance of traffic loss.

Emojis returned to the search results and we had a ton of SEO tips and feedback this month. We also lost Maile Ohye as she has left Google after 12 years.

Here is last month's Google recap if you missed it.

Google Algorithm Update:

• Google Search Algorithm Update February 7th
• February 7th Google Algorithm Update Was Big
• Google: No Comment On The Google Search Ranking Update
• February 7th May Have Been A Google Phantom Update

Google Penalty:

• No, Google Didn't Remove NaturalNews.com Because Of Fake News
• Natural News Is Back In Google After Penalty Is Revoked

Google Image Search:

• Confirmed: Google Image Search Update Impacts Traffic Data
• Google Image Search Traffic Drops Outside The US

Google SEO:

• Google Video: How To Hire An SEO
• Google Reminder: Linking To High Authority Web Sites Do Not Help With SEO
• Google: Don't Guest Blog For Links, Use Your Own Site
• Google Bug Shows Desktop URLs In Mobile Results
• Google Warns About Using Contests For Links
• Google: Panda Takes Into Account Site Quality Including Site Architecture
• Black Hat Forums Argue About Value Of PBNs
• Google Official Tips On Closing A Site For Days (For Maybe Shabbat)
• Google: Stop Using URL Fragments
• Google: We're Still Using PageRank After 18 Years
• Google: More Pages About Topic X Versus Y Won't Hurt Your Google Rankings For Y
• Google: Web Directories Don't Generally Help With Rankings
• Google Fast Track Indexing Vs. Normal Indexing
• Screen Shot: Reduce Load Time & Increase Google Crawl Budget
• Google: Read Your Content Out Loud, If It Sounds Strange, It Might Not Rank Well
• Google: Capitalizing Words In URL Doesn't Help Convey Emotions
• Google Labels Sites As Not Mobile Friendly That Are Mobile Friendly
• Google Schema Support Coming For Jobs, Carousels & More
• Google: HTTPS URLs Likely Canonical In Their Duplicate Content Clustering Algorithm
• Google: Manipulating Browser Back Button Doesn't Impact Search Rankings
• Google: We Review Spam Reports Within Hours Or Days
• Google: We Typically Help In Forums Only When We Have To
• Google's Gary Illyes Did You Know SEO Tweets

Google Search Console:

• Emojis In Google Search Console Search Analytics Report
• Google: Removing HTTP URL Via Search Console Removes Other Versions Too
• Google Search Console Updates Crawl Status/Errors Report For Apps
• Google Data Studio Integrates With Google Search Console

Google User Interface:

• Emojis Return To The Google Search Results Snippets
• Google Tests New Format For Related Searches
• Google Launches Dynamic Loading People Also Ask
• Google Tests Method To Report Autocomplete Suggestions
• Google Lists Top Websites In Carousel User Interface
• Google AMP Makes It Easier To Discover & Share The Canonical URL

Google Local:

• Google Local Pack Shows: "Near You X Minutes Ago"
• Google Test Card Style Local Finder In Maps Results
• Google Launches Hotel Rich Cards
• Google My Business Guidelines Updated For Service-Area & Virtual Offices
• One Review Gets You Stars In The Google Local Pack

Google Industry:

• US Court Sides With Google Over Penalizing Web Sites For Spam & Guidelines Violations
• Maile Ohye Leaves Google After ~12 Years

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.