Daily Search Forum Recap: February 20, 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 adds support for product variant structured data. Google local pack is testing showing prices. Google Merchant Center now requires you to tag images as AI generated. Google Merchant Center updated its estimate delivery time calculations. Sites using the Google Indexing API incorrectly are often low quality and spammy says Google. Google Search can wait on hold for you for customer service to answer.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• New Google Search Support For Product Variant Structured Data
  Google announced this morning support for Product variant structured data. This new structured data supports three new properties; hasVariant, variesBy and productGroupID in order to handle most of the way e-commerce sites list product variants.
• Google Merchant Center Requires Meta Labels On AI Generated Images
  Google has posted a new policy for Google Merchant Center around using AI-generated images. In short, you need to make sure those images have meta data that labels the image as generated by using AI.
• Google Local Pack Tests Restaurant Price Ranges
  Google has always shown how expensive restaurants are by placing either one, two, or three dollar signs by the restaurant's name in the local pack listings. Now Google is testing showing actual price ranges.
• Google Merchant Center Updates Estimated Delivery Times Calculation
  Google will change how it estimates its delivery times through Google Merchant Center. Starting on April 9, Google will look at minimum [min_handling_time]and maximum [max_handling_time] attributes for processing time in your product data for Shopping ads and free listings.
• Google: Sites Wrongfully Using The Google Indexing API Often Are Spammy & Low Quality
  John Mueller from Google once again addressed the topic of sites using the Google Indexing API when Google does not officially support those use cases. He said it is not supported first, and he added that these sites are often spammy and low quality - but he stated, "it's great to see passionate people try to do more with it."
• Google Search Can Wait On Customer Service Hold For You
  Google Search is experimenting with a Pixel phone feature that will let you call a customer service line at a company and wait on hold until a real person answers the phone. This is currently a Search labs feature that will let you click a button in search to "request a call" from a "live representative."
• Google Search Central Team At Google Switzerland (Webmasterplatz)
  Last week I shared a photo of Danny Sullivan in the Google Switzerland with some of the folks the Search Central team. Well, last week, Daniel Waisberg who was based in Israel with the Search Console team officially moved to Switzerland and is now based at the Webmasterplatz.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Yes, pages on Google are now showing with the forum rich result treatment – even when they aren't forums. They are currently showing with dates alongside the sitelinks and trigger for queries with the word "threads" in them. Very muc, Brodie Clark on X
• In this case, Google is showing the GBP profile and no link to Google Travel, just like in Europe. Google testing it in the US?, Lluc B. Penycate on X
• robots.txt tool shows 500 internal error? Why & How to resolve this?, Reddit
• The link to the sitemap file probably won't change much. Hope they discovered Search Console along the way, I'm sure they'll appreciate seeing things go up & to the right, John Mueller on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google Analytics 4 bug causes data gaps in reports
• 10 reasons to invest in an SMX Master Class
• Shop with Google AI launches for select users
• Will traffic from search engines fall 25% by 2026?
• Google unveils Merchant Center updates to improve delivery times
• 80% of influencers fail to disclose advertising content, putting brands at risk
• Local search in 2024: Key trends and tactics for marketers
• Google wants you to label AI-generated images used in Merchant Center
• SEO strategy: 3 steps to strategic SEO planning
• Voice search optimization: What is it and how important is it now?

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• GA4 Referral Traffic - How to Find Page Referrer?, Decode Digital Market
• Top 10 Web Analytics Tools in 2024, Spiceworks

Industry & Business

• Gartner Predicts Search Engine Volume Will Drop 25% by 2026, Due to AI Chatbots and Other Virtual Agents, Gartner
• Google Lays Off Thousands More Employees Despite Record Profits One Year After Laying off 12,000 Employees As Workers Begin Worrying AI is Slowly Replacing Them, Yahoo Finance
• Microsoft fixes Edge browser bug that was stealing Chrome tabs and data, The Verge
• Microsoft to expand its AI infrastructure in Spain with $2.1 billion investment, Reuters

Links & Content Marketing

• The Six Fundamentals of an SEO Link Building Strategy, Online Marketing Blog
• How to Shift Your Storytelling To Co-Create, Content Marketing Institute
• My 5 Favorite Ahrefs Use Cases for Content Marketers, Ahrefs
• Warning: Unpopular SEO writing opinion, SuccessWorks

Local & Maps

• Create a Decent One-Page Local Business Site, Moz
• iOS 17: Read This Before You Use Offline Maps on Your iPhone, CNET
• Travel tips: Simple trick avid traveller uses to navigate a new city, 9Travel

Mobile & Voice

• Apple Vision Pro 2: 2025 or 2026 release date, AppleInsider
• Google explains how Android Auto AI message summaries work, 9to5Google

SEO

• A Beginner's Guide to SEO Reporting, Ahrefs
• Google Updates Report, Laika
• How Google is killing independent sites like ours, HouseFresh
• How to do a YouTube SEO Audit for improved organic search visibility (step-by-step guide), Lazarina Stoy
• Use This EEAT Checklist To Improve Your Trust & Conversions, Daniel K Cheung
• User Experience & Website Accessibility for SEO (2024 SEO Trends), Lumar
• Execute a Technical Audit + Free Templates for Faster SEO Growth, Moz
• Not Just a Pretty Graph - How to Use Screaming Frog Visualisation Tools, Screaming Frog
• Yoast SEO 22.1: AI update and better language support, Yoast

PPC

• 6 Google Ads Performance Max Pre-Launch Optimizations, WordStream

Search Features

• Google Search testing more prominent filter indicator, 9to5Google
• How to find Google Notes for your website and what those Notes could signal about quality, UX, the ad experience, and more, GSQI

Other Search

• Google’s AI Boss Says Scale Only Gets You So Far, Wired
• Reddit and the 11.4 Million Daily Click Funnel, SISTRIX

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.