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.
The Google May algorithm update is heating up even more, we are seeing a lot of volatility and Google has not confirmed it yet. Google said it does not trust outbound links on spammy sites. Google said descriptions are no longer required in video structured data. Google is testing a perspectives search filter. Google said Googlebot doesn’t need to take up any percentage of server activity. Plus, I posted my weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Google Early May Search Algorithm Unconfirmed Update Heats Up
Earlier this week, we reported on an unconfirmed Google search ranking update on May 1st and 2nd. Well, throughout the week, things have heated up a lot more, and we are seeing more volatility reported by the tools and more SEO chatter within the community.
Google: We Do Not Trust Links From Spammy Sites
In the latest Google SEO office hours, Google said that Google does not trust outbound links from a site they think is spammy. Duy Nguyen from the Google Search Quality team said this at the 35 second mark into the video.
Google Video Structured Data No Longer Requires Descriptions
Google has updated the video structured data to say that the description property is no longer a required field. Instead, Google moved the description property item to the “recommended” section, from the “required” section of the help document.
Google Tests Perspectives Search Menu Filter
Google seems to be testing the ability to filter by perspectives. Google is testing a button to filter your query by the perspectives results.
Google: No Healthy Percentage Of Traffic For Googlebot Activity
John Mueller of Google said there is no percentage of traffic you should expect from your Googlebot activity compared to other bot and traffic activity on your site. Meaning you don’t need to worry if Googlebot is taking up 2% of your server resources and not 20% of your server resources.
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Unconfirmed May Google Update, Bing Chat Opens To All, E-E-A-T Factors & Syndicated Content
This week, I posted the monthly Google webmaster report for May 2023. Google may have pushed out an unconfirmed search algorithm update on May 1st and 2nd…
Google Yellow Onesie With Baby
Here is a photo that should make all of you smile, a smiling baby, in a yellow Google Yellow onesie. This photo was shared on Instagram and I figured I’d share it here as well.
Other Great Search Threads:
If they’re blocked by robots.txt, we don’t know what’s up with them, which meta-tags they have, what they redirect to, etc — we can’t look at them at all. We only know that we don’t know., John Mueller on Twitter
If you don’t want the content on those URLs indexed, that’s up to you. We can’t judge whether that will harm your site (if those URLs have the most important content from you, John Mueller on Twitter
Like mentioned in the form, this is for improving our systems overall, and not about making individual site changes. As such, there’s no timeline for any one particular site name., John Mueller on Twitter
Of course it does. Without hosting, there’s nothing to rank., John Mueller on Twitter
We killed the PR bar because it became useless & irrelevant. The web has moved on significantly since then., John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Google no longer requires video descriptions as part of structured data
AI in search: Insights from Bing’s Fabrice Canel
How to use incentives in your PPC ads to drive more sales
Bing Chat available to more users, gains more visual answers, chat history and third-party developer capabilities
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Google Analytics Importer launched by Fathom Analytics, Coywolf
How to Delete Google Analytics 4 Data: Data Deletion Feature, Measure Minds Group
How to Optimize Your Looker Studio Connection with BigQuery, Adswerve
Industry & Business
Google breaks ground on 2 new data centers in central Ohio, Construction Dive
Google says it may ‘assess’ future news access in Canada over Bill C-18, Globalnews.ca
Google’s footprint in Central Ohio grows with new data centers in Columbus, Lancaster, Axios
Our latest commitments to countering disinformation in Central and Eastern Europe, Google Blog
White House to meet Microsoft, Google CEOs on AI dangers, Reuters
Microsoft, Google Sued for Copying Fingerprint Log-In Concept, Bloomberg
Links & Content Marketing
Content Amplification: What It Is and How to Drive Traffic, Semrush
How To Reinvent Your Content Discovery Strategy in the Age of AI, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
Getting Customer Reviews, Koozai
Were You Misled By Fake Reviews Online?, New York Times
Mobile & Voice
Google working to bring Bard AI to Pixel phones as a widget, 9to5Google
SEO
Why rank tracking is important for SEO, Wix SEO Hub
PPC
4 Product Examples to Inspire Your Next Ads, PPC Expo
How ChatGPT Complements Google Ads, Practical Ecommerce
Other Search
AI Chatbot Wars: Is Anyone a Threat to Google’s Reign in Search?, iPullRank
Google shared AI knowledge with the world – until ChatGPT caught up, Washington Post
Leaked Google document: “We Have No Moat, And Neither Does OpenAI”, Simon Willison
Bing News Joins Google and Other News Aggregators in Fueling Polarization, Newsweek
Celebrating Corky Lee, Google
Google Staffer Claims in Leaked AI Warning ‘We Have No Secret Sauce’, Bloomberg
Feedback:
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