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 Ads Editor released a minor release, version 2.4.1. Bing Chat will remain free, said Microsoft. Google updated its URL structure guidelines mentioning supported characters. Google Search has a compare systems and savings feature. I removed AMP from this site a few weeks ago; here is how it is doing. I also posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Microsoft: Bing Will Remain Free
With Microsoft announcing the enterprise version of Bing Chat, some are worried that the free version might disappear. Well, it won’t. Mikhail Parakhin, the CEO of Bing at Microsoft, said on Twitter, “Bing will stay free, of course.”
Google Ads Editor Version 2.4.1 Minor Release Available
Google has released a minor update to the Google Ads Editor. This is version 2.4.1 and I am not exactly sure what updates we have with this minor release.
Google Clarifies URL Structure Guidelines With Supported Characters
Google has updated its URL structure guidelines to specify what characters Google Search supports in URLs.
How It’s Going After Removing Google AMP Pages 3 Weeks Ago
On June 28th, three weeks ago, I removed the AMP pages from this site. Overall, I didn’t see overall traffic changes from the change. I did notice issues with this site in Google Discover, a spike in crawl rates, a jump in AMP errors and some more changes.
Google Search Compare Systems & Savings From EnergyStar & Energy.gov
Google Search is testing a new carousel search feature that shows products from EnergyStar.gov and Energy.gov, governmental websites, on products that you can buy to save with tax credits from the government.
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Ranking Updates, News Indexing Bug, AI Content, Trust, Awards, Page Experience, Links, Related & Bing Chat
For the original iTunes version, click here.
Every week, the Google Search volatility keeps getting hotter, but Google did say we should have a confirmed update this summer. Google fixed the News indexing bug late last Friday…
YouTube Cube
Here is a cool piece of swag from the Google Hong Kong office. It is some sort of transparent YouTube cube. I am not sure what it does, it might be one of those speaker blocks or just a prop.
Other Great Search Threads:
For clarity: *Stock photos on websites are fine*. However, if *you* are a maker and publisher of photos, people expect to find samples of photos *you* have made on your site. This does not need to be a ranking factor™️, I hope., John Mueller on Twitter
Does a port :443 in a URL location create indexing issues? In short: No. HTTPS uses port 443 by default (and HTTP uses 80). If you specify it, it’s ignored since it’s already the default. The URLs are equivalent to those without a port # (like upper/low, John Mueller on Twitter
Overly positive Bing 🙂 The hypothesis is not far from the truth: we are rolling out the version that works with plugins (50-50 now), it is a big rework, every Search part is a plugin now (Web, Local, etc.), working through the long tail of issues., Mikhail Parakhin on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
TikTok launches ads transparency library
Washington Post shares SEO and web performance guidelines
Meta’s guidance on how to ‘integrate brands on Threads’
Microsoft Logo Extension rolls out globally in open beta
How to use AI and Chrome extensions for quick SEO wins
9 warning signs your SEO consultant is NOT competent
Master AI content creation with the FACTS strategy
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
The Ultimate GA4 Setup and Migration Guide, Go Fish Digital
Industry & Business
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s Payouts Top $1 Billion on 1,000% MSFT Stock Rally, Bloomberg
Sergey Brin Is Back in the Trenches at Google, Wall Street Journal
Links & Content Marketing
The Future of Email Marketing: Insights From 23 Experts, Content Marketing Institute
How To Plan for Content Lifespan | Content Marketing Institute, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
Unlocking Success: Mastering Video Verification for Your Google Business Profile, Sterling Sky Inc
Mobile & Voice
Apple Struggling With Manufacturing Larger Screen for iPhone 15 Pros, The Information
Google Assistant can soon ‘Summarize’ webpages [Gallery], 9to5Google
SEO
5 Steps To Help Writers Create Expert Content for SEO, BruceClay
Core Web Vitals: Real user vs. Lab data, Wix SEO Hub
Google Core update without official confirmation from Google?, SISTRIX
Let’s pick a domain name, Search Off the Record
SEO is Relative: Modern Search Intent ft. Lyndon Nelson-Allen, iPullRank
The Google Search Algorithm in a Nutshell [2023], SEO 2.0
Web Performance and SEO Guidelines now available from The Washington Post, Washington Post
Continuous SEO: Can You “Complete” SEO?, Ahrefs
How SEOs and UX Designers Can Work Better Together — Whiteboard Friday, Moz
PPC
Google Ads for Lead Generation: 10 Practical Strategies That Really Work, WordStream
Google will switch on its cookie-replacing developer tools next week, The Verge
How to Fix a Google Merchant Center Suspension for Misrepresentation or Unacceptable Business Practices, ZATO Marketing
New Vlog: Maximizing Digital Advertising Efficiency with Search Ads 360, Adswerve
Search Features
Custom instructions for ChatGPT, OpenAI
Other Search
Moving AI governance forward, OpenAI
Our commitment to advancing bold and responsible AI, together, Google Blog
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