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:
Google Now Drops A Site’s Normal Snippet When Featured Snippet Is Displayed
In November 2019 we saw Google testing removing the normal snippet from the Google search results when Google shows a featured snippet for that site/URL. Well after numerous tests, Google has launched this yesterday and is no longer showing a featured snippet and at the same time the same URL in the main web search results.
Danny Sullivan from Google confirmed this on Twitter saying…
John Mueller Once Messed With A Web Site Hacker
John Mueller from Google said that he once messed with web site hacker who hacked content onto one of his sites. He said the content started to rank, so he locked out the hacker and replaced the hacker’s affiliate links…
Google: Reciprocal Links Aren’t Necessarily Bad But…
John Mueller from Google said on Twitter that “Reciprocal links aren’t necessarily bad.” But he did warn that Google is good at finding “link schemes & similar games that are sometimes played in that…
Google’s Gary Illyes Not Surprised When SEOs Complain When Low Quality Content Is Not Indexed
Gary Illyes from Google posted on Twitter a sarcastic GIF of what he said “Everyone’s reaction when low quality and spammy content is not indexed anymore.” I posted that…
GoogleBots Go On A Trip
It looks like a bunch of GoogleBots, well, 3D printed GoogleBots, are going on a trip with Daniel Waisberg of Google. He said they are headed to King’s Cross Studio in London. Looks like they are excited…
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
External tracking tools are often not represenative of real user activity, and just because they’re ranking somewhere for keywords, doesn’t mean they see actionable traffic. I’m happy to pass these on! (though it’s, John Mueller on Twitter
I do feel bad because I know you’re standing in some line with kids running all around you trying to write a blog post on your phone. Don’t do that. Go play. The, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Let me tell you a secret: there are lots & lots of algorithms, and you don’t have to win at every one of them to be successful in search., John Mueller on Twitter
No, we will ignore any & all content on the desktop site if we index the mobile version. We will only index the mobile version., John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Listings that earn featured snippets will not repeat on the first page of Google search
The Amazon ad juggernaut: What’s your experience been?
Stop paying for clicks when you’ve hit conversion capacity with this script
Google’s mobile-first indexing guide update emphasizes the same content across site versions
Become a Search Engine Land MVP and you could win a FREE ticket to SMX!
Raising the stakes on product category pages
Video: Josef Sperzel talks technical SEO and using Python to pull data
Want to speak at SMX Advanced? Submit pitches today
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Aggregate & Automate Performance Reporting With Lighthouse & Google Data Studio, Local SEO Guide
Data Blending in Google Data Studio: Practical Guide, InsightWhale
Google Analytics + BigQuery Tips: Users and Sessions (Part One), Adswerve
Google Analytics eCommerce: upload product data with Google Sheets, Julien Coquet
Use the Google Analytics Search Bar for Complex Queries in 2020, Martech Advisor
UTMs, Alex Webb
Industry & Business
Amazon, Facebook spent record sums on lobbying in 2019 as tech industry ramped up Washington, Washington Post
Largest Brain Wiring Diagram to Date Is Published, Scientific American
Links & Promotion Building
How to Evaluate Link Opportunities, Search Engine Journal
Local & Maps
Catching a glimpse of a dead loved one on Google Street View, Slate
Why local search is more than just Google My Business, DAC
Mobile & Voice
Google, How Can I Optimize My Site for Voice Search?, Business 2 Community
Lego and Alexa Announce $100K Voice Challenge Winners, Voicebot
Put Alexa and Siri to Work, New York Times
SEO
A Review of Predictions Leading SEOs Made in 2016, State of Digital
Boom or Bust? The Google Winners & Losers of 2019, Search Metrics
Can Website Security Affect SEO?, DealerOn
Content Hubs 101: A Guide to SEO Content Strategy, Seer Interactive
Google to stop supporting data-vocabulary.org on 6 April 2020, The Graph Lounge
How to tell if mobile-first indexing is enabled, Vertical Leap
Indexwatch: The UK’s Top 100 SEO Losers of 2019, SISTRIX
The January 2020 Core Update Data Results, RankRanger
This SEO Writing Tactic Never Works, SuccessWorks
What is SEO? A Beginner’s Guide to SEO [2020 Edition], SEM Rush
PPC
An Introduction to Google Discovery Ads, Hallam
Creating a greener 2020 one tree at a time, Microsoft Advertising
[Updated] The Guide To Setting Up A Google Ads Account, PPC Hero
Search Features
A fresh way to revisit your online finds in Google Search, Google Blog
Microsoft to force Chrome default search to Bing using Office 365 installer, The Verge
Other Search
Celebrating Anna May Wong, Google
