Daily Search Forum Recap: May 21, 2020

May 21, 2020 • 4:00 pm | comments

(1) by Barry Schwartz

| Filed Under Search Forum Recap

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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: Noindex Won't Hurt Your Site From Being Indexed After It Is Removed
John Mueller from Google was asked if it is true that Google will remember that a page or site had a noindex directive set. And if it remembers that, even if the page/site removes the noindex, that it will make it harder for that page/site to be re-indexed. John said that is not correct.
Google: Unlinked Citations Usually Do Not Help With Search Rankings
Google's John Mueller was asked if "unlinked brand citations can help in defining trust of a website / brand?" In short, when someone says the Wall Street Journal said X, but does not link to the Wall Street Journal (see what I did there WSJ, who rarely links to those it cites), is Google able to pick up on that and assign some credit to the WSJ even though there is no link.
Is Google Digging Out Of Reconsideration Request Backlog?
Marie Haynes, who does a lot of Google SEO penalty recovery work, said just yesterday she received two reconsideration request approvals from ones submitted back in February and March. In January, we asked if there were longer wait times for these reconsideration requests, I guess maybe there were and now maybe is getting through them all?
Google My Business Business Reinstatement Request Adds File Uploads For Proof
Ben Fisher noticed that the Google My Business local business reinstatement request form added a new field. You can now upload a file that shows proof that your business should be reinstated in Google My Business. The form added the ability to upload a file, like a PDF or screen shot, with such proof.
Google Knowledge Panels: What They Show, Where They Come From & How To Fix Them
Danny Sullivan of Google did another one of his explanatory blog posts on the Google blog. This one is on explaining how knowledge panels work in Google Search. In this post he explains what knowledge panels are, what information these panels can show, where they source the information, and how to fix issues with them.
Ancient GoogleBot - Figura
John Mueller, who often prints 3D GoogleBots, shared this photo from the Google Arts & Culture Twitter account. It shows what would look like an ancient GoogleBot but really is Figura from Cultura Qu