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.
We are seeing renewed volatility in the Google Search results today - is this the end of the helpful content and link spam update? Google said using "here" for your anchor text links is bad. Google said don't links to your own social media profiles. Google is testing a more detailed things to do carousel. And SEOs and PPCers are worried about budget cuts in 2023 with the recession looming.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- New Google Search Algorithm Ranking Fluctuations On December 26th
While it has been calm for the past several days, today is a new day and I am seeing some signs of more volatility and ranking fluctuations as of the past 24 hours or less. Some of the automated tracking tools are picking it up, and I am seeing some renewed chatter in the SEO industry. - Many Marketers Worried About SEO & PPC Budgets Being Cut In 2023 Due To Recession
I conducted a very unscientific poll on Twitter asking marketers who do SEO and PPC if they are worried about their budgets being cut in 2023 due to the recession (or looming recession). 23% of marketers said they are very worried, 37% said they are somewhat worried and 40% said they are not worried. - Google: Do Not Nofollow Links To Your Own Social Media Profiles
Google's John Mueller said on Reddit that when it comes to linking from your site to your social medial profiles you should not nofollow those links. He added that you should add the rel=me attribute to them because it is an open standard to help others validate that this profile is yours. - Google: "Here" Is Bad Link Text
Lizzi Sassman from Google said in this morning's Google SEO office hours that using the anchor text "here," the text for your hyperlink, is simply "bad link text." Instead, you should use more descriptive text for the page you are linking to. - Google Search Things To Do Carousel Gains More Details In Scroll Window
For the past couple of weeks, Google has expanded the Things To Do overlay carousel to allow searchers to scroll through the carousel vertically instead of clicking to a new page to gain more details. - NBA and Google Water Bottle
Check out this awesome NBA and Google branded water bottle. This was posted by Max Weinbach, a contributor editor at 9to5Google. He said, "Google really does give the best swag and merch."
Other Great Search Threads:
- noindex is fine, robots.txt is fine. Pick one. It will still be shown in the reports, but it's not shown to users., John Mueller on Twitter
- Found a glitch. If we check the distance in #Google SERP. When we switch from Train to Car in #GoogleMap, it shows 1 min distance. @milan_0015 & I spotted this. Did you notice this?, Anuj thaker on Twitter
- I don't know if AI is the right approach to making titles & descriptions, but if you're running out of ideas, and especially if you see pages showing up in search for the wrong terms, it seems like a good way to get inspiration, or to try new things out., John Mueller on Mastodon
- Maybe there's nothing to do. If there was a simple answer that works for everyone, the tools would tell you that :-). Analyze the data, and make decisions on what's specific about your site., John Mueller on Mastodon
- The link rel canonical is a fantastic tool, it forces you to consider which URL format should be the canonical, and can be the first step in cleaning up a messy, John Mueller on Mastodon
- Your homepage (assuming it's the domain there) doesn't have a lot of content though, what would it rank for?, John Mueller on Mastodon
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- 22 products Google launched in 2022, Google Blog
- Google gets CCI notice for non-payment of Rs 2.2K crore penalties, Deccan Herald
- Google Must Face Revived Children’s Privacy Rights Class Claims, Bloomberg
- Google apparently wanted to buy Nuvia, possibly to bolster its Tensor efforts, XDA Developers
- Google, YouTube content providers must face U.S. children's privacy lawsuit, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
- Partnering With A Content Marketing Company? Nine Details To Consider, Forbes
- The Benefits Of Content Marketing For Your Business, Analytics Insight
Local & Maps
- Google Maps Chief Sees New Directions for Digital Navigation, Wall Street Journal
- Another Essential Android Auto Feature Broken Down And This Is Getting Ridiculous, AutoEvolution
Mobile & Voice
- Home Assistant To Get Its Own Voice Assistant: Control Smart Gadgets Without Siri, Alexa, or Google, Gizbot News
SEO
- "Ancient Apocalypse": How SEO Is Helping Archaeologists Debunk Conspiracy Theories, Search Engine Journal
- Chrome Canary Features For Technical SEO, Search Engine Journal
PPC
- Google Ads Automated Rules: How To Set Up An Automated Rule In 2022, Cypress North
- Google AdWords scam epidemic shows social engineering is evolving, VentureBeat
- Top 4 Keyword Grouping Principles to Lift Your Search Ranking, PPC Expo
- A Feminist Alexa? How Students Built a More Progressive AI Assistant, PCMag
- Tips for Ensuring Your Google Ads Account Is Never Suspended, iTWire
Other Search
- Google Chrome prepares option to block insecure HTTP downloads, 9to5Google
- Google Introduces ChatGPT-like Model for Healthcare, Analytics India Magazine
- How to do a negative news search on Google, Android Police
- What to expect from Google in 2023, Trusted Reviews
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