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This was one busy month, filled with numerous unconfirmed Google search ranking updates both in web search and local. It is also after March 1st, and the nofollow link change for crawling and indexing is now just a hint but Google said no change. A Google patent application was published that may explain the Medic update. Burberry was spotted with 3D images in Google search - how cool. Google has new FAQ schema guidelines that might require you to do a lot of busy work now.
Google Search Console improved the export data files. Google also added redirect validation and reminders to the tool. Google also added a nw reviews snippet set of reports and tools for more debugging and analysis of your reviews in Google. Google Image search dropped the image dimensions on desktop results and added new image licensable metadata. Google Maps celebrated 15 years with a new logo and features; oh and it removed 4 million fake businesses and 75 million reviews last year. Google is also doing a ton of testing.
It was a busy month, busy in a different way from the February Google webmaster report.
Here are the more important stories over the past 30 days if you want to catch up quickly:
Google Algorithm Updates:
- Big Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update - Currently Unconfirmed
- Day Five & Getting Strong: Big Unconfirmed Google Algorithm Update
- Google Responds To February 2020 Update Saying "We Do Updates All The Time"
- Google Search Algorithm Update Blip On Monday & Tuesday?
- Google Update Chatter Earlier This Week But Sensors Not Triggered
- Google Weekend Search Algorithm Ranking Fluctuations & Chatter
- Google Local Algorithm Update: February 14th Through Today
- Google Local Search Algorithm Update On January 31st?
- Google Nofollow Change March 1st But Google Says Don't Expect Any Change Yet
- Google: Use rel=sponsored For Affiliate Links If Possible
- Google Patent Related To Medic Update? Website Representation Vector For Classifying Web Sites.
- Google: Our Systems Aren't Looking For EAT But We Hope Our Signals Align To EAT
- Google Confirms No Recent Campaign Against Unnatural Links
- Burberry Implements 3D Images & AR In Google Search Results
- Google FAQ Rich Result Guideline Update: One Markup Per Question Throughout Site
- Google Clarifies GoogleBot's New Useragent Name Usage
- Google Processes Link Disavow Files Immediately But Taken Into Account As URLs Are Recrawled
- Google: There Are A Variety Of Things We Do To Watch For Wikipedia Vandalism
- Example Of How Google Communicates Search Issues Internally
- Google Rich Results Test Tool Now Previews How-To Rich Results
- Google Penalties Can Reoccur - Your Site Is Not Immune
- Google Video On How To Hire An SEO: Old vs New
- When John Mueller Of Google Is Frustrated A Site Not Ranking Well
- Google: We Still Use PageRank Internally
- Google Pagination Tips For Blogs: Use Tags Or Categories
- Again, Google Does Not Use BBB Ratings As A Search Ranking Factor
- Google Algorithms Do Not Give Shopify Preferential Treatment
- Google Increases AMP Custom CSS Limit By 50%
- Google Search Console Improves Data Exports In A Big Way
- Google Change Of Address Tool Adds Redirect Validation & Reminders
- Google Search Console Adds New Reviews Snippet Reporting, Tools & Notifications
- Google Images To Drop Dimensions Label On Thumbnails & Show Other Labels
- Google Image Search Adds New Image License Metadata
- Google Writes FAQ For Google Image License Metadata
- Google Maps Celebrates 15 Years: New Maps Icon & Map Features
- Google Maps Removed 4 Million Fake Business & 75 Million Local Reviews
- Google In Europe Now Shows Other Local Search Providers
- Google My Business Products Added Suggested Categories
- Google My Business: Keywords In Descriptions Don't Guarantee Ranking Improvement; But They Could.
- Google Says Keywords In Google My Business Descriptions Impacts Local Rankings; Local SEOs Say No
- Google Posts Now Supports Multiple Photos & Videos
- Google My Business Notifying After Deleting Reviews
- New Google My Business Feature: Own This Business? Claim It Now.
- Google's Right Hand Side Featured Snippets Are Being Removed But Not Moved To Center
- Google Tests New Home Page Design
- Google Testing Massive Images In Search Results Again
- Google Search Tests New Open Design? Maybe It's A Bug?
- Now Live: Google Featured Snippet Image Carousel?
- Google Pairing Knowledge Panels & People Also Search For
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
