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:
- Search Buzz Video Recap: Google Mobile Search Redesign, Ranking Update, Web Stories Teasers, Google On Links & More
This week, on January 27th, there was an unconfirmed and somewhat smaller Google search ranking update. Google launched a new redesign for its mobile search results pages... - Smaller Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On January 27th
There may have been a smaller and unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update that touched down around January 26th but mostly felt on January 27th. I was going to report on it yesterday but more important information came out, so I held this until today. Again, this seems like a smaller update but if you were hit by it, you probably felt it in a big way. - Google Search Found 25 Billion Spammy Pages Each Day
Google released a video talking about search spam and what Google does to protect searches from "spam sites, phishing scams, and other bad actors" trying to get into Google search. One metric that stood out was that Google detected "25 billion spammy pages every day" in 2020. - Google Search Critic Ratings Scale Visualization
Here is another variation of product attribute sliders within Google Search. In the screen shot from Brian Freiesleben you will see a "critic ratings" box that shows a scale that says "lower than most" from Bat Digest. - Google Search Now Displays Sports Player Statistics
Google Search is now showing the statistics for individual sport player stats. Mordy Oberstein, who admits he is not a 12 year old, noticed this new Google feature because he said he checks these queries often enough. - Google Offers Help On The Apple iOS 14 ATT Policy Changes
Google has published a document explaining what developers need to know about the upcoming App Tracking Transparency (ATT) policy changes.The changes will require developers to ask for permission when they use certain information from other companies' apps and websites for advertising purposes, even if they already have user consent, Google said. - Google Australia Adds Notice To Search Results About News Links Law
So you probably have heard the news that Australia wants Google and other platforms to pay to list search results to news outlets. Well, now, Google has added a large noticeable banner to the top of the search results in Google Australia for any query. - Noogler Santa Coding At Google
Here is a photo from February 2019 I found on Twitter of Santa, with a Noogler hat, special propeller hats new Googlers wear, working at one of the Google offices. I am not sure which office or why
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Apple Q1, FY21, Revenue Up 21pct to $111.4 bln Income $28.8bln, WebmasterWorld
- Facebook Q4, FY20 Revenue $28 bln up 33pct, Income $11.2bln, WebmasterWorld
- We do optimize our crawling based on what we've found in the past. For example, it doesn't make sense to crawl a 404 page as often as a page with content. So it can happen that it takes a bit longer for a longer-ter, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- SEO community mourns Hamlet Batista, advocate for automation in SEO and beloved friend
- The Secret Behind SEO Success: Estimate and optimize your content’s rank as you create it
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Google Analytics 4 How to: Setting up Events and Conversions and New Reports, Archant Hub
- Google Analytics 4: Featuring Next-Gen Machine Learning & Privacy Controls, Friday Blog
- Google Analytics 4: what to expect, Hallam
- Is your measurement plan future-proof, Think with Google
Industry & Business
- How we’re helping developers with differential privacy, Google Developers Blog
- My Attempt to Prepare for a Future Without Google, New York Times
Links & Content Marketing
- Counting Backlinks, and our 2021 Link Index Strategy, Majestic Blog
- The Anatomy of the Perfect Pitch Email, Moz
Local & Maps
- Google Maps trends and tips to navigate the new year., Google Blog
- Getting the Most from Google My Business in 2021 and Beyond, Seer Interactive
Mobile & Voice
- Google iOS app updates resume following long pause, 9to5Google
- Verizon Fios Announces Google Assistant Integration and Voice Controls, Voicebot
SEO
- A Simple Guide to SEO Reseller Packages, HigherVisibility
- Google Smart Shopping Switchover: A year-on-year review, Hallam
- How Long Should a Webpage Be to Compete in the Search Results?, BruceClay
- How to boost efficiency and ROI with SEO Automation, DeepCrawl
- How To Do Local SEO Keyword Research In 2021, SEM Rush
- How to Fix "indexed, though blocked by robots.txt" in GSC, Ahrefs
- How to Signal Trust in a Google Search, Center for Media Engagement
PPC
- Buy on Google update: submit disputes directly from settlement report, Google Merchant Center Help
- Why You Should Be Using Non-Branded Ad Copy In Your Competitor Campaigns, Metric Theory
