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.
Was there some sort of Google search update on March 11th - we had some chatter like patterns but the tracking tools are pretty calm. Google rolled out refine this search and broaden this search and is testing things to know/consider, currently none of it uses MUM. Google image search is testing Lens with search, text and translate. Google Business Profiles can now manage the managers in web search. Google search settings are not sticking for some searchers.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Search Ranking Update Weirdness On March 11th
For the past few days I have been debating if I should cover what may have been a Google search ranking update that ticked off on Friday March 11th. There was super unusual update like chatter in the WebmasterWorld forums but the automated tracking tools showed nothing - nada. - Refine This Search & Broaden This Search Now Live In Google Search
After the announcement in September at Search On and months and months of testing, the Refine This Search and Broaden This Search features are fully live in US English Google Search results. This is not to mean the Things To Know and Things To Consider feature is live yet, it is just being tested. - Google Search Settings Not Sticking; Dark Mode Sees The Light
There are numerous complaints in the Google Search Community Forums that the Google Search settings are not sticking. The most obvious example is when you have the dark theme set and Google toggles you to the light theme. But other settings are not sticking for some searchers as well, such as the region setting. - Google Adds Business Profiles Managers Controls In Web Search
Google continues to move more and more business editing features and controls to the web search results and outside of the Google Business Profile Manager (formerly Google My Business manager). Now you can also manage the managers and those who have access to edit your business profile in the web search results. - Google Image Search Lens Tests Search, Text & Translate Options
In 2018, Google added a lens button to the mobile search image results. That eventually came to desktop as Google more tightly integrated Lens into Image Search. Now we are seeing Google test options for search, text and translate using Google Lens in Google Image Search. - Doogler Playing At The Google Arcade
Here is a photo of a doogler, a Google dog, in the Google game area at the Google Dublin office, playing near an arcade game. What a life...
Other Great Search Threads:
- Want to bring back a domain that hasn't been used in years (& the content was deleted)? Via @johnmu: Google will probably need to relearn the site (i.e. starting over fresh). Don't expect much based on the past content. You'll, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- Audience signals are used for optimization to help jumpstart the machine learning. Without them (or effective ones), ramp up will take longer. More here from the #PPCchat audio session: h, AdsLiaison on Twitter
- Hi Josh, 1. To clarify, Editor never automatically applies recommendations 2. The solid light bulb with circle indicates a user has manually applied or made an edit that's in line w/ a rec, but then Get Rece, AdsLiaison on Twitter
- How does Google Search use keyword meta tags? Do they matter for SEO? Watch our latest episode of #AskGooglebot where @JohnMu answers these questions, Google Search Central on Twitter
- It helps to not frame SEO as some kind of voodoo, to explain clearly what you're doing and why, and to back up your analysis & recommendations with official references & data. Just like you'd do even witho, John Mueller on Twitter
- My hot take is that there is room - and a necessity - for diverse people in SEO. If a site focuses on just one magic bullet, it's going to struggle. Most won't realize even after it's too late. The web will c, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Disrupt the funnel and accelerate revenue opportunities
- Google refine this search and broaden this search now live in search results
- Google rolls out Search Ads 360 integration for Google Analytics 4
- Measuring marketing value in a cookieless world
- Save time on negative keywords using the lowest common denominator method
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How to Use and Interpret Google Analytics Time of Day Reports: Tips and Best Practices, Databox Blog
Industry & Business
- Google Exec Urs Hölzle Tweets About Buying, Selling Employees, Business Insider
- Tigran Khudaverdyan steps down from his roles as Executive Director and Deputy CEO at Yandex N.V., Yandex
Links & Content Marketing
- How Content Marketing Fits Into Web 3.0 (You Might Be Surprised), Content Marketing Institute
- Why the Link Context of your backlink matters, Majestic
Local & Maps
- Google Maps has started blurring dog's faces to 'protect their privacy', Mirror Online
- Mysterious Google Maps Update Causes New Trouble on Android Auto, AutoEvolution
Mobile & Voice
- 'Apple Car' team dissolved & 2025 launch may be in doubt says Ming-Chi Kuo, AppleInsider
- How to silence Google Assistant responses on your Android phone, The Verge
- Google's Updates For Its iOS Apps Leave Android Users Jealous, Screen Rant
SEO
- 4 Harmful SEO Misconceptions, Search Metrics
- 5 KPIs to measure a successful e-commerce SEO strategy, OnCrawl
- 5 Mistakes To Avoid in Your Sitemaps, Onely Blog
- Bing vs. Google: Which Search Engine Indexes More Content?, Onely Blog
- How to Use Surround Sound SEO, Semrush
- How to Handle Out-of-Stock Products, Ahrefs
- How to Prep Your SEO Strategy for a New Website, Moz
PPC
- How to integrate your web app with Google Ads, Google Open Source Blog
Search Features
- Google Domains launches out of beta, Google Blog
- Rosa Bonheur's 200th Birthday, Google Doodles
Other Search
- Google is working on its Chrome browser to enable a handy Search Sidebar on Windows, Digital Information World
- Google Stadia is subtly reinventing itself to attract new games and gamers, The Verge
- How Chrome Became Highest Scoring Browser on Speedometer, Ever, Chromium Blog
- Multimodal Bottleneck Transformer (MBT): A New Model for Modality Fusion, Google AI Blog
- Hell is frosty: Google shares some affiliate marketing tips but skips on ethics, Arhg
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