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:
- Google Blocked 3.1 Billion Ads, Restricted 6.4 Billion Ads & Suspended 1.7 Million Advertisers
Google has published its annual "Ads Safety Report" and disclosed that it has blocked or removed over 3.1 billion ads for violating its Google Ads policies, it restricted over 6.4 billion ads, suspended over 1.7 million advertiser accounts, and removed ads from over 1.3 billion pages in 2020. Google also said it added or updated over 40 policies for both advertisers and publishers. - Google Maps Business Listing Overlay New Ad Spot
Bryant Suellentrop spotted a new ad placement in the Google Maps interface that Ben Fisher confirmed with me is new. In short, if you are browsing Google Maps and click on a business pin, Google will overlay the local result on the map interface. Now Google is showing an ad listing in that overlay. - Google My Business Review Removal Request Status Tool
Google My Business has launched a new tool where you can not only see the reviews for your business, but also quickly report those reviews for policy violations and even better, check the status or reviews you already reported. Plus, if that review was not removed, you can quickly submit an appeal. - Emojis In Google Search Suggestions & Autocomplete (Desktop & Mobile)
A couple of years ago we reported Google showing emojis in part of the search suggestions and autocomplete suggestion as you type your query into Google Search. Well, I am seeing reports of this again, not just on the desktop results but also the mobile search results. - Can Browser Extensions Impact Your Google Core Web Vitals Scores?
Over the past week or so, there has been a lot of chatter in the SEO industry around the potential threat third-party browser extensions can have on your core web vitals scores. Specifically how it might impact your rankings in Google Search based on how a user who visited your site may have installed a plugin that impacts maybe the CLS score on your pages. - Daniel Waisberg (from Google) & Yehoshua Coren Go Onion Shopping
Here is a fun photo of two analytics gurus, one from Google - Daniel Waisberg who now is part of the Search Console team and John Mueller's team and Yehoshua Coren who is an independent analytics con
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Embedding a captivating video or live-stream is a fantastic way to increase time-on-site and get those covetted long-clicks. It's only logical, right? The only problem is the bounce-rate, but luckily you can co, John Mueller on Twitter
- What does "SEO friendly" mean at Google? ... ... That the meeting time is friendly to the time zone of the team in SEOul, Korea, Malte Ubl on Twitter
- I'll go out on a limb & suggest you tone it down. Maybe the post isn't technically perfect (nothing is), but having people be curious, try things out, find approaches that improve their sites, and, John Mueller on Twitter
- Wikimedia Enterprise To Launch Paid Service For Big Tech, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google blocks 3.1 billion ads in a tumultuous 2020, says annual Ads Safety Report
- Google My Business releases tool to manage your reviews
- SharedArrayBuffer warnings in Search Console: Clarifying a new cross-origin isolation security policy
- Do you know headless? And what brands fared well in the pandemic; Tuesday’s daily brief
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How Does Page Load Time Affect Your Conversion Rate?, Pingdom
- How to Add Tooltip Annotations to Your Google Data Studio Reports, Measure School
Industry & Business
- Google cuts app store fees for developers on first million in annual sales, CNBC
- How Washington fumbled the future, POLITICO
- The 2012 FTC staff papers, blog.google
- Wikipedia Is Finally Asking Big Tech to Pay Up, Wired
- More U.S. states join Texas-led antitrust lawsuit against Google, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
- Case Study: Can a Few Relevant Links Boost a Low Traffic Site?, Online Ownership
- How To Find Blog Post Ideas In Seconds, Koozai
- How to Get Quality Backlinks in Any Niche, RankRanger
Local & Maps
- 1 year of Covid: 4 trends that will last, Think with Google
- Apple Maps updated with COVID-19 vaccine locations, Appleinsider
- Google Maps Marketing: The Full Guide For 2021, SEM Rush
Mobile & Voice
- Contactless Sleep Sensing in Nest Hub, Google AI Blog
- Top 10 Best (Google Assistant & Amazon Alexa) Smart Displays, Android Headlines
SEO
- How to Improve First Input Delay (FID) and First Contentful Paint (FCP), Portent
- How to Win With Marketing Competitive Analysis Across Search & Social, WordStream
- Core Update Light - Google update without official confirmation, SISTRIX
- How to Write High-Performing Meta Descriptions Every Time, Search Metrics
PPC
- Guide to growth: Mining for inclusive keywords, Microsoft Advertising
- How to Mimic Google Ads Scripts to Create Automation Rules for Native Campaigns, Outbrain
- Intelligent automation: The secret to an advertising executive’s success and happiness, Microsoft Advertising
- Join the Women of AdSense summit, Google Blog
Search Features
- How we’re helping Aussies in their search for support, Official Google Australia Blog
