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:
- March 1st Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update - Unconfirmed
On Friday afternoon, March 1st, maybe going through Saturday, March 2nd, there may have been yet another Google search ranking algorithm update. We had one on February 27th and February 22nd and now another unconfirmed one on March 2nd. They seem like tremors, maybe tweaks to previous updates. We have both chatter and trackers showing the updates. - Google Ignores Keyword Spam In CSS
Google's John Mueller said on Twitter that Google ignores keyword spam in CSS files. He said "we ignore that." "Use IDs & class names however you want. (I'm pretty sure this never had any effect on any search engine,)" he added. - Google: Redirecting Spammy Links From Similar Domain Won't Trick Us
Google's John Mueller said you won't trick Google's spam algorithms by setting up a similar domain, building spammy links to that domain and then redirecting that domain to your main domain. It won't work - he said "you might as well skip the detour, it's just as obvious to the algorithms & spam team." - Google Is Okay With "Uncertain Spam" Reports
Not everything in the world is black and white, that includes the SEO world. Someone pointed John Mueller of Google to, what looks like a PR reporting tool, and suggested it was used to manipulate Google's guidelines and buying links. I am not sure, I didn't spend time looking into it. But John Mueller from Google responded that it is okay to submit "uncertain" spam reports to them. - Google Snippet With Popular Product Carousel
We covered this before but it probably should be pulled out as its own post here, the popular products carousel snippet for web sites that have products that they deem popular on their web sites. - Google Email For First Day Of Work (Tomorrow)
Walter Chen posted a screen shot of a notification, maybe an email or a web site portal, that says Onboarding. Welcome, Walter! Tomorrow's your first day. It shows the Google office in the background
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- I don't know if anything changed in the last years, but I do recall seeing a collection of "unique" robots.txt files that we parse correctly, including essentially a HTML page with robots.txt directives embedded. So my *guess*, John Mueller on Twitter
- Is Google canonicalizing your URL to a 3rd-party site? If you use the URL inspection tool in GSC & see Google-selected canonical: "canonical cannot be displayed because it's not in any of your properties", then use an info command, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- Oh, I doubt webmasters have anything to do with that. Internal parameters & similar things change from time to time; they're not meant for external use. Think of it how you might change things in your site's backend.… https:, John Mueller on Twitter
- Interesting to see the blank listings in the SERPs for the query "bone broth". NYT, Washpo, Today, Dr. Axe and others are blank, while other publications are fine. Just picked this up during some testing. @rustybrick https://t.co/G, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- Twitter Works on "Hide Tweet" Option, WebmasterWorld
- March 2019 AdSense Earnings & Observations, WebmasterWorld
- That's fine, most sites with separate mobile URLs are set up like that.…, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Consolidate traffic data from multiple sites/apps in Google Analytics, Julien Coquet
- Comparing Google Analytics 360 and Google Analytics, Bounteous
Industry & Business
- Aimclear Takeoff - End of an era?, aimClear Blog
- EU Copyright Directive: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back, Google Blog
Links & Promotion Building
- Social Media Link Building Opportunities, Stone Temple
Local & Maps
- Google Maps’ futuristic AR walking navigation is now in testing by Level 5+ Local Guides, Android Police
- Now in more cities: Lime bikes and scooters on Google Maps, Google Blog
Mobile & Voice
- Amazon Bets on an Empathetic Alexa, New York Times
SEO
- Diving Into The Value of Your SEO Reporting, BrightEdge SEO Blog
- How to Verify Domain Property in Google Search Console via DNS, MarketingSyrup
- Rewriting the Beginner's Guide to SEO, Chapter 7: Measuring, Prioritizing, & Executing SEO, Moz
- Subdomain vs subdirectory - what's best for SEO?, Credo
- Recruitment website SEO: How to optimise jobs sites for search engines, Builtvisible
- 7 Tips for Structured Data on E-commerce Sites, Distilled
PPC
- Developing a Sustainable PPC Strategy: What You Need to Know, Search Engine Journal
- Work Smarter, Not Harder, With Bing Ads Scripts, PPC Hero
Search Features
