Daily Search Forum Recap: February 6, 2025

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.

Updated Google quality raters guidelines warns about recipe bloggers adding too much fluff and requiring too much scrolling to find the recipe. Google Ads now looks at the user experience of the landing page and will show less ads that have bad experience. Google says don't update the lastmod date when you only change the footer's copyright date. Google's Gary Illyes says focus on originality for 2025. ChatGPT Search is open even without an account, Google expanded Gemini 2.0 to all and Microsoft is giving Think Deeper with Copilot for free.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Guidelines Warns Of Significant Scrolling On Recipe Blogs
  Another update in the revised Google Quality Raters Guidelines that was updated on January 23rd was that they added a section for recipe sites and said that requiring "significant scrolling" or making it hard to find the jump to recipe button is not a good thing.
• Google Ads Update Takes Into Account Quality Of User Navigation Experience
  Google has announced it made some updates to its ad quality where it now takes into account better measurements for understanding the user navigation experience and if that user will or will not be happy with the ad landing page.
• Google's Gary Illyes: Focus On Originality In 2025
  Gary Illyes from Google reportedly said at event the other day that it is important for us to focus on originality in the coming year. "Originality is something we're going to be focusing on this year. That's going to be important," is how he was quoted.
• Google: Don't Update Lastmod Date With Copyright Date Changes
  Gary Illyes from Google ranted on Bluesky about folks updating the lastmod date in their sitemap files when all they have changed was the date in their footers copyright line from 2024 to 2025. Gary said, don't do it, it is not enough of a change to the page's content to warrant a lastmod date update.
• ChatGPT Search More Open; Google Expands Gemini 2.0 & Microsoft Think Deeper in Copilot
  OpenAI announced big news that its ChatGPT Search service is now open and no longer requires a login or an account. It comes the same day that Google expanded access to Gemini 2.0 to all users and where Microsoft said Think Deeper in Copilot is free for all users.
• Google Lollipop Ceiling Room
  Here is a meeting room at the Google office in Korea. The ceiling looks like it has multicolored lollipops across it. I am not sure why but it does.

Other Great Search Threads:

• New Conversion tracking via Tag Manager in GAds lets you setup form tracking from a wizard-style interface (after I've spent 15 hours coding 7 of them!), David Quaid on X
• You can, but those are not special characters (looking at www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9309.... ), so you can just use them directly, John Mueller on Bluesky
• Hey Nate - not a hallucination, Gemini is grounded in the Web - and users can always check the results and references. In this case, multiple sites across the web include the 50-60% stat. Gouda news: many love this ch, Jerry Dischler on X
• Think Deeper in Copilot is now free for all users, and it’s a big deal! Taking more time to reason means better-structured, more thoughtful responses. Put it to the test with these prompts., Yusuf Mehdi on X
• To clarify, these screenshots aren't Google results., News from Google on X
• Weird that when you hit "Forums" on Google, it's as if timeliness/relevancy goes out the window. Apparently, as long as it's a forum, it's eligible, even with 14 year old content. I'm not so sure forum posts from 2011-2017 are, Lily Ray on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google Ads simplifies conversion tracking with new tag manager feature
• OpenAI drops sign in requirement for ChatGPT search
• Google sees ad potential in Gemini AI
• Instagram and TikTok outrank Google for Gen Z shoppers: Survey
• Google organic and paid CTRs hit new lows: Report
• How to use Video View campaigns effectively in Google Ads
• Top 6 B2B paid media platforms: Where and how to advertise effectively
• Google AI Overviews now with detailed shopping comparisons
• Mentorship in SEO: How to learn, grow, and build your network

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Where Are The Missing Data Holes In GA4 That Brands Need?, Search Engine Journal

Industry & Business

• Alphabet will invest about $75 billion in capital expenditures in 2025, CNBC
• Ex-Google employee charged by US with espionage to boost AI in China, The Mercury News
• Google expects 2025 capex to surge to $75bn on AI data center buildout, Data Center Dynamics
• Google Kills Diversity Hiring Targets, Wall Street Journal
• Google says commercial quantum computing applications arriving within five years, Reuters

Links & Content Marketing

• Balancing the human-to-AI mix in B2B marketing, MarTech
• Case studies from the best of content marketing, Ragan Communications

Local & Maps

• Drive with ‘Paddington in Peru’ on Waze, Google Blog
• How to Use Reddit to Bring More Leads to Your Local Business, Uberall
• Yelp survey findings reveal consumers favor detailed, genuine reviews over AI-generated or biased content, Yelp - Official Blog

Mobile & Voice

• 6 Ways I Use Siri With Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT That Don't Suck, How To Geek
• Amazon announces February event as it races to release new Alexa, CNBC
• Amazon's AI revamp of Alexa assistant nears unveiling, Reuters
• Stuck With Old Siri in iOS 18.3? Here's Why New Features Are Missing on Your iPhone, CNET

SEO

• Site focus? Should SEOs stay in their lane?, SERP's Up SEO Podcast
• Using @id in Schema.org Markup for SEO, LLMs, & Knowledge Graphs, Momentic

PPC

• Google AI's Search Revenue Matches Traditional Ads, Says Alphabet But There Is Rising Competition From OpenAI, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Benzinga
• Scammers Are Using Malicious Google Ads to Steal Your Microsoft Account, Make Use Of

Other Search

• Gemini 2.0 model updates: 2.0 Flash, Flash-Lite, Pro Experimental, Google Blog
• Gemini 2.0: Flash, Flash-Lite and Pro, Google Developers Blog
• More AI innovations coming to Search - Google’s Q4 2024 earnings call, Marie Haynes

Feedback:

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