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.
Bing Webmaster Tools has a new comprehensive performance insights report email that is going out. Google Business Profiles added disabled-owned and Indigenous-owned attributes. Google top stories is testing mentioned in these stories as well. Google dropped the favicon user agent and explained you need to allow Googlebot and Googlebot-Images. Google Search is testing a more graphical user location setting overlay.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Bing Webmaster Tools Comprehensive Performance Insights Reports
Microsoft Bing is now sending out new emails through Bing Webmaster Tools named “Comprehensive Performance Insights Reports.” These are reports that show you how your site is performing in Bing Search.
Google Drops Favicon User Agent & Requires Googlebot-Image and Googlebot Crawling
Google has updated its favicon search developer documentation to remove the section for the Google Favicon user agent and to clarify that if you want Google to show your favicon you must allow both Googlebot-Image and Googlebot to crawl your pages.
Google Business Profiles Adds Disabled-Owned & Indigenous-Owned Attributes
Google has added two new attributes for businesses listed in Google Business Profiles. These attributes are identifies as disabled-owned and identifies as Indigenous-owned.
Google Top Stories Tests “Mentioned In These Stories”
Google is testing another version of these “mentioned in” features. This one is in the top stories section and it is called “mentioned in these stories.”
New Google Graphical Choose Location For Search Results Overlay
Google is testing a new method to ask users to choose their location to better localize or personalize the search results presented to that searcher. This overlay says, “choose location for search results” and then offers an option for an “estimated location” or “precise location.”
The Google Algorithm Wall
A few weeks ago I visited the Google office in New York City and Gary Illyes showed me the new wall of Google algorithms. I snapped some photos including the one I embedded below, plus a lot more pho
Other Great Search Threads:
What’s the acceptable plagiarism level by Google?, Reddit
Will AI replace SEO jobs in future?, Reddit
Bing does roll out broad core updates (we saw a huge one in January of 2023 that I shared on SER), but they try to minimize big changes overall. @facan explained more about this in his video w/@jasonmbarnard, Glenn Gabe on X
If you’ve signed up & been accepted, we’ve just updated the agenda for the sessions. I’m super-excited to say that both @Maria_Amelie and @aleyda are joining in with sessions in Zurich! Woot! Looking forward to seeing folks there!, John Mueller on X
Twitter blocking Bing is an interesting move…, Mike Ginley on X
Yes, the site diversity here could be better. It’s sometimes hard when a query can also be seen as somewhat site specific. What were you hoping to find? Any good examples to share?, Google SearchLiaison on X
Local Services Ads just added a bunch of new business categories in Florida and California only: Auto body shop Auto repair shop Barber shop Car wash and detailing Cellphone and laptop repair Hair rem, Joy Hawkins on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Google confirms sunset details for 4 attribution models in Ads and Analytics
Baidu to integrate ERNIE 4.0, which ‘rivals’ GPT-4, into Search
Google Business Profiles adds disabled-owned attribute to listings
Google search antitrust trial updates: Everything you need to know (so far)
Advanced ways to use competitive research in SEO
How to repair your Google search results and reclaim your online reputation
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
Google’s ‘Wartime’ Urgency to Chase ChatGPT Shakes Up Culture, The Information
Baidu’s newest AI model Ernie 4.0 fails to wow investors, but analysts maintain ‘buy’ ratings, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth
Links & Content Marketing
Social Media’s Decline Creates Opportunity for Events, Content Marketing Institute
How to Future-Proof Your Marketing for an AI-Centric Search World? | 5-Minute Whiteboard, SparkToro
Local & Maps
8 ways we’re making daily tasks more accessible, Google Blog
Amazon, Tripadvisor, others team up to fight fake reviews, AP News
John Legend Looks to Take on Yelp and Google Reviews With His First Tech Startup, Wall Street Journal
Mobile & Voice
Apple Vision Pro labs coming to New York City and Sydney, AppleInsider
Google renews work on ‘Iris’ smart glasses with Assistant support, 9to5Google
SEO
Bing Explains SEO For AI Search, Search Engine Journal
How to Use SEO to Build Long-Term Brand Recognition and Visibility, Moz
Picture Perfect SEO: Optimizing Images for Search, Oncrawl
Subdomains vs. Subdirectories and SEO, BruceClay
Yoast SEO 21.4 brings more enhancements, Yoast
Search Central Live Singapore 2023, Google Search Central Blog
PPC
7 Free Google Tools All Small Businesses Should Know, US Chamber
Can You Target One-Time Purchasers vs Subscribers in Google Ads?, ZATO Marketing
Google Ads Location Targeting: 5 Big Mistakes to Avoid, WordStream
The first company to use Google Ads, QZ
When to use Target vs. Max CPA & ROAS Bidding Strategies for Google Ads, Adalysis
Independent ad tech urges regulators not to stop at divestiture to rein in Google, Digiday
Search Features
Chrome on iOS and Android will now detect URL typos, The Verge
OpenAI formally brings web search to ChatGPT as DALL-E 3 integration arrives in beta, TechCrunch
Other Search
Google investing in local artificial intelligence education, NBC Bay Area
Microsoft-affiliated research finds flaws in GTP-4, TechCrunch
Yandex introduces the YandexART – diffusion network to generate images and animations for business and creativity, Yandex
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
