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:
Confirmed: Google Site Speed Is A Teeny-Tiny Ranking Factor
I’ve been saying this for years but now Google has confirmed that the site speed ranking signals are a small, even “teeny tiny” ranking factor in Google search. Gary Illyes from Google said on Twitter “ranking wise it’s a teeny tiny factor.”
Google: GoogleBot Would Rarely Ever Submit A Form On Your Website
Google’s John Mueller said it would be “extremely rare that Googlebot would submit a form” on your web site. He said Google did this more often in the old days, espesially on governmental web sites where there was no site navigation and the only way to get to public content was to use a search box on the site. But nowadays most sites have good navigation through links and this is rare.
Google Gets Picker About Showing Rich Results As Search Results Get Overloaded With Them
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter that when the search results become overloaded with rich results of any kind, Google’s engineers may decide to show fewer. John said “but usually I see the search engineering teams get pickier about showing rich results when it starts to look like the search results are overloaded.”
Google May Delay Mobile-First Indexing Switch Over Deadline Due To COVID-19
In early March, Google announced it would switch fully over to mobile-first indexing by September 2020. But now Google may decide to delay it because of COVID-19. So far, John Mueller from Google said, it seems like things are on schedule but they may decide based on feedback to delay it if they find sites are not moving over due to resource issues.
Google Discards Duplicated Reconsideration Requests
Google’s John Mueller said it is a waste of time to submit an additional reconsideration request after you already submitted one. Google will discard any new reconsideration requests he said. So submitting a new one, won’t help you. John said “If the last reconsideration request is still pending, submitting another one won’t make it be processed faster — the new ones will be discarded as duplicates instead.”
Google Stay At Home Logo
Google posted on Instagram a SuperG stay at home version of that logo, the G logo. Here it is, as you can see from the GIF I made out of it, as you rotate the logo, it looks like a home with an arrow
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
"Hey, iPhone owners! Keep your phone & level up your phone plan from the comfort of home with no activation fee or contract. New subscribers can now activate Fi via eSIM on select iPhone® devices. More details: https://t.co/sjdUX5, Google Fi on Twitter
Israel Independence Day 2020, Google
The final date to adopt parallel tracking for Video campaigns has been extended indefinitely. We will provide an update at a later date. ➡ https://t.co/4rDWl1mtHs, Google Ads on Twitter
Alphabet Q1 2020 Revenues $41.16 billion, Up 13pct Y-o-Y, WebmasterWorld
Pretty much the same, it’s mostly just that not everything is shown in the public tools (this stuff is really complicated :)). Sometimes there are time differences because of the way updates roll out though, John Mueller on Twitter
Unfortunately, sometimes these manual action reviews take a bit of time … Sorry for the delays there!", John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Google Q1 earnings offer hope ad slump won’t be as bad as some expect
Up next on Live with Search Engine Land: Should you go all-in on brand marketing now?
How working from home has thrown a wrench in campaign targeting [Video]
Did you know that 92% of U.S. organic visits are produced by Google?
Mixed Directives: A reminder that robots.txt files are handled by subdomain and protocol, including www/non-www and http/https [Case Study]
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
7 Components of Successful Web Analytics – Andy Semenihin, Medium
How to create a Google Data Studio Community Visualisation, twentysix
How to Set Up Email Newsletter Tracking in Google Analytics, WP Beginner
Cleaning up your Google Analytics traffic sources, State of Digital
Industry & Business
Alphabet’s Q1 2020 earnings call, Google Blog
Google CEO says return to office won’t happen until at least June 1, CNET
SEO Pioneer Rand Fishkin’s New Mission? Helping Brands Quit Google., Built In Seattle
Google is killing its experimental social network Shoelace, Engadget
Google Meet Now Available for Free, Google Blog
Links & Content Marketing
What Is a Natural Link? (A Good Link), Search Engine Journal
Local & Maps
Apple Car could hide pop-up displays in dash behind interior panels, Apple Insider
Apple Maps now shows COVID-19 testing sites across the US, Engadget
Mobile & Voice
Google opens Assistant to developers of Wi-Fi routers, 9to5Google
Siri gets improved voice in Germany, Apple Insider
SEO
How to Remove URLs From Google Search (5 Methods), Ahrefs
Industry Update: Travel & Hospitality COVID-19 Impacts, Seer Interactive
Google Webmaster Hangout Notes: April 3rd 2020, DeepCrawl
Google Webmaster Hangout Notes: April 9th 2020, DeepCrawl
PPC
Accounting For Future Performance In Paid Media, PPC Hero
Covid-19 Keyword Trends | Coronavirus Impact by Industry, Botify
Major Display & Video 360 API v1 Feature Update, Google Ads Developer Blog
COVID-19 insights & trends – 28 April edition, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
Google Lens working on a step-by-step math problem solver, 9to5Google
Other Search
Google Doodle for Freedom Day pulled, ‘deeply sorry’, 9to5Google