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:
- Yes, Anchor Text Is A Google Ranking Factor
I am a bit surprised I am writing this but yes, anchor text is a signal Google uses for ranking purposes. Yes, Google can ignore spammy links that try to manipulate rankings but normal anchor text does help Google rank a page for what the anchor text says about the page. Hence giving Google more context about the page. - Google: Why It May Appear Your JavaScript Page Is Not Fully Rendered Before Indexed
Mark Williams-Cook posted the results of an SEO Twitter poll that said most believe Google does not fully render a JavaScript page/document prior to ranking. In fact, the results showed that almost 70% of SEOs felt those pages were not always rendered prior to Google indexing them. - Google Search Podcast Carousel Updated With Larger Graphics
A couple of weeks ago Google started to test a new design for displaying podcasts in Google Search. The new design adds larger images and longer descriptions of the podcast episode. - Google: Longer Anchor Text Is Not Better But May Provide More Context
On Friday, Google's John Mueller was asked if longer or better anchor text is better. Anchor text are the words in the hyperlink, so the underlined blue link (in many cases). John said longer versus shorter anchor text is not better or worse, it just gives Google more or less context about the page it is linking to. - Vlog #96: Elie Orgel On Writing Unique Robust Content That Ranks Well In Google (Part Two)
In part two of my interview with Elie Orgel (you can see part one here) we talked about how to get content and data that Google has not indexed yet. A lot of governmental web sites and portals do provide data exports and weird charting solutions that Google has not indexed... - Vintage GoTo Beach Towel
Here is a photo that was taken and uploaded to Flickr back on October 8, 2013 taken on an iPhone 5 of a classic and vintage GoTo.com beach towel. GoTo was in 1997, it rebranded to Overture in 2001, b
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- I so enjoyed working with @jubileemedia on this video to talk about Google Search. Great questions from those who asked. Thank you! Hope people find it informative., Danny Sullivan on Twitter
- I can't comment on the legality of a threat like this, but with regards to Google, you can definitely ignore it., John Mueller on Twitter
- Google Ads testing some sort of callout - it didn't allow me to click on it #ppcchat is this new? https://t.co/0E6tuJnz8t, Andrea Cruz on Twitter
- Normally not., Martin Splitt on Twitter
- I don't see a problem with that - some sites use multiple CMSs. Google doesn't do anything special by CMS type. I'd just watch out for the usual technical issues when changing backends, but that's unrelated, John Mueller on Twitter
- While wild speculation is fun, I'm sometimes worried that folks read more into it... Back in the early days, I'd track how my test sites got indexed, it was weird to see some get more, some less indexed. Look, John Mueller on Twitter
- Hah, time will tell if people swtich from wrapping the whole page in a h1 to wrapping it all in a link :), John Mueller on Twitter
- It's normal to see somewhat different search results on desktop and mobile. Users sometimes have different expectations, and some of our factors only apply in one or the other mode (for example, mobile fri, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 5 Things to Know Before You Upgrade to GA4, AccuraCast
Industry & Business
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- A patent reveals that Google Assistant may be prepping more human-like interactions, Chrome Unboxed
- AutoVoice Assistant Action is back for all supported languages, Android Police
SEO
- An In-Depth Guide to App Store Optimization (ASO), SEM Rush
- SEOs Driving Impact Outside of SEO, Searchmetrics
PPC
Search Features
- Google Chrome will let you search through your open tabs, Bleeping Computer
