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: No Real Changes To In-Depth Articles
A week ago we reported that the in-depth articles in the Google search results mysteriously went away. I asked Google about it and they told me they really didn’t – Google’s statement was “When relevant, we do and will continue to surface high-quality evergreen content as part of the overall search results.” Google did make a code change to how they display them in the source code of the search results page but not much else.
Google Removed 2.3 Billion Bad Ads In 2018
Google announced that they have removed 2.3 billion bad ads in 2018 for violations of both new and existing policies. Google said this included 207,000 ads for ticket resellers, over 531,000 ads for bail bonds and about 58.8 million phishing ads.
When Naming The Google 3/12 Broad Core Ranking Update Florida 2
As you know, I reported yesterday morning, well before Google confirmed the Google search update that there was an update. The reason why Google even confirmed the update was because I emailed them asking them to confirm, they did on Twitter as you know. I didn’t want to name it yet but honestly it is a beautiful thing for Brett Tabke of WebmasterWorld to name an update again.
Bing Quality Raters Don’t Directly Impact Rankings
Yesterday we wrote that Google search quality raters don’t directly impact the search rankings and today we have confirmation from Frédéric Dubut of Bing that Bing search quality raters do not directly impact the Bing search rankings.
Google JavaScript SEO Video On Making Content More Discoverable
Here is another video from Google’s Martin Splitt from their JavaScript SEO series. This one is named Essential JavaScript SEO tips and provides basic SEO techniques for JavaScript sites & web apps. This is the first video in the series that goes into more technical detail behind the more complex aspects to JavaScript and search.
Google Foot Art – Diabetic Masterpiece
Here is a photo I found on Twitter from Parminder Singh who showed what is called food art at Google. This art is made up of macaron, creme brulee and candy floss and other foods. He called it a dia
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
Facebook Down Worldwide, WebmasterWorld
Another thing we saw there is that you’re not providing the dates in the ISO8601 format in the structured data — that’s probably a simple fix which would be useful across your whole site.… https://t.co/rPoKVePoeg, John Mueller on Twitter
Page disappeared from Google, then returned. Why?, WebmasterWorld
That doesn’t sound like unique, compelling, valuable content, if you’re just reposting from a feed.… https://t.co/sr7kj6ziAg, John Mueller on Twitter
We don’t use Analytics for search. Search Console gives you info on the traffic from search, which we aggregate from the search results directly, not from your site.… https://t.co/l3FRFcfmky, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
DuckDuckGo a new ‘default search’ option for Chrome, is it time to start paying attention?
Goodbye green? Google testing black “Ad” label in Search
Regression analysis to improve Google Ads performance
Are you wasting money on Google Ads?
Google released a broad core search algorithm on March 12
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Exploring Scope in Google Analytics, Builtvisible
Extending Google Analytics on CSS-Tricks with Custom Dimensions, CSS-Tricks
What Can Google Analytics Tell Us About Our Recruitment Strategy?, Fire Fish Software
Industry & Business
Google’s Page Leveled `Veiled Threat’ Over Company Control, Bloomberg
How Google Influences the Conversation in Washington, Wired
Local & Maps
Google Updates the Guidelines for Seasonal Businesses, Sterling Sky Inc
One of Waze’s best features is now rolling out to more Google Maps users, BGR
Mobile & Voice
Android Q developer beta is coming to all Pixel devices today, The Verge
SEO
Google Update March 2019 – Florida 2, Bronco
Postcards from China – 8 SEO Treasures for the World’s Biggest eCommerce Market, Search Metrics
SEO is an investment, not an expense. Don’t give up too soon! SEO advice, DealerOn
PPC
Grow your games business with ads, Google Blog
The Art and Science of Maximizing Audience Volume, Bing Ads Blog
Search Features
Supporting people with disabilities: Be My Eyes and phone support now available, Google Blog
Other Search
Google has quietly added DuckDuckGo as a search engine option for Chrome users in ~60 markets, TechCrunch
