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 Duplex Live For Some Haircut Appointment Bookings
VentureBeat reports that Google made the Duplex technology live for some haircut appointments, for barbershops, salons, etc. This way Google can help businesses that are shorthanded, at least with making appointments.
Google: Reconsideration Requests Can Take A Week To A Few Months
A question that comes up often in the SEO world is how long does it take after one submits a reconsideration request in Google Search Console to get a response. It can vary and earlier this year we seemed to have some backlogs there but John Mueller of Google said on Twitter “there is no defined time for a reconsideration request to be processed.”
Google: Most Of The Time A Wrong Date In The Search Results Is Your Fault
A couple of years ago, we reported that Google said that with dates and times in the search results snippets, sometimes they admit they just get it wrong. But why does Google get it wrong? Gary Illyes from Google said you can almost always blame the webmaster/site owner for Google getting the date wrong.
Google Search Tests Virtual Keyboard Again
Google seems to be testing a virtual keyboard icon in the search box on the Google home page and in the search bar after you do a search. This is a feature Google tried out in 2010 but then discontinued shortly after.
Google String Or Yarn Art
Here is a photo I found on Instagram from El Forajido who did some Google yarn or string art in the Google Spain office. He said Who would have told us that our yarn paintings would one day be on the
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
I’m seeeing larger title tags across the board on search results. I’ve seen it before where the top results get larger titles but not all results. Is this new? @rustybrick @glenngabe https://t.co/3jDX79yi0t, Jason Parks on Twitter
Do we care about Yahoo Local and MapQuest?, Local Search Forum
Google tries to lock you into specific visual experiments. Now the SEOBrowse refresh button allows you to escape it and so expose them early & easily. @brodieseo @rustybrick https://t.co/lfKyKlKe6g, Yvo Schaap on Twitter
How many blogs I should publish at the start of my blog before publish, WebmasterWorld
I would hand wave towards MIME sniffing but I don’t know if we do that with Googlebot. Generally it’s better to avoid these edge cases, Martin Splitt on Twitter
Is your Single Page App discoverable?? WMConf Lightning Talk in 4⃣8⃣ hours: SEO best practices for Single Page Apps Wed 14 Oct 8am PDT / 5pm CEST / 8:30pm IST Live c, Google Webmasters on Twitter
OK yesterday, but why is ‘Great Barrington Declaration’ now not being found in [UK] Google search?, Google Search Community
That can happen. Sometimes that’s because of hreflang, which can have effects like that with m-dot sites., John Mueller on Twitter
TrickBot Malware Botnet Taken Down by Coalition of Tech Companies, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
Google Ads brings YouTube into Attribution fold, expands data-driven attribution to more advertisers
Google Smart Shopping Campaigns: Everything you need to know to get started
CTV and B2B: 3 reasons why Connected TV advertising is primed for B2B
Fight back against the competition with your Google Shopping Ads this holiday season
Social Shorts: Facebook attribution change on hold, Instagram gets more shoppable, turns 10
Video: Ed Bernstein on in-house SEO challenges and mapping SEO competition
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Creating a Google Data Studio connector, Medium
How To Set Up Goal Tracking In Google Analytics: Conversion Tracking Made Easy, Blogging Wizard
Quick article ratings using Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, MASHe
Industry & Business
EU targets Big Tech with ‘hit list’ facing tougher rules, Financial Times
Feds may target Google’s Chrome browser for breakup, POLITICO
Local & Maps
The Navajo Nation addresses its residents with Plus Codes, Google Blog
2020 Local SEO Blackbelt Quiz, Sterling Sky
Google Maps for Android adds new vehicle icons, 9to5Google
Some Android Auto users see issues w/ Assistant responses, 9to5Google
Mobile & Voice
Google Duplex’s haircut-booking feature could help short-handed businesses, VentureBeat
SEO
How to make your CMO give you SEO dev resources, DeepCrawl
What Are Topic Clusters and How Do They Work?, SEM Rush
What is SEO (in 2020)?, Kevin Indig
Competitive Advantage in a Commoditized Industry, Moz
PPC
Content API upgrading authorization scope to "sensitive", Google Ads Developer Blog
Make every marketing dollar count with attribution and lift measurement, Google Blog
October update to Display & Video 360 API v1, Google Ads Developer Blog