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.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Working On Improving Robots.txt Tester Tool
Gary Illyes from Google confirmed he is slowly working on improving the robots.txt tester tool, which is currently available on the old version of Google Search Console. He said on Twitter "we're currently in the process(*) of integrating the tester with the production version of the parser." - Google Search Interesting Finds List Adds Related Tags
Google has been adding "interesting finds" to the search results since 2018. But now, if you click to show more results for interesting finds, Google will let you expand those results by related tags or topics. Glenn Gabe spotted this and posted an example on Twitter. - Google Data Studio Can Pull Search Console News Queries
The folks at the Google Analytics posted on Twitter yesterday that if you are using Google Data Studio and using the connection feature to Search Console, you can now bring in query data filtered by Google News sources. Google said "the Data Studio Search Console connector now shows you search data coming from Google News, in addition to existing data from Google Search, Image Search, and Video Search." - Carolyn Lyden Joins The Search Engine Land & SMX: Reaction
As you all know, I have been with Search Engine Land and SMX since the company was founded and the company has been through many changes over the past 14+ years. And one of those changes happened this week with the hire of the new "director of search content," Carolyn Lyden. - Google Local Panel Health & Safety Pop Up Overlay
Back in October 2020 businesses could add health and safety information to their Google My Business profile. Shortly later Google began testing displaying them in the local panel for those businesses. Now the desktop interface has changed a bit that it can overlay the information in a pop up dialog menu. - Google Sitting Spot With Wooden Slats & More
I am not sure why I am sharing this but it looked interesting and colorful, so I shared it. It seems like this is from some old conference, maybe a weird looking Google booth with wooden slats, pipes
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- AzeemDigiAsks podcast is back for '21! Google's @JohnMu is my guest. I've created a Web Story w/ more details & link to the ep. Web Story URL: https://t.co/L8XgI4BA13 If you want to skip the, Azeem on Twitter
- IMO if there were a general API issue, that would be pretty visible. The API uses the same data as the SC UI, so it's not that there are different sources that need to be, John Mueller on Twitter
- Probably a controversial opinion, but I think the debate over what is/is not a confirmed Google SEO ranking factor is getting old. Google clearly doesn’t publicly confirm most of its ranking factors. IMO, if it’s good f, Lily Ray on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Custom Google Analytics Dashboards with R: Building The Dashboard, RStudio Blog
- Review: GTM Preview Mode, Seer Interactive
Industry & Business
- Google CEO says 'lawlessness' at U.S. Capitol 'antithesis of democracy', Reuters
- Merkle Wins MediaPost’s Search Agency of the Year Award, Merkle
Local & Maps
- Google map knows your location, photos you took: How to turn it off., USA Today
- How to See a List of Restaurants You’ve Visited in Google Maps, How To Geek
Mobile & Voice
- Chrome OS 89 brings deeper Google Assistant integration, Chrome Unboxed
- Facebook Smart Glasses Coming ‘Sooner Than Later’ Without AR, Bloomberg
- TikTok launches AR effect using LiDAR on iPhone 12 Pro, AppleInsider
SEO
- 2021 predictions: Keep a close eye on these 4 upcoming SEO trends, DAC
- A/B Split Testing for SEO - Now is the Time, SEM Rush
- B2B SEO Strategy Guide 2021: 7 Lessons from Companies that Drive 2M+ Visits/Month, HigherVisibility
PPC
- Bid Automation & Budget Allocation 2x Revenue at a 12% Higher ROAS, Seer Interactive
- So, You're Taking over An Account. What Next?, PPC Hero
- Partner Awards: Congratulations finalists!, Microsoft Advertising
Other Search