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
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Hi Danny. Hey, I started thinking about the announcement about subtopics from October's blog post about AI & Search. Do you know if what I'm seeing in this test is related to that? Interesting Finds was showing, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- If you have a UK & a US version of a page, it's fine to use hreflang between those versions. Hreflang doesn't replace geotargeting, but it can help us pick the appropriate version to link to when one of those, John Mueller on Twitter
- Totally up to you. It seems like users rarely see URLs nowadays, so I'd mostly focus on keeping them short, unique, & reasonable (avoiding things like spaces & commas, which make sharing hard)., John Mueller on Twitter
- What do these Product Experts have in common? They all made awesome videos on their top tips for Google My Business! Check out the playlist here: https://t.co/fk1C7wl5qp, Google's Product Experts Program on Twitter
- Worth building a directory site in 2021?, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google My Business launches new performance reporting
- Selecting better KPIs for your business: What to consider and how to bolster your most important metric
- Facebook blocks Trump for remainder of term while Twitter sets temporary ban
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 5 Takeaways from the GA4 Google Analytics Update, Informatics
- Four Ways Google Analytics 4 Will Improve Your Data, Portent
- Reporting, Benefits, and Timing: Top 3 Google Analytics 4 Questions, Answered, Cardinal Path
Industry & Business
- CMA to investigate Google’s ‘Privacy Sandbox’ browser changes, UK Government
- Competition watchdog investigates Google's browser change proposals, Yahoo News
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Announcing New Smart Home App Discovery Features, Google Developers Blog
- Sources: Google launching Nest Hub with Soli sleep tracking, 9to5Google
SEO
- IndexWatch 2020: The Year's SEO Winners in UK Search, SISTRIX
- SEO Is a Leap of Faith, Not a Commodity, BruceClay
- 21 Smart Google SEO Tips for 2021, Moz
- How to Analyze SERPs to Win Big in Rankings, CXL
PPC
- Google Ads API v3 sunset reminder, Google Ads Developer Blog
