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:
- Podcast: Google On The Search Central Site Migration
In the latest Google Search Off the Record podcast, John Mueller, Gary Illyes, Lizzi Harvey and Cherry Prommawin got together to speak about the launch and migration of the new Google Search Central site. The team migrated four different sites into one central location. - Google's People Also Search For Entity Overlay Feature
Google is testing another feature for "people also search for," this one overlays entity information in a popup menu when you hover your mouse over the term. This was spotted by Valentin Pletzer who called this "refinement bubbles within entity popover." - Google Launched The About This Result Snippet Feature
Google has launched a feature for its search results snippets that show more information about a search result. We saw Google testing this back in 2019 and in 2020 and has decided to launch it in BETA mode for now. - Google: Core Web Vitals Values Won't Differ Based On Type Of Site
Google won't be giving different levels or metrics of the Core Web Vitals scores based on the type of web site you have. So news sites versus e-commerce sites won't make a difference when it comes to the Core Web Vitals score Google gives the site. - Google On Same Link But Different Anchor Text On Same Page
What if you had the same hyperlink twice on the same page but the first hyperlink used one set of anchor text and the second hyperlink used a different set of anchor text. Is that a bad thing? Google's John Mueller said on Twitter that they would be treated as normal links and are not considered spammy. - Bing Estimated Reading Time In Search Result Snippets
Microsoft Bing is now testing displaying the estimated reading time for some of the search results. Within some search result snippets, Bing is adding "estimated reading time" under the snippet. This can be pulling from some structured data or Bing can be using other methods for this. - Google Dublin Porch On A Gloomy Day
Here is an old photo from the Google Dublin office of the porch there. You can see swings, chairs, tables, the office and dark and gloomy skies. Of course, the Google colored floor colors are through
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- So the situation is: GSC gets noisy data. What do we do? Risk missing a problem or reporting one that isn't really a problem? Neither is great, but we err on over-reporting and giving the site owner the freedo, Martin Splitt on Twitter
- Heads up! If your analytics look too good to be true today, it's likely not because of a Google update. Many sites in our profile are seeing an attack of bot traffic Jan 31. The spam site causing this promises you'll see mor, Marie Haynes on Twitter
- More from John: Remember, speed is just one factor Google is evaluating. And the quality and relevance of content is still the most important factor, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- Ultimately there are various factors that come into play there, even the simple things like "who has it enabled" make it impossible to give a specific number. With 1000 visits/month you're not, John Mueller on Twitter
- Google doesn't use word-count as a ranking factor, and we don't crawl word-by-word. In other words ... if you're seeing issues with your site's indexing, that would be due to other things, like technical iss, John Mueller on Twitter
- Word count doesn't affect whether a page is thin content. I sometimes say nothing with a lot of words. Don't focus on quantity, focus on quality instead., John Mueller on Twitter
- Yesterday we launched a revamped “All Traffic” section sitting right at the top of your WP dashboard helping you answering 3 key questions: - How is my site doing? - How has this changed over time? - Where exactly did, Thierry Muller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google Search launches about this result feature
- Marketers say COVID vaccines create hope for quick return of in-person events
- SMX Early Bird rates expire Saturday… book now and save
- Video: Dawn Beobide on Google confirmed vs unconfirmed algorithm updates
- Google adds Black-owned business label to product results
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Google Analytics 4 - The Future of Web Tracking & Analytics, Wolfgang Digital
- How to Use Google Analytics 4 to Smash Your Conversion Rate, Clickthrough Marketing
- Your Guide to Navigating the New Google Analytics 4 Demo Account, Cardinal Path
Industry & Business
- Ford vehicles will be powered by Google’s Android operating system, TechCrunch
- Google LLC, US Department of Labor settlement resolves alleged pay, hiring discrimination at California, Washington State locations, U.S. Department of Labor
Links & Content Marketing
- Internal Link Analysis with Python, Briggsby
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Google Home app prepares 'access roles' for devices, 9to5Google
- Pixel Slate out of stock on Google Store, likely discontinued, 9to5Google
- Safari Enables 'SpeechRecognition' by Default in Tech Preview Release, Voicebot
SEO
- A Concise Guide to Title Tags for SEO, Leverable SEO
- A modern understanding of SEO, Kevin Indig
- How to make eCommerce product pages content unique, DeepCrawl
- What are Core Web Vitals?, BrightEdge
- What is SEO Testing & How Does it Work on a Website?, Inflow
- Announcing the New Technical SEO Certification Series: What It Is & How to Get Certified, Moz
PPC
- Google gave a malicious advertisement top spot for ‘home depot’ searches, Know Techie
- Google’s next big Chrome update will rewrite the rules of the web, WIRED
Search Features
- Google 'Key Moments' YouTube Video Timestamp Desktop Test, Brodie Clark Consulting
