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.
Google is testing more ad formats for its search ads. BingBot is testing new compression methods. Google said it is unlikely your rankings would drop just because you have two or more sites. Google says the indexing API might work for unsupported formats. Google said hyphenated domains are not bad by themselves. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Core Update Flux, AdSense Ad Intent, California Link Tax & More
The Google March 2024 core update is still rolling out, almost 6 weeks now, and we saw two shifts of ranking volatility, both mid-week and the weekend before. Google’s Danny Sullivan went on the defensive on search quality and forum listings…
Google Tests More Google Ad Card Formats
Google is testing another ad format, another card like format, for its search ads. We previously saw the vertical and tall ad cards, then the carousel horizontal card format and now here are just plain horizontal ad cards.
Google: It’s Unlikely Your Rankings Dropped Because You Have Two Websites
Google was asked if having two websites and Google finding out about them would cause the websites to drop in rankings. John Mueller from Google said that is “not likely,” adding that many people have several websites and that is fine.
Google: Indexing API May Work For Unsupported Content But…
Gary Illyes from Google said in the recent Google SEO office hours the Google Indexing API may work for unsupported content formats, but that you shouldn’t be “surprised if suddenly it stopped working for unsupported verticals overnight.”
Google: Are Hyphenated Domains Are Bad For Google Ranking?
The topic of using hyphens in domain names is one of the oldest SEO topics we have in this space. Heck, in 2004, SEOs said there was a specific Google ranking algorithm that filtered out domains with hyphens in them (Google did not by the way).
Bingbot To Test Zstd Compression After Fully Gaining Full Brotli Compression
Fabrice Canel from Microsoft announced that BingBot now fully supports Brotli compression and will soon be testing zstd Zstandard compression, a lossless data compression, for its crawler.
Google loves to print socks for its various swag and here are two variations of socks from the Google Cloud team. I like the white socks because they look more retro but here are nicer versions as well.
Other Great Search Threads:
From a practical POV, you can specify your prices using structured data on the page, with a merchant center feed (which many ecommerce systems can make for you) or manually in merchant center., John Mueller on X
I passed this on. I don’t think there’s anything special going on here, but the feedback on this being confusing is good to pass on., John Mueller on X
If you have older reports that are still helpful, you’ll just need to click the View "button" and access ones you want to remain active., AdsLiaison on X
The way I see this is more that there are things which can be recognized & ignored, but a site might still be appropriate to show (I don’t know this site/query). Folks get bad SEO advice, and if that can be neutralized granularly without broader effects, , John Mueller on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Meta could launch Threads ads this year
Brave Search unveils AI answer engine
Tracking in 2024: Where we are and how to prep
How to survive the search results when you’re using AI tools for content
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Pinpoint Traffic Drops with Search Console, GA4, Practical Ecommerce
Shirofune Enhances Shopify Integration with Google, Globe Newswire
Industry & Business
Building for our AI future, Google Blog
Google consolidates its DeepMind and Research teams amid AI push, Reuters
Google’s Ad-Privacy Changes Fall Short, U.K. Regulator Says in Internal Documents, Wall Street Journal
Links & Content Marketing
5 Steps To Make Content Marketing Your Top Channel, Forbes
Should Your Brand Shout Its AI and Marketing Plan to the World?, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
Google Maps – a Swiss story, SWI
Google Maps Gets a Subtle Feature That Makes Perfect Sense on Android Auto, AutoEvolution
Google Maps gives its 3D buildings feature for drivers a wider rollout – here’s how to turn it on, TechRadar
Japanese doctors demand damages from Google over “groundless” reviews, ABC News
Mobile & Voice
Google’s newly formed platforms and devices team is all about AI, The Verge
New HomePod part leak shows off glossy display cover, AppleInsider
iOS 18: What I want from Siri + AI, 9to5Mac
Should Apple Kill Siri and Start Over?, MacRumors
SEO
Unlocking Stakeholder Perception of your Brand Using Google Search Data and AI, Five Blocks
What Are 4 Types of Keywords, and How to Use Them in Your SEO Plan?, HackerNoon
PPC
Google Ads API v14 sunset reminder, Google Ads Developer Blog
Google Ads Audience Targeting Mastery: Custom Intent vs. Custom Affinity, JXT Group
Search Features
Yandex upgrades its virtual assistant Alice with the YandexGPT 3 large language model, Yandex
Other Search
Company AI Policy Examples and Templates – Who Has Banned ChatGPT, Originality AI
Meet Your New Assistant: Meta AI, Built With Llama 3, Meta
Meta says Llama 3 beats most other models, including Gemini, The Verge
Feedback:
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