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 said it is looking for ways to make crawling more efficient without using Bing's IndexNow. Google said it may update its Google Webmaster Guidelines in 2022. There is a bug with Google Ads discovery and performance max campaigns. There is a new placements report for performance max campaigns. There is a new experiences page for Google Ads. Google has new requirements for car review snippets. Google no longer ranks the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, no joke. I should be on vacation next week but I do plan on publishing daily, including this newsletter but I may be slower than normal. Plus catch my weekly video recap is out, make sure to subscribe and like it. :)
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Might Update & Even Rename The Webmaster Guidelines In 2022
Everyone panic - Google might not just make larger updates to the Google Webmaster Guidelines but also rename the guidelines. Gary Illyes from Google said over time the Webmaster Guidelines have become confusing and somewhat outdated and it does need an update. - Google Wants To Make Crawling More Efficient & Environmental Friendly
Google's Gary Illyes said on the last Search Off The Record Podcast that Google in 2022 is looking to make crawling more efficient and environmentally friendly. And while Google is investigating ways to do that with IndexNow, Gary said it wont be done in a way "that people expect" with that. - Google Requires Both Product & Car Markup For Review Snippets In Google Search
Google has updated its product structured data help documents to say that you need both product and car structured in order for Google to display ratings and review snippets in search for car search results. Google said "currently car is not supported automatically as a subtype of Product." - Google Ads New Experiments Page Now Live
Google is rolling out a new Google Ads experiments page that promises to "help you create, manage, and optimize your experiments in one place." There is a new summary page for your experiments and a sync feature. - Confirmed Bug With Google Ads Discovery & Performance Max Campaign, Plus New Placement Reports
Google Ads confirmed some sort of bug with Discovery and Performance Max campaigns that are a "significant subset of users." It is unclear what this bug is, but it started last night at around 11pm ET. Also, George at Search Engine Land spotted that Google released new placement reports for Performance Max campaigns. - Federal Vampire & Zombie Agency Disappears From Google Search
The Federal Vampire & Zombie Agency is no longer showing up in Google Search, is it some sort of conspiracy or technical bug? Well, it is a technical issue with the web site, it is having server issues but I thought it would be fun to cover since I never knew such an agency existed. - Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Search Updates, Deduplication Of Top Stories, Crawling Spikes & Page Experience Desktop Report
In this show we got everything for you from creepy crawling to blood sucking vampires and and walking zombies. First, we had a few unconfirmed Google search algorithm updates this week, one last weekend... - Google NYC Conference Room View
Here is a recent photo from the New York City Google office and the view this conference room has. It was the first time this Googler has been back at the office in almost two years and it was a nice
Other Great Search Threads:
- Because enough lovely humans have jokingly asked... Here's ASMR for SEO but it's just me reading the webmaster guidelines, Jamie Indigo on Twitter
- Google is taking their anti anti-trust disinformation campaign to the SMB via the faux SMB org called the Connected Commerce Council (funded by Google amongst others), Mike Blumenthal on Twitter
- I wouldn't focus on 3rd party search volume metrics -- who knows how that data is made up. Write for your users, measure your success yourself, work to improve over time. Don't focus, John Mueller on Twitter
- I'd always update the links. Make it as easy as possible for users & bots to get to the page you want., John Mueller on Twitter
- If you want to block the framed page from being used for indexing at all (even via the framing page), using noindex on it would help. Using x-frame-options can prevent iframing in general, if you just want t, John Mueller on Twitter
- No idea. It's possible. We render JavaScript, and the maps embed might use JS to show more text. Maps are pretty complicated, it's more than just an image, so I'm not super-surprised if some of that ends up being, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- 3 ways to crush your paid search competition
- Google Ads launches placement reports for Performance Max campaigns
- Semrush acquires SEO training website Backlinko
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Google Forms Blockchain Group Under Newly Appointed Executive, Bloomberg
- Google launches fresh appeal to overturn $2.8 bln fine at top EU court, Reuters
- Google U.S. lobbying jumps 27% as lawmakers aim to rein in Big Tech, Reuters
- Inside Google’s Brewing Mental Health Crisis, Claims of Toxic Work Environment, Bloomberg
- Google Lobbying Soars in Washington as Antitrust Scrutiny Grows, Bloomberg
Links & Content Marketing
- Ethical Copywriting - an Interview with Sally Fox, Matt Tutt
- Nofollow, UGC Or Sponsored Link Attributes and How to Use Them, Internet Marketing Ninjas
- The Ultimate Quality and Content Performance Checklist, Semrush
- Your Audience Isn't Really Interested in 'Just the Facts' Anymore [Rose-Colored Glasses], Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Raspberry Pi Brings Apple CarPlay to Tesla, Tom's Hardware
- Snake game on Google Maps: How to play and rules explained, HITC
Mobile & Voice
- Google is building an AR headset, The Verge
- Amazon Alexa outage: 'the Alexa service is now operating normally', TechRadar
SEO
- Four Imperatives for Successful SEO Execution in 2022, BrightEdge
- Botify Supports IndexNow’s Move Toward a “More Efficient Internet”, Botify
- How to Generate SEO Leads, Vertical Leap
- IndexWatch 2021: The SEO Losers In Google’s UK Search Results, SISTRIX
- SEO Spit Test: Does Removing Banner Ads Impact Organic Traffic?, Semrush
- Website Redesign Case Study: 85% Traffic Increase in 3 Months, Pure Visibility
PPC
- Your 2022 guide to Google Ad Manager, Google Blog
- How Apple’s Privacy Updates Are Affecting Google Ads, Forbes
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