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 Search Ranking Algorithm Volatility
Many of the tracking tools that follow the changes and volatility in the Google search results have been spiking over the past couple of days. The chatter within the SEO industry is not super strong but the SEO community is a bit busy at the moment. - Vlog #57: Hamlet Batista On Scaling SEO Through Technology & How To Automate Your SEO
Hamlet Batista originally is from the Dominican Republic and is now based in New Jersey, less than an hour from my office actually. I did offer him a ride but he turned me down and instead flew in from Newark Airport. He is the CEO of RankSense... - Google My Business Adds Mark As Temporarily Closed Option
If you login to your Google My Business account and click on edit your information, you will be given a new option to "mark as temporarily closed." Previously you were unable to do this from Google My Business. - Google My Business Not Functioning Properly During COVID-19 Crisis
There are many many complaints about Google My Business working properly now. We know the support hours have been limited due to the outbreak. We know features and functions have been removed or stalled. But it seems that there are tons of issues with Google My Business not functioning correctly. - Can Google Detect Sarcasm?
Someone asked Google's John Mueller if Google's search algorithms can detect and then filter out sarcasm on the internet. It is an interesting question if Google can detect sarcasm or not, in fact, I see a ton of papers on the concept. But I've never seen Google talk about it (personally). - Google Advice On E-Commerce Sites Closed Due To COVID-19
Gary Illyes from Google said the company is working on putting together "some more thorough do's and don't's" around what e-commerce and other site owners should do with their web sites if the business is temporarily closed due to the coronavirus. But for now, he said just put a message up and disable the shopping cart from checking out. - Google Dog Dressed Up In Shiny Blue Hair
Here is an old photo I found on Instagram from one of the Google offices. This is a Google dog dressed up in that shiny fake hair, or what kids use for pom poms. Poor dog.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- To put things on that timeline, Google in the Bay Area went to voluntary work-from-home on 3/6 (roughly 50% stayed home) and recommended WFH on 3/11 (>95% home, from what I saw)., Paul Haahr on Twitter
- In this challenging time, people are looking to retailers for preparedness. Here are tips you can apply today to be there in the most helpful ways. https://t.co/QHPg8YZRdN https://t.co/eF2RssYLig, Think with Google on Twitter
- Help for Rankings Drop and Organic Traffic Drop, WebmasterWorld
- Ranking Drop What I Do, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Winners and losers: How COVID-19 is affecting search behavior
- Summer Olympics postponement further shakes 2020 ad spending expectations
- Retargeting in 2020: Key Insights to Help You Succeed
- Pro Tip: How to fix 3 not so obvious crawl errors
- Yelp announces fundraising partnership with GoFundMe to support local businesses
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How Google Analytics Helps in Scaling Up Businesses, SmallBizDaily
- Tracking the Protocol version in Google Analytics via Google Tag Manager, Thyngster
Industry & Business
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Alfred Camera: Smart camera features using MediaPipe, Google Developers Blog
SEO
- 9 Conductor SEO Workflows for Crisis Management, Conductor
- Digital Marketing in the Era of Coronavirus, Go Fish Digital
- How Often Does Google Rewrite Meta Descriptions? (New Data Study), Ahrefs
- SEO Pricing - What Does SEO Cost in 2020?, HigherVisibility
- Why You Should Invest in SEO During a Recession, iPullRank
- COVID-19’s (Coronavirus) Impact on SEO - Jordan Koene, Searchmetrics
- Google's understanding of the Marketing sector, InLinks
- How to Handle Temporarily Out-of-Stock Product Pages, Moz
- Screaming Frog Log File Analyser Update – Version 4.0, Screaming Frog
- SEO & UX: How User Signals Impact your Rankings, Search Metrics
- What to Do about Google's Core Updates: Prevention & Recovery, RankRanger
PPC
- Goal Talk Podcast Episode 7: The Basics of the Google Ads Auction, WordStream
- Google Ads Phone Support Not Accepting Phone Calls, Bill Hartzer
- How to Improve Your Search Messaging Flexibility with Ad Customizers, Merkle
- PPC Pricing - What Does PPC Cost in 2020?, HigherVisibility
- PPC Things Happen. React Wisely., PPC Hero
- Google performance planner , Hallam
- PPC Management Software for eCommerce: Is It Worth It?, Go Inflow
- Staysure turns audience strategy on its head with LinkedIn Profile targeting, Microsoft Advertising
- Strategies for unprecedented times, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
- Travel Advisories & Airline Policies, Google Blog
Other Search
- Porsche Taylor puts women in the driver's seat, Google Blog
- Five things you (maybe) didn't know about AI, Google Blog
