Daily Search Forum Recap: March 21, 2024

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's March 2024 spam update finished rolling out, it is important to note the big core update is still rolling out, those earlier manual actions were not the spam update and finally the Core Web Vitals change was also different. Those sites hit by Google manual actions didn't seem to recover yet. Yahoo Search is still being worked on, Yahoo says hang tight. Google is investigating issues with images not showing in the search result snippets. Google Maps has this weird bug or spam attack where it places different businesses with different addresses in the same map pin area.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google March 2024 Spam Update Finished Rolling Out
  Google has completed the rollout of the March 2024 spam update after a 14-day and 21-hour period. This update started on March 5, 2024, and was completed on March 20, 2024. Remember, the March 2024 core update is still rolling out and will do so for the next couple of weeks.
• Yahoo Search Wiring Up New Stuff - Hang Tight On Its Arrival
  In November we were expecting to see parts of the new Yahoo Search soon but at this point, we have not seen it yet. Brian Provost, the Senior VP and General Manager of Yahoo Search, said on X last night that we should hang tight, the team is still wiring up some new stuff.
• Report: Sites Hit By March 2024 Pure Spam Manual Actions Not Recovering
  The days after the Google March 2024 spam and core updates were released, Google issued tons of manual actions. They were mostly pure spam manual actions that resulted in all or parts of a website being deindexed for violating Google's search spam policies, as Google calls it. Most, if not all, of those sites that were hit have not recovered yet.
• Google Maps Bug Places Business With Different Addresses In Same Map Pin
  Joy Hawkins shared a very unusual bug with Google Maps where it places businesses with different addresses in the same location in the same map pin area. It just drops these map pins in one address when they are not located by that map pin.
• Again, Images Not Showing For Some Google Search Result Snippets
  Google is once again investigating issues with recipe images and other images not showing for some sites within the Google Search results. We reported on several issues with recipe sites several weeks ago and it seems to be happening again for some of these sites.
• Graffiti Android Statue At GooglePlex
  Here is one of the many Android statues at the GooglePlex. This one has graffiti all over it - I suspect it was intentional but it seems to be off in the corner somewhere at the GooglePlex.

Other Great Search Threads:

• For selective results, Bing highlights specific key moments in its video SERPs. These results stand out through a time axis and blue fonts. Clicking leads to the timestamped part of the video with more key moments to choose from., Frank Sandtmann on Mastodon
• Looking for your #DoodleforGoogle submissions like... It's the final call for U.S.-based K-12 students to send in their artwork. Submissions close tomorrow at 11:59pm PST. Get them in for a chance to win big!, Google Doodles on X
• This has been around for many years to reduce fraud and abuse. A small percentage of calls initiated by a call-only ad or call asset for some advertisers in the US are monitored and recorded. You can learn more about the data security and privacy practic, AdsLiaison on X
• Well that's interesting... I'm sure Googlers are like, RIGHT...... :) -> Perplexity CEO says they use automated systems to access data about Bing’s and Google’s ranking signals, which determine the relevance, quality and authorit, Glenn Gabe on X
• You're probably seeing effects of the privacy filtering that's done. The total on top covers everything, if you sum up individual items, you won't see the filtered entries. There's more at, John Mueller on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google Marketing Live 2024 registration opens
• Disney announces Google partnership as it expands ad platform
• Google March 2024 spam update done rolling out
• Un-silo your PPC campaigns: 4 tactics for more cohesive marketing
• Teaching writers when and how to use generative AI to create helpful content

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• GA4 Engagement Rate Guide & Industry Benchmarks, Portent

Industry & Business

• 8 Google Employees Invented Modern AI. Here’s the Inside Story, Wired
• Apple Faces Legal Protest From Meta, Microsoft, X and Match, Wall Street Journal
• Google defends Digital Markets Act changes, cites complex trade-offs, Yahoo Finance
• Google picks Kansas City as site of new $1 billion data center, KMBC
• Microsoft Criticized by US Senator Marco Rubio for Censoring Bing in China, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• Content Performance: 19 Metrics to Track Your Results, Semrush
• How To Find and Include More Underrepresented Voices in Your Content, Content Marketing Institute
• How to Revitalize Your Blog Content When You Feel You've Covered It All, Problogger

Local & Maps

• Local Search Developments from Q1 2024, Moz
• Alphabet Adds New Feature to Google Maps for Wear OS, Yahoo Finance

Mobile & Voice

• Apple Vision Pro Review: A Little Too Far Out, Wired
• I'm worried about the big rumored Apple and Google AI deal — here's why, Tom's Guide
• Job listing hints Apple Vision Pro global launch imminent, AppleInsider

SEO

• Google Search Console Errors: Identifying and Fixing Them, Semrush
• How to get technical SEO recommendations implemented, Wix SEO Hub
• SEO Pricing: What Does SEO Cost & What Affects It?, Semrush
• Steal Our SEO API Stack For Easy SEO Automation, Ahrefs
• Why entities matter for SEO so much!, SERP's Up SEO Podcast
• Evolving SEO: Fresh New Features and Updates for Website Owners, Bing Webmaster Blog

PPC

• How to use Impression Share Analysis to Get More Google Ads Conversions, Adalysis
• Maximize CTV Performance with Display & Video 360 and Disney, Google Blog
• The next era of digital advertising, Think with Google
• Some of the Most Popular Websites Share Your Data With Over 1,500 Companies, Wired

Search Features

• Age of SGE: How Will AI Affect Search Traffic in the Next Decade?, Online Marketing Blog

Other Search

• AI Search Startup Perplexity Is Challenging Google—While Using Its Data, The Information
• OpenAI’s chatbot store is filling up with spam, TechCrunch
• Fighting misinformation online: Protecting the integrity of elections, Google Blog
• Here’s Proof You Can Train an AI Model Without Slurping Copyrighted Content, Wired
• How Google uses AI to improve global flood forecasting, Google Blog
• Open AI’s Sora Video Tool Tries to Keep Up With Runway, Bloomberg

Feedback:

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