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:
- Google's John Mueller On Google Search Spam Penalties & Quality Issues
Google's John Mueller posted one of the more detailed responses I've seen from him on the topic of overall search spam, penalties, quality algorithms and more. I am not sure if the comment is showing up anymore on Reddit, so here is a screenshot of it. - Poll On Impact Of Google Page Experience Update & Core Web Vitals On Rankings
Lily Ray posted a Twitter poll asking the SEO industry if they think the core web vitals, or I guess the upcoming Google Page Experience Update, will have an "discernable impact" on your Google organic rankings. As expected, the results are somewhat all over the place, but weighted a bit more on the side of it not having a big impact. - Google: Stop Worrying About Stop Words Just Write Naturally
A couple of weeks ago, the SEO industry couldn't stop talking about stop words. SEMrush posted a list of "SEO stop words" and the community began buzzing. John Mueller of Google even responding saying on Twitter "I wouldn't worry about stop words at all; write naturally." - Google Product Search Swipe Through Results and Style Ideas
Brian Freiesleben spotted yet another Google search feature that may be new. If you search for products and find the organic popular products section, if you click on one, it now lets you swipe left or right to scan through the different products. There is also a new section for "style ideas" that first launched as a Google Lens product in 2017. - Bing Local Replaces Yelp Reviews With Facebook & Foursquare Reviews
Jason Brown reported that Microsoft dropped using Yelp reviews within Bing Local. Now instead, it seems Bing is using Facebook and Foursqaure and maybe others. Here is a screen shot of my business listing in Microsoft Bing showing Foursquare tips. - Google: John Mueller Cat Filter During Video Call With Danny Sullivan
So you may have heard about that lawyer that was doing a zoom call with a judge and accidentally added a cat face filter to his view. It was pretty funny. So John Mueller from Google did that on his
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- It won't negatively affect your site, but it could be that they also rank for things like what you have on your pages. I don't know Pinterest, but looking just now they have a bunch of docume, John Mueller on Twitter
- Congrats @DannySullivan, @JohnMu and @RustyBrick! According to @Hearst, you've attained one-named celebrity status like Cher, Madonna and Beyonce. (You can fight amongst yourselves over who’s more of one vs. the other, Michael Lewittes on Twitter
- The SEO at Bing going above and beyond this year. Ranking for some lucrative terms organically that lead to pages full of ads. In the US they're getting ~$373K p/mo worth of traffic value out of Google Search for their ad pages., Brodie Clark on Twitter
- You don't need to remove them, assuming you're no longer submitting them in any sitemap. They don't cause any issues, it's just a warning for you., John Mueller on Twitter
- Average Google rating no longer in Google Knowledge Panel?, Local Search Forum
- I think one of the problems is that often sites are made because of SEO implications (get traffic from search), so it's kinda normal for them to think of SEO implications (how to get most traffic fr, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Breaking down President Biden’s data-driven social media strategy
- Diversity and inclusion in search marketing and advertising; Monday’s daily brief
- How to audit Core Web Vitals
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How to Setup Goals and Track Conversions in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Dagmar Marketing
Industry & Business
- Google and Facebook reportedly "very close" to first deals ever to pay for news content, CBS News
- If Work Is Going Remote, Why Is Big Tech Still Building?, Wired
- Yandex Announces Fourth Quarter and Full-Year 2020 Financial Results, Yandex
Local & Maps
- Google Maps Screen Flashes Plaguing CarPlay with No Fix in Sight, AutoEvolution
- Looking for the ‘Big Picture’ in Local Search, Street Fight
Mobile & Voice
- What is Google's plan for AR glasses?, 9to5Google
- How to Delete Google Assistant Recordings, How To Geek
SEO
- Identifying and Addressing Drops in Organic Visibility, Go Fish Digital
- Intrusive ads and the Page Experience update, Kevin Indig
- Topshop to ASOS - 80% Off in Search Visibility Migration, SISTRIX
PPC
- Microsoft Advertising partners, clients, and employees plant over 275,000 trees, Microsoft Advertising
- Finding the perfect balance between friction and reward, Microsoft Advertising
