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:
Beware Of Google My Business Listings Hijackings
Joy Hawkins, a local SEO expert, has said she has seen a “large increase” in the number of hijacked Google My Business listings over the past couple of months. There is this large Google My Business Help thread with almost a hundred posts in it about hackers trying to obtain ownership of their business listings.
Michael Lewittes came to my home on a Sunday to talk to me about his unique perspective as starting as a journalist and reporter…
Loser: Google Images vs Bing Images
I have been watching the Google and Bing Image search results all weekend for the search term [loser]. I mean, this is the type of stuff that would normally be polluted with the political hacks and commentary. But I got to say, Google has not taken the bait. Bing has, a bit, but not Google.
Google Investigating Complaints Of Original Content Not Ranking
There has been a number of complaints from various publishers online that Google Search is letting non-original sources of content outrank their original content in Google Search, Google News and Google Discover. Danny Sullivan of Google has been responding asking for examples.
Google Survey: Why You Want The URL Submission Tool Back
Three weeks ago, Google “temporarily” suspended use of the request indexing tool within Google Search Console. Today, John Mueller of Google says he has no news yet on the tool but created a Google Form asking SEOs why they are missing the “URL submission tool” – yea, he called it that.
Google Poland Office Lobby Area With Timeline
Here is a photo from Instagram from over two years ago (yes, still hard to get new photos of Google offices during COVID) from the Google office in Poland. It is an interesting chair and on the walls
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
Both kinds of sites can be useful, I don’t think it would make sense to have an inherent preference either way. Sometimes a lot of value is found on a page with an affiliate link. Sometimes an affiliate, John Mueller on Twitter
Next few months is like saying we’ll have Christmas this year :). It’s a pretty big timeframe., John Mueller on Twitter
Anti SEO algorithm, BlackHatWorld
So fed up with managing shitty site migrations that I made a whole presentation to walk through how to properly do them. Here’s the cover photo: https://t.co/UcF54UQmLz, nikrangerseo on Twitter
Sounds like a good use-case for hreflang, since people might be searching in the same way (same queries), but wanting the different variations (local versions)., John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Connected TV strategies to capture New Year’s resolution shoppers
More Facebook Ads bugs unnerve advertisers ahead of Black Friday, Cyber Monday
Analyze your paid search spend, revenue, and profit to forecast your ideal ad cost for 2021
Using auction insights for better PPC competitor analysis
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
With bets on Looker and BigQuery, Google aims to bolster cloud data analytics push, SiliconANGLE
Industry & Business
Foursquare CEO David Shim Steps Down, Wall Street Journal
Google says it will not file motion to dismiss U.S. lawsuit, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
How We Built a Bespoke SERP Tracker and Measured the Results of Our New Content Program (Part 3 of 3), Jaan Kanellis
Local & Maps
Hijacked Google My Business Listings On The Rise, Local University
How to blur your home on Google Maps, WRCBtv
Mobile & Voice
New in Web Stories: Discover, WordPress and quizzes, Google Blog
What is Google AMP and Do I Need It for SEO?, WordStream
SEO
12 SEO Techniques to Increase Organic Traffic 2021, SEM Rush
Still Debating Subfolder vs Subdomain? (And More), Tidings
Does Website UX Matter for SEO?, Wellspring Digital
Google Passage Ranking and BERT: How To Make Sure Your Content Keeps Google Happy, Know Agency
PPC
Product Update: Ad Inspection, Text Pattern Analysis, Search Term Management, and More, Adalysis
Marketing that our collective future depends on, Microsoft Advertising
Other Search
How to Apply SparkToro’s Data and Get Better Marketing Results, SparkToro
How We Became Digital Marketers in Just One Summer, Moz
Screaming Frog 10 Year Anniversary Giveaway, Screaming Frog
