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.
Another weekend, another unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update to report on - did you see ranking fluctuations? Google may be investigating on why some bigger publishers rank better for topics not of their expertise. Google Search Console doesn't filter out all bot traffic. Google said not all core updates after the same aspects of its search results. And so much more...
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update August 6th Through The Weekend?
Ever since Friday morning, August 6th, I've been seeing signals of a possible Google Search ranking algorithm update. This looks like a typical unconfirmed Google search update with both chatter from the SEO community and the automated tracking tools picking up the fluctuations. - Google Investigating Cases Where Big Brand News Sites Ranking Above Small Specialized Publishers
Over the past couple of weeks or so, I have been hearing complaints from the SEO and publishing worlds that since some of the more recent core updates, Google has been ranking big publisher brands well above smaller, more specialized publishers that may know the topic better. - Google Search Console Doesn't Filter Out All Bot Traffic
Google's John Mueller confirmed that Google Search Console does not filter out all bot traffic. John said on Twitter in response to someone suspecting seeing bot traffic in the Performance report, "sometimes it can be from bots - we don't necessarily filter all of that out in Search Console." - Each Google Core Updates Can Affect Search Rankings Differently
Google's John Mueller clarified on Friday that when Google pushes out new core updates that each one can be unique and impact Google's core rankings differently. So if your site is impacted by one, it might not be impact by another core update. - Vlog #132: Brett Bodofsky On His Passion For Paid Search & Sharing With Others
Brett Bodofsky is the senior paid media specialist at Elumynt, he explained how he got into doing paid search. He actually went from being a web developer to a paid search specialist... - Google: Alt Text Is Important For SEO
Newsflash, Google's Martin Splitt said that "alt text is important for SEO too." I did ask him how important, but he would not disclose that information. Here is more of the context around this on Twitter. - Yahoo Sign Taken Down At Sunnyvale Headquarters
This is sad, here is a photo from Twitter of the Yahoo sign in front of the Yahoo Sunnyvale, California headquarters, being taken down. You can see tons of legacy photos of this iconic sign on Shutte
Other Great Search Threads:
- Looks like Google is testing infinite scroll again but this time it stops after a certain number of iterations as you eventually get a load more button https://t.co/PVFPRnRuVc, Mordy Oberstein on Twitter
- That's fine - there's nothing you need to do there. We're not indexing that for search (and also, there's no duplicate content penalty). My guess is GA is a bit confused there, but I don't know the details o, John Mueller on Twitter
- No, Kevin_Monier , we removed it about 2 years ago as HTML canonical tags are now adopted (please adopt), as we see less issues, and as our tech should detect most useless URLs parameters. So let’s, Fabrice Canel on Twitter
- Ah, got it, thanks! Having multiple links to the same URL within a single page doesn't cause any problems. Sometimes it makes sense to do that for usability reasons. It doesn't change crawling, so it wouldn't a, John Mueller on Twitter
- Also, if you have to dig to create a list of URLs, chances are those are not URLs which are causing any problems, and having them removed from search won't change any, John Mueller on Twitter
- We don't validate certificates when crawling and indexing. As far as I know, mostly take that into account when determining canonicals (if we have the same HTTP & HTTPS, but the HTTPS has an invalid certificate,, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Audiences in Google Analytics 4, Evolytics
- Cross-Domain Tracking in Google Analytics 4 - (What You Need To Know), Data Driven U
- How to Establish Access Management in Google Analytics, CMSWire
- The New GA: Engagement, Haden Interactive
- Increase Analytics Influence: Leverage Predictive Metrics!, Avinash Kaushik
Industry & Business
- Google planning Silicon Valley campus, hardware lab, CNBC
- Thank you for celebrating Connect with us, Local Guides Connect
Links & Content Marketing
- Try these Storytelling Structures To Build, Strengthen, or Repair Your Brand, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Google My Business Disables Select Categories for Service Area Businesses, Local University
- UTM Tagging for Google My Business, Moz
Mobile & Voice
SEO
- How Byrdie Toppled Billion Dollar Beauty Brands (Without Ads), Terakeet
- Long Tail SEO Strategy: How To Improve CTR In Search Results, SEO Arcade
- How to Optimize Your FAQ Schema to Maximize Positive Outcomes, Juris Digital
PPC
- Five PPC Trends For Dealerships to Watch, DealerOn
Search Features
Other Search
Feedback:
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