We had two periods of Google Search ranking volatility this week, one last weekend and one on Thursday or so. Google court documents say search quality has improved and not degraded. Google dropped the see more results in the local panel this week for a period of time until it fixed that bug. Google also removed the news tab but that seemed like a bug also and was fixed. Google has a bug with the European hotel/travel results being hijacked. Google also broke the filetype search operator for a while. Google Analytics is seeing a lot of referral spam from Poland. There is new structured data carousel beta details. Google is testing a most-read articles carousel in the search results. Google is also testing popular opinions carousels. Google local panels is testing expandable menus. Google has this reviews disclaimer for “people like.” Google Analytics added new default Google Ads reports. Google Ads Performance Max placement reports to show the search partner network. Google Ads is testing limited by budget status color coding. Google Ads support reps may use Google Translate to chat with advertisers. Microsoft said it will bring back testing of Bing Deep Search. Google said that Microsoft tried selling Bing to Apple but Apple didn’t want it due to quality issues. A survey shows SEOs dislike Google more now than ever. 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.
Sponsored by BruceClay, who has been doing search marketing optimization since 1996 and also has an amazing SEO training platform.
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Search Topics of Discussion:
0:00 – Introduction
1:03 – Massive Volatility Reported – Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update?
2:23 – Early Signs: Google Search Ranking Update On February 28 & 29th
3:09 – Google Court Document Says Search Quality Continues To Improve
3:48 – Google Drops Link To See More Local Results From Search Results (It’s Back)
4:16 – Did Google Test Removing The News Tab Or Was It A Bug?
5:22 – Google Europe Search Hijacking Bug With TripAdvisor, Booking, Hotel.com & More
6:08 – Google Search Filetype Operator For Site Commands Broken; Filetype Does Work
6:20 – Google Analytics Referral Spam From Poland – Complaints
6:59 – Google Structured Data Carousels Beta Documentation Added
7:45 – Google Most-Read Articles Search Carousel
8:13 – Google Popular Opinions Search Carousel
8:22 – Google Local Panels Design With Expandable Menus
8:53 – Google Reviews Disclaimer For Beta Questions
9:29 – Google Local Pack People Like Justifications
9:45 – Google Analytics Adds New Default Google Ads Report
10:15 – Google Ads PMax Placement Report To Show Search Partner Network Sites
11:09 – Google Ads Limited By Budget Status Now Color Coded
11:23 – Google Ads Support Chat Reps May Be Using Google Translate
11:42 – Bing Deep Search To Start Testing Again This Week
12:36 – Report: Microsoft Tried Selling Bing To Apple But Search Quality Issues Held It Back
13:30 – Survey Says Most SEOs Dislike Google Now More Than Before
14:48 – Conclusion
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