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.
Yoast’s founder says that IndexNow is not more efficient and does not lead to more search traffic. Google local panels are showing “confirmed by phone call” to tell searchers how recently Google knew the details were accurate. Google said it does not have quotas on how much a site can rank for. Google is testing dropping the estimated number of search results metric. Google is bringing back the Search Central unconference later this month.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Google Local Panel Showing Confirmed By Phone Call (Duplex Related)
Google is now showing how long ago it confirmed a phone number and hours were accurate for a local business. Google can now write in a business local panel “confirmed by phone call” followed by how long ago it was.
Yoast Founder: IndexNow Doesn’t Lead To More Traffic Or Improved Crawl Efficiency
Some of you may be wondering why Yoast or WordPress have not integrated the Microsoft backed IndexNow protocol. Well, Joost de Valk, the founded of Yoast said he has seen zero evidence that IndexNow helps sites gain more traffic or reduces crawling or improves crawl efficiency.
Google Tests Removing Estimated Number Of Search Results
Google Search is testing removing the estimated number of search results figure you typically see under the search bar after you conduct a search query. Google tested this back in 2016 and I guess Google is testing it again.
Google Ranking Quotas Do Not Exist
Google’s John Mueller said again that websites do not have some form of quota where they can only rank for a limited number of keywords. He said on Twitter “there’s no hard limit for how many pages we show from a site, subdomain or not.”
Google Search Central Virtual Unconference Back Returns For 2022
Martin Splitt from Google announced on Twitter that the Google Search Central Virtual Unconference is returning at the end of this month for the 2022 event. Google held an Unconference 2021 and 2020 and I guess has decided to host one again this year.
Google Buenos Aires Office
Here is a photo I found on Instagram from the Google Buenos Aires, Argentina office. This is one of the views, but the office looks amazing. I’ve embedded more photos from this Instagram post for yo
Other Great Search Threads:
I see in your later tweets that you understand how featured snippets work and why sometimes the snippeted passage might not be best. For others, the background is here. I’m passing this along for immedia, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
A sitemap file is not a normal web page, it’s a specific format made for machine processing. There’s no notion of “nofollow” for sitemaps, there are no “links” in a sitemap file. Using x-robots-tag n, John Mueller on Twitter
What makes good SEO great? The part that comes after the technical checklist has been completed, after the pages have been optimized, and the client asks, “what now?” That’s the part that can’t always be taught – the cre, Lily Ray on Twitter
@amywhodigital I’ll pass the feedback on, but there doesn’t appear to be any single designated organization in charge of the day. From what I see, the UN is certainly a major proponent. But even the UN site that thread poin, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Does “Located In” affect GBP rank?, Local Search Forum
I’m pretty sure that’s a unique situation where it looks like you are advertising for jobs at Indeed near your own search location, so we’re listing your own job openings first. I’m not in that loca, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Ukrainians looking for work, gigs or something: https://t.co/JW4iNX7Ayr Filling in another one with those who may offer jobs or gigs for Ukrainian digital specialists, Olesia Korobka on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
New content analytics coming soon to LinkedIn
How to be a competitive paid search marketer in 2022
Semrush buys Kompyte so it can upsell competitive intelligence tools
Google may require double verification for some business profiles
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Google adds new UTM parameters for use in GA4, tl;dr Marketing
Industry & Business
Google tells employees to return to offices in April, CNBC
Google reaches new deal with French newspapers on licensing rights, Reuters
SEO 101 Ep 426: Google’s Martin Splitt Interviewed, StepForth
Links & Content Marketing
How to Become a Successful Content Creator, Ahrefs
How to Grow Your Blog with Viral Content, Problogger
How’d You Make That Flipping Awesome Content for Northwell Health, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
Book on Google for hotels to shut after low take-up, PhocusWire
Tripadvisor, Google Maps Suspend Reviews of Some Russian Listings, Wall Street Journal
Mobile & Voice
Google’s Fitbit Recalls Roughly 1 Million Smartwatches, Regulator Says, MarketWatch
The Rise and Stall of the U.S. Smart Speaker Market – New Report, Voicebot
SEO
Identifying Entity Attribute Relations, Go Fish Digital
Off-Page SEO Checklist to Skyrocket Your Business, RankRanger
How Does Google Measure a Good User Experience?, Internet Marketing Ninjas
Pay For Performance SEO Explained, Dan Rich
PPC
As PPC Costs Rise, Brands Diversify with SEO, Botify
Automotive research to trace your road to recovery, Microsoft Advertising
Digital Marketing CPC and CPM Trends in Q4, Merkle
Reminder: support for the creation and editing of expanded text ads will end on June 30, 2022, Google Ads Help
Target ROAS in Google Ads: What, When & Tips to Do It Right, WordStream
Search Features
SearchResearch Challenge (3/2/22): What are some good (almost) real-time satellite image sources?, SearchReSearch
SERP Features Glossary, ROAST
Other Search
What World Hearing Day means for this Googler, Google Blog
Feedback:
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