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 Search Algorithm Updates Continue Through Weekend
The chatter has not simmered down that much from the February 12/13th Google algorithm update chatter. In fact, it picked up on the 14th, 15th and continued through the weekend through today. Some are saying they are seeing some reversals of the update on the 13th. - No Google Logo On President's Day However Bing & Yahoo Do Celebrate
Today is President's Day in the United States of America. Banks, the post office and some businesses are closed today to celebrate. And Bing and Yahoo have special logos or themes on their home page to honor the past Presidents. Google, however, does not, which is honestly nothing new but makes me scratch my head every year. - Google Ads Fixes Data Leak From Ad Preview & Diagnosis Tool
On Friday Google Ads started to leak some data about their search ads within the Ad Preview & Diagnosis Tool. It would show ad score, the bid ECPM, Fmt ECPM, the number of rejections and more data. Google eventually fixed the issue later on Friday but here is a screen shot from one of the ads that were leaked. - Google May Treat Figcaption As Caption For Images
Google's John Mueller responded to questions on Reddit about the figcaption tag for figurines. The NY Times uses it for their images and SEOs want to know how Google treats it. Google does read the content within figcaptions but they don't treat it as alt text, they treat it as a caption. - Google Discover Feed Data Coming To Google Search Console Performance Report?
Google may be working on bringing data from the Google Discover feed to the Google Search Console Performance reports. Last week, Olivier Perbet and JR Oakes found that Google leaked by accident that they may be showing this data soon. The screen shot below was triggered when you tried to access /search-console/performance/discover. - Google Conference Bike
Here is a yellow colored conference bike at the Google offices in Mountain View, California. We've seen the bike before in 2015, in blue. Heck, we have a GIF of it in action. Here is a still image of
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Report: F.T.C. and Facebook Negotiating Multi-Billion Dollar Fine Over its Privacy Practices, WebmasterWorld
- @JohnMu @rustybrick Some awkward search result for “Best toiler paper in the world” and it’s Image search. #PulwanaAttack #Pakistan… https://t.co/LMew3i2XEi, Neeraj Mehta on Twitter
- I'd ignore them. Someone's wasting their time on something our systems have a lot of practice at ignoring :).…, John Mueller on Twitter
- Multiple sitemap files are fine!…, John Mueller on Twitter
- These are organic search features and can change at any time -- that's kinda normal.…, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Using automation to boost PPC performance
- Extending your effectiveness with audience targeting in Google and Bing
- Marketers can now view Shopping Campaigns in Bing Ads search terms reporting
- How to Prepare for a Successful Marketing Analytics Implementation
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How to Increase Your eCommerce Store's Conversion Rate Using Google Analytics, Super Metrics
- What are UTMs And Why Should I Use Them?, Peak Inbound Marketing
Industry & Business
- 6 highlights from Google for Philippines, Google Blog
- Fighting disinformation across our products, Google Blog
- Google is reportedly hiding behind shell companies to scoop up tax breaks and land, The Verge
Links & Promotion Building
- How to Build Links in the Health & Fitness Niche, dofollow.io
- Detecting Link Manipulation and Spam with Domain Authority, Moz
Local & Maps
- Google Maps not working on Chrome in Windows 10, The Windows Club
Mobile & Voice
- Voices of Search Podcast: Using Data to Optimize Content for Each Stage of the Funnel, Search Metrics
SEO
- February 8, 2019 - Gary Illyes Reddit AMA, Marie Haynes Consulting
- Webinar: Mobile Metrics that Matter in Local, Mobile SEO with Mobile-First Indexing, MobileMoxie Blog
- Build a Search Intent Dashboard to Unlock Better Opportunities, Moz
PPC
- Improvements to your search term reporting, Bing Ads Blog
Search Features
- Google Is Now a User Discovery Engine, Stone Temple
