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.
There was yet another unconfirmed Google search update this past weekend, I am calling it the Spring 2022 Google search ranking update. Google Business Profiles added new emergency help attributes for businesses in or near Ukraine. Google says 3-months is not long enough to keep redirects in place for a site move, you need a year. Google said machine or AI generated content is still not quality enough. If you will be adding Google Analytics 4, do not replace your Universal Analytics code, add it with the GA4 code so they run in parallel. Google Merchant Center link was added to GA4. And I posted another vlog with David Melamed.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Spring 2022 Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update
Google may have started to release another Google search ranking algorithm update starting Friday, March 18th through today, March 20th. This is an unconfirmed update but unlike the last one we reported, we have both chatter from the SEO community and also the tracking tools are picking up on it. I am calling this the Spring 2022 Google search ranking update. - Run In Parallel The Old Google Analytics UA Tracking Code With New GA4 Code
With Google Analytics rushing folks on Universal Analytics to set up Google Analytics 4, many are asking if they should run both UA3 and GA4 code at the same time. The answer, in my opinion, is yes, at least until UA3 stops tracking. - Google Merchant Center Integration Live For Some In Google Analytics 4
Some are saying they now see under the Google Analytics 4 property settings where it lets you link Google Analytics with other Google products - an option to link with Google Merchant Center. I personally see it and according to Charles Farina, this is a new property link feature. - Google Business Profile Emergency Help Attributes
Last week sometime, probably around the same time Google added the hotel attributes for Ukraine refugees, Google added new "emergency help" attributes to Google Business Profiles. The attributes include accepts donations, employs refugees, needs volunteers or offers free products or services and maybe more. - Google: Site Moves With Redirects In Place Only For 3-Months Is Too Short
We know that Google for several years has been telling us we need to have redirects in place for a year or so for Google to have the site moves stick. But how many months is too few, too little? John Mueller of Google said that three-months for a redirect being on place is not enough and you really need to keep it up for a year. - Google: Machine Or AI Generated Content Still Not High Quality
For the past several years, Google has been saying that when machine generated or AI generated content becomes high quality, it might be something that Google allows within its search webmaster guidelines. Well, in 2022, that day is still not here - yet. - Vlog #164: David Melamed On Search Spam's Long Term Search Success & Can Others Compete With Google
In part one of my interview with David Melamed, we spoke about his background and the beauty of the search marketing industry. David Melamed and I in part two then spoke about the long term viability and success of search spam. - Peter The Greeter On Saint Patrick's Day at Google
Here is a photo from Peter The Greeter at the Google office on Saint Patrick's Day. You can tell by the hat Peter The Greeter is wearing. He is also without a mask for the first time in a while.
Other Great Search Threads:
- No more pin as an icon and not searching for destinations/areas, but for hotels/airports ?! Is it new?, Valentina Vasileva on Twitter
- Google Maps app is notifying me I can message with customers in it. I don’t think this is new but the notification is, Barry Schwartz on Twitter
- Yeah, that's a myth., Martin Splitt on Twitter
- Google's testing of a new desktop search bar design continues. The latest round of search bar variations include a square search box with the newly proposed treatment, along with a test featuring tab icons removed with some, Brodie Clark on Twitter
- I believe @GoogleAds will regret forcing a migration from SSC to PMax & don’t think they talked to many users on this. It’s an Icharus story. They had finally seen major adoption of SSC & even shifting away from St, Kirk Williams on Twitter
- The "product review" space is becoming increasingly competitive and it's interesting to watch publishers use various enhancements to make their results stand out, like: - FAQ schema w/ links (even affiliate links!) - Product & P, Lily Ray on Twitter
- The Core Web Vitals data is based on what users actually see, and it's possible that some mobile users are going to the non-AMP version in various ways. That's usually where this comes from., John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- How your ad position and CTR impact conversion rate
- Google Business Profiles new emergency help attributes for Ukraine support
- The latest jobs in search marketing
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- GSC Query Segmentation Visualization on Data Studio with Regex, Decode Digital Market
Industry & Business
- Google is accused in lawsuit of systemic bias against Black employees, Reuters
- Transitioning to a new role at Yoast, Joost de Valk
- Google workers don't think their pay is competitive, Protocol
Links & Content Marketing
- The State of Link Building Survey 2022, Aira
- 5 Practical Ways To Prevent Burnout In High-Performing Content Teams, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Google Maps facing partial outage on web and with third-party APIs, including directions, 9to5Google
- Porsche executives visited Apple to discuss expanding car projects together, AppleInsider
- EV routing comes to Apple Maps and CarPlay for Ford Mach-E drivers with iOS 15.4, 9to5Mac
Mobile & Voice
- Google Cloud Adds Custom Voice Feature to Synthetic Speech API, Voicebot
- Forget Siri, Put Alexa on Your iPhone Home Screen, CNET
- Topics are Google Discover’s best feature, but remain buried, Chrome Unboxed
SEO
- Reconstructing Featured Snippet Rankings: Can You Hop the Gap?, GetStat
- SEO Silo Structure: Why It Makes No Sense (And What to Do Instead), Ahrefs
PPC
- How to become a Microsoft Advertising Celebrated Partner, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
- Google AR Experiences for Apparals and Beauty Products Is Starting To Appear in SERPs, tl;dr Marketing
- What Discover’s “More Recommendations”, Journeys in Chrome, and MUM mean for the future of Google Search, GSQI
- Google’s Android app will finally let you delete the last 15 minutes of your search history, The Verge
Feedback:
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