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 My Business: Keywords In Descriptions Don't Guarantee Ranking Improvement; But They Could.
Remember when Google added that keywords in business descriptions is a local ranking factor? Then Google pulled some of that information from the help document after local SEOs said it is not true? Well, Google just said on Twitter, days after this debacle, "While it's not guaranteed to improve the ranking, it could, depending on other factors, as well as information that is found online associated with the business." - Google: Our Systems Aren't Looking For EAT But We Hope Our Signals Align To EAT
Danny Sullivan from Google said that while its search systems are not looking for EAT specifically, Google does hope the outcome of the search results that the algorithm outputs "align with what a good human EAT assessment would be." - Google Testing Massive Images In Search Results Again
A few weeks ago we saw Google testing this more open design. Well, Google is back at it and just look at this, look at how massive these images are in the search results. This example was shared by Christian Oliveira and it shows a more flashy and in your face Google search results user interface. - Google Posts Now Supports Multiple Photos & Videos
Did you know you can now upload multiple photos or videos to your Google Posts in Google My Business? Previously, it was one image or video per Google Post but now you can do up to ten, I believe. - New Bing Webmaster Tools - Tons Of Screen Shots
Bing announced phase one of the new Bing Webmaster Tools last night at SMX West. I covered it at Search Engine Land in some detail but here are some more detailed screen shots, now that I have access to it. - Google Chicago Office Has A Fire Pit
The other day, I shared a photo of the Google Boulder office having a nice looking fire pit. Well, it looks like the Google Chicago office has one too. Here are some photos of it from Instagram.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- If you missed the Rich Results episode of Search Console Training, here's your opportunity before the next episode ;-) https://t.co/Kn4gulQlCp, Daniel Waisberg on Twitter
- SEO Friends: Came across a Featured Snippet from a page coded entirely in JS. Google must've executed and rendered it entirely on their end. The cache indicates as much. Page isn't copy/pasteable, but Google is giving it the snippe, bookemdano on Twitter
- Simple but convenient update to the hreflang tag testing tool: you can now fetch multiple XML Sitemaps directly from their URLs (vs. upload). And it also works with sitemap indexes 😉 https://t.co/GDpVcZHjda https://t.co/gulLI, Max Prin on Twitter
- It's the gInfinity chrome extension you have installed. https://t.co/Wcyxi5YAaq https://t.co/ihYMWNrQN9, Romeo Octav on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Bing announces refreshed Bing Webmaster Tools
- Look beyond Google for the search intelligence you need
- Introducing the Periodic Table of Digital Commerce Marketing
- Video: Rhea Drysdale on hyperlocal SEO & saving clients money
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 5 Google Analytics Reports Every PPC Marketer Needs to Know About, Search Engine Journal
- Can You Measure Brand? Yes––Start With These 24 Brand Marketing KPIs, Databox Blog
Industry & Business
- As Google heads to the Supreme Court, Oracle takes aim at its industry allies, The Verge
- Exclusive: Google users in UK to lose EU data protection - sources, Reuters
Links & Promotion Building
- Nofollow links: Here's what's changing in March 2020, Vertical Leap
Local & Maps
- Google Maps 101: how contributed content makes a more helpful map, Google Blog
- Google Maps is easing travel but ruining the journey, LiveMint
- Google used AI and human moderation to take down over 75 million Google Maps reviews, VentureBeat
- Will Adding Keywords to a Google My Business 'Description' Impact Ranking?, Brodie Clark Consulting
Mobile & Voice
- 'OK Google, charge my car' - Assistant adds native control for chargers and batteries, Android Police
- You can now set Sonos speakers as the default playback option for Google Assistant, The Verge
SEO
- 7 SEO Services You Should Avoid Like The Plague, The Upper Ranks
- February Algorithm Update: Google Refactors Social and Verticalized Content Rankings – Jordan Koene, Searchmetrics
- Timeless SEO tips: 6 universal SEO tactics, Yoast
- SEO Plans: Get Buy-in from the Boss, State of Digital
- Why Schema Markup is a Pivitol SEO Strategy For 2020, Site Visibility
PPC
- Now hiring: Customer Journey Officer, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
