Daily Search Forum Recap: January 8, 2021

Jan 8, 2021 • 4:00 pm | comments

(0) by Barry Schwartz | Filed Under Search Forum Recap

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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:

Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Signals - January 7th & 8th 2021
I am seeing some signals and signs of a Google search ranking algorithm update touching down in the past day or so. The chatter is limited but it is there and it is unusual. The tools, most of them, are showing big shifts in the Google organic search rankings.
Search Buzz Video Recap: Google Question Hub Expands, Bing Webmaster Tools Crawl & Index Data & Google My Business Performance Reports
I posted the monthly Google Webmaster Report for January 2021, it is a good place to catch up on the past month of SEO stuff. I am seeing some early signs of another unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update...
Google My Business Begins Rolling Out New Performance Metrics / Insights
Google has been teasing us for some time about new performance metrics to replace or add-on to the Google My Business insights. Now I am seeing a new section in the Google My Business dashboard that says "Your metrics will move to a new-look report. Search queries are visible, and more metrics will be added in a few months."
Google Ads Reps Get "Very Firm Reminder" If They Pitch Organic Ranking Benefits
We've covered here numerous times that Google Ads (formerly AdWords) spend has no impact on your Google organic web search rankings. In fact, we just covered that a search engineer said he has personally launched organic features that negatively impact ad revenues for the company.
Google Search Knowledge Graph For 25th Amendment and US Constitution
Google has a neat interactive knowledge graph box or panel for searches done on various amendments within the Constitution of United States of America. A lot of people now are searching for the 25th Amendment, which is about the removal of the sitting President of the United States and this is what Google shows.
Google Does Not Issue Web Spam Actions Due To Email Spam
You don't have to worry about email spam getting you in direct trouble in Google web search. Gary Illyes from Google confirmed that Google won't take action in web search, through a manual action in Search Console, if you get caught spamming folks via email.
You Can Now Exclude Data From Google Ads Smart Bidding
Google Ads now allows you to exclude data from your smart bidding to prevent conversion tracking issues. Google said "to make it easy for you to prevent these technical issues from impacting Smart Bidding, we're introducing data exclusions for Search, Shopping and Display campaigns."
Google Project Manager Back At Work With Mask and Also A Hard Hat
Here is a photo from Brett Axler, a Technical Integration Lead, Project Manager at Google, who said he is back at work. I get that he should be wearing a mask at the office but a hard hat? It does lo