Daily Search Forum Recap: January 8, 2024

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.

Another weekend and another unconfirmed Google search ranking update to report on - whoa. Google also may have had a local search ranking algorithm update on January 4th. Google clarified that its search snippets primarily are generated based on content from your page. Google said it does not use GA data for ranking, even if it is in Search Console. Google reiterated it has spam algorithm updates to target the new spam you all see in the search results. Google also seems to have dropped the FAQ rich results again.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Algorithmic Volatility Friday On January 5th & 6th
  As I hinted in my last video recap, I was seeing some early signs of an update on Friday, January 5th and 6th. Well, now there are more signals in where I am more confident to write about those Google Search ranking algorithm volatility.
• Google Local Ranking Algorithm Update On January 4th (Unconfirmed)
  There may have been a local ranking algorithm update that Google quietly pushed out on Thursday, January 4th. The BrightLocal Local RankFlux tool showed a significant spike in volatility on Thursday, and some local SEOs have confirmed seeing ranking changes for their clients around then.
• Google Reiterates: We Have Changes Coming To Deal With Search Spam
  Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, posted this morning that the search company has changes coming to better deal with the recent flux of search spam we've all been seeing in the search results. He said it just sometimes takes time to fully put these changes into place but they are on their way.
• Google Search FAQ Rich Results Drop Out Again
  It looks like Google has stopped showing FAQ-rich results again. Yes, again. Google told us that FAQ-rich results in the Google search results will be shown for only authoritative sites. Then, around September 13th, they dropped out of the search results only to return again around two months later. Guess what, they are now gone again.
• Google Says Search Result Snippets Generated Primarily From Page Content
  Google has made a number of updates to its how-to control your snippets in search results to clarify that the snippets are primarily generated using the page content. Google removed the section about rich results and structured data on that page.
• Google: We Don't Use Google Analytics Data For Ranking Even When In Search Console
  Danny Sullivan, Google's Search Liaison, said that Google Search does not use Google Analytics data for ranking purposes, even when that GA data is connected to Google Search Console.
• Future Dublin Google Office
  I found a photo on Instagram that is of the outside of a rainbow-colored building in Dublin. It was named the future Dublin 4 Google headquarters. I am not sure if this is the existing building or a new one being built. Either way, the photo is cool.

Other Great Search Threads:

• FWIW robots meta tags can also be search engine specific, eg meta name=googlebot content=noarchive, John Mueller on X
• I'll pass this along. It took me some time to even find that snippet text on your page. I think you have an embedded web story? Anyway, nosnippet is your friend here. We do consider meta description tags, but it's never been the case that we always use th, Google SearchLiaison on X
• It's up to you. You decide what you want indexed on your site :-). I generally prefer when sites don't blindly copy setups, and instead work out what makes sense for them, John Mueller on X
• There have been no changes. If you're using the new interface design, you'll find the search terms report under Insights and reports. Additionally, Search term insights are available on the Insights page, AdsLiaison on X
• "Focus on Local? Yelp covers a controversial topic -> How to get Yelp reviews without asking "Yelp’s automated recommendation software evaluates reviews based on hundreds of signals of quality, reliability, and user activity on Yelp, Glenn Gabe on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google says search result snippets primarily come from page content, not other sources
• The latest jobs in search marketing
• 94% of Google SGE links are different from organic search results, study finds
• TikTok ‘planning to rival Amazon with major U.S. expansion’

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• 6 Adobe Analytics Training Resources for Beginners , Corina Burri
• Google Analytics Dashboard: What Is It & How to Create One, Semrush

Industry & Business

• Adobe: Online Holiday Sales Reached Record $221 Billion, Pymnts
• EU's Vestager to meet Big Tech CEOs in the US next week, Reuters
• Google Just Lost Another Exec Working on Augmented Reality, Business Insider
• Microsoft poised to overtake Apple as most valuable company, AppleInsider
• Microsoft, OpenAI sued over copyright infringement by authors, CNBC
• Microsoft’s Dee Templeton Joins OpenAI Board as Nonvoting Observer, Bloomberg
• Isomorphic inks deals with Eli Lilly and Novartis for drug discovery, TechCrunch
• Amazon, Microsoft Boosting Saudi Offices Amid State Pressure, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• How To Assess The Quality Of Any Backlink (Paid Or Otherwise), Daniel K Cheung

Local & Maps

• LSA Scams in UK, Google Gets Interstitial, You Can't Delete a Listing, Near Media
• The New Google Business Profile Reinstatement/Appeal Process, Sterling Sky
• Google Maps shows 3D buildings while navigating during new test, PhoneArena
• How to get Yelp reviews without asking, Yelp - Official Blog
• Google Maps' navigation experience quietly gets a huge upgrade, Android Central

Mobile & Voice

• U.S. Moves Closer to Filing Sweeping Antitrust Case Against Apple, New York Times
• ChatGPT Could Soon Replace Google Assistant on Your Phone, Droid Life
• Apple 2024 Plans, Challenges: Gen AI, Vision Pro, China Sales, App Store Changes, Bloomberg
• Apple plans Xcode AI tools in its generative AI push, AppleInsider
• Apple prepares for Apple Vision Pro launch in February, AppleInsider

SEO

• SEO-Driven Content Architecture — Whiteboard Friday, Moz
• 10 practical ways to implement entity analysis in digital marketing and SEO, Lazarina Stoy
• How to grab a bigger piece of the SERP, Stolber

PPC

• Revolutionizing Ads: Privileged Insights Raves About OpenAI's Game-Changing GPT Store, Bill Hartzer
• The Ultimate Guide to Google Search Bidding, Cypress North
• X users fed up with constant stream of malicious crypto ads, Bleeping Computer
• ‘Dragging on for too long’: Ad execs sound off on the beginning of the end of third-party cookies in Google’s Chrome, Digiday

Search Features

• Chrome for Android making it easier to Clear browsing data, 9to5Google
• Google appears to be working on an ‘advanced’ version of Bard that you have to pay for, The Verge
• Google Gemini: Everything you need to know about the new generative AI platform, TechCrunch
• Keyword Research Study shows the likely impact of Google's SGE on SEO, Authoritas

Other Search

• In Defense of AI Hallucinations, Wired
• Generative AI Has a Visual Plagiarism Problem, IEEE Spectrum
• What Happens When you Roleplay with ChatGPT, The Markup

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