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 says AI-generated reviews are spam according to Merchant Center policies. Google updates site names in search results, with improvements and workarounds. Google rolled out a new search setting interface. Google Merchant Center, customer support details are wanted. Google Business Profiles has a food ordering feature. And I posted the SEO video recap, don't miss it.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- New Google Merchant Center Policy Says AI Generated Reviews Are Spam & Disallowed
Google has posted a new policy saying AI-generated reviews are against its policies, disallowed and considered spam. If you find such content, Google said you must mark it as spam in your feed with the is_spam attribute. - Google Site Names In Search Results Updated With More Subdomain Support & Workarounds
As Google promised, it has updated its support for site names in its search results. Google said it has expanded support for subdomains and also has compiled more information on how site names work in Google Search. Plus, Google had documented a few workarounds for when it does not work. - Google Officially Rolling Out New Search Settings Interface
Ashwarya, Google Search Community Manager, posted that Google Search will soon roll out "a new experience to make access to key items easier on the Search Results Page on the web." In short, it is a new way to access Google Search Settings on desktop and mobile. - Google Merchant Center Next Wants You To Add Your Customer Support Details
Google wants you to add your customer support details to Google Merchant Center Next. Google said, "Shoppers are often dissatisfied when they can't easily find customer support and returns related information when they're shopping online." So if you add this information, it will improve your shoppers experience. - Google Business Profiles Food Ordering Settings
Google has updated the Google Business Profile food ordering section with more options and settings. This feature was in the old Google My Business section but was updated recently in the new Google Business Profile interface. - Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Ranking Cooling But Chatter Heated, AI Reviews, TLDs, Programmatic SEO, UI Changes, Bing Dark, Local, Earnings & More
This week, we noticed that many, but not all, of the Google rank tracking tools were cooling, but then later this week, the SEO chatter heated up. Google Merchant Center says AI-generated reviews are spam. John, Gary... - Google Brazil Seesaw
Here is something you can all relate to, a Google seesaw. The ups and downs of the seesaw, feeling excited but also nauseous at the same time... Here is a seesaw I spotted at the Google Brazil office.
Other Great Search Threads:
- DSA and Display campaigns will continue to be available., AdsLiaison on Twitter
- Apologies for this. I'll pass this along to the team. Sometimes we don't detect the language of a page correctly for various reasons. This can happen with pages of any language. We'll look more closely at this to understand why we detected incorrectly to , Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
- Googlebot will probably be cautious / slower with crawling in the beginning, and ramp up again. Otherwise no problem., John Mueller on Twitter
- If you're shown in search, but not getting a lot of traffic, either not a lot of real people are searching for those queries, or your snippet is turning people off. You can see the number of impressions in search console, sometimes that helps to decide wh, John Mueller on Mastodon
Search Engine Land Stories:
- GA4 audiences can now be used with third-party segments in Ad Manager
- X (Twitter) slashes video ad prices to lure back advertisers
- Microsoft Ads pilots UET Insights dashboard with new traffic data
- Google is updating its Shocking Content policy to exclude gameplay imagery
- Unleashing the potential of Google reviews for local SEO
- 5 leadership traps new SEO team managers should avoid
- Google Ads broad match: What the data reveals for PPC marketers
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- GA4 Integration with Shopify, Go Fish Digital
- Introducing new website insights for UET Tag, Microsoft Advertising
- Norway DPA declared Google Analytics use before EU-US DPF decision illegal, IAPP
Industry & Business
- Search Central Live Tokyo and Jakarta: it's a wrap, Google Search Central Blog
- How the SEO industry could do more to help fight against climate change, Matt Tutt
Links & Content Marketing
- The Ultimate Guide to Guest Blogging in 2023 for Increased Organic Traffic, Problogger
- Accurate Content Checklist for Humans and AI, Content Marketing Institute
- Barbie Newsjacking Works in B2B Marketing, Too, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Android Auto is getting a new Google Maps redesign, 9to5Google
- Google Maps rolls out redesigned sidebar on Android Auto, Android Police
- Google Maps’ latest upgrade is a massive time saver, Tom's Guide
Mobile & Voice
- Google abandons Fuchsia plans for Assistant smart speakers, Android Police
- Google supercharges Maps voice commands with Assistant speech recognition, Android Police
SEO
- Advanced Crawl Optimisation for News Websites, SEO for Google News
- Dedupe-csv | Remove Duplicates From CSV With Command-Line, Builtvisible
- How to Audit and Optimize Your Website for Interaction to Next Paint (INP), Sara Taher
- How to find SEO keywords to rank a new domain quickly, Wix SEO Hub
- Indexwatch US: SEO Visibility Winners Jan-July 2023, SISTRIX
- SEO For Travel Websites, Hallam
- How To Remove Sitemap From Google Search Console, SEOSLY
- Reasons why accurate SEO forecasting is crucial for your business, Elite Business Magazine
PPC
- How to Set up Google Ads?, PPC Expo
- New Consent Management Platform requirements take effect January 16, 2024, Google AdSense Help
Search Features
- 4 Google Shopping tips to help you decorate your dorm, Google Blog
- Chrome may let you peek at website pages before clicking a link with this upcoming feature, Chrome Unboxed
- How to customize Apple News, AppleInsider
Other Search
- Google: Don't trust what our chatbot Bard tells you, BBC News
- What is RT-2? Google DeepMind’s vision-language-action model for robotics, Google Blog
Feedback:
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