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.
We are seeing a lot of rocking back and forth between the Google core and spam updates and manual actions – it is weird – but far from done. Google Top Stories has new AI generated “more context” sections. Google Business Profiles has book buttons in services. Microsoft Advertising added Copilot section. Google hotel and restaurant listings now link to the places website in the EU.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Google March 2024 Core/Spam Update Early Reversals (It's Far From Done…)
We reported on Saturday that the Google March 2024 core update seemed to have touched down on land, and we saw a lot of sites start to report major ranking drops, and the third-party tracking tools noticed big volatility. That all calmed on Sunday through today but we also had reports of reversals.
Google Hotel & Restaurant Search Listings Tests Adding Website Link
Google is testing adding the hotel’s website link directly to the Google Search hotel listings on the main search results screen. This is instead of making you go through the Google hotel results interface to learn more.
Copilot Now In Microsoft Advertising Console
In September, Microsoft told us they would add Copilot to Microsoft Advertising to help advertisers create and optimize their ads. Now some advertisers are seeing the Copilot button within the Microsoft Advertising console.
Google Business Profiles With Bookable Services
Google Business Profiles now shows services with bookable buttons. I know Google had booking buttons on local panels since 2017 and we covered it numerous times since then but now they are on the Google Business Profiles services section.
Google Top Stories More Context Section Is Generated By AI
Google has a section under some of its top stories in search results named “more context.” This will summarize the headlines for your keyword search based on the top stories in the carousel. Google has a disclaimer under the “more context” section that says “generative AI is experimental.”
Tents Inside Old Google China Office
Here is a photo from 2016 from the old Google office in Beijing, China. You can see a bunch of tents set up for Googlers to sleep in. I am not sure if Google is still in this same building.
Other Great Search Threads:
This is kinda cool. Google is now telling me how far a place is to walk, drive, or bike to in the driving directions section., Joy Hawkins on X
Copilot GPT Builder is now available to all Copilot Pro subscribers. Copilot GPTs are custom versions of Copilot with specific instructions & docs for grounding (RAG) chat responses. Build one interactively in the Creative tab guid, Jordi Ribas on X
Hunting low-quality content? Bing Webmaster Tools could help. The new ‘Top Insights’ notifications announced last week include a flag for “Many pages with insufficient content on the website”. I’ve checked this across sites I’m help, Glenn Gabe on X
I have seen this type of manual action lifted very quickly several times now -> For a “Misleading content” manual action (affecting Discover), you can move quickly and rectify the problematic urls. For example, fix hundreds of urls, Glenn Gabe on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Microsoft Ads expands Copilot to more advertisers
Joe Biden supports bill to ban TikTok in the U.S.
Brands unknowingly wasting ad dollars on Made for Advertising sites, claims report
Google Marketing Platform launches new API with enhanced capabilities
Entity-based competitor analysis: An SEO’s guide
AI-powered content management: How to make your workflows more efficient
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
OpenAI Calls Elon Musk’s Claims ‘Incoherent’ in Court Filing, Bloomberg
Women in Tech SEO Fest 2024: The Best One Yet?, Screaming Frog
Links & Content Marketing
HTML Link Tags Explained (+ All Attributes and Values), Semrush
Local & Maps
Google Doubles Down on the Local Pack in EU, Near Media
Top 3 Issues with Video Verification, Sterling Sky
Mobile & Voice
Apple’s Vision Pro and the Killer App Store, AppleInsider
Google Search mobile website adds notifications feed, 9to5Google
Ray-Ban’s Meta sunglasses can now identify and describe landmarks, Engadget
SEO
Do Meta Descriptions Matter Anymore?, BruceClay
How to Use Keyword Overview to Analyze Keywords, Semrush
International SEO: The Definitive Guide, Backlinko
Key Challenges in an Enterprise SEO Audit, Online Marketing Blog
Site navigation: Why it matters for news SEO, SEO For Journalism
What is INP and how does it work?, Onely
PPC
Apple is testing AI-powered App Store ad placements, AppleInsider
Elevate your marketing strategies with Ramadan insights, Microsoft Advertising
Programmatic Advertising: What It Is & How It Works, WordStream
Other Search
Google Chrome for desktop is preparing a serious Lens upgrade, Android Police
Speedometer 3: Building a benchmark that represents the web, Chromium Blog
Among the A.I. Doomsayers, The New Yorker
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