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 Search Ranking Algorithm Update & Fluctuations Continue
A week ago we reported on chatters and signals of a Google search ranking algorithm update. That died down a bit shortly after we wrote about it but over the past couple days I am seeing chatter and signals of another Google update.

Google Assistant Search Ads; Is It New?
Gennaro Cuofano shared a screen shot on Twitter with me of the Google Assistant showing a search ad in the search results for a voice query. I tried to replicate this myself and came up short, but his 100% shows a search ad. I am not sure if this is new, but I don’t think Google Assistant typically shows ads – have you seen this before?

Google Image Search Adds Recently Viewed Section
Google has added to Google Image Search results a feature to see recently viewed images that are related to the image you are currently looking at on Google Image search. Sergey Alakov posted a screen shot of this feature on Twitter and you can see the recently viewed section is below the image preview.

Google Search Console Notifications To Remove Google+
Last night, Google sent out notifications via Google Search Console reminding sites that have added Google+ buttons and other integrations to remove them by March 7th. As you know, Google is killing off Google+, the consumer version, in the next couple of months and Google wants all those Google+ buttons off the web beforehand.

Google Local “Get in Line” Button
Sergey Alakov spotted Google testing or launching, I don’t see it yet, a button in the local panel for “get in line.” It is a waitlist feature that seems to be powered by DineTime for restaurants to enable people to put themselves on a wait list to be seated for a table.

Business Owners Can Now Reply To Reviews On Google Maps Desktop
Google announced in the Google My Business Help forums that owners of businesses within Google My Business can now reply to reviews directly using Google Maps on desktop. Prior you could do it in Google My Business, in the Google My Business app and in some other forms. But now you can also do it right from Google Maps on desktop.

Google Large Fluffy Bean Bag
Google likes their large seating devices and here I spotted a large fluffy what might be a bean bag or some sort of large pillow? I am not sure. I found the photo on Instagram and I know it is in Dubl

Other Great Search Forum Threads:

@JohnMu says to submit detailed feedback on new GSC features through the feedback form, as it gives the team working on this input on what should be prioritised. https://t.co/lGmgseeQ9L, DeepCrawl on Twitter
We’re taking action on this now.…, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
Data Studio Report for What Where Why When and How and a little local SEO on the side, Local Search Forum
I don’t use Moz, and Google doesn’t either, but there are some very talented folks working on the products there, so while that tool might not be what Google does, it can still be useful for other purposes.… https://t.co/MiA, John Mueller on Twitter
I wouldn’t say best practices are when you play it safe – it’s not the lowest common denominator. Also, these evolve over time, you sometimes have to push the envelope (or throw it away & start over) to find the next best prac, John Mueller on Twitter
It occurred to me that a lot of the questions we get in the office-hours hang…, John Mueller on Google+
Seeing “Did You Know” section in #Google knowledge graph for the first time. Quite interesting! Any recommendation to generate the same for our clients? @rustybrick @methode @JohnMu #SearchEngineOptimization #googleseo #DigitalMa, Chanda Verma on Twitter
The good part about having 100s of factors involved in crawling, indexing, and ranking is that you don’t have to do the same thing as others are doing. Go and make an awesome site, learn from & avoid other site’s problems & lia, John Mueller on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

Google enables ‘join waitlist’ for restaurants
Google tests ads in Assistant results
Business owners can now reply to reviews on Google Maps desktop
Death of the keyword: What it is (and is not) for retail
Analyst: 8 billion voice assistants by 2023
Sharpen your SEO & SEM skills. See the SMX Advanced agenda!

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Dynamic audiences in Google Analytics for Firebase, Google Blog
How to Streamline Reporting with Google Tag Manager & Google Analytics, WordStream

Industry & Business

Apple may have been paid $9.5B by Google in 2018 to stay default Safari search option, appleinsider.com
Google Shareholder Joins Outcry Over Potential China Censorship, Bloomberg
Google Keeps Eating the Newspaper Industry, Bloomberg

Links & Promotion Building

Link Building Is Not Always the Best Way to Boost Rankings in eCommerce, Go Inflow

Local & Maps

Google Local Restaurant Packs Showing “Find a Table” Filter, Sergey Alakov
Google Maps will use your camera to determine your location more accurately, Android Police
Google Adds New “Get in Line” CTA to Local Panels, Sergey Alakov
Waze adds Siri Shortcuts to its iOS app, Engadget

Mobile & Voice

Report: Voice assistants in use to triple to 8 billion by 2023, TechCrunch
Volkswagen and EL PAÍS increase conversions by 76% with the first end-to-end AMP campaign, Accelerated Mobile Pages Project
What You Can Learn From Google Search Patents & Voice Search, Ezoic
Your Smart Light Can Tell Amazon and Google When You Go to Bed, Bloomberg

SEO

How to Do a Website Audit to Improve SEO and UX (in 9 Steps), ahrefs.com
Learn To Crawl: SEO Spider Training Days, Screaming Frog
People Ask Their Most Pressing SEO Questions — Our Experts Answer, Moz
Selecting the Best International Web Structure – #CrawlingMondays 7th Episode, Aleyda Solis
SEO This Week Episode 106 – Illyes Insight, Traffic Increases, Conversions, Digitaleer
Yoast SEO 9.6: Improving our code, Yoast
How to Increase Expertise, Authority and Trust (E-A-T) Signals on your Website, State of Digital
Is User Experience a Ranking Factor?, SISTRIX

PPC

Announcing v201902 of the Google Ad Manager API, Google Ads Developer Blog
The Basics of Building an Intent-based Keyword List, Moz