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 said the helpful content update currently does not go after hosted third-party content parasite SEO efforts. Bing Webmaster Tools released a big update for performance reports, with Bing Chat data but no way to see Chat data alone. Bing Webmaster Tool's sitemap report had a really big upgrade too. Bing is doing away with the disavow link tool. Bing Chat launched personalized answers. And I posted a longer than normal SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Bing Webmaster Tools Performance Report Update Gets New Data But Bing Chat Data Hidden
I am excited but also feel let down that the new Bing Webmaster Tools Performance report gained all these new sources of data, including Bing Chat, but the only one you cannot filter on is Bing Chat. We got Bing Images, Bing Videos, Bing News, Bing Knowledge filters, but Bing Chat is combined with Web Search. - Bing Webmaster Tools To Remove Disavow Links Tool
Fabrice Canel from Bing also announced that the disavow link tool will soon be removed from Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing said their algorithms and artificial intelligence capabilities are now so good that they don't need you to disavow bad links, they can figure it out on their own. - Bing Chat Personalized Answers - aka Memory
Bing Chat announced yesterday at the AI event a new Bing Chat feature that uses "memory" - something we covered a couple of times here before. This is called personalized answers and Bing Chat will use your previous queries to give you a more personalized response. - Bing Webmaster Tools Sitemap Index Coverage Is Fully Live
Bing Webmaster Tools began testing its new Sitemap Index Coverage report in June after it was announced a few months prior. As of a few weeks ago, it went fully live, but Microsoft didn't announce it until yesterday at the keynote Fabrice Canel gave at PubCon. - Google's Helpful Content Update Doesn't Target Third-Party Hosted Content Yet
When the September 2023 Google helpful content update came out, Google added new information to its documentation around this update. One thing was specific to this documentation change was around hosted third-party content. But Gary Illyes from Google said at PubCon last night that it was not yet implemented into the actual algorithm. - Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Helpful Content Update Hits, New Bard Features, Bing Webmaster Tools Updates & Quality In Search
Google's helpful content update is still rolling out, and the SEO chatter is super heated this week, with tons of sites reporting huge drops. But the Google tracking tools are not showing heated weather, in fact... - Google Irvine Office's Eat/Play Area
Here is a photo from one of the Google's offices, the one in Irvine, California, of its play and eat area. It looks cool, relaxing and fun.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Are you a beginner or experienced website owner looking to get the most of your website on Google Search? Then subscribe to the Google Search Central YouTube channel as @g33konaut discusses tips and tricks with the new series, Google Search Central on X
- I hate to ruin my reputation, but I don't push all the buttons at Google :-)., John Mueller on X
- It looks like you have around 300-400 pages indexed, I would absolutely not worry about crawl budget (until you have 100's of millions of pages). I would fix the robots.txt file regardless, because it could surprise you if you don't know what you have set, John Mueller on X
- They're either linked to from your site (which you could fix), or from other sites (which you can't change, but you can block with robots.txt). It's fine to block URLs that you don't want crawled, it's your choice & doesn't negatively affect the rest of t, John Mueller on X
- TikTok Search now displaying external links to Google Search, Radu Oncescu on X
- You'll have to wait for the reconsideration request to go through, assuming you cleaned up the issues involved., John Mueller on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- AMA with Google’s Gary Illyes: 15 quick SEO takeaways
- Microsoft unveils new AI tools as it looks to ‘transform search and advertising’
- Google’s helpful content update did not yet target hosted third-party content
- Google is planning to update its Misleading Representation policy
- Google: Expect more simplification of Search results
- TikTok launches new tool for improved insight into customer journey
- 5 new YouTube features coming soon to help creators
- Bing Chat rolling out personalized answers
- Actionable. Digital. Free. Get your SMX Next sneak peek here.
- Google Ads for lead generation: A 6-step framework for success
- Google search antitrust trial updates: Everything you need to know (so far)
- Department of Justice removes key Google evidence from its website
- What your enterprise SEO audit may be missing
- Wix adds IndexNow support for faster indexing
- Bing Webmaster Tools performance report gains new data but you can’t filter by just Bing Chat data
- Bing Webmaster Tools disavow link tool is going away
- Bing explains the new Sitemap Index Coverage report
- How to leverage neuromarketing for SEO
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Apple’s Steve Jobs Disciple and Google Defector to Get Spotlight at Search Trial, Bloomberg
- Google at the 2023 United Nations General Assembly, Google Blog
- Google Search Is Not Feeling So Lucky Anymore, Seeking Alpha
- Why Microsoft Windows Boss Panos Panay Made a Surprise Move to Amazon, Business Insider
- The Tragedy of Google Search, The Atlantic
Links & Content Marketing
- 5 Content Discovery Trends To Inform Your Marketing Strategy, Content Marketing Institute
- Go to guide for how to distribute your content, Compass Digital Strategies
- How Often Should You Refresh Content? [Data Study], Siege Media
- How to Create Content Briefs [Step-by-Step Guide + Template], Semrush
Local & Maps
- Yelp New Index to Combat Deceptive Reviews, Street Fight
- Local Pack Clustering - Making Sense of Google's Ranking Patterns, Sterling Sky Inc
Mobile & Voice
- Amazon Alexa beats Google Assistant to AI revamp alongside new Echo, Fire TV hardware, 9to5Google
- The age of smart displays is coming to a premature end, Android Police
SEO
- Hobo SEO Checklist, Hobo
- SERP Signs of a Trusted Brand, Practical Ecommerce
- Wix joins Bing and IndexNow for faster search indexing, Wix SEO Hub
- What is Black Hat SEO?, Koozai
PPC
- 7 Competitive Analysis Templates to Improve Your Performance & Get Ahead, WordStream
- 5 PPC Tips For Technology Companies, Search Engine Journal
Search Features
- How to use Google News like an RSS feed reader, Android Police
- Microsoft’s unified Copilot is coming to Windows, Edge, and everywhere else, The Verge
- TikTok may start serving you Google Search results, TechCrunch
Other Search
- Distilling step-by-step: Outperforming larger language models with less training data and smaller model sizes, Google Research Blog
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