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: Mobile-First Indexing Unrelated To Search Ranking Algorithm Changes
Google's John Mueller said on Twitter that all the search ranking algorithm changes we have been following, some confirmed, are "not related to mobile indexing." Some are thinking that all the fluctuations are due to Google ramping up the mobile-first indexing switch over, but Google is saying this is not the case. - Google: Crawl Rate Increases Can Be Related To Mobile-First Indexing Switch
Google has said this before, but it is worth repeating, that an increase in crawl rates may be a sign that you are switching over to mobile-first indexing. John Mueller repeated it again on Twitter the other day and below are some stats to show you what you might see. - Google Lens Now Built Into Pixel 3 Camera
Google has built in Google Lens directly into the new Pixel 3 camera. It is super impressive and basically lets you tap on something while looking at the camera and it will give you information about what you are looking at. So phone numbers can be clicked on to dial, products can come up in Google Shopping to buy and landmarks can be given search results. - Google Home Hub - Google Assistant With A Display
I love the Google Home devices, I think they are incredibly useful when you are not sitting by a computer and sometimes even then. Google announced yesterday a new Google Home device named Google Home Hub. It has a display and you can interact with the display, watch it, touch it and see more details. - Google Warns They Will Test Google Assistant's Duplex Next Month
Google announced yesterday that they will start publicly testing the Google Assistant Duplex feature that allows Google AI to call a venue and make an appointment or reservation for you automatically. They demonstrated this at Google I/O back in May and now Google is warning restaurants in New York, Atlanta, Phoenix and the San Francisco Bay Area about this. - One Year Google Work Anniversary Googleversary Email
Here is the email Google sends their employees on their work anniversary. This one is specific to the first year anniversary and it was shared by Danny Sullivan who started October 9, 2017. Pretty fu
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- The 'double click' penalty, WebmasterWorld
- The updates have been insane recently (fast and furious). Seems like a radical shift in how things are being evaluated. Any way you can provide some more information? Would be GREATLY appreciated by site owners. E.g. https://t.co/, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- This is the kind of thing that needs to be coded, not done manually. If you drop your sites structure, you lose a lot of context for your pages. These types of issues break site migrations.… https://t.co/WZHduy7J1l, John Mueller on Twitter
- Wow google using lithium for local guide forum/network @google given up writing their own code? very nice followed footer link from google to lithium https://t.co/sp7AHHCCAU cc @rustybrick @JohnMu #naturallinks, gabs on Twitter
- I find it a bit broad, it's not tied to the location of the script tags. Modern sites are more than just HTML, there are a lot of technical details that can make a difference. It's hard, sometimes simplification helps, sometime, John Mueller on Twitter
- Microsoft Halts Roll Out of Windows Update (version 1809), WebmasterWorld
- URLs for Certain KWs Getting Completely Omitted from SERPs, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- The Open Marketing Cloud: Mautic’s flexible, budget-friendly marketing automation platform
- Moz acquires STAT Search Analytics
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Are you getting the most from your Google Analytics account? 6 steps to optimise your data and provide meaningful reports, The Ideal Marketing Company
- Data Normalization Made Easy With GTM, Periscopix
Industry & Business
- Google challenges record $5 billion EU antitrust fine, Reuters
- The Battle for the Home, Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Links & Promotion Building
Local & Maps
- Google Reduced Post Visibility but Now Also Showing Them in Google Maps., Mike Blumenthal
- Google’s Waze is making a big, nationwide bet on carpooling, The Verge
- How to Handle Bad Reviews on the Internet, Hallam Internet
Mobile & Voice
SEO
- Anatomy of a Negative SEO Attack, Raven Blog
- Can a person be featured on Google without being an entity?, Brodie's Blog
- Keyword Cannibalization Impact on SEO - A Threat or an Opportunity?, Cognitive SEO
- Keyword Cannibalization: How to Keep it From Harming Your On-Site SEO, SEM Rush
PPC
- Holiday Feed Strategy: Key Terms For Your Google Shopping Feed, Metric Theory
- Using PPC Testing for Account Innovation, PPC Hero
Search Features
- Google Safe Search Results Patent and Reranking or Removing Results, Go Fish Digital
