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 Update Around April 26th?
I am seeing both chatter and tracking tools reporting a possible Google search ranking algorithm update that touched down over the weekend, around April 26th. There is chatter the online forums and the tracking tools are mostly showing changes here as well. - Thanos Google Easter Egg Removes Search Results
Google has a new easter egg in their search results, just search for [thanos] and the search results will start to disappear. I created a video capture of this in action - of course. - Goodbye Bing Ads & Hello Microsoft Advertising
I am getting a bit tired of all the rebranding - I mean, not just with Microsoft's search engine services. Microsoft Search, Live Search, Bing Search. Microsoft adCenter to Bing Ads and now to Microsoft Advertising. Google went from AdWords after 18 years renamed to Google Ads. - Google My Business POI Establishment Bug Now Point Of Interest
Last week we reported how many businesses in Google My Business were noticing Google adding a new category to their listing named "POI Establishment." Google supposedly began fixing this Thursday evening but now many are noticing it read "Point of Interest" instead of "POI Establishment." - Google My Business Explores Charging Fees?
Google is sending out a survey to some local businesses asking if they would be willing to pay a monthly fee in exchange for Google My Business listing services. - Google Search Console Reports Finally Up To Date
After Google pausing several of their reports within the Google Search Console due to the indexing bugs, Google now has updated them as of this morning. Previously it was stuck at data from April 7th or so, now you can see data as recent as a couple days ago, April 27th. - Google Austin Office Views
Here is a photo I found on Twitter of one of the views from the Google Austin office. This was shared by Jason Baldridge, a research scientist at Google.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- I'm not sure which one you're referring to there, but in general, it can happen that settings lose their usefulness over time. When we notice that, we work to get them removed from the UIs & docs. Always good to clean things u, John Mueller on Twitter
- If you're seeing ranking changes in the last days, then that almost certainly wouldn't be related to the earlier indexing issue (at least, I can't think of how it could be related).… https://t.co/G88l7mrWlW, John Mueller on Twitter
- On the one hand, if it's indexed like that, it's indexed, and you don't need to worry about whether there's a rel-canonical there or not. On the other hand, the data reported in that tool is still affected by the indexing/repo, John Mueller on Twitter
- Our statement about the rareness of this search and how these type of results happen not just for this case, along with apologies for any concerns caused, is here: https://t.co/0VEpXXAHhm… https://t.co/IM5BvaA35S, Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
- We deal with these types of situation by trying to ensure we're providing authoritative results. You can read more about that here: https://t.co/cTveD8XNxp… https://t.co/EnVHy7ZnKA, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
- 15,000 Subdomains Taken Down From Hacked Sites, WebmasterWorld
- I set up this week's webmaster office hours (I had to move the Tuesday one to Wednesday). Feel free to drop your questions in, and of course, I'd love to have you join us live! (May 1/2/3, use the 4th, for something else) https, John Mueller on Twitter
- I wouldn't worry about the date on the cached page - it's not always representative of indexing.…, John Mueller on Twitter
- That sounds good -- both server-side & client-side (on the #! pages) redirects are useful for this.…, John Mueller on Twitter
- What's happening with Google? Poor Unrelated Results, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Bing Ads rebrands as Microsoft Advertising
- The SEO Advantages of Machine-Readable HTML5 Semantic Markup
- Google bug may select unrelated canonical URLs, could impact indexing
- Still have active destination URLs in Bing Ads? It’s time to migrate to final URLs
- Younger users rely on snippets and knowledge panel, often don’t click, survey says
- Google Ads script: How to automatically apply bid modifiers
- How to get brand URLs in Google AMP cache by extending TLS for Web Package
- The path to effective keyword targeting in Google Shopping
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- You Ask, I Answer: Tracking Non-Web Content in Google Analytics with Google Tag Manager, Christopher S. Penn Marketing Blog
Industry & Business
- An update on our workplace commitments, Google Blog
- The Dispute Over Google's Alleged Retaliation Intensifies, Wired
- Israel wants Google, Facebook to pay hundreds of millions in taxes to plug deficit, Haaretz
- Why "healthy" materials are key to Google's new buildings, Google Blog
Links & Promotion Building
Local & Maps
- [2019]The Ultimate Guide to Fighting Spam on Google Maps, Sterling Sky Inc
Mobile & Voice
- SEO 2020: Welcome to the New World of Voice Optimization, MarTech Advisor
- Smart security startups are taking on Amazon and Google, Fast Company
SEO
- Does Google Respect Noindex in Robots.txt ? 2019 Case Study, TL;DR SEO
- How to Improve SEO: 8 Tactics That Don't Require New Content, Ahrefs
- Javascript SEO: How Search Engines Understand Javascript, BrightEdge SEO Blog
- Use This SEO Strategy for Your Next Website Redesign, Portent
- Google Webmaster Hangout Notes: April 18th 2019, DeepCrawl
- Is Google Ready to Catch Up with JavaScript?, Onely
- TurboTax and H&R Block hide their free tax filing tools from Google on purpose, TechCrunch
- Desktop vs Mobile: The difference between SERPs, SEM Rush
- On-Page and Off-Page SEO for Success, Stone Temple
PPC
- Niche Keyword Research: How to Thoughtfully Expand Organic Reach, Conductor
- 6 Tactics to Dominate Local PPC, PPC Hero
- 4 Ways to Harness Detailed Demographic Data, PPC Hero
Search Features
