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.
This past weekend there was yet another unconfirmed Google search ranking update but this one had a lot more chatter from the SEO community. Google may be rolling out the things to consider, refine this search and broaden this search feature. Google has a new policy that prohibits false claims that undermine the democratic process. Google has a new review snippet policy that disallows author names longer than a 100 characters. Should Google take its time debugging sites built to manipulate Google Search?
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Possible Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update October 15th - October 18th
I lead with I am sorry for yet reporting on another Google search ranking algorithm update - another unconfirmed one. But like I said on Friday, there seemed to be one ticking up and it seems Google did have some fluctuations from October 15th through today and the chatter in the SEO community supports it this time. - Google May Be Rolling Out Things To Consider, Refine This Search & Broaden This Search
Some SEOs are now seeing the Things To Consider, Refine This Search and Broaden This Search features live in the Google search results. I do not see them yet but they were announced at the Search On event a few weeks ago and they should be going live soon according to that announcement. - New Google Policy Prohibits False Claims That Undermine Democratic Process
Google has posted a new policy in the merchant center help area that is "prohibiting offers that make claims that are demonstrably false and could significantly undermine participation or trust in an electoral or democratic process." - New: Google Review Snippets Author Name Must Be Less Than 100 Characters
Google has updated its review snippet structured data guidelines to say the author name of the reviewer must be less than a 100 characters. If it is longer than 100 characters your page won't be eligible for an author-based review snippet, Google said. - Should Google Debug Indexing Issues With Site That Have AI Driven Content?
Over the weekend a webmaster asked John Mueller of Google for assistance around why Google was not indexing his site. John looked at it quickly and noticed the site had AI driven content and then responded that Google shouldn't be spending time on testing sites when there are other sites that need the assistance first. - Vlog #142: Miriam Schwab: From SEO Agency World To Start Up World
Miriam Schwab is the co-founder and CEO of Strattic, a static hosting and publishing platform for WordPress. I've known Miriam for many many years, maybe as far back as 2004 or 2005... - Tokyo Themed Google Conference Room With Wheat Paste Poster Wall
Last week, Google redesigned the theme of a conference room at one of their offices to be a Tokyo themed conference room. The designed used wheat paste poster wall for this work. They posted this on
Other Great Search Threads:
- I suspect this wouldn't be the first place they'd try to cut corners, so it seems like a red flag ⛳️ to me. It doesn't change rankings, users aren't dumb & notice it too, so why risk it? I can also offer a l, John Mueller on Twitter
- Dynamic URLs (assuming you mean those with querystring parameters like page.php?id=123 ) are fine., John Mueller on Twitter
- I used to ask what is pagerank in interviews too - the responses were mostly bad, and I realized it had become essentially a trivia question. Trivia questions are bad for interviews, they just filter for t, John Mueller on Twitter
- This is why we use a variety of factors for search -- you don't need to be perfect, and most sites aren't., John Mueller on Twitter
- It's LIVE! We're proud to share The State of Technical SEO Report, a collaboration between @techseowomen & @airadigital 🎉 Input from over 850 SEOs, along with commentary from 17 community members 💪🏽 https://t.c, Women in Tech SEO on Twitter
- These tools show user-visible field data, where we have to have enough data before we report on it. If there are changes in how users access these pages, that can result in whether or not the threshold is, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Messy SEO Part 3: How to find cached images and improve user experience
- Microsoft Advertisers can analyze post-click behavior, analyze engagement with new Clarity integration
- The possibilities are infinite (or at least the mobile SERPs are); Friday’s daily brief
- What does Google’s infinite scroll on mobile mean for advertisers?
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Active Users in Google Analytics 4 - (What You Need To Know), Data Driven U
- What’s New in Google Analytics 4 and Why it Matters to Marketers, Medium
- Get the power of Microsoft Clarity, Microsoft Advertising
Industry & Business
- Google CEO: Climate Fight Forces Us to Push Boundaries, Bloomberg
- Google creates cybersecurity team to help respond to attacks, Axios
- Google’s New Green Campus Brings Sustainability to Silicon Valley, Bloomberg
- How YouTube Makes Sure Its Hitmakers Don’t Stumble, Wall Street Journal
- Autumn of Search: In-Person & Virtual SEO Events for B2B Marketers, Online Marketing Blog
- The State of Technical SEO Report from Women in Tech SEO and Aira, Aira
Links & Content Marketing
- Why You Should Doubt Headline Best Practices Advice (Except This), Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Google Maps Rival Announces New Big Update as Google’s Driving Mode Is Almost Here, AutoEvolution
- Latest Google Maps Version Hides a New Feature to Make Navigation More Straightforward, AutoEvolution
- New Google Maps widget brings its most handy features to your home screen, Android Central
Mobile & Voice
- Apple rehires former HomePod engineer to get its software back on track, The Verge
- Google Home & Away Routines get new location trigger, 9to5Google
SEO
- What You Need to Know About Google MUM, Know Agency
- The ROI of SEO, Moz
- Run Away From Anyone Offering "Google First Page Guaranteed", Dan Rich
- How to Get Images in Mobile Search Results, Sterling Sky Inc
PPC
- Quarter 4 (Q4) on Microsoft Advertising: Reach your audiences efficiently and effectively this festive season, Microsoft Advertising
- The Download, Episode 9: Your audience, Microsoft Advertising
- Apple’s privacy changes create windfall for its own advertising business, Financial Times
Search Features
- When Google People Also Ask Scraping Goes Horribly Wrong, tl;dr Marketing
Other Search
- AI lab DeepMind becomes profitable and bolsters relationship with Google, VentureBeat
- 10-Minute Sales Research with True Competitor, Moz
Feedback:
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