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 now says core updates can impact local search and also image search. Google Analytics now seems to track some Discover traffic, specifically the News Showcase. Microsoft Advertising released Target impression share bidding, Integral Ad Science (IAS) protection, new automated extensions, labels for account organization and changes to unified accounts. I published the big Google webmaster report and so much more.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Google Core Updates Can Sometimes Impact Image Search & Local Search
Danny Sullivan of Google confirmed on Twitter that core updates can sometimes impact both image search and local search results. This comes after Danny said that local updates don’t impact local results. But now he is saying “it depends” and can impact all content types across search.
Google: Try To Use One Sitemap File For Google News
Google’s John Mueller recommended that when it comes to your Google News sitemap file, try to use one sitemap file. John said it will result in Google being able to “crawl it faster” and Google does not “have to consolidate signals” he added.
Microsoft Advertising Target Impression Share Bidding & More
Microsoft Advertising this week announced in its August roundup it launched Target impression share bidding, Integral Ad Science (IAS) protection, new automated extensions, labels for account organization and changes to unified accounts.
Google Analytics Now Tracks Google News Showcase Discover Traffic
It seems like Google Analytics is now showing some of Google Discover traffic, likely from the Google News Showcase. If you check your acquisition, source and medium traffic, you may see [newsshowcase / discover] in the list.
August 2021 Google Webmaster Report
While last month was filled with algorithm updates this month wasn’t too much different. We had the July 2021 core update…
Do You Want To Learn SEO Street Pole Sign
Jason Hennessey shared this photo with me on Twitter of a paper sign tapped to a street pole on some corner. It says “do you want to learn SEO?” The tabs at the bottom to rip off to not contain phone
Other Great Search Threads:
We don’t have a notion of referring domains so i suspect you’re worrying about an SEO tool, and not about something in Google. Also, you’re probably over-thinking links if you’re asking about t, John Mueller on Twitter
Google is going to post a get vaccinated Doodle tomorrow, August 4th https://t.co/x2WAlzIwbP https://t.co/xmBCBIrBTO, Barry Schwartz on Twitter
Passage indexing — it’s the SEO meta verse, essentially., John Mueller on Twitter
Google rank dropped 50 positions after new core update, WebmasterWorld
I can’t think of a situation where that would be a problem. At most, it would be a matter of stuffing too many irrelevant keywords onto a page (for use as anchor text), but that would have to be pretty extreme., John Mueller on Twitter
I’d try to dig into the details first. I don’t think it would affect the site’s overall ranking, but we might see out-of-stock products as soft-404 and drop them from the index. Then it’s less of a gene, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Webinar: Use the power of AI to drive ROI
How do you plan for in-person consumer behavior and COVID at the same time?; Tuesday’s daily brief
Target impression share bidding, other August changes now available in Microsoft Ads
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Key Benefits of Using Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Optimize Smart
Maximizing user Journey Reporting in GA4, Evolytics
The Future of Digital Marketing Part Two: Your Transition to Secure, First-Party Compute, Adswerve
Industry & Business
How French antitrust regulators tamed Google, WIRED UK
Google Accused in Suit of Fixing Ad Rates With Facebook Deal, Bloomberg
Google Approves Most Staff Requests to Relocate or Work Remotely, Bloomberg
Links & Content Marketing
Ultimate Guide to Content Strategy for Ecommerce, iPullRank
The What, Why, and How of Video’s Next Revolution in Content Marketing, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
From widgets to dark mode: 3 updates to Google Maps on iOS, Google Blog
Transit trends: the road ahead for commuters, Google Blog
Waze adds Halo’s Master Chief as a navigation voice for a limited time, Engadget
Mobile & Voice
How to Announce Notifications on iPhone with Siri in iOS 15, 9to5Mac
How to Fix Google Assistant on Your Pixel, Lifehacker
Wear OS prepping to support alternate assistants, like Bixby, 9to5Google
SEO
Google Broad Core Updates and Image Search: Can core updates impact Image Search rankings in addition to Web Search and Discover?, GSQI
How to check if you have duplicate content, SearchLab Digital
How to Do Local SEO, Part Four: Strategy, Portent
Page Experience Update: HTTPS, Seer Interactive
Search Ranking Factors Are Not Always Applied Equally, BrightEdge
Types of Schema in SEO: Picking the Right Structured Data for Your Page, SEO Clarity
3 Off-Page Content Marketing Strategies for Local SEO, RankRanger
Page Speed Matters: 10 Case Studies Show Why, Content King App
PPC
8 Creative PPC Strategies to Overcome Today’s Challenges, WordStream
Sunset of the Ad Manager API v202008, Google Ads Developer Blog
Other Search
Web Accessibility Myths: Debunking 7 Common Misconceptions, Moz
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel or just contact us the old fashion way.
