Daily Search Forum Recap: March 11, 2019

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 Says All Separate Mobile URL Sites Should Move To Responsive
  Google's John Mueller said on Reddit this morning that he believes that all sites running a separate mobile URL for their mobile site solution should work on moving those implementations to a responsive site design instead. He said that mostly because it makes it easier to maintain, not because of any SEO benefit.
• Google Knowledge Panel Explore Collections
  I am not sure if this is new, it may be from the late 2018 Google change but Google can now let you see all the products within a collection when Google shows a products carousel in the knowledge panel.
• Google Property Sets Officially Shutting March 28th
  We knew it was coming by the end of this month but now we have a specific date. March 28, 2019 Google will close Property sets, which has now been officially replaced by Google's Domain properties.
• Google Automatically Creating Domain Properties In Search Console
  As you know, Google launched domain properties since the old property sets are going away soon. But did you know that Google can also automatically create domain properties for you? I guess if you have already verified sites using DNS verification, Google may just create these properties for you?
• Google: How We Select Dates For Search Results Snippets
  Since Google began showing dates in the search results snippets many have noticed Google pull the wrong date from time to time. Some of it is due to publishers intentionally tricking Google but most of the time, it is Google just getting it wrong. Google has published a blog post today around dates in snippets to help publishers and searchers understand how Google shows dates in snippets.
• A Pigeon Head At Google NYC
  Sometimes you find the weirdest pictures on Instagram. Here is a photo of someone wearing a mascot looking pigeon head at the Google New York City office. He wrote "🐦The real face of #newyorker"

Other Great Search Forum Threads:

• It looks like it was picked up from some image sharing site; they can be a bit random in what they find. If it's not properly blocked, it's not blocked, so it's always more a matter of when - not if - it'll be found. For test/, John Mueller on Twitter
• Top stories in Grid Format @rustybrick @thebrightflow #google #googleserp #topstories https://t.co/9a3M8LlpoP, Bhumika Kateliya on Twitter
• What happens to search ranks on Google if I disable AMP?, Reddit
• Yes, we do use the text on a page to see if it's potentially a soft-404. Often that's pretty obvious, like a clear "page not found" / "product not found" page. If your JS is generating that error-text accidentally, then that mi, John Mueller on Twitter
• 2 Indexing Issues, WebmasterWorld
• The new Google Web Search Community is looking a bit different in many ways https://t.co/D814WyxUpo cc @JohnMu…, Barry Schwartz on Twitter
• We interviewed John Mueller (@JohnMu) at the #MBSummit: SEO Tips & More.. @sejournal @sengineland @seroundtable Full interview 👉 https://t.co/QwOaP9A8br… https://t.co/Z1vjORm6EY, MBSummit on Twitter
• What do *you* consider to be good content when you're browsing the web?…, John Mueller on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google showing image thumbnails in mobile search results snippets more often
• 5 Steps for Competing with Digital Goliaths
• Google explains how dates within search results snippets work
• Google Shopping Actions vs. Google Shopping: A real-world case study
• How retailers can survive Amazon’s stronghold in Google search

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• 5 winning mobile website strategies, Think with Google

Industry & Business

• Elizabeth Warren is right – we must break up Facebook, Google and Amazon, The Guardian
• What Google knows about you, Axios

Local & Maps

• Google Maps hits 5 billion downloads on the Play Store, does it after YouTube but before the Google app, Android Police
• Google's Jen Fitzpatrick Is A Tech Pioneer Who Helps You Explore The World From Home, Elite Daily

Mobile & Voice

• Keep the conversation going with your Assistant on Smart Displays, Google Blog
• After YouTube and Maps, Google app becomes third app to get 5 billion downloads on the Play Store, Android Police
• Amazon’s Alexa has 80,000 Apps—and No Runaway Hit, Bloomberg

SEO

• Entity Normalization As Part of Google's Knowledge Graph, Go Fish Digital
• What SEO For Publishers Looks Like In 2019, Ezoic
• Social Mentions Build Brand SEO, Stone Temple

PPC

• How to Use RSAs with Limited Data, PPC Hero