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:
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Product Reviews Update Was Big, Soft 404s Causing Ranking Issues & Google Ads Auto Apply Recommendations
This week I spent a lot more time covering and updating the details around the Google product reviews update. I covered some of the early impact it had on some sites, and it was big…
Google Search Might Be Having Temporary Issues Serving Web Stories
Google might be having some issues with serving Web Stories in Google Search now. This started last night, maybe around 7pm ET. Some publishers have been complaining that the Web Stories were not surfacing in Google Search for trending topics and traffic around Web Stories slowed last night.
Google Ads Dynamic Exclusion Lists Coming Soon
Google announced it will be rolling out in the coming weeks dynamic exclusion lists within Google Ads. Dynamic exclusion lists let you potentially automate the process of blocking your ads from showing on web pages or websites.
Soft 404s Or Noindex Empty Pages For Google
Michelle Race, aka ShelliWeb, asked an interesting SEO question, she asked what is better for Google when you have empty webpages. Should you noindex the empty webpage or should you let Google index it and treat it as a soft 404?
Google: User Generate Content Products Reviews Will Have A Hard Time Ranking Well
Google’s John Mueller implied that since the product reviews update has been rolled out, it will be hard for user generated content generated product reviews to rank well in Google Search. John said on Twitter “the focus there is clearly on reviews from experts. Keeping the quality of a UGC site high is hard, I don’t have a simple solution.”
Wrong Dates In Google Search Results Does Not Imply Site Quality Issues
Google can show the wrong date in the search results snippets. We’ve covered this topic numerous times over multiple dates and times. But one aspect we did not cover is that when Google does this, it does not mean Google has quality issues with your website. It just means Google is not able to figure out the right date of that page.
Schwartz Wrote A Book On SEO
Check it out, Mr. Schwartz wrote a book about SEO, it is called Product-Led SEO. So no, I didn’t write this book, but Eli Schwartz, no relation to me, wrote this book. I think you can buy it on Ama
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
Baidu SEO : duplicate between traditional and simplified chinese?, WebmasterWorld
I believe "See results about…" language is more about triggering your knowledge panel & maybe helping refine to show web results more about an entity, but that’s not guaranteed. Ultimately [kevin ma, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
I have exciting news to share: Google is hiring their first-ever Creator Advocate! Ideally a prolific creator themselves, they’ll create education, inspiration, samples, demos that help bloggers do their best, and bring more, Paul Bakaus on Twitter
Is Dun and Bradstreet important?, Local Search Forum
Seems like someone is trying to Steal my clients GMB, Local Search Forum
We don’t use Google Analytics at all in search., John Mueller on Twitter
What are the latest trends in Web #SEO? 📈🤔 Are sites ready for mobile-first📱indexing and the page experience🏃update? @aleyda has the data! Watch the latest ⚡️ Lightning Talk ⚡️ for all the main l, Google Search Central on Twitter
With broad core updates, and with major updates like the Product Reviews Update which just launched, Google is looking at sites broadly. With the latest update, it is looking at sites & sections more broadly. Don’t miss that p, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Complete Guide to Core Web Vitals
Google Ads to roll out dynamic exclusion lists in coming weeks
Automation isn’t about what machines can do for you, it’s about what you can do together
Automatic, supersonic, hypnotic, funky fresh; Auto-applied recommendations; Thursday’s daily brief
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Provision Server-side Tagging Application Manually, Simo Ahava’s blog
Industry & Business
Coding to Hide Health Prices from Web Searches Is Barred by Regulators, Wall Street Journal
Onboarding at Google while working remotely, Google Blog
Project Zero allowing for more time to roll out patches in 2021, 9to5Google
San Jose Sharks oppose Google development agreement, San Jose Spotlight
Texas cannot afford to sue Google, Dallas News
Google ‘partially’ misled consumers over collecting location data, Australian cour, The Guardian
Google eyes first downtown San Jose village site, project timing, Mercury News
Judge in Texas lawsuit against Google issues protective order, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
17 Ways to Boost Your Content Performance This Year, BruceClay
What are the Makings of a High-Quality Link?, Moz
Local & Maps
Google Maps Highlighting Businesses That Have Posted Recently, Local University
Time flies in Google Earth’s biggest update in years, Google Blog
Meet your new travel guides, Google Blog
Mobile & Voice
User Adds Car to HomeKit for In-App Controls and Automations, Showing Future Potential, MacRumors
SEO
5 Steps To Develop An SEO Content Strategy, Conductor
Google Discover traffic drop might be linked to Android or Chrome updates, Extratime Media
Identifying Low Hanging SEO Opportunities For E-Commerce Websites, Botify
Shopping with Structured Data | How Schema Markup Can Help You Make That Sale, Schema App
PPC
Conversion modeling through Consent Mode in Google Ads, Google Blog
Search Features
Google Search adds keyboard shortcut to edit your query, 9to5Google
Other Search
An SEO Interview with Google Using AI, Itamar Blauer
