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.
This month, the month of December, may have been the most volatile month in Google search algorithm update history. Google also had some sort of search algorithmic jolt yesterday. Google Search Console showed an announcement banner the other night, it was a bug, but if you missed it, we have screenshots and videos. Google Ads is testing excluding placements in smart shopping. And what were some of the most counterintuitive SEO recommendations you tried out?
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Semrush: December The Most Volatile Month For Google Search Of 2021
According to recent Semrush data, this month, the month of December, was the most volatile month of the year and probably Google history. Here is a chart Mordy Oberstein of Semrush shared showing how December soared amongst the rest of the months in 2021.
December 27 & 28 Google Search Ranking Algorithm Jolt?
Around December 27th and 28th we may have a Google search ranking algorithm jolt or quick tremor. I highly doubt Google pushed out something over the holidays, this last week of December. But it might just be some weird change that jolted the search results (like that even happens as I am describing).
Google Search Console Announcements Bar Test
Google Search Console had this new bar at the top of the Search Console interface with announcements. It showed three types of announcements; informational, minor issue and major issue announcements. These showed up in blue, yellow and red respectively.
Google Ads Exclude Placements Coming To Smart Shopping Campaigns?
Google seems to be testing a feature to exclude unwanted placements in Smart Shopping Campaigns within Google Ads. ADworld Experience posted this on Twitter but it is not clear if it works or if this was some sort of slip up from Google.
Counterintuitive SEO Recommendations Thread
A couple of months ago, Aleyda Solis posted a thread on Twitter (I was waiting for a slow week to post it here) asking “what’s the most counterintuitive SEO recommendation/implementation you’ve done that actually made sense in the context you were working and paid off as you expected?”
Doogler Crate & Bed At Google
Here is a photo from a few years back of a Doogler, Google dog, getting ready to move offices in the Google Seattle office. You can see the dog crate and bed (I think it is called that) all ready to
Other Great Search Threads:
How do you think it is when I try to explain both SEO and what I do? Somedays I just say I’m an analyst, and they think I just do spreadsheets all day. That’s not completely wrong, and I can get b, John Mueller on Twitter
It looks like we have a bunch of versions of your site indexed — that doesn’t look like a problem to me. We don’t index all pages from all sites, but that’s expected., John Mueller on Twitter
Long Running Street View WiFi Case Upheld on Appeal, WebmasterWorld
We could just show “it depends” ? 🙂 If there’s one thing I saw from the pandemic, it’s that statistics & probabilities are everywhere. I suspect it’s just hard to, John Mueller on Twitter
What kind of things do you want more recent, but less correct results for?, John Mueller on Twitter
Worried about crawl budget? With a 5K url site?? Via @johnmu: Don’t worry about crawl budget with a site that size… Google can easily crawl that number of pages very quickly. Just noindex the pages you don’t want indexed. G, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Google Search Console testing announcement bar
Google algorithm updates 2021 in review: Core updates, product reviews, page experience and beyond
Google rolls out placement exclusions for Smart Shopping campaigns
Google now lets you place products at the top of your local and Maps listing
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Google Analytics by MonsterInsights Plugin Review and Usage, Prabhudatta Sahoo
Industry & Business
Google’s Pichai Ordered to Answer Queries About ‘Incognito’ Mode, Bloomberg
Alphabet CEO Pichai can be questioned in privacy lawsuit, judge rules, Reuters
Google and Tech Rivals Tap Cash Reserves to Realize Cloud Ambitions, Wall Street Journal
Yandex Revises Its Policies on Ethics and Business Conduct, Yandex
Links & Content Marketing
88% of Marketers Are Now Using Video for Content Marketing Purposes, KoMarketing
Local & Maps
Apple Maps team gifted posters & pins for new Maps experience, AppleInsider
Google Maps and Waze Freezing at Launch on CarPlay, Nobody Likes the Fix, AutoEvolution
Google Maps may have led Tahoe travelers astray in snowstorm, San Francisco Chronicle
Mobile & Voice
Alexa tells 10-year-old girl to put penny in plug socket, BBC News
Amazon Cuts Alexa Connect Kit Cloud Fees to Encourage Smart Device Builders, Voicebot
SEO
An Image Content Analysis And A Geo-Semantic Index For Recommendations, SEO By The Sea
URL Structure SEO – SEO Basics, RankRanger
PPC
13 PPC Marketing Insights Examples-How they Work?, PPC Expo
Tracking Cookies Ending? What to Do & Why Great Marketers Are Not Worried, Aimclear
Purna Virji, Senior Content Solutions Evangelist at LinkedIn, Wellspring Digital Chats
Other Search
“New normal” and other words we used a lot this year, Google Blog
The year in review: Take a bite out of 2021, Google Blog
Why Google+ Was A Complete Flop, SlashGear
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