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 having top doctors or top authors write your content is not a direct ranking signal. Google's John Mueller said sometimes black hat SEO works but it doesn't mean you should do it. Google My Business has a new crowd attribute section. Google wants you to tell them why they should give you more exportable Search Console data. And an interesting poll asks which search engine can compete with Google. Plus I posted the weekly video today.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Search News Buzz Video Recap: Frequent Google Algorithm Updates, Quality Raters Guidelines Updated, IndexNow With Bing & Yandex & More
First, sorry for the static in the beginning, it stops after 30 seconds. This week, we had another Google search ranking algorithm update to report on... - Google Asks How You'd Use More Exportable Data From Search Console
Daniel Waisberg of Google asked on Twitter how would you use the data, if Google let you export more data from Google Search Console. Daniel wrote "Many people ask Google to expand the limits for exporting *Search performance data* (not talking about index coverage here). How would you use the extra data to improve the web?" - Poll: Which Search Engine Can Compete With Google? DuckDuckGo, Bing, Brave Or Neeva
Brodie Clark posted a poll on Twitter that has about a thousand responses, asking "which search engine has the best chance of competing with Google over the next 10 years?" The search engine that got the most votes was DuckDuckGo, beating out Microsoft Bing. - Google My Business Crowd Attributes For LGBTQ+ Friendly & Transgender Safespace
Google My Business seems to have added a new business attribute named "crowd." In this, you can mark you business as being LGBTQ+ friendly and a transgender safespace. We covered that Google showed the LGBTQ+ friendly on some businesses back in 2020 but Google added labels like this in 2018. - Google: Sometimes Black Hat SEO Works & You Don't Get Caught But...
Google's John Mueller admitted on Twitter that sometimes black hat SEO and risky practices work and you don't always get caught. But he added that sometimes you can get caught and "not getting caught doesn't mean it works." But he added building a business on these practices "seems like a terrible idea." - Google: Author Not A Direct Ranking Factor
Google's John Mueller said a bit ago in a video hangout that the author of an article is not a direct ranking factor. He said this when he was asked if it matters if you have a recognized and authoritative doctor write or review your medical content when it comes to Google's E-A-T recommendations. - Google Swing Dance Performers - Oldie
This looks old, really old, not just because these musicians are playing a swing set in old fashion clothing so it looks like it is from the 50s? But because the video quality is not great. But this
Other Great Search Threads:
- Does google tend to favor shorter titles now?, WebmasterWorld
- It sounds like it's sometimes having trouble loading the CSS for rendering, which usually isn't critical (content is there). Fixing it could involve reducing the number of embedded URLs (bundling, etc) & speed, John Mueller on Twitter
- Report: PayPal In Talks to Acquire Pinterest, WebmasterWorld
- We built a free tool to report Core Web Vitals from Google's Chrome User Experience Report dataset. There's never been a faster or easier way to learn if your site passes Google's speed assessment. Get yours here: https:, Ben Schwarz on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- How to fix the SEO issues that keep you from achieving your goals
- Consumer interest in nightlife, entertainment, fitness businesses surge; Thursday’s daily brief
- Google extends its shopping integrations to include BigCommerce
- Facebook Ads announces new performance, reporting and measurement products in light of iOS privacy changes
- Google search results are more volatile this year than last year, says data provider
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- An Easy Guide to Google Conversion Tracking (Both Analytics & Ads), weDevs
- GA4: Migration Plan - The Helicopter Method, The Coloring In Department
Industry & Business
- From Apple to Google, tech workers say there's a cost to speaking out, NPR
- Roku calls out Google over YouTube contract stalemate, The Verge
Links & Content Marketing
- Top 10 Business Benefits Of Content Marketing, Search Engine Journal
- 10 Ingredients for a Successful Content Marketing Mix, Search Engine Journal
- 3 Hot Takes: Bad Thought Leadership, Irrelevant Content, and a New Media Network, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- Background Checks No Longer Required for Some LSA Verticals, Local University
- Apple Hopes More Users Will Replace Google Maps With Its Updated Navigation App, AutoEvolution
Mobile & Voice
- Google Assistant's Quick Phrases debut on the Pixel 6 series, XDA Developers
SEO
- Does Google rewriting titles prevent us from testing them for SEO impact?, Search Pilot
- Google's Quality Raters Guidelines Demystified for SEOs, Ahrefs
- Let's talk Core Web Vitals, Search Off the Record
- Optimizing resource loading with Priority Hints, Web Dev
- Performance as a Ranking Factor: State of the Web and CWV, Moz
- How To Switch Domains Without Losing Rankings & Traffic, Hallam
PPC
- “Bowling” automatic disapproved ads remover, Google Developers Blog
- BigCommerce merchants can now reach new customers across Google, Google Blog
- Microsoft and Shopify partner up, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
- Learn a new word every day, Google Blog
Other Search
- Chrome 96 Beta: Conditional Focus, Priority Hints, and More, Chromium Blog
- Our Content Removal Transparency Report for January to June 2021, Google Blog
- Tencent Blames WeChat Access for Search Engines on Loophole, Bloomberg
Feedback:
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