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 Search Console has a bug with the performance report for image search clicks and impressions. Google is deprecating the Google My Business API in April. Google Ads is shutting off smart shopping and local campaigns and replacing them with performance max campaigns. Google is promoting Pointy from Google in Google Business Profiles. Google image search is tested a related colorized image theme. Google is testing search results without descriptions. And don't forget to catch the weekly video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Algorithm Fluctuations, FLoC FLoPs, New Google Robots Tag & More
This week, we had another unconfirmed Google search ranking update on January 22nd. Google has admitted defeat with its FLoC cookieless proposal and is now going with Topics API. Google launched a new robots tag named... - Google Search Console Logging Bug May Result In Drop In Image Search Performance Data
Google has confirmed an issue with the Google Search Console Performance reports specific to image search. The issue is a logging issue that may result in your clicks and impressions data in those reports being lower than normal. Google said the issue began on Monday, January 24, 2022 and is still ongoing. - New Tools For Smart Shopping & Local Campaigns Being Replaced By Performance Max
Google has released a set of new tools and features to help advertisers when Google existing and future Smart Shopping campaigns and Local Campaigns get replaced by Performance Max campaigns. This includes a new migration tool and API migrations. - Google Tests Search Results Without Descriptions Again
Google has confirmed it has been testing Google Search result listings without any descriptions, again. Google first tested this in 2015 and is now testing it again for the past couple of weeks. Aishwarya Tapadar from Google confirmed this in a Google Web Search Help thread saying "this is a small experiment that will be ending in the next day or so." - Google Images Tests Color Themed Related Images Design
The folks at 9to5Google spotted Google Image Search on mobile testing a related image design that takes on the color theme of the image result. So if the image is red, the related images below are in these red hue effect in the background. - Google Promotes Pointy From Google In Business Profiles
Google is promoting the Pointy from Google solution in Google Business Profiles dashboard, Colan Nielsen explained on Twitter. Google is placing this box that says "Help customers find products they need" by connecting your in-store product inventory with Google Search and Maps. - Google Deprecating The Google My Business API On April 20, 2022
Google will be deprecating the Google My Business API on April 30, 2022 and replacing it with new APIs in the Google federated model. So you will have to update any of the old APIs you may be using with the new ones within the next few months. - Messy Drinks From Googlers At Google
A while back, Satyajeet Salgar from Google posted a photo of his drink and snack while at the Google office when he was first returning to the office. I asked for more photos and that led to numerous
Other Great Search Threads:
- I don't think that would change anything. If you want to go this route, I'd look more into "if modified since" headers., John Mueller on Twitter
- Wordle 216 4/6 🟥🟥🟩🟩⬜ 🟥🟥🟩🟩⬜ 🟦🟦🟨🟨⬜ 🟦🟦🟨🟨⬜, Microsoft Bing Dev on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Building trust builds brands: SEO link-building strategies that work
- Google allows ads for sports betting in Louisiana
- WordPress 5.9 launches with full site editing
- How to win with PPC in a dataless world
- Google Search Console logging issue may cause drop in image search performance data
- New Google mobile search feature: People Search Next
- Gmail campaigns to stop running on June 28
- Twitter launches Site Visit Optimization goal and Aggregated Measurement for campaigns aimed at driving site traffic
- Smart Shopping and Local campaigns to be transitioned to Performance Max by end of September
- Google SERP analysis: PAA appears 10x more than featured snippets
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- UTM Tracking Codes Help You Understand Your Traffic Sources, Dagmar Marketing
Industry & Business
- Google Increases Vacation Days and Parental Leave for Employees, Business Insider
- Senators Urge U.S. to Fight China, Russia Over Tech Censorship After ITC Report, Bloomberg
- Google will let legacy G Suite users migrate to free Google accounts, TechCrunch
Links & Content Marketing
- 17 Books Perfect for Content Marketers (That Aren't About Content or Marketing), Content Marketing Institute
- What Is Interactive Content? - SEO Impact, Go Fish Digital
Local & Maps
- Android Automotive apps look different from car-to-car, 9to5Google
- Apple Maps applies reality distortion field to hide Tim Cook's house, AppleInsider
- Building apps for Android Automotive OS, Android Developers Blog
- Monitoring Google Business Profiles: Don’t Just Set It and Forget It, BrightLocal
- With $4.2M Fine, FTC Kills 'Review Gating', Near Media
Mobile & Voice
SEO
- 15 Podcasts to Boost Your SEO Game, Ahrefs
- 3 Steps to Define Your Target Audience for Your SEO Program, BruceClay
- Best Google Sheets Formulas for SEO, Shell Shockuk
- Getting Started In International SEO: A Quick Reference Guide, Search Engine Journal
- Google's Quality Raters Guidelines: Worth Reading?, Internet Marketing Ninjas
- How to Use Google Autocomplete for SEO, Practical Ecommerce
- IndexWatch 2021: The SEO Losers In Google’s US Search Results, SISTRIX
- Local SEO Language Considerations for European Countries, SEO Clarity
- People Also Asked vs. Featured Snippets - 3 years of data, Kevin Indig
- SEO Office Hours: Late January Session Recaps & Key Takeaways, DeepCrawl
- Sistrix IndexWatch 2021: The SEO Losers In Google’s US Search Results, Amsive Digital
- The Top Tech SEO Strategies for 2022 and Beyond, Moz
- We Studied 81,000 Page Titles - Google Rewrote 61% Of Them, Zyppy
- What your C-suite team needs to know about SEO tests, SearchPilot
PPC
- Level up your digital strategy with more visual storytelling, Microsoft Advertising
- Publishers ask EU to stop Google from removing cookies, NY Post
- Smart Shopping and Local Campaigns upgrading to Performance Max, Google Ads Developer Blog
- Do's and Don'ts of Dealership PPC Campaigns, DealerOn
- Why Bother With PPC If Your SEO Is Doing Great?, Vertical Leap
Other Search
- Does Your Medical Image Classifier Know What It Doesn’t Know?, Google AI Blog
- Rankable Ep. 67 - Navigating the Modern Remote Workplace, iPullRank
Feedback:
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