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 Featured Snippets Tests Also Covered On This Page Links
Google is testing or rolling out a new feature for its featured snippets section named “also covered on this page.” Google is adding below the main featured snippet, other topics the page covers, that hyperlink, anchor you down and then highlight that content.
Google Sent 2.9 Million Manual Webspam Actions In 2020; Less Than Previous Years
While Google already published its annual web spam report for 2020, yesterday Google also published a bit more details on how the company tackled webspam in 2020. Specifically, Google said it sent out less manual webspam actions than previous years, 2.9 million in 2020, due to its algorithms tackling the spam automatically.
Google: SEO Does Not Cause Visible Problems On Websites
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter that he has “never seen a site where that was an issue which caused visible problems with SEO.” I wonder if any of you have. I suspect where SEOs stuff up the pages with content where it causes the page flow to be weird? Maybe some hacked spam SEO causing issues (but that is hacking, not SEO really).
Google Tests Expandable More Specific Searches
In April we saw Google testing a new related search box named more specific searches. Now, we are seeing Google test an expandable version of the more specific searches.
Poll: 56% Of SEOs Say Fewer Than 40% Of Their SEO Recommendations Are Implemented
Kristina Azarenko posted an outstanding SEO poll on Twitter asking on average, how many of your SEO recommendations get implemented? The results show that 56% of SEOs who answered the poll said that fewer than 40% of their recommendations are actually implemented.
Google NYC Physical Store Sign with Bunny
As you may have heard, Google announced that it will be opening up a physical store in New York City this summer. Oɢᴏᴋ the bunny 🐰was hopping by and noticed the sign to the store and took a photo wi
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
Technically it’s cloaking, it probably also makes it quite hard to collect signals for the site, not to mention trying to debug / monitor for anyone working on the site. It’s a lot of overhead., John Mueller on Twitter
The NL API (I assume you mean in Cloud?) is independent of what Search uses. I bet the awesome @ladysign can help you to find someone who would know more about the details (or might know herself)., John Mueller on Twitter
Facebook Will Throttle Back Accounts Spreading Misinformation, WebmasterWorld
Gotta love how long the sandbox myth lasts :-). The reason for the effect is quite practical: when a site is new, we don’t have a lot of signals, so we have to make assumptions. The same effect is also, John Mueller on Twitter
Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, Next Generation of Windows Coming, WebmasterWorld
Twitter Spaces Now on Mobile Web and Desktop Web, WebmasterWorld
We don’t use Analytics in search, so that would be unrelated., John Mueller on Twitter
Web 2.0 is from 1999. I feel like a lot of the information on that screenshot is about dropping links on other people’s sites and hoping that Google doesn’t realize that it’s not a natural link. Given this is, John Mueller on Twitter
Yeah, lots of big sites do things badly with regards to SEO. I wouldn’t recommend copying them. They’re not big because of their SEO issues., John Mueller on Twitter
You could also see it in a similar light as the mobile-friendly update. If your site sucks for users, no amount of Google ranking will make users convert well. You don’t have to be perfect, but these me, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Why less is more when presenting and showcasing your expertise; Thursday’s daily brief
ABM tech is on fire, but don’t get burned
Microsoft Advertising announces Unified Smart: A single management solution for multi-channel paid advertising and social media
News from Google I/O for technical SEO practitioners and site developers
SMX Convert: Submit your session ideas now
May 22 Google update was big, despite Google’s being mum about it; Wednesday’s daily brief
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
5 Tips To Help Build Paid Media Audiences Using Google Analytics Data, Lets Get Optimized
Google Analytics vs. Universal Analytics: 4 Main Differences, Databox Blog
Industry & Business
Clubhouse hires longtime Google engineer Justin Uberti, The Verge
Google Strikes Deal With Hospital Chain to Develop Healthcare Algorithms, Wall Street Journal
Links & Content Marketing
Link Fundamentals: A Beginner’s Guide to Link Building Success, The Upper Ranks
Zero to a Hundred: an SEO backlinks case study, Luca Tagliaferro
Backlink Index Comparison Fatigue, Majestic Blog
Local & Maps
Google’s Fake Reviews, Travel Is Back, Digital Ads’ Trust Gap, Near Media
Products – The Powerful GMB Feature You Need to Start Using, Whitespark
Mobile & Voice
Google isn’t ready to turn search into a conversation, The Verge
Global Smartwatch Shipments Jump 35% YoY in Q1 2021, Counter Point Research
SEO
Prevent portions of your site from being abused by spam, Google Blog
What is E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness)?, Yoast
PPC
Google Ads NEW Monthly Spend Limits: What You Need to Know, WordStream
Live Webinar: Error Handling, Retry, and Timeouts in Google Ads API, Google Ads Developer Blog
May 2021 update to Display & Video 360 API v1, Google Ads Developer Blog
The CMO’s Guide to Quora Ads in Less Than 5 Minutes, BruceClay
Joomla Blocks FLoC by Default, Drupal Moves to Block FLoC in Upcoming 9.2 Release, WordPress Tavern
Multi-channel ads & social media management, Microsoft Advertising
Feedback:
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