Daily Search Forum Recap: December 13, 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.

Most SEOs feel Google will have another confirmed update by years end. Google Groups search ranking is declining after it saw a huge visibility boost. Google said you can publish both PDFs and HTML files and Google can rank both. Google Ads added a step-by-step guide to completing your business operations verifications. Google is testing a shaded tiled product grid.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Most SEOs Think There Will Be Another Google Algorithm Update Before 2023 Ends
Most SEOs believe Google will push out another confirmed algorithm update before the end of the 2023 year – so within the next few weeks. I ran a poll on X asking SEOs “Do you think Google will push out another confirmed update before the 2023 year ends?” Most said yes, specifically to a “confirmed” update.
The Google Groups Search Ranking & Visibility Boost Is Now Dropping
A couple of weeks ago, I reported about that Google Groups was seeing a very big ranking and visibility boost. Well, it seems to have caught Google’s attention, the rankings of Google Groups seems to be declining and their visibility in Google Search has dropped.

Google: You Can Publish Both PDF & HTML Formats
Google’s John Mueller said it is fine to publish some content in both PDF and HTML formats. He said both “can be shown independently in the search results.” If Google sees them as duplicates, in some cases, Google may just show the HTML version in its search results.

Google Ads Step-By-Step Guide To Business Operations Verification
Google Ads will make it easier to complete the business operations verification. Google will add “a step-by-step guide to complete business operations verification, clarify reasons for failing business operations verifications, and add example scenarios in which an advertiser may be selected to complete business operations verification as part of the advertiser verification program,” the company announced.

Google Tests Shaded Tiled Product Results Grid
Google Search and its shopping results have been pretty wild over the past year or so and Google keeps on testing new features in this area. Now we are seeing reports of Google shading and tiling product results in the search interface.

Google Bonsai Plant
We’ve seen bonsai plants at Google before but hey, you don’t see these every day. Here is a new bonsai plant at the Google NYC office. The person who posted it on Instagram wrote, “Please don’t die.”

Other Great Search Threads:

Seeing this A LOT in the forum – putting together a list of examples. @digitalquokka can you confirm this is the business listing that’s affec, Claire Carlile on X
“Don’t cloak your test pages” (https://t.co/suVjcEXnhP) Has anyone ever seen this enforced in practice? I’ll start: no. (tee hee we’re randomly removing the main nav for anyone without a session cookie), Oliver H.G. Mason on X
In the latest episode of “AI’s impact on Google search”, my son (16) has a big History exam today. I asked how he is studying for it. He explained he went to ChatGPT and asked a bunch of questions about the topic, copied the info to, Glenn Gabe on X
Sometimes sites are hacked with third-party content *unknowingly* inserted into them. Sometimes sites *knowingly* carry third-party content. They are different things, though both can cause ranking issues. I think it’s best not to confuse them, since ther, Google SearchLiaison on X
InLinks just launched a new UX feature that allows you to control the web pages used to create a content brief for SEO. This update dramatically improves the granularity of topics suggested when creating articles for SEO., Dixon Jones on X
Most of my SEO feed on this platform right now, Ori Zilbershtein on X
The same thing, we are just converging them. Sorry, a transitional period., Mikhail Parakhin on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

YouTube adds more formats for Video Reach Campaigns
Search Engine Land’s commitment to use generative AI responsibly
Search Engine Land celebrates its 17th birthday
9 interesting Google patents from 2023 and what they mean for SEO
Paid search for lead gen: Tips for new accounts with limited budgets
How to do Instagram lead generation

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