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:
September 2019 Google Webmaster Report
This month we had two unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm updates, one around August 17th and the other around August 29th. Google began penalizing domain leasing portions of sites, and also slammed a popular SEO with a link penalty.
The evergreen GoogleBot is now running
Google Shows Competitors Local Listings Above The Branded Local Knowledge Panel
This isn’t a good thing – Google can show a carousel feature of competitive businesses in the area when someone specifically searches for your company name in Google. So for a branded search that brings up a local knowledge panel for that business, Google can show competitive listings above the local knowledge panel!
Is Google Investigating Consolidation Issues With Google Search Console Performance Report?
There may (or may not) be an issue with the changes Google made back in February around consolidating around the canonical URL, which means the AMP, mobile, etc will all be counted towards the main URL’s data in the performance report. This may not be happening correctly for some sites and Google is supposedly investigating this issue.
Google Tests Capitalizing URLs Of Snippets In Search Results
Google looks to be testing, or maybe it is a bug, capitalizing the URL or breadcrumb part of the snippets in the search results. I see a number of folks on Twitter chatting about it and I have numerous screen shots of this in action.
Google Search Console Adds Auto-DNS Verification With Some DNS Providers
Google announced it has added Auto-DNS verification with various domain name registrars to automate part of the verification flow. This is similar to what they did with GoDaddy and Google Domains, as well as similar to Bing’s announcement with Domain Connect from the other week.
A Google Trophy Cup?
I found this image on Instagram, it looks like a trophy cup with the Google logo engraved on it. Supposedly this photo was taken at the GooglePlex, Google’s main headquarters in Mountain View, Califor
Labor Day – 2019 Logos From Google, Yahoo & Bing
Today is Labor Day in the United States and now for the fourth year in a row, Google has a Labor Day logo. Google use to not do Labor Day logos but now has consistently done them for the past four years. Yahoo and Bing also have special logos or designs up for the day.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
Google’s Job Search Tool Under E.U. Investigation, WebmasterWorld
I think you’re overthinking this 🙂, John Mueller on Twitter
Sure, if you make a 301 a 404, then it’ll be a 404. There’s *nothing* wrong with URLs that return 404, they don’t cause problems, they just don’t get indexed., John Mueller on Twitter
We’re currently peeking at the next batch of #AskGoogleWebmasters videos & I’d love your input. How could we make them more useful? Longer or shorter answers? More frequent videos? Combine questions or themed videos? More, John Mueller on Twitter
@jack pwned, WebmasterWorld
No, the noindex doesn’t "reset" anything, it only removes that page from the search results. If you’re updating your site, I’d just update it normally, no need to do anything fancy with noindex., John Mueller on Twitter
A soft 404 is essentially a 404., John Mueller on Twitter
Google, big tech, disruption, and the international marketplace, WebmasterWorld
Facebook Considers Hiding Like Counts, WebmasterWorld
Yes, indeed .. It got resolved over the weekend. We are checking who did it 😉 https://t.co/G0s3ThLhb2, Bing Webmaster Team on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
The line between subdomain leasing and alternative revenue strategy
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Digital Debrief – Analyzing Reports in the new App + Web Property, Krista Seiden
Get to insights quicker with Data Studio’s new home page, Google Blog
What Google Trends Teaches Us About When to Trust Data, SEM Rush
Industry & Business
The Ins & Outs of SEO Consultancy: In Search SEO Podcast, RankRanger
Trade-Secrets Case Linked to Google Seen as Warning to Silicon Valley, Wall Street Journal
Links & Promotion Building
The Invisible Attribution Model of Link Acquisition, Blind Five Year Old
Local & Maps
Google Maps Poised to Be an $11 Billion Business in 4 Years, Skift
Google Maps for Android adds dedicated Street View layer, 9to5Google
Google Maps finally received the one feature that was missing from the mobile app, BGR
Google Maps on Android now has a Street View layer, Android Police
Vulnerable Addicts at The Mercy Of Rehab Spam in Google, Online Ownership
Mobile & Voice
Samsung Galaxy Home Smart Speaker is Finally Getting Ready for Launch, Galaxy Home Mini Going into Beta Testing, Voicebot
How to use Google Assistant on your travels, TechRadar
We asked, you told us: Most people use Google Assistant for a variety of things, Android Authority
SEO
Are you sending the right usability signals to Google?, Search Metrics
Refurbishing Top Content – Best of Whiteboard Friday, Moz
SEO 101: The Top 5 Things You Need to Know, Seer Interactive
"Impressions" is an Undervalued SEO KPI, Distilled
301 Redirect SEO Benefits | What Is a 301 Redirect, Hallam
August 2019 SEO Winners and Losers: Facebook ascends, Netflix softens, YouTube dominates while Twitter slides, Search Metrics
Google PageSpeed Insights SEO Guide | Does Page Speed Affect SEO?, Cognitive SEO
How to Scrape Google Search Features Using XPath, Screaming Frog
PPC
How to Use Keyword Match Types in Google Ads, Fang Marketing
Microsoft Audience Ads: Auto Enabled Via Image Extensions, PPC Hero
Weekly Wisdom with Jason Barnard: Google Ads for Brand Searches, SEM Rush
Other Search
Amazon vs. Google: Decoding the World’s Largest E-commerce Search Engine, Moz
