Last month was jammed packed with Google search news, including the Google March 2023 broad core update starting on March 15th and completing on March 28th. We had the end of the February 2023 product reviews update.

Google Bard started to roll out, and many are not impressed. I mean, it very rarely links to sources, but Google did say it will get better. Meanwhile, Microsoft executives are laughing a bit at the Bard launch.

Google Search Console added a few features. Google stepped back and said Discover is impacted by the helpful content update. Google seems to be showing fewer brand/company names in the titles of the search results. Maybe because the name Sitename and favicon design is live on desktop search. Google also launched perspectives and author details in search and also the blue highlights for featured snippets are live.

It was a busy month and so was last month, so you can see the March 2023 Google webmaster report.

Here is a summary of the more important stories over the past month:

Google Algorithm Updates:
Google March 2023 Broad Core Update Is Live – What We Are Seeing Now
Google March 2023 Broad Core Update Tremors & Fluctuations Continue
Google March 2023 Broad Core Update Finished Rolling Out
Seeing Early Signs Of A Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update
Google February 2023 Product Reviews Update Done Rolling Out
Google Search Ranking Fluctuations Continue Through The Past Weekend

Google Bard:
Google Bard Begins To Slowly Rollout – Citations, Limitations & Early Access
Google Says Bard Won’t Link To Sources Too Often
Google Bard Now Better At Math & Logic By Using PaLM, Google Says
Google Reminds Employees: “Bard Is Not Search”
Bing Chat Bests Google Bard Says SEOs
Microsoft Bing’s CEO: Google Bard Is Pretty Far Behind Bing Chat
Where Google Doesn’t Let You Use Its Generative AI Features

Google Search Console:
Google Search Console Breaks Out Merchant Listings and Product Snippets Reporting
Google Search Console Core Web Vitals Report Update
Google Search Console Bulk Data Export Now Supports Multiple Properties

Google SEO:
Google Now Says Google Discover Impacted By The Helpful Content Update Since October 2022
Google Showing Fewer Brand Names In Search Result Titles
Google Ranking Updates Added To Google Search Status Dashboard
Google’s John Mueller On Using AI To Write Content…
Google Double Downs On Not Using Link Disavow Files In A Bigger Way
Google’s John Mueller Offers Hreflang SEO Advice
Google: Less Common Languages Aren’t Considered Low Quality Content
Google Clarifies Its 15MB Googlebot Limit Is For Each Individual Subresources
Google Updates AdsBot Mobile Web Android User Agent
Google Search Install Mobile App Feature Needs Deep Linking
Google Featured Snippets Go Wrong, Consider Using data-nosnippet
Google: Page Size Is Not A Ranking Factor
Google Remove Outdated Content Tool Remove Competitor Pages?

Google Maps & Local:
Google Business Profile Products Show In Google Shopping Results
Google Maps Blocked 20% More Fake Reviews In 2022
ChatGPT Generated Google Business Review Spam
Google Tests Local Pack Click Overlay Of Business Profile Listing Within Search
Google Local Reviews Now Let Users Recommend Dishes
Google Business Profile Services Displays Incorrect Pricing (Sometimes Free)
Google Business Profiles Has A New Manage Menu Feature
Google Tests Only One Star Icon In Local Pack Results
Google Updates Reviews Guidelines For Personal Information & Fake Engagement
Local Ranking Study For 2023 From Whitespark

Google User Interface:
Google Sitename, Favicon & Sponsored Label Live On Desktop (Not Just Mobile)
Google Perspectives, About This Author & More Goes Live
Google Blue Highlights In Featured Snippets Live
Google Search Tests More To Ask & Other Alternatives Of People Also Ask?
Google Trends Has A New Look For 2023
Google Mobile Search Knowledge Panels More Visual & Interactive Also
Google Tests Search & Local Snippet Result Blend
Google Search Tests Products Gaining Attention Carousel
Google Search Save Your Favorite Brands Feature
Google Local Listing “Similar To” Showing Similar Restaurants

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.