Daily Search Forum Recap: November 18, 2021

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.

Yesterday Google began rolling out the November 2021 Core Update, so today I published some of what we are seeing early on with this update in terms of ranking changes and volatility. Google has published a new interactive SEO checklist, which is pretty slick. Google has new help docs on translated search results and how to make your ad network work with Google Translate. Google has new logo structured data requirements for white logos. Google says leaving your old XML files up won't help too much with URL migrations and more.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google November 2021 Core Update Is Live - What We Are Seeing Now
  As you know, Google started to rollout the November 2021 Core Update yesterday, November 17th at around 11am ET. Below is a recap of the early chatter and data we are seeing on this update less than 24 hours after it started rolling out. Keep in mind, we expect to see more over the next several days but I wanted to share some of the early reports on the impact of this update.
• The Google Interactive SEO Checklist For Business Owners/Marketers, Developers Or SEO
  Google has produced a new interactive SEO checklist with "specific things you can do to improve the SEO of your website." It is interactive in that you can select if you are a business owner or marketer, developer or SEO and the checklist will change based on what you select.
• New Google Help Docs On Translated Search Results & Ad Networks With Google Translate
  Google has published two new help documents around translation. The first is on how Google can automatically translate your search result snippets to a different language. The second is after the searcher clicks from that result, how to ensure that when Google translates, that page that your ads work on that page.
• Google Logo Structured Data New White Background Requirements
  Google has updated its logo structured data markup requirements again, this time to say your logo has to look good on a "purely white background." So you need to test to make sure your logo is visible and I guess attractive on a white background.
• Google: Leaving Old XML Sitemaps Up After URL Migration Will Have Minimal Effect
  Google's John Mueller was asked if it is helps after doing a big URL migration to keep the old XML Sitemap file up for a bit. John said "the effect would be minimal" by using this strategy.
• Google Has Many Pelotons (Well, Not Pelotons)
  I found a video of a Googler back in the office gym at the Google Zurich office. In the video, you don't only see the trains going by but also she shows the row of Pelotons.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Google claims that it uses title tags ~87% of the time after the most recent updates. Well, we analyzed 953,276 pages and got a much lower 66.6% match rate 😈 A few more highlights from our latest @ahrefs data study, Michal Pecánek on Twitter
• Is a site penalized by if I shut it down for some months?, WebmasterWorld
• Google is again testing "keyword tags" in their mobile search results. This same test appeared earlier in the month with the tags in bold, now they're also showing with the first letter of each word in capitals (looks more l, Brodie Clark on Twitter
• If you're seeing a drop in AMP traffic, it looks like Twitter has decided to send its users to non-AMP articles sincde the middle of October. Death by a thousand cuts, Barry Adams on Twitter
• It doesn't matter how the HTML was made. HTML is HTML. It's what you put inside the HTML that matters., John Mueller on Twitter
• It really doesn't matter, John Mueller on Twitter
• This just in 📣 It’s time for the November recap of Google Search News! In this update, SEO expert @JohnMu covers: ✅ Core Web Vitals ✅ Title links ✅ Continuous scrolling And more → https://t.co/QBJXGWq7L, Google Search Central on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Conductor raises $150M in funding
• Google adds documentation on translated search results and ad networks with Google Translate
• The top 100 consumer products this holiday season, according to Google
• Google November 2021 Core Update rolling out today
• Lighthouse 9.0 includes API changes, user flows, updated reports and more
• Edward Snowden calls out Google over search engine’s privacy

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Where To Find Goals In Google Analytics, Koozai

Industry & Business

• Baidu Posts a Massive Loss. The Stock Is Falling., Barron's
• Google agrees 5-year deal to pay AFP for online content: executives, Yahoo News
• Google Search Is Not Coming Back to China, Bloomberg
• Google, YouTube slapped with $26 million verdict in video-sharing patent fight, Reuters
• Apple, Google Monopoly Over Apps Must Be Stopped, Epic Games CEO Says, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• 5 Things Manufacturing Marketers Can Do To Keep Their Content Marketing Momentum [New Research], Content Marketing Institute
• Why Visual Storytelling Demands More Than Just Images, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• Build AI-powered customer conversations in Google Maps and Search with Google's Business Messages, Google Developers Blog

Mobile & Voice

• 10 ways Google Assistant can help you during the holidays, Google Blog
• Google says it’s improving fingerprint scanner performance with a Pixel 6 update, The Verge

SEO

• Core Web Vitals Most Common Issues and How to Overcome Them, Semrush
• Google Continuous Scrolling: How Will it Affect SEO?, BrightEdge
• Got an old website? Update it and refresh your SEO, Yoast
• How To Create Content Hubs Using Your Knowledge Graph, WordLift Blog
• Hreflang Tags Beginner’s Guide: Your Questions Answered, Hallam
• One year of Google Search Central, Google Search Central Blog
• Ultimate Keyword Research Checklist: Semrush, Semrush
• What High-Impact SEO Consulting Looks Like, Siege Media
• What is Semantic Search? (Semantic SEO Basics), RankRanger
• Google Discover Analysis Tool, tl;dr Marketing

PPC

• Black Friday: Time to change the channel, Hallam
• Implications of Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection (MPP), Merkle
• Local Services Ads vs. Pay-Per-Click, DAGMAR
• Retail holiday video: insights, audiences, and ad campaign optimizations, Microsoft Advertising
• The Download, Episode 10: Events in real life, Microsoft Advertising
• Walmart ad revenue surge helps keep prices low as sales soar, Ad Age
• YouTube Video discovery ads are now In-feed video ads, Google Ads Help

Other Search

• Cloudflare Pages Goes Full Stack, Cloudflare
• Fighting the digital divide for diverse news publishers, Google Blog
• What Google searches tell us about Colorado's top political issues, Axios Denver
• YouTube Expands Comment Guidelines and Copyright Detection, Providing More Channel Management Options, Social Media Today

Feedback:

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