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.
Google Assistant dropped 17 features, some are now defaulting to Google Search. Google said you can ignore spammy links from AI-generaed content. Google updated its Google Ads sensitive events policy. Google updates its structured data docs to use hashtags for @id references. Microsoft Advertising is dropping Hotel Center accounts for lodging campaigns. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Did Search Win With The Google Assistant Feature Loss
Google announced major changes to Google Assistant, removing close to 20 features and switching how the Google App works with the Google Assistant. This may be a win for Google Search, a loss for Google Assistant, or maybe AI will take over everything in the coming years? -
Google Says Ignore Links Spammy From AI-Generated Blogs
A site owner posted on Reddit his concerns after noticing "hundreds of thousands" of backlinks from "AI-generated blog posts" directed to his or her site. John Mueller from Google said those links can be ignored and the posts might not be AI-generated anyway, not that it matters. -
Google Updates Structured Data Examples To Use Hashtags For @id References
Google has updated its structured data documentation to now use hashtags for @id references. If you don't use hashtags, it is fine, but Google said it is "schema best practice to use hashtags as resolvable in-page node identifiers in RDF." -
What's Google Ads Sensitive Event Policy
Google has posted a clarification of what it calls its sensitive event policy under the Inappropriate content policy within Google Ads. This applies to Google Ads, Google Merchant Center, Google AdSense, Admob and more. -
Microsoft Advertising Dropping Hotel Center Accounts For Lodging Campaigns On Feb 6
Microsoft announced it is going to do away with Hotel Center subaccounts on February 6, 2024 and you should migrate to Lodging campaigns instead. "As we strive to improve and innovate our products, we're changing how you set up and manage Hotel Price ads and Property Promotion ads," Microsoft wrote. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Web & Local Ranking Updates, Quality Changes Coming, FAQ/How-To Rich Results, Perfect SEO, Author Bylines & More
We reported on three different Google algorithm updates this week, a bug one on January 9th and 10th, another one on January 5th and 6th, and also a local search ranking update on January 4th. Google reiterates that more changes are coming to deal with the search spam you see in Google's search results. Google has dropped the... -
Doogler Taking In Google Boulder Office Views
Here is a photo from the lobby area of the Google Boulder office, where you see this Doogler, Google dog, taking in the inside views. Only at Google, no?
Other Great Search Threads:
- "SEO" vs Online Harassment / Bullying, WebmasterWorld
- Google said it made its links in its search help docs more "accessible" - SEOs would call it more "keyword rich" - one example in the screenshot, Barry Schwartz on X
- Well, if you prevent Bing from searching and yet want the answer, it is forced to make things up sometimes. That's why we have Search on by default. This is the property of LLMs called "hallucination"., Mikhail Parakhin on X
- If this is your site, it's likely hacked. There's a bit about this at, John Mueller on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- TikTok reports non-skippable video ads may harm engagement
- GPT-4 vs. Google Cloud: Performance comparison on 9 SEO tasks
- The list of features being removed from Google Assistant
- How to leverage Google’s ‘About this result’ for SEO insights
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Marketing Data Privacy: What Brands Need to Know, Measure Minds Group
- What Is Organic Traffic in Google Analytics 4? (+ Analysis Tips), Semrush
Industry & Business
- Alphabet Union Says Google Laid Off More Than 1,000 Employees, The Information
- OpenAI's COO Pitches Startup As Friendly Partner to Publishers, Bloomberg
Links & Content Marketing
- Headlines 101: How to Construct Your Headlines for Ultimate Link Success, Digitaloft
- Do Better AI Prompts Translate to Better Outcomes?, Content Marketing Institute
- Domain Authority: What it is, what it isn’t, and how it's calculated!, SEO Testing
Local & Maps
- How to Add & Remove Managers from Your Google Business Profile, Sterling Sky Inc
Mobile & Voice
- Apple Vision Pro: Launch quantities low, AppleInsider
- Ordering Apple Vision Pro gets more complex with face scan, AppleInsider
- Siri needs to get a lot smarter, and quickly, TechCrunch
- Vision Pro could gain an Apple Pencil-like controller, AppleInsider
SEO
- 13 Must-Have SEO Audit Tools to Boost Your Rankings, Onely
- 6 Handy SEO Autocomplete Tools, Practical Ecommerce
- Google Sees DMCA Takedown Requests Surge to New Highs, TorrentFreak
- Market Analysis & Keyword Insights Part 2: Analysing SERP Data, SammySEO
- What I Have Learned From Conducting Over 100 Website Migrations, Moz
- What Is Google's Navboost Signal?, Dan Taylor
- A Beginner’s Guide to Referring Domains in SEO, Semrush
PPC
- A Guide to Google Ad Grants, Go Fish Digital
- Boost your creativity and productivity with Retail Media Creative Studio powered by generative AI, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
Other Search
- 34 Eye-Opening Google Search Statistics for 2024, Semrush
- Can large language models identify and correct their mistakes?, Google Research Blog
- Google, Bing put deepfake porn at the top of some search results, NBC News
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
