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 newsletter is a lot bigger than the average, there was just a lot of news in the past day and I am saving some for tomorrow. We had Google tell us the hidden gems search ranking feature has been live for months and it is not part of the helpful content system. Google launched a new personalized version of its search results. Google has a new follow button and a new labs experiment for notes within Search. Google SGE added new features for shopping and gift ideas. Google Search Console added a new robots.txt report but dropped the robots.txt tester tool. Google supports an updated courses information structured data. And more to come tomorrow - sorry for the rather large newsletter.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Hidden Gems Ranking Algorithm Update
Google announced the hidden gems ranking system has been rolling out. This hidden gems update helps promote content deep within forum posts, social media, and blog posts that Google Search thinks provide authentic content based on personal insights and experiences. - Google To Personalize Search Results To Your Previous Searches
Google also announced that later this year, in the US, Google will make it easier for you to find your favorite sites by showing you sites you view more often, more often in the search results. Plus, Google will make the search results more personalized with Perspectives, highlight more creator profiles and more. - Google Search Adds Follow Feature
Google is rolling out a new search feature to let you follow topics. You can click on a follow button and Google will not only show you more of those topics in your Discover feed but also show you more of that topic in Google Search. - Google Search Labs Adds Notes To Search Results
Google Search is testing a new notes feature where you can add your own notes to the search results and also see the notes others have left on that search result. This is a Search Labs experiment that you need to opt into and launched in the US and India on mobile and within the Google app. - New Google Search Console Robots.txt Report Replaced Robots.txt Tester Tool
Google announced a new robots.txt report within Google Search Console and at the same time said it will sunset the old robots.txt tester tool. The new tool shows which robots.txt files Google found for the top 20 hosts on your site, the last time they were crawled, and any warnings or errors encountered. - Bing Chat Now Named Copilot
Microsoft has rebranded Bing Chat to Copilot. "Beginning today, Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise are becoming Copilot, with commercial data protection enforced when any eligible user is signed in with Microsoft Entra ID," they wrote yesterday. - Google Adds New Course Carousel Info & Search Console Reports
Google announced it has expanded its courses rich results so you can now provide new data such as pricing, educational level, ratings, and length with structured data. Google said this data can appear in a new carousel feature within Google Search. - Google SGE Gift Ideas, Generate Images For Apparel & Men's Virtual Try On
Google announced some new Search Generative Experience (SGE) features for shopping, including gift ideas, generating images for apparel purposes, and more virtual try-on features. - Google Dublin Pool Table View
Google loves their office pool tables, I mean, I suspect they have purchased hundreds of pool tables over the years. Here is one in the Dublin office. The pool table is cool but where they placed the
Other Great Search Threads:
- Report: Yandex NV Plans to Sell Russian Assets, WebmasterWorld
- Googlebot renders pages with Chrome, so it's worth checking that your pages work with the new cookie world., John Mueller on X
- Seeing "People Also Search For" on steroids recently... E.g. I see it twice in the SERP very close to one another. Sometimes with images and then a list, followed by a straight list. Do users need to see that many PASF modules in on, Glenn Gabe on X
- All formats (including sitemap index) limit a single sitemap to 50MB (uncompressed) or 50,000 URLs. If you have a larger file or more URLs, you must break your sitemap into multiple sitemaps, John Mueller on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Bing adds AI-generation captions to some search result snippets
- New Yahoo Search experience to start rolling out in the first weeks of 2024
- Google Analytics 4 rolls out new Admin experience
- Google testing new SGE ad format
- Microsoft rebrands Bing Chat as Copilot
- Google Search Console adds robots.txt report
- Google Search ranking improvement aims to surface hidden gems
- Google launches new personal search experience with follow button and personalized ranking
- Google Search tests Notes on search results
- 7 tips to create PPC text ads that are trustworthy and clickworthy
- How to spot potential in SEO candidates
- Content strategy: Why less is more
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Behind Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's push to get AI tools in developers' hands, MIT Technology Review
- Scoop: Google trims global policy staff, Axios
Links & Content Marketing
- Why Content Marketing Is Important for B2B Brands, Online Marketing Blog
- 7 Content Examples Worth Savoring on Thanksgiving, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- 8 Google Maps tips to help you navigate the holidays, Google Blog
- Google Maps trends for holiday travel, shopping and more, Google Blog
- Introducing ‘Things to do’: Managing Google Business Profile’s Activities and Tickets, BrightLocal
Mobile & Voice
- visionOS beta 6 adds Persona Enrollment setup video, AppleInsider
- Google is going to let teens use Bard, though with some guardrails, The Verge
- How safe is AI: Chat GPT, Bard, Dall-E and more get safety report, Axios
SEO
- Does SEO have a future?, Reddit
- A Non-Technical Guide to Diagnosing JavaScript SEO Issues, Moz
- Shotgun or Sniper? Choose Your SEO Outreach Tactic, Ahrefs
- The New Most Important SEO Tool Is One You Already Have, Internet Marketing Ninjas Blog
- The Scary Potential of Generative AI on Content ft. Kristin Tynski, iPullRank
- What does good E-E-A-T even mean?, SERP's Up SEO Podcast
PPC
- Google search ads abused to spread ransomware by ALPHV/BlackCat gang, SC Media
- How to Find Keywords for Business Using Keyword Research Tool?, PPC Expo
- Secrets of a Google Ads 3rd Party Agency Support Rep, ZATO Marketing
- GroupM Launches Comprehensive Post-Cookie Readiness Program Testing Google’s Privacy Sandbox, GroupM
Search Features
- Google will responsibly expand Bard access to teenagers around the world, Google Blog
- Our vision to bring Microsoft Copilot to everyone, and more, Bing Search Blog
- Personalized Google Rankings, Fake Reviews Thriving, AI Trust Growing, Near Media
- Meet the artists collaborating with YouTube's Dream Track & Music AI, YouTube Blog
Other Search
- An early look our AI Music experiment, YouTube Blog
- Google DeepMind wants to define what counts as artificial general intelligence, MIT Technology Review
Feedback:
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