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 Local Service Ad Design Slightly Updated
Google has made a design change to the way the local service ads appear in the mobile search results. They are a bit more slick now, with a more 3D look, lighter blue links, yellow stars instead of orange stars, circle green checks versus badges and a bit more. - Google: We Fixed The Google News Indexing Bug Again & Again
For the past few weeks, Google has been having issues indexing or ranking Google News publishers content in Google web search and news search. Google's Lisa Wang has said numerous times they fixed the issue, only to have to come back in and discover more issues and say those issues are resolved. Is it fixed now? - Google Search Showing Fewer Image Boxes; 25% Drop
RankRanger noticed that not only are the video boxes dropping out of the search results, but also the image boxes. In fact, they noticed a 25% reduction in the number of times the image box shows up for their dataset in Google. - Google To Roll Out Rounded & Sticky Header Search Results Design?
A couple of months ago we reported that Google was testing a new design for their desktop search results interface. The search box was rounded and the top search box header area would stick to the top as you scroll. Over the past 48 hours or so, more people have been seeing this new design. Is it possible that Google may be rolling it out? - Google Internet Button - Do Not Touch
Here is a photo I found on Instagram from the Google office in Prague. It shows a button that says it is the Internet and you should not touch it. There is a sign near it that says This is the Intern
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Beyond people claiming Knowledge Panels, we take bugs like this and try to improve our systems further. People will look at this and see what else can and should change, so that we improve generally.… https://t.co/6Zt1AQbN30, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
- Expanding Community Posts on YouTube to channels with 1k+ subscribers, YouTube Help
- Wow, have never seen Shopping Ads take up this much space on Desktop before (going over two rows at the top of SERPs). Glad to see one of my own products in the mix of this test though 💯… https://t.co/UmKoS4w8nS, Brodie Clark on Twitter
- Featured Visual Story (AMP) in default Google feed on Android. Is it new @rustybrick @glenngabe ?…, Saijo George on Twitter
- Impact of third-party reviews on SEO, WebmasterWorld
- Using Topic Modelling Frameworks for SEO (natural language processing and semantics) #SEO - Slides from @ungaggedUK Caesars Palace, Las Vegas 2018 by @dawnieando https://t.co/ZnPpvoHhcv, Move It Marketing on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Compare 9 paid search campaign management tools
- 6 ways to boost organic video results
- Report: Google showing fewer video and image boxes in the search results
- Google Assistant iOS app adds Siri shortcut, making it easier for iPhone users to say Okay Google
- Paid search trends to watch for the 2018 holiday shopping season
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Google Analytics: Use Up-to-date Tags for Optimal Reporting, Practical Ecommerce
- VisionDirect hacked: Hackers infect domains with malicious Google Analytics code, Hack Read
Industry & Business
- Google expands its footprint again in Sunnyvale's Moffett Park area with purchase of Chesapeake Commons campus from Kilroy Realty, Silicon Valley Business Journal
- Can’t compete with this: Google’s coding competitions unite on one website, Google Blog
Links & Promotion Building
Local & Maps
- Announcing the 2018 Local Search Ranking Factors Survey, Moz
- How to use the messaging features in Google Maps, Android Central
Mobile & Voice
- Google Assistant just got much better and more convenient on iOS thanks to Siri Shortcuts, The Verge
- Apple CarPlay Business Insider's 2018 Infotainment System of the Year, Business Insider
SEO
- Search News You Can Use - Episode 58 - Is E-A-T a ranking signal?, Marie Haynes Consulting
- What is a search term?, Yoast
PPC
- Multi-Channel Marketing: Improving PPC Campaigns with Social, Seer Interactive
- PPC advertising: How retailers can dominate Black Friday in 2018, Econsultancy
Other Search
