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:
- February 2019 Google Webmaster Report
It was a busy January with a few unconfirmed Google algorithm updates around the 15th, 9th and 6th of January. Google also said the next 50% of mobile-first indexing will be the hardest. - A New Google Useragent Named google-speakr
Some folks are seeing a new useragent in their log files named google-speakr. The for that useragent, at least during accessing the sites is 66.249.81.186 which resolves to Google. SEOs and webmasters are asking if this is some sort of Google Assistant or Home crawler or something else? - Google Shows 2.5X More Medical Featured Snippets In Desktop Results
Pete Meyers and Eric Hedekar from Moz said Google is now showing medical related featured snippets about 2.5 times more often in the desktop search results. It makes sense because more and more people are asking me if these medical search results are new, and the answer is no - but I guess they are showing to more people more often for more queries. - Google's Superb Owl: Most Exciting Part Of The Super Bowl
If you were searching for the Super Bowl on Google and mistyped it as [superb owl], which I guess people do, Google would show you a pretty impressive looking owl with the Super Bowl knowledge panel. - Google Tests Event Rich Snippets On Desktop
Brad Brewer spotted Google testing showing event rich results on the desktop results. It launched on mobile last year but normally is not visible on the desktop results. I cannot see them on desktop myself but he screen captured them on desktop. - Small Google Chair
Over the years I've posted many many pictures of really big, large and massive Google chairs. But I don't think I've posted any photos of smaller chairs, made for small people, like children.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Benefits of customising your sitemap over the generated one's Wordpress/Wix spit out?, Reddit
- Google Working on Defeating Punycode Domain Exploits, WebmasterWorld
- We use a ton of factors for crawling, indexing, and ranking, it's possible that in certain situations, some pages show up well quickly, while others take longer. There's no fixed rule or timeline there.… https://t.co/4ZXykRX, John Mueller on Twitter
- Fans Spamming NFL Stadium Listing in Los Angeles, Local Search Forum
- Sure. It's also much easier to fix canonicalization issues that way (eg, you can easily drop a query parameter, but can you drop a part of a path?).… https://t.co/RZkqhYm2Fm, John Mueller on Twitter
- Wanna know how to implement dynamic rendering with Rendertron to help crawlers 🤖 with your #javascript (e.g. #react, #angular or #vue) app with #seo? Our blog has got you covered: https://t.co/HNqDtdSSae, Google Webmasters on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Here are 3 privacy-focused alternatives to Google Analytics, Fast Company
- Google Analytics - An introduction for PR teams, PressPage
Industry & Business
- 3 Search Marketing Takeaways from SMX West 2019, CMS Wire
- Google Employees Are Fighting With Executives Over Pay, Wired
- How Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella rebuilt the company culture, Quartz
Links & Promotion Building
Local & Maps
- Is Google slowly killing off Waze?, Phone Arena
- [Update: Google responds] Google Maps being used for rampant booze-delivery scam in India, severe lack of moderation to blame, Android Police
Mobile & Voice
- Alexa skills top 80,000 after a big Alexa-powered holiday season, TechCrunch
- Apple removes Siri team lead as part of AI strategy shift, Apple Insider
- How Alexa, Siri, Google Assistant, and Cortana talk about the Super Bowl, VentureBeat
- In-car AI assistants are coming whether you like it or not, Ars Technica
SEO
- All About Website Page Speed: Issues, Resources, Metrics, and How to Improve, Moz
- How to Create a Content Strategy for Both Users & Search Engines, Search Engine Journal
- You Can Earn Featured Snippets in Search, Stone Temple
PPC
- Announcing the 2019 Bing Channel Partner Awards, Bing Ads Blog
Search Features
