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Daily Search Forum Recap: November 16, 2023

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.

This newsletter is a lot bigger than the average, there was just a lot of news in the past day and I am saving some for tomorrow. We had Google tell us the hidden gems search ranking feature has been live for months and it is not part of the helpful content system. Google launched a new personalized version of its search results. Google has a new follow button and a new labs experiment for notes within Search. Google SGE added new features for shopping and gift ideas. Google Search Console added a new robots.txt report but dropped the robots.txt tester tool. Google supports an updated courses information structured data. And more to come tomorrow – sorry for the rather large newsletter.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google Hidden Gems Ranking Algorithm Update
Google announced the hidden gems ranking system has been rolling out. This hidden gems update helps promote content deep within forum posts, social media, and blog posts that Google Search thinks provide authentic content based on personal insights and experiences.

Google To Personalize Search Results To Your Previous Searches
Google also announced that later this year, in the US, Google will make it easier for you to find your favorite sites by showing you sites you view more often, more often in the search results. Plus, Google will make the search results more personalized with Perspectives, highlight more creator profiles and more.

Google Search Adds Follow Feature
Google is rolling out a new search feature to let you follow topics. You can click on a follow button and Google will not only show you more of those topics in your Discover feed but also show you more of that topic in Google Search.

Google Search Labs Adds Notes To Search Results
Google Search is testing a new notes feature where you can add your own notes to the search results and also see the notes others have left on that search result. This is a Search Labs experiment that you need to opt into and launched in the US and India on mobile and within the Google app.

New Google Search Console Robots.txt Report Replaced Robots.txt Tester Tool
Google announced a new robots.txt report within Google Search Console and at the same time said it will sunset the old robots.txt tester tool. The new tool shows which robots.txt files Google found for the top 20 hosts on your site, the last time they were crawled, and any warnings or errors encountered.

Bing Chat Now Named Copilot
Microsoft has rebranded Bing Chat to Copilot. “Beginning today, Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise are becoming Copilot, with commercial data protection enforced when any eligible user is signed in with Microsoft Entra ID,” they wrote yesterday.

Google Adds New Course Carousel Info & Search Console Reports
Google announced it has expanded its courses rich results so you can now provide new data such as pricing, educational level, ratings, and length with structured data. Google said this data can appear in a new carousel feature within Google Search.

Google SGE Gift Ideas, Generate Images For Apparel & Men’s Virtual Try On
Google announced some new Search Generative Experience (SGE) features for shopping, including gift ideas, generating images for apparel purposes, and more virtual try-on features.

Google Dublin Pool Table View
Google loves their office pool tables, I mean, I suspect they have purchased hundreds of pool tables over the years. Here is one in the Dublin office. The pool table is cool but where they placed the

Other Great Search Threads:

Report: Yandex NV Plans to Sell Russian Assets, WebmasterWorld
Googlebot renders pages with Chrome, so it’s worth checking that your pages work with the new cookie world., John Mueller on X
Seeing “People Also Search For” on steroids recently… E.g. I see it twice in the SERP very close to one another. Sometimes with images and then a list, followed by a straight list. Do users need to see that many PASF modules in on, Glenn Gabe on X
All formats (including sitemap index) limit a single sitemap to 50MB (uncompressed) or 50,000 URLs. If you have a larger file or more URLs, you must break your sitemap into multiple sitemaps, John Mueller on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

Bing adds AI-generation captions to some search result snippets
New Yahoo Search experience to start rolling out in the first weeks of 2024
Google Analytics 4 rolls out new Admin experience
Google testing new SGE ad format
Microsoft rebrands Bing Chat as Copilot
Google Search Console adds robots.txt report
Google Search ranking improvement aims to surface hidden gems
Google launches new personal search experience with follow button and personalized ranking
Google Search tests Notes on search results
7 tips to create PPC text ads that are trustworthy and clickworthy
How to spot potential in SEO candidates
Content strategy: Why less is more

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

Behind Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s push to get AI tools in developers’ hands, MIT Technology Review
Scoop: Google trims global policy staff, Axios

Links & Content Marketing

Why Content Marketing Is Important for B2B Brands, Online Marketing Blog
7 Content Examples Worth Savoring on Thanksgiving, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

8 Google Maps tips to help you navigate the holidays, Google Blog
Google Maps trends for holiday travel, shopping and more, Google Blog
Introducing ‘Things to do’: Managing Google Business Profile’s Activities and Tickets, BrightLocal

Mobile & Voice

visionOS beta 6 adds Persona Enrollment setup video, AppleInsider
Google is going to let teens use Bard, though with some guardrails, The Verge
How safe is AI: Chat GPT, Bard, Dall-E and more get safety report, Axios

SEO

Does SEO have a future?, Reddit
A Non-Technical Guide to Diagnosing JavaScript SEO Issues, Moz
Shotgun or Sniper? Choose Your SEO Outreach Tactic, Ahrefs
The New Most Important SEO Tool Is One You Already Have, Internet Marketing Ninjas Blog
The Scary Potential of Generative AI on Content ft. Kristin Tynski, iPullRank
What does good E-E-A-T even mean?, SERP’s Up SEO Podcast

PPC

Google search ads abused to spread ransomware by ALPHV/BlackCat gang, SC Media
How to Find Keywords for Business Using Keyword Research Tool?, PPC Expo
Secrets of a Google Ads 3rd Party Agency Support Rep, ZATO Marketing
GroupM Launches Comprehensive Post-Cookie Readiness Program Testing Google’s Privacy Sandbox, GroupM

Search Features

Google will responsibly expand Bard access to teenagers around the world, Google Blog
Our vision to bring Microsoft Copilot to everyone, and more, Bing Search Blog
Personalized Google Rankings, Fake Reviews Thriving, AI Trust Growing, Near Media
Meet the artists collaborating with YouTube’s Dream Track & Music AI, YouTube Blog

Other Search

An early look our AI Music experiment, YouTube Blog
Google DeepMind wants to define what counts as artificial general intelligence, MIT Technology Review

Feedback:

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