I posted the monthly Google Webmaster Report for January 2021, it is a good place to catch up on the past month of SEO stuff. I am seeing some early signs of another unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update. Google Question Hub has launched to US publishers, it is a pretty cool way to come up with new content ideas. Google seems to be showing fewer FAQ based rich results in the search results. Google launched related tags in the interesting finds feature. Google product search results test a slider to visualize the size of the product. Bing Webmaster Tools expanded the performance report to include crawl and index data. Google is working on improving the robots.txt tester tool by using the production version of the parser. Google Data Studio can pull in news query data from Search Console now. Google Search Console silently reports on following redirects, this is important to know when you are looking at the reports. Google is sending out notes from your reviewer for reconsideration requests. Google is testing dynamic tabs for the local panel. Yocale may be pushing its booking service on your Google My Business listing and you might not even know it. Google Maps clearly is showing what are ads now. Google is now rolling out new Google My Business performance reports. Google Search engineer said he personally launched features that made the Google Ads team scramble when it negatively impacts ad revenues. Danny Sullivan of Google had to say again that ads do not impact organic and if someone says so at Google, that needs to be dealt with. Google Ads now added data exclusions for Smart Bidding. Some Google employees have started a union named the Alphabet Workers Union, which is unusual for a tech company. Carolyn Lyden has joined Search Engine Land and SMX as the head of search content. Oh and if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

SPONSOR: This week’s video recap is sponsored by Loud Interactive, a Chicago-based SEO firm led by Brent D. Payne.

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Search Topics of Discussion:
January 2021 Google Webmaster Report
Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update Signals – January 7th & 8th 2021
Google Question Hub Is Open & It’s A Great Way To Find Content Ideas
Google Search Showing Fewer FAQ Rich Results
Google Search Interesting Finds List Adds Related Tags
Google Product Result Size Slide Visualization
Bing Webmaster Tools Performance Report Adds Crawl & Index Data
Google Working On Improving Robots.txt Tester Tool
Google Data Studio Can Pull Search Console News Queries
Reminder: Google Search Console Coverage Report Silently Follows Redirects
Spotted: Google Note From Your Reviewer For Reconsideration Requests
Google Tests Dynamic Customized Tabs In Local Panel
Beware: Yocale May Be Added To Your Google Local Listing
Google Maps Calling Out Square Ad Pins As Ads
Google My Business Begins Rolling Out New Performance Metrics / Insights
Google Search Team Launched Changes That Negatively Impacted Revenue Substantially
Google Ads Reps Get “Very Firm Reminder” If They Pitch Organic Ranking Benefits
You Can Now Exclude Data From Google Ads Smart Bidding
Google Employees Start A Union: The Alphabet Workers Union
Carolyn Lyden Joins The Search Engine Land & SMX: Reaction

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