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.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- January 2020 Google Webmaster Report
Here is the first Google webmaster report of 2020, the January 2020 report is pretty packed. We had Google confirm in December that there was a local search update in November... - Google Reminds Us To Fix Internal Links That 404
Google posted a response on the Google Webmaster Twitter account reminding us that when you get 404 error reports, you should make sure your internal links are not causing it. Meaning, make sure your internal links are not 404ing to a page that does not exist. - Medium Google Organic Traffic Takes A Beating
It seems that Medium, the popular publishing platform, hasn't been doing too well in Google over the past couple of months - especially since December. And it seems like it is getting worse. Some are saying the site has 40% declines in organic visibility from Google search. - Google Mocks SEO Strategy To Update Stories With "2020" Titles & Headlines
I see a lot of SEOs over the years push out new stories, repurposed, with a new headline for the new year. So this year you'd see articles on "how to optimize for Google BERT in 2020" whereas last year it would be "how to optimize for Google BERT in 2019." You get the point(s) from my sample. Well, John Mueller from Google mocked that strategy on Reddit. - Bing's Frederic Dubut: Keyword Research Practices Should Be Replaced By Intent Research
At SMX the team did a short interview with Frederic Dubut, the PM of overall Bing's core search team, who said that he thinks SEOs need to move from keyword based research practices to intent research practices. He said with search engines focusing more on intent versus keywords, with the deployment of BERT and other machine learning techniques - that is an important area SEOs should focus on in 2020. - Vlog #34: A.J. Ghergich On Scaling An Agency, Not Chasing The Google Algorithm & Searcher Intentions
A.J. Ghergich invited me to his office in St. Louis right by Busch Stadium where the St. Louis Cardinals play. He is an SEO guy but he is now doing a full service health and life sciences agency named Brado. A.J... - Google Outdoor / Indoor Picnic Area
I found this photo of a picnic looking area at one of the Google offices, I think this is at the Google Hyderabad office. It has an outdoor looking area, that seems to be indoors but yet, again, outdo
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Starts in 2020, WebmasterWorld
- If a URL ends up as the canonical, it's treated as the canonical, so that would probably work out. That said, the harder you make it for us to figure out, the less likely we'll do what you'd pref, John Mueller on Twitter
- Does the Big Google use my browsing history to interfere with my SEO?, BlackHatWorld
- Either way works fine!, Google Webmasters on Twitter
- Haven't seen the "people also search for" in this particular placement on mobile before. Clicking it goes to screengrab 2. https://t.co/qmbSUnaQZS, Colan Nielsen on Twitter
- Health niche pages disappear from SERP since November, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Brands can now buy Walmart sponsored search ads via API partners
- SEOs must focus on intent research practices in 2020
- Businesses need to think differently about customer feedback data in 2020
- How verticalization and zero-click will impact local search in 2020
- Make it easy for search engines to rank your website in 2020
- Microsoft Advertising launches sweepstakes for advertisers
- The consumer decision journey will drive paid search in 2020
- Machine learning will free up time to be more strategic with accounts in 2020
- Make 2020 the year for e-commerce to get better with the mobile experience
- A wishlist of improvements for Google My Business in 2020
- New challenges ahead for attribution with the rise of intelligent tracking prevention
- 2020 will be the year to get our data right
- Focus on E-A-T to avoid performance problems in 2020
- Automation layering is driving PPC so get onboard in 2020
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How to Use SuperMetrics in Google Sheets to Identify Bad Ad Placements, Seer Interactive
Industry & Business
- Silicon Valley’s Newest Rival: The Banks of the Hudson, New York Times
- Google and Facebook have a deadline for a deal with Australian publishers, AdNews
- Google sets up CES 2020 outdoor booth complete w/ slide, 9to5Google
Local & Maps
- The Next Frontier of Local Search: Introducing the “Query Carousel”, Brodie Clark Consulting
- 4 unexpected Google Maps tips that go way beyond directions, CNET
- This Apple Maps concept is the navigation app we all deserve, iMore
Mobile & Voice
- Hulu Adds Google Home Support & Google Voice Commands, Cord Cutters News
- Moen's new kitchen faucet works with Alexa and Google Assistant, VentureBeat
SEO
- Rich Results Patent from Google Moves on from Only Books, Go Fish Digital
- 2020 Local SEO Success: How to Feed, Fight, and Flip Google, Moz
- SEO is Not Enough: Why B2B Marketers Need to Optimize for Trust with Influence, Online Marketing Blog
PPC
- Why You Should be Leveraging Google Smart Bidding, Seer Interactive
- Gambling addicts searching on Google for help bombarded with ads for online casinos, The Independent
- Mike Bloomberg has spent nearly $15 million to be in your Google search results, The Verge
- How Ziff Davis used paid search and SEO to increase its affiliate business over the holidays, Digiday
- Migrate to Expanded Text Ads: Deadline extended, Microsoft Advertising
