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 Changes With Search Algorithm Or Infrastructure
Last Friday I reported about potential Google search ranking updates and then SEJ reported that I was wrong and it was an infrastructure update. Well, we both were wrong according to Google – Google said there were no recent changes around algorithm changes or infrastructure changes.
SEOs Not Happy With Google Ads Announcements
As I briefly covered, Google announced tons of new ad features yesterday – two of the more controversial ones within the SEO community are the discover ads that show up on the Google mobile home page and the gallery ads that make some of the search ads on the search results page massive.
Google Ads New Discovery Ads, Gallery Ads, Showcase Shopping Ads, App Deep Linking & More
Google had their big Marketing Live event where they announced a boat load of new ad features yesterday. These announcements are captured nicely by Greg Sterling and the Search Engine Land team over here. Here is a very brief recap of these announcements.
Danny Sullivan Presents Webmaster & SEO Complaints At Google Ranking Fair
Danny Sullivan who is now at Google told us about these ranking fairs, where Googlers can show off ideas and features around Google search. Danny did his own this week and shared in his station many of the ongoing SEO and webmaster complaints and concerns around Google search.
Google Says Cache Date Bug To Be Fixed Soon
After months and months of complaints from the SEO community, Danny Sullivan from Google said the cache bug should be fixed soon. He posted on Twitter saying “We’re aware of this and expect it will be corrected soon. “It has no impact on indexing. We have fresher versions indexed,” he added.
Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg & Yonca Dervisoglu Give Google Talk
Former Google executives Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg and CMO of Google Yonca Dervisoglu gave a talk about Google I believe at The London Business Forum the other day. If anyone has been follo
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
Heya. Have you seen this issue where GSC and the mobile friendly test have an error that (js and css) resources can’t be loaded with "other error" and screenshot doesn’t show CSS being loaded? https://t.co/DaJ4KWNoaf, Vanessa Fox on Twitter
Huge drop in CPC in Adsense overnight, WebmasterWorld
Interesting that it fails validation in Rich Results Test (https://t.co/RoUbiKCoKy) but a rich result is still generated (no errors from the Structured Data Testing Tool, but FWIW the RRT-reported errors seem legitimate).… htt, Aaron Bradley on Twitter
Pro Tip: Don’t use line breaks when posting your own Q&A on your Google My Business listing.…, Joy Hawkins on Twitter
We’ve made diagrams like these before — I don’t think you’re going to get much more than the previous ones from our side. These things change over time, and the specifics have little impact on sites’ performance in search, so, John Mueller on Twitter
With regards to search, I don’t see it causing problems, but I also don’t see it significantly improving things (I suspect it’s more of a theoretical cleanup of indexable web pages, which is fine too).… https://t.co/vZKkmc4Zg, John Mueller on Twitter
1 – Yes, it does try to read the whole page at once, it just doesn’t trigger scroll events for JS event handling (some sites try to catch those). 2 – no, the tool is independent of that (and I agree, it would be nice to have it, John Mueller on Twitter
State of SEO industry: a vent post, Local Search Forum
Search Engine Land Stories:
3 ad copy mistakes keeping you from paid search success
Performance Planner now live in Google Ads: Shows predicted impact of campaign changes on conversions, clicks, more
Google says no core update or infrastructure changes have occurred despite chatter
Google brings personalized Shopping, local inventory and better checkout to U.S.
Google’s giant gallery ads for search are coming: What they are and how you’ll pay for them
New native Discovery ad campaigns from Google monetize Discover feed for first time
Google announces new ‘discovery’ ad formats, revamped Shopping experience, native placements at Google Marketing Live
Train with Google and Microsoft, only at SMX Advanced
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
A summary of Google Data Studio: Updates from April 2019, Search Engine Watch
Industry & Business
Eric Schmidt Defended Google’s Censored Search for China, The Intercept
Google Exec’s Internal Email On Its Data Leak Policy Has Rattled Employees, BuzzFeed News
Google Safety Engineering Center opens in Munich, Google Blog
Google Sets Up Engineering Center In Munich To Combat Safety And Privacy Issues, Forbes
Local & Maps
An easier way to plan and organize your trips with Google, Google Blog
Google Earth’s Carmen Sandiego: The Tutankhamun’s Mask Caper, Google Blog
Google Is On Course To Monetize Google My Business, RankRanger
Mobile & Voice
Google Assistant testing transparent redesign w/ ‘light bar’, 9to5Google
With the Google Assistant, your Sonos system gets even smarter, Google Blog
Google agrees to pay owners of faulty Pixel phones up to $500, The Verge
Google’s pitch to Android devs: Assistant can drive app engagement, VentureBeat
How to opt out of automated Google Assistant calls to your business, The Verge
SEO
Exploring Google’s New How-to Snippets In Search And On Smart Displays: SERP Treatment, Fresh Data, GSC Reporting, Monetization, and more, GSQI
How To Get Your Images in a Featured Snippet, UpBuild
SEO Packages: Why You Should Avoid Pre-Bundled SEO, HigherVisibility
SEO vs CRO: Which Should be Your Primary Focus?, iPullRank
The New Moz Local Is on Its Way!, Moz
Why Your Blog is Set Up Incorrectly for SEO, Siege Media
How to explore a SERP feature strategy with STAT, Moz
PPC
Expanding your Shopping ads to additional Google platforms, Google Ads Developer Blog
Getting started on YouTube just got easier, Google Blog
Google Marketing Live: Building for the new consumer journey, Google Blog
Making it easier to shop across Google, Google Blog
Premiering new TV solutions in Display & Video 360, Google Blog
The Ultimate Guide to Google Ads Smart Bidding, Metric Theory
3 Paid Social Platforms to Diversify Your PPC Investment, PPC Hero
Webcast: The Art and Science of Audience Solutions, Microsoft Advertising
