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:
Everything Google Has Said On The Nofollow Link Attribute Change
Google announced a change to the nofollow link attribute yesterday and with that announcement, Googlers spent the next day responding to questions about it on Twitter. I will go through what changed according to the announcement and then cover almost all of the responses from Google (removing duplicates) so you get a full perspective of this change.
Bing Treats Nofollow Link Attribute As A Hint, Always Has
With all this discussion around the changes to how Google treats the nofollow link attribute, Bing chimed in about how they treat it. Fabrice Canel from the Bing search team said on Twitter “we always treated the nofollow link attribute as a ‘hint’, making our own decision on trusting or not trusting.”
Pagination Back For The Google Local Maps Search Results
Last week we reported that the pagination feature for the Google Maps local results went away. Well, now it appears to be back. Some are seeing the old user interface for pagination, but I am seeing a new more slim version.
Vlog #15: Mel Carson On Early Days Of Search, Working At Microsoft Ads To Starting His Own Firm
In episode #15 of the vlog series at the Search Engine Roundtable I interviewed Mel Carson (@melcarson) of Delightful Communications…
Google Tests Vertical Line Next To Search Results Snippet On Hover
Google is testing a vertical bar or vertical line next to the search results snippets when you hover your mouse over the snippet. Mordy Oberstein said this was spotted by Shay Harel, the Founder/CEO of RankRanger.
Iggy Pop At Google NYC’s YouTube Space
It looks like the YouTube Space at the Google NYC office had Iggy Pop, the Godfather of Punk, at the offices yesterday. Here is a sign welcoming the American singer-songwriter to the space.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
Alibaba’s Founder, Jack Ma, Steps Down, WebmasterWorld
I was a @Microsoft intern 11 years ago and this video makes me so proud to still be here 🙂 "you should and you will" https://t.co/H3QfEpGlnC, Frédéric Dubut on Twitter
Google Adds new options to NO FOLLOW, WebmasterWorld
Social Media Sharing Take Effect in SEO?, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
Optimize for conversion value with eCPC in Google Ads
Search used when brands are unknown, but it’s direct navigation for existing customers
Will traditional PPC agencies die out in the age of automation?
SMX Overtime: Your questions answered about Google penalties and their impact on websites
Content accuracy is not a ranking factor
Google to treat nofollow link attribute as a ‘hint’
Check out the SEO & SEM sessions coming to SMX East
Does the 9th Circuit’s decision in HiQ vs. LinkedIn open the floodgates to scraping?
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Creating an interactive report with Google Data Studio, Wiredcraft
How to Use Google Tag Manager to Set Up Event Goals in Google Analytics, SMA Marketing
Making Sense of Google Analytics and the Traffic to Your Website, Colby Fayock
New Features in App + Web Properties in Google Analytics, Adswerve
Industry & Business
Google’s Apple Arcade competitor Play Pass is officially on the way, The Verge
Texas AG: Consumers ultimately pay a price for ‘free’ Google searches, Yahoo Finance
Links & Promotion Building
How Google’s Nofollow, Sponsored, & UGC Links Impact SEO, Moz
Report: Most Content Marketers Now Strive to Increase Brand Awareness, KoMarketing
Local & Maps
Google’s Local-News Fig Leaf Won’t Cover Digital Ad Sins, MediaPost
How to get street view on Google Maps on desktop or mobile, Business Insider
Mobile & Voice
McDonald’s Acquires Voice Startup Apprente to Build Drive-Thrus With Voice Assistants, Voicebot
SEO
Google Webmaster Hangout Notes: September 6th 2019, DeepCrawl
Is Google suppressing alternative health sites? How Google could measure scientific consensus, Marie Haynes Consulting
JavaScript 101 For SEOs, Botify
A Big Deal out of Nothing? What Google’s Data tells us about Voucher Code Sites, SISTRIX
Is Bigger Search Volume Always Better?, SuccessWorks
The Improved Keyword Tool & Content Optimizer Is Now Live, Cognitive SEO
Why Does Google’s Algorithm Keep Hitting YMYL Sites?!, RankRanger
PPC
Be Direct: PPC Ad Copy That Drives E-commerce Revenue, Portent
The Case for PPC Scripts, PPC Hero
Search Features
Experimenting with same-provider DNS-over-HTTPS upgrade, Chromium Blog
Other Search
Alternatives to Google? Your Search Returned No Results, Wall Street Journal
