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 Product Reviews Update: A New Search Algorithm Update Hits The Shelves
Google has announced a new search ranking quality algorithm update to its search engine it is called the product reviews update. This update is aimed at rewarding high-level product review content, above thinner product review content. This is not a core update and is only aimed at product review types of content. - Google Discover New Guidelines Won't Show These Types Of Content
Google updated its Google Discover guidelines to specify that it won't show "content that's not desired or that might confuse readers." Google specifically gave these examples of content that it might not show in Google Discover. - Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Product Reviews Update, Discover Guidelines Update, Regex On Search Console & Google/SEO Adversarial/Evolutionary Thread
The big news this week is that a new confirmed Google search ranking algorithm hit the shelves today, Google named it the Google Product Reviews Update... - Google Video On Making Successful Web Stories
Google's Pascal Birchler, Developer Relations Engineer, posted a nice video on how to get started with Web Stories. The video goes through what Web Stories are, how to create Web Stories, and how to rank well and get traffic using your Web Stories. - Google Video Structured Data thumbnailUrl Adds Support For WebP & SVG
Google made a small update to the video structured data help documents to communicate that the thumbnailUrl now also supports WebP and SVG image formats, in addition to the already documented BMP, GIF, JPEG, and PNG image formats. - Why Google Often Treats 302 Redirects As 301 Redirects
Google's John Mueller has said many times that 302s vs 301s are pretty much the same thing in terms of how Google treats redirects. He often said not to worry about using a 302 over a 301 or the other way around. The question is why? John basically said that most of the web uses both the same so Google uses multiple signals to determine how permanent a 302 redirect is or is not. - Google Search Console Performance Report Image Metrics Algorithm Updated
On April 6th, Google said it made an update to "the algorithm for counting image impressions in Search results." This might lead to a "Small drop" in the image impressions you see reported in the Google Search Console Performance Report. - Noogler Graduation Cap
Here is a photo from a few years ago of a Noogler who graduated and is holding a "Noogler" graduation cap. A Noogler is a Googler in their first year at working at Google. Normally Google gives them
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- I wouldn't use a site:-query for diagnostics purposes in general, and I definitely wouldn't assume that a site:-query in news has any special insight into what's shown in Google News. These, John Mueller on Twitter
- It's essentially a matter of canonicalization. Line up your signals and make it clear which version you prefer. https://t.co/FO86QS8m2i, John Mueller on Twitter
- It's still the same. If it's valid in modern browsers, we can pick it as a canonical, and that's all we care about. Free certificates from @letsencrypt are perfectly fine., John Mueller on Twitter
- Regex in GSC: Can you exclude pages?, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google Search Console performance report image impression change
- Drive customer engagement with the power of personalization
- Google announces product reviews algorithm update
- Looks like we made it: Regex finally comes to Search Console; Thursday’s daily brief
- The concerning future of the resilient keyword
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Goal Tracking With Google Analytics, DealerOn
- How to Set Up a Google Analytics 4 Property, ClickInsight
Industry & Business
- After Working at Google, I’ll Never Let Myself Love a Job Again, New York Times
- Google Has a Secret Blocklist that Hides YouTube Hate Videos from Advertisers—But It’s Full of Holes, The Markup
- Google-backed TAE Technologies raises $280 million from new, existing investors, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Google Pixel Watch just leaked — first look at Apple Watch 7 rival, Tom's Guide
- How to use gesture controls on your Nest Hub smart display, CNET
SEO
- What is SEO Training?, BruceClay
- Building An Amazon Business: Why Learning Amazon SEO Is So Important, Forbes
PPC
- What is Native Advertising?, Microsoft Advertising
Other Search
