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.
Was there a Google update this past Saturday or was it related to the Google indexing issue? Google is taking action on the one-star review scams in the local listings. Google said political ads must always be visible and sufficient in size. Google Ads is testing map pins with photos. The Think with Google portal is removing the test my site feature. And we have part five of the vlog with Jon and Jaimie Clark to end out that series.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Search Algorithm Update On July 16th Or Was It Related To The Indexing Issue
As many of you know, there was a pretty massive indexing issue impacting new content in Google Search most of Friday, July 15th, but that was pretty much isolated to that Friday. Now, I am seeing signals of a Google search ranking algorithm update on Saturday, July 16th. - Google Taking Action On Recent One-Star Review Scams & Blackmail Threats
A recent New York Times piece highlighted blackmail threads taken on small restaurants that threaten and blackmail the owners. These threats say the person will leave a one-star review, hurting the business's reputation in Google Maps and Google Search if they do not send money through digital gift cards. - Google Ads Testing Map Pin Ads With Photos From Location?
Google Maps might be testing a form of map pin ads that contain images or photos from the local business. I cannot replicate this, nor do I know if this is new or not, but this was shared with me on Twitter by Vishal Sharma who showed this in action. - Google Ads For Politics Now Must Be Always Visible, Sufficient Size & Similar Tone
Google is updating its Google Ads Political Content policy next month, in August 2022, to say that ad disclosure must be visible at all times and be of sufficient size, and for audio ads, they must be substantially similar in pitch, tone, and speed. - Think With Google Test My Site Portal Sunsetting
Google six years ago launched a new Test My Site portal in the Think with Google portal. Well, that feature is going away soon, in the next few months Google will sunset the tool. - Vlog #182: Jon Clark On Building An SEO Agency & Happy Employees and Customers
Jaimie and Jon Clark came for a visit and we all spoke SEO and a lot more. Jaimie Clark is the VP of SEO at Centerfield, she was previously the Head of SEO at Wirecutter, a New York Times company... - YouTube Ice Sculpture
Here is a photo I found on Instagram from the Google Washington, D.C. office of some YouTube event. You can see they had an ice sculpture made in the form of the YouTube logo.
Other Great Search Threads:
- My guess would be temporarily unreachable robots.txt files, if across multiple sites, probably from unreachable hosting (eg bots blocked, by host or cdn)., John Mueller on Twitter
- Charting the Influence of Search Engines, WebmasterWorld
- Google Maps is better at a lot of things, but the new high-detail Apple Maps (only out in some cities) is really nice. Here are screenshots of both in Cambridge, which has Google’s high-detail map and Apple’s old one,, Randall Munroe on Twitter
- The @RankRanger SERP team discovered something interesting. Is it possible to rank twice on page 1 or is this a bug?, Joel Janovsky on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- How to use 12 micro intents for SEO and content journey mapping
- Google Ads, Analytics issue affecting reporting stats
- Google confirmed indexing issue affecting a large number of sites
- Instagram Subscriptions test adds 3 new features
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 8 Essential Ecommerce Google Analytics Dashboards Recommended by Ecommerce Experts, Databox Blog
- How to Enhance Your Results With Google Analytics G4?, PPC Expo
Industry & Business
- Google proposes moving ad business to Alphabet to keep regulators at bay, Ars Technica
- Google's CEO Has a Brilliantly Simple Plan To Recession-Proof His Staff. Any Business Can Use It, Inc
- Should You Buy Fractional Shares of Alphabet Before the Stock Split?, The Motley Fool
Links & Content Marketing
- Benchmarking the Performance of over 2,000 Digital PR pieces, Worderist
- The Future of Link Building: What Got Us Here, Won’t Get Us There, Aira
- How To Write A Press Release? [The Comprehensive Guide], Koozai
- Is Your Thought Leadership Content Missing the Point?, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Android Auto Wi-Fi connection might be tweaked in latest update, 9to5Google
- 10 Google Maps tips you need to try now, Android Police
Mobile & Voice
- Google Weather outage breaks app, widget, and Assistant, 9to5Google
- How to make Alexa your preferred hands-free voice assistant on your Android phone, Android Central
SEO
- How Digital PR Helps With SEO & Why It’s So Important, Hallam
- Just Another WordPress Programmatic SEO Build – Part 3, SammySEO
- SEO Split Test Result: The Importance of Writing Effective Meta Descriptions, Semrush
- How Long Does A Technical SEO Audit Take?, SEOSLY
- Prioritising SEO Tasks with Development Teams, SammySEO
- What Is The Main Disadvantage Of SEO? Based On My Experience., SEOSLY
PPC
Search Features
Other Search
- Prime Day Results, Google #19, Las Vegas SERP, Near Media
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