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:
- August 2019 Google Webmaster Report
We had a busy month in terms of Google SEO and webmaster related topics; probably the biggest were the numerous unconfirmed updates - one being nicknamed the Maverick update. Google confirmed launching.... - Vlog #7: Paul Shapiro of Catalyst On Technical SEO Beyond Crawling & Indexing
In episode #7 of the vlog series at the Search Engine Roundtable I interviewed Paul Shapiro (@fighto) Senior Partner, Head of SEO at Catalyst... - Video: Voice Search In The Google Search Console Not Recording Google Assistant Results?
We've been hearing for a while that Google may be adding voice search filters to the Google Search Console reports. This would enable you to see how people discover your site using voice and Google Assistant, differently than they would by typing in search queries into Google. But did you know that when the Google Assistant reads a featured snippet, that is not counted in Search Console at all? - Google: Word Count Is Not A Ranking Factor
Google's John Mueller said in a Reddit thread that Google does not use word count as a ranking factor. He wrote "Word count is not a ranking factor." I mean, this is literally short and to the point and I am not sure how many ways you can look at this and interpret this a different way? - Test: Google Local Pack Carousel With Ad At The Top
Mike Blumenthal spotted this last week, where Google was testing showing not just the local pack carousel, but an ad slot in that local pack carousel. We've seen lots of variations of the local pack carousel - a scrollable carousel of local results. But this one has an ad unit and that ad unit sticks to the top above the organic local pack results. - Danny Sullivan Says He Is The Same Danny Sullivan After Joining Google
This is a topic I'd likely be very biased about but I decided to cover it because if it was another Googler talking about the same thing, I'd probably cover that as well. In short, Danny Sullivan who is now at Google, is defending his reputation to the SEO community after joining Google again. - Google Surfboard LA Pool Table
Here is a photo from the Google Los Angeles office, where they have a pool table with the Google logo and in the Google logo is a surfboard and LA. Why? I guess the Googlers out there like to surf?
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- You can also add the hosting site at the end of the search query to filter it, as shown with YouTube and Vimeo examples. https://t.co/W3w7W7HLCQ, Itamar Blauer on Twitter
- I'm sure you'd be very surprised (or not) if i told you who registe, Gary Illyes on Twitter
- Live in or visiting NYC any time soon and open to being a guest on @ChromiumDev's "The State of the Web" video series? I'd like to hear from you! What's your availability? What web topics do you have expertise in?, Rick Viscomi on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Location Data Strategies to Improve Customer Experiences
- Google to offer mandated ‘search choice’ to EU Android users in 2020
- Google tests carousel local pack with ads included
- Finding content marketing opportunities that influence search performance
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Digital Debrief – Pathing in Google Analytics, Krista Seiden
- Web + App = Unified Measurement with Google Analytics, Measurelab
- Why Google Optimize offers boundless opportunities for Australian companies , Startup Daily
Industry & Business
- Should Google Link Out and Endorse SEOs?, Bill Hartzer
Local & Maps
- What Happened When I Removed My Google My Business Listing, Bill Hartzer
- Top 5 Map APIs for developers (Features and Cost), Living Gossip
Mobile & Voice
- Amazon Gives Option to Disable Human Review of Alexa Recordings, Bloomberg
- Every Google Home and Google Assistant command you can give right now, CNET
- Google Assistant can read out text replies on WhatsApp and Telegram, Engadget
SEO
- Byrdie and Mydomaine return to form after DotDash acquisition, SISTRIX
- How to estimate a low-quality indexing problem by page type using Google Analytics, Search Console, SEMrush, and Advanced Query Operators, GSQI
- Perfecting XML Sitemaps, Search News Central
PPC
