Daily Search Forum Recap: August 27, 2018

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: We Take Web Site Spam Take Overs In Search Very Seriously
  Google's John Mueller said in a webmaster hangout video that Google's spam teams take it super serious when a web site is taken over by another one in the search results. If you see that happen, Google wants to jump on those issues and tackle them quickly.
• Google's John Mueller Is In Regular Contact With Web Spam & Search Quality Teams
  Google's John Mueller has confirmed that he is in regular contact with both web spam team and the search quality teams at Google. There are many people who feel John and others from his webmaster trends analysts team are not in touch with those teams. Here is John saying that is not true - and even more so, they are in "regular" contact with them.
• Google: Redirecting All Your URLs To Your Home Page Is A Bad Practice
  Google's John Mueller said on Friday in a webmaster video that redirecting all of your URLs to your home page is bad practice. Instead, you should redirect those URLs on a one by one basis to the proper new location.
• The Google Search Console New Link Report Has A Latest Links Download
  Google's new link report in the beta Google Search Console does have a download latest links button. It was just hard to find as Bryson Meunier said on Twitter. It is on the main links screen, it is not within the external links screen.
• Google Search Console Reports Removes Anonymous Queries
  Last week we reported that some were notice huge drops in their Google Search Console reports when using the query filter. Well, Google just posted on their data anomalies page that they have removed what they call "anonymous query."
• Google Students Big Social Media Post Sign
  This is funny, some women at Google Dublin holding a cut out sign that looks like a post on Instagram, where they stand behind it and take a picture and then share that picture on Instagram - of cours

Other Great Search Forum Threads:

• It's live!!! The August 2018 report on Security in the Alexa Top 1 Million is now available. New metrics, new insights, new data and some interesting patterns. 🌎🔒 https://t.co/drzqCdohtW, Scott Helme on Twitter
• Putting a cloak over that crawler would probably make it stop, but that seems a bit harsh.…, John Mueller on Twitter
• We're pretty patient there; these are made to be machine-readable, not for users.…, John Mueller on Twitter
• Cleaning the slate by changing your domain?, WebmasterWorld

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Why websites should be using HSTS to improve security and SEO
• Google Ads introduces ‘ad strength’ indicator & reporting for responsive search ads
• Get started with marketing automation–learn the terms you need to know
• ‘Bing spotlight’ offers a news hub for information on evolving stories, powered by AI and human editors
• Case study: The tale of two internal link tweaks
• Google Search Console query reports now exclude ‘anonymous query’ data from chart totals

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

• Alphabet’s Plans for a China Comeback Go Beyond Google Search, New York Times
• [Video] Does Bing stand a chance against Google? A hands-on comparison, WinCentral

Local & Maps

• 11 Local SEO Tips for Better Hotel Rankings, Hospitality Net
• Airbus venture arm backing LeoLabs to build the 'Google Maps' of satellites, CNBC
• Google Posts mobile test separates Posts from listings in SERPs, Brodie's Blog

Mobile & Voice

• The UX of Voice User Interface (VUI): What it Means for Brands, DAC
• Marketers Must Rethink Mobile Search Content Served To Kids, MediaPost
• Organic Influencer Marketing: Here’s Why It’s Time Has Come, Stone Temple

SEO

• 11 Essential Tasks of an SEO Agency, Practical Ecommerce
• 20 Essential Technical SEO Tools for Agencies, Search Engine Journal

PPC

• What You Need to Know About Google's New Expanded Text Ad Format, Seer Interactive

Search Features

• 2019 holiday travel planning tips and trends, Google Blog
• Google's Featured Snippet Videos Now Overlay in Search Results, The SEM Post