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.
Happy Pi Day readers, Google has a bit of an easter egg for the special day. Google said the URL parameter tool is a scary tool to use. Google's favicon crawler uses Googlebot and Googlebot-Images. Google says hreflang does not change rankings. Google also is testing find places through photos search features. Most SEOs opt to use canonicals to manage faceted navigation. Plus I posted a vlog with David Melamed on the industry and sharing.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Favicon Crawler Now Uses Googlebot & Googlebot-Image Token
Google has updated its Google crawler help documentation to specific that the Google Favicon crawler now respects the Googlebot and Googlebot-Image robots rules. Previously, it seemed to just respect its own Google Favicon rules but that was changed or updated a few days ago. - Survey: Most SEOs Opt To Canonicals To Manage Faceted Navigation
Joe Hall posted a poll on Twitter asking what do SEOs use most to manage faceted navigation. The vast majority of SEOs responded that they use "proper canonicals tags." Others responded they use robots.txt and then some said meta robots tag. But most of the over 300 responses said they use canonical tags to manage faceted navigation. - Google: The Google URL Parameters Tool Is Scary
Google's John Mueller said (again) that the Google URL Parameters tool is scary. He said this on Reddit, and then suggested the person try to use noindex or robots.txt methods as an alternative because the Google Search Console reports will show you issues with noindex or robots.txt but not really with the URL Parameters tool. - Google: Hreflang Does Not Give You A Ranking Boost
Google's John Mueller said again that using hreflang will not help you rank better and does not change rankings for your site. All it technically does it replace the URL that ranks already with the regionally appropriate URL in Google Search. - Google Search Find Place Through Photos
A few years ago, Google began to roll out a local search feature to search photos of nearby places. Now Google seems to be calling this "find places through photos." I am not sure if this is in addition to the old version or if this is just renaming the old version of this feature. - Vlog #163: David Melamed About The Earlier Days Of Search Marketing & The Immense Sharing In The Industry
David Melamed, who I've known for about 15 years or so, has been in the space for about that long or even longer. David Melamed is now a search marketing consultant for many companies. You can learn more about him on his website at davidmelamed.com. David and I worked on some projects together... - Google Brings Back Pi Day Easter Egg Calculator
If you search for Pi Day in Google Search you will see a calculator come up that has the pie logo sparkling. When you click on that, it will search for pie all by itself. - Make Shift Beds Under Google Staircase
Here is a photo from the Google Brazil office where it seems there are some mattresses or sleeping bags placed under a staircase in that office. I wonder if some Googlers had a sleepover at the Google
Other Great Search Threads:
- Today in "is this new?".... can you only see significant placements in the Google Ads placement report now? I haven't done a lot of display recently but I thought you could see way more than this! #ppcchat, Christine Zirnheld on Twitter
- Google business profile Shows option - "Local Time" and "Add your business for free", Khushal Bherwani on Twitter
- Like so many others I am sickened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the gigantic humanitarian crisis it continues to create. #StandWithUkraine️ At DuckDuckGo, we've been rolling out search updates that down-rank si, Gabriel Weinberg on Twitter
- DDG tinkering with censorship, WebmasterWorld
- 1/ Our Community Guidelines prohibit content denying, minimizing or trivializing well-documented violent events. We are now removing content about Russia’s invasion in Ukraine that violates this policy., YouTubeInsider on Twitter
- Testing some queries to see if I can reproduce & popped into another test. Some headings are super light gray on desktop (like PAA, Related searches, etc.) I find that test very weird... Why make those headings hard, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- Maybe? It's hard to say without knowing what the full setup is. We can pick up SD via iframe, but it adds more complexity, and with that more room for things to break. I also don't know if, John Mueller on Twitter
- Why do SEO tools still include these "toxic links" reports? They're smart people, they probably never use it themselves., John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Why I’m glad third-party cookies are dying
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- Google launches automated vehicle ads
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Court Dismisses Trademark Claims Over Internal Search Results-Las Vegas Skydiving v. Groupon, Eric Goldman
Links & Content Marketing
- Technographics: What They Are and How Agencies Can Use Them, Semrush
- 6 Content Helpers That Encourage People To Read, Watch, or Listen, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Google Assistant Adds Parking Payment by Voice Feature, Voicebot
- The New Apple Siri Voices [Video], iClarified
SEO
- Product Page SEO: Best Practices for Optimization, Go Inflow
- SEO for Nonprofits & Charities: 13 Tips for More Traffic, Ahrefs
PPC
- 5 Principles of Advertising Effectiveness, Hallam
- From FLoC to Topics: Google Pivots Approach to Interest-Based Advertising, Seer Interactive
- How To Do Ecommerce Keyword Research, Seer Interactive
- Google profiting from ‘predatory’ loan adverts promising instant cash, The Guardian
Feedback:
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