I got to say, I am a bit frustrated with the release of Google passage based ranking. I rant on it for a while and clarify a lot of things around it, including how it seemed like a small update and the scroll to text misinformation. Google may have released another unconfirmed search update, this one on February 17th. Google said they may give us a way to prevent our content from showing in Google Discover. Google’s John Mueller posted a lot of detail on penalties on Reddit. Did you know you may be able to ride the Google Discover wave? Google said just stop worrying about stop words. There is this trick with Google Search Console’s URL inspection tool to get it to take a screen shot further down the page. Google Search Console changed the boundaries for the core web vitals metrics. There was a poll where the SEOs voted on if they think the page experience update will be a big one or not. Google said it can process JavaScript redirects but not all search engines can. Google is testing product swipe features in search. Google image search is testing a compass to explore more images. Bing Local replaced Yelp reviews with Facebook and Foursquare. Google My Business is auto populating some services. Google Maps did a crazy amount of spam controls in 2020. Google Ads made responsive search ads the default ad type. Google Search Central announced its first live conference this week. 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.

Make sure to subscribe to our video feed or subscribe directly on iTunes to be notified of these updates and download the video in the background. Here is the YouTube version of the feed:

For the original iTunes version, click here.

Search Topics of Discussion:
Google Passage Based Ranking Causing Minimal Impact So Far
Google Passage Ranking & Scroll To Text/Snippet Are Unrelated
Unconfirmed Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update February 17th
Google May Provide Method To Block Content From Google Discover
Google’s John Mueller On Google Search Spam Penalties & Quality Issues
Can You Ride The Google Discover Wave?
Google: Stop Worrying About Stop Words Just Write Naturally
Google Search Console Screenshot Hack
Google Search Console Core Web Vitals Boundaries Changed On February 17th
Poll On Impact Of Google Page Experience Update & Core Web Vitals On Rankings
Google Can Process JavaScript Redirects But Be Concerned About Other Search Engines
Google Product Search Swipe Through Results and Style Ideas
Google Image Search Tests Explore More Compass Icon
Bing Local Replaces Yelp Reviews With Facebook & Foursquare Reviews
Notice: Google My Business Auto Populating Services
Google My Business Messaging Support Added To Desktop Interface
Google Maps Spam Efforts Lead To Removal Of 55M Reviews & 3M Business Profiles
Google Ads Responsive Search Ads The New Default Ad Type
Google Search Central Live Conference Is Next Week

Please do subscribe on YouTube or subscribe via iTunes or on your favorite RSS reader. Don’t forget to comment below with the right answer and good luck!