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.
Google Search Generative Experience now really launched links in its AI-powered answers. Google also expanded SGE to India and Japan, shared some early feedback and added some features. Google said illegal content is not always spam. Google said using a different email domain from web domain does not hurt your SEO. Google is testing visual results in search.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Official: Google Search Generative Experience Gets Links
After testing three different formats for links within the Google Search Generative Experience and then pausing that test a few weeks later, Google has officially decided to go with the arrow-down buttons that reveal links to web pages as cards.
Google Shares Early Feedback On SGE, Expands To Japan & India
Google has shared some early feedback on how searchers and consumers use the new Search Generative Experience while expanding access to SGE in Japan and India. Google also officially launched link cards in SGE after weeks of testing.
Google: Illegal Content Is Not Always Spam
Google’s John Mueller said that “illegal content” is not always considered spammy content. He said on Twitter, “Illegal content isn’t always spam.”
Google: Using A Different Email Domain From Web Domain Has No Impact On SEO/Ranking
Google’s John Mueller said that using a different domain name for your web site and your company email has no impact on your SEO. In fact, I believe those who work at Yahoo do not use Yahoo.com emails but rather yahoo-inc.com emails, or at least they use to.
Google Search Visual Results Section
Google is testing a “visual results” section in its search results. I am not 100% sure if this is new because we have seen very visual results similar to this before but the title “visual results” does seem new to me.
Google Building Across From Another Google Building
Here is a photo I found on Instagram of the Google Hong Kong office. But the photo was taken from a building across the street. You can see the sign in the photo from this building.
Other Great Search Threads:
Big news: #GoogleTagManager GA4 Config tag is now the “Google Tag”. Also, THREE new “Settings variables” are released: – Event Settings variable – Configuration Settings variable – User Properties variable Rolling out soon! A, Simo Ahava on X
Funny, just literally now stepped out of the meeting reviewing this – I don’t think we got the user interaction pattern right yet, especially with the follow-on questions. We are working on it., Mikhail Parakhin on X
Google updates the review disclaimer (h/t @ekantpuri ), Mike Blumenthal on X
This is very helpful. The books filter helps; sounds like we could do a better job highlighting that as part of the search. It even brings up a preview of the essay. I wonder if the essay itself over time is less available in P, Danny Sullivan on Bluesky
Tiny bit: Link discovery is affected as well b/c the original, raw HTML from the HTTP response is pre-scanned for URLs. In CSR the JS injects the content (including URLs from links), so the raw HTML has go, Martin Splitt on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Google Search Generative Experience officially rolls out links to webpages within answers
An SEO guide to optimizing your Google Publisher Center account
5 hidden areas of Google Ads you probably didn’t know about
Google Search testing “Mentioned in” search snippet
7 LinkedIn advertising pitfalls: Where your B2B ads setup might stumble
5 SEO use cases for ChatGPT’s Advanced Data Analysis plugin
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
GA4 is still stressing out marketers: Here’s why, MarTech
Industry & Business
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI accused of string of data protection breaches in GDPR complaint filed by privacy researcher, TechCrunch
Court Denies Injunction in Competitive Keyword Ad Lawsuit-Nursing CE Central v. Colibri, Eric Goldman
Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Windows 11 to get people to ditch Google, The Verge
Yahoo, taken private by Apollo Global, finds a new renaissance, Axios
Links & Content Marketing
3 Strategies To Help Navigate Work Grief and Burnout, Content Marketing Institute
Why Your Trust Flow Score May Change, Majestic
Local & Maps
Dispelling the Myth: Local SEO Goes Beyond 3-Pack Rankings, Sterling Sky Inc
Google Maps getting Live Activities in time for iPhone 15, 9to5Google
Google to sell maps data to companies building solar products, CNBC
Mobile & Voice
Google announces October 4 event for Pixel 8 and Pixel Watch 2, 9to5Google
Google Assistant and Alexa finally play nicely together — but only on one speaker lineup, TechCrunch
Alexa and Google Assistant play together nicely, but not perfectly, on JBL’s new speakers, The Verge
SEO
128: Surviving SEO in an AI World: Strategic SEO vs Checklist SEO w/Sara Taher, Evolving SEO
AI for reviews: The power of AI in reputation management, DAC
Introducing BrightEdge Copilot, BrightEdge
Naïve SEO Advice, Meh or Malevolent AI, AI for B2B, Near Media
SEO & Google. Problems with Canonical pages from July’23?, Rafael Martin Soto On LinkedIn
User Behavior and SEO: A Deep Dive, Backlinko
Introducing the scheduler.yield origin trial, Chrome Developers
We Studied Over 1 Million Domains to Find the Most Common Technical SEO Issues, Ahrefs
PPC
11 Practical Tips for Elevating Your Construction Business’ Digital Marketing Strategy, Koozai
3 Ways for Agencies to Sell More Clients on PPC, WordStream
August 2023 update to Display & Video 360 API v2, Google Ads Developer Blog
Sexual Interests in Personalized Advertising a New Google Merchant Center Warning, FeedArmy
Search Features
Google is now blurring sexually explicit images by default, The Verge
Google launches watermarks for AI-generated images, CNN Business
Google Translate is bringing us a seamless Face-to-Face experience, Android Police
Other Search
AI Is Killing the Grand Bargain at the Heart of the Web, Business Insider
Google’s AI search feature is plagiarizing news sites’ content, QZ
We Analyzed Millions of ChatGPT User Sessions: Visits are Down 29% since May, Programming Assistance is 30% of Use, SparkToro
China approves ChatGPT rivals from Baidu, others, Reuters
Feedback:
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