Daily Search Forum Recap: February 14, 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.

Google says not al that think they were hit by the helpful content update actually have unhelpful content. Google Maps released its spam fighting metrics showing it removed 45% more reviews this year than last. Google Ads is rolling out the spacing feature to MCC accounts. Google has no plans to release a mobile app for Search Console. Google Ads has a new partner performance guide. Google Business Profiles makes it easier to disable online ordering providers. There was a bug this morning where Google Search stopped showing the local pack in its search results.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google: Not All Sites That Think They Were Hit By Helpful Content Issues Actually Were
  Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, wrote on X, "Another thing to keep in mind is that some of the sites I've looked into, where someone thinks they have a helpful content issue -- they're fine." Meaning, those sites may have seen competitors see a lift and jump up ahead of them but their traffic is down because of the competition ranking better, not because of any unhelpful content issues.
• Google Maps Blocked 45% More Fake Reviews In 2023 With New Algorithm
  Google has released its new Google Maps and local spam fighting numbers for the 2023 year, citing a big lift in reviews and other local fraud that was blocked. Google credited a new machine learning algorithm and its spam-fighting team for the improvements.
• Bug: Google Local Pack Not Showing In Search Results
  There seems to be a bug right now with Google Search not showing the local pack results right now. I suspect it will be fixed really soon. Searches that trigger local packs that show business profiles in the search results are not triggering the local pack in Google Search.
• Google Search Console Has No Immediate Plans For A Mobile App
  It seems Google has no plans to build a mobile app for Search Console in the near future. John Mueller of Google was asked about the possibility and he responded on LinkedIn, "I don't see this happening again anytime soon."
• Google Ads Testing Spacing Now Coming To MCC Accounts
  Google Ads is beta testing a new feature, a new button, in the Google Ads console named "Spacing." This is a feature that is available for individual advertiser accounts and not rolling out as a beta to MCC accounts.
• Google Partners Performance Guide - Email Series
  The Google Ads team is sending out a new email series that promises "customized" steps you can take to "optimize your clients' Google Ads campaigns." Google says these emails will provide recommendations, save you time and provide direct links to take action.
• Google Business Profiles Disabling Third-Party Ordering Providers
  Google has updated the Google Business Profiles requirements for ordering or delivery providers to require them to add instructions on how to remove that service from a Google local listing.
• Google NYC UX Conference Room
  Here is another photo from the Google Pier 57 NYC office of a conference room with UX written in Google colors on the wall. Maybe this is for the CoreUX thing we covered the other day?

Other Great Search Threads:

• 6 weeks ago, I launched the new version of the Search Engine Roundtable - how are you liking it?, Barry Schwartz on X
• An example of increasing transparency from Google: This Business Profile has been suspended twice under the new policy. 1.) Google shows the reason for each suspension. 1/3, Stefan Somborac on X
• Google seems to be testing a new behavior on its image SERPs: clicking on the first light blue bubble, now returns users to the normal web SERP., Frank Sandtmann on Mastodon
• For today’s focus on what you need to know to maintain EEA ad personalization and remarketing capabilities by March, we’re going to dig into consent mode v2 and scenarios to consider., AdsLiaison on X
• Google changes the UX/UI of the performance matrix., Shashi on X
• In the EU, Google has been showing DMA compliant (or attempts at DMA compliant) Places Sites near the top of the SERPS. Usually Not today. And note the double 3-Packs in the results, Mike Blumenthal on X
• Is this new for Google page speed insights, Barry Schwartz on X
• We’ve just introduced trend change detection, a new type of insight that surfaces subtle but long-lasting and important changes in your data. It works like anomaly detection since they both detect a change in data. The main, Google Analytics on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Instacart ad revenue up 18% at $871 million
• Google Ads launches email series delivering tailored optimization advice
• Microsoft Advertising Network campaigns expand to Facemoji
• LinkedIn launches enhanced audience insights and predictive analytics
• Let’s talk about E-E-A-T: Debunking misconceptions
• What is a full-funnel PPC strategy?
• Google says it took down 45% more fake reviews in 2023 thanks to new algorithm
• 3 tips to be a great data steward for agency clients

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• 9 Universal Analytics Backup Solutions - Which Is the Best?, Data Driven U
• Trend change detection, Google Analytics Help

Industry & Business

• Google’s original search algorithm belongs to Stanford University, Asbury Park Press
• LabCorp Sued Over Disclosure of Patients’ Health Info to Google, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• eCommerce link building: Category & product page, blog post, and homepage strategies, Wix SEO Hub
• How To Remove Backlinks (And Clean up Your Link Profile), Ahrefs
• Paragraph length check: Why and how to write shorter paragraphs, Yoast
• Building Links with Digital PR Is Hard, Moz

Local & Maps

• Google's Self-Disruption, How Many Fake Reviews, AI 'Abstraction Layer', Near Media
• Local Business FAQs: A Little More Love, Moz

Mobile & Voice

• Apple Vision Pro now has 1,000 native apps on the App Store, AppleInsider
• Gemini app is coming to Google Assistant headphones, 9to5Google
• Here's a look into Bing integration in Meta's new Ray-Ban smart glasses, MSPoweruser
• The next wave of Microsoft Copilot for employees and students, Bing Search Blog
• Zuckerberg says Quest 3 is “the better product” vs. Apple’s Vision Pro, The Verge

SEO

• 10 Best Website Builders for SEO, Semrush
• SEO content issues: How to identify and fix them, Oncrawl
• What Is Keyword Bidding? A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners, Semrush

PPC

• Don’t Use Automatically Created Assets for Google Responsive Search Ads, JumpFly
• New Book: Ponderings of a PPC Professional: Revised & Expanded, ZATO Marketing
• Unlocking a vibrant, mobile-first audience and more with generative AI, Microsoft Advertising
• How Much Does Google Ads Cost? 2023 Pricing & Examples, Measure Minds Group

Search Features

• Google's New "Circle to Search" Means Better Multimedia SEO, Ignite Visibility
• Memory and new controls for ChatGPT, OpenAI
• 6 reasons to use Google Chrome on iOS, Google Blog
• How will Google's most powerful AI, Gemini, impact SEO?, SERP's Up SEO Podcast
• SGE News: Google Is Likely Conducting A/B Testing for carousels, Onely

Other Search

• Apple researchers unveil 'Keyframer': An AI tool that animates still images using LLMs, VentureBeat
• Your AI Girlfriend Is a Data-Harvesting Horror Show, Gizmodo

Feedback:

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