We had a nice number of unconfirmed Google search ranking updates this past month including one on March 1st, February 27th, February 22nd, February 18th, February 13th and on February 7th - yea, a busy month for fluctuations in the Google search results.
Google Search Console was busy with update too. They announced they are consolidating data for their performance reports going forward. They also announced the launch of domain properties which is replacing property sets since it is going away later this month. Google also added product reports and a new email alert report for traffic changes.
Did you now that Google adjust ranking weights for query type? They can detect YMYL types of queries and adjust. But no, Google said again they don't use CTR for ranking signals. Oh, and let's not forget about the renewed featured snippets debate on stolen content with the new found on the web Google feature.
The ongoing WebmasterWorld chatter is still mostly about ranking changes.
It was a busy month, here are the more important Google webmaster related stories from this past month and if you missed the February report get it there.
Google Algorithm Updates:
- March 1st Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update - Unconfirmed
- A Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On February 27th?
- Google Search Algorithm Update Signals On Friday February 22nd
- Google Search Algorithm Updates Continue Through Weekend
- Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update & Fluctuations Continue
- Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Happening Today?
- Google Search Console Performance Report Now Shows Consolidation Data
- Google Launches Domain Property In Search Console; Replacing Property Sets
- End Of March: Property Sets No Longer Supported In Google Search Console
- Google Search Console New Products Report & Merchant/Manufacturer Center Upgrades
- Google Search Console Notifications For Drop In Weekly Clicks
- Google Search Console Notification: Mobile App Properties No Longer Supported
- Google Algorithms Detect & Adjust Rankings For YMYL Queries
- Google Adjusts Algorithms For Categories Of Queries But Not For Industries
- Google: CTR, Dwell Time & Other UX Signals Are Made Up Myths
- Google Hints The Page Google Shows For The Duplicate Content Cluster Gains Signals
- Martin Splitt From Google To Host Video Series On JavaScript & SEO
- New Basic Google Video On How Google Search Indexes JavaScript Sites
- SEO Tidbits From Google Fights Disinformation White Paper
- Google Search Ranking Factors Include "Pornyness"
- Google: There Is No Internal Linking Over Optimization Penalty
- Google Updates Content Guidelines For QA Pages
- Study: Google Featured Snippets Are More Consistent Than I Thought
- Google: Multilingual Sites Using Same Image URLs Should Localize Alt Attributes
- Don't Rank For Your Own Brand Name In Google?
- Google: Redirecting Spammy Links From Similar Domain Won't Trick Us
- Google Ignores Keyword Spam In CSS
- John Mueller's Greatest SEO Success Story Was...
- Google: Don't Stuff Content At The Bottom Of Your E-Commerce Category Pages
- Nope. Google Does Not Use CTR For Core Search Rankings
- Google May Treat Figcaption As Caption For Images
- Google: Media Search Overlooked By Publishers
- Google Denies Negative People Or Organizational Associations Can Downgrade Rankings
- Google My Business Guidelines Prohibits Irrelevant Content In Business Description
- Google Local "Get in Line" Button
- Business Owners Can Now Reply To Reviews On Google Maps Desktop
- Google My Business Launches New Spam Report Form
- Google Updates Hotel Reviews Experience
- Google Turns On Assistant Calls For Local Businesses After Opting Out
- Google Posts Content Now In Some Google Local Listings
- Google Maps Adds Hotel Check-In & Check-Out Times
- Google "Found On The Web" Featured Snippets Spark Debate
- Google Image Search On Mobile Adds Swipe To Next
- Google Snippet With Popular Product Carousel
- Multiple Google User Interface Tests Including People Also Ask Icons
- Google Images Related Searches Tests Icons & Images
- Google Tests Favicons For Top Stories
- Google Image Search Adds Recently Viewed Section
- Google Trending Icon On People Carousel
- Google Shows Video Grid Format In Mobile Search Results With Up To 8 Videos
- Google Tests Image Carousel With Refinement Bubbles
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
