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:
- Microsoft Advertising Also Expands Phrase Match To Cover Broad Match Modifier
Microsoft Advertising has announced it will soon begin to allow "phrase match will begin to incorporate behaviors of broad match modifier." This is a similar move Google did back in February and Microsoft is saying the reason is to "simplify keywords and improve your relevancy when reaching customers." - Rachel Maddow Of MSNBC Calls Out Google For Hiding Search Ads But She Likely Has Malware
Rachel Maddow Of MSNBC posted on Twitter that she is switching from Google Search because Google is hiding its search ads, jumping the page all around and when you click on something, it triggers an unwanted ad that opens in a new window. This, to me, sounds like typical malware that overtakes the computer and is not coming from Google's end. - Google: Adding Images To Your Pages Won't Make You Rank Higher
Google's John Mueller was asked if adding images to your web pages, if that will help you rank higher in Google Search. John said no, he said on Twitter "there is no automatic effect from adding images." - Google: We Do Not Penalize Sites For Using Google Analytics
A competitor to Google Analytics named Simple Analytics wrote on its blog "Google penalizes you for using Google Analytics." John Mueller of Google was asked if this is true and John said on Twitter "No, it's not the case that we penalize for Google Analytics." - Google Shopping Ads Bans Digital Books
Google has disallowed the sale and advertising of digital books on Google Shopping Ads. Google said "beginning May 18, 2021, Google will no longer support the advertising of digital books globally on Shopping ads." - Lots Of Photo Frame On This Wall At Google
Here is a wall at the GooglePlex, the main Google offices in Mountain View, that is covered in photo and art frames, all with various Google logos in them. I think they are screens but it is hard to
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Huge Mobile Speed differences, WebmasterWorld
- If something looks like a URL, we might try to crawl it to see if there's something useful there. If there's nothing useful there, we'll move on. If you don't want it crawled, robots.txt is a good, John Mueller on Twitter
- Should we block FLoC ?, WebmasterWorld
- This week on #SustainableMonetizedWebsites 📝 Take notes as @Aurora_Morales, @danielwaisberg and @marrrr discuss useful tools for publishers: 🔧 Google Search Console 📊 Google Analytics 💰 Ad Manager, Ad Mo, Google Search Central on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Smart Shopping Campaigns: How SEA specialists score with new insights
- Dominate Google reviews by busting 4 local SEO myths
- Advertisers can now bring their customer segments into Microsoft Advertising via a new integration
- No more Shopping Ads for digital books; Tuesday’s daily brief
- Microsoft Advertising to treat phrase match the same way Google Ads does
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Avoid These 15 Common Google Analytics Mistakes, Search Engine Journal
Industry & Business
- Google's Resistance to Going Fully Remote Is Frustrating Employees, Business Insider
Links & Content Marketing
- How to Create a Link Building Strategy - Announcing the New Rank Ranger Backlink Checker, RankRanger
- Topic Clusters: What They Are and Why Content Marketers Need Them, Business 2 Community
Local & Maps
- Contractors Penalized for Not Displaying License Numbers on Google My Business Websites, Bill Hartzer
- Goodbye, Google Maps? Apple Brings New Navigation Features to More Users, AutoEvolution
- Google Maps update makes planning road trips much easier, T3
Mobile & Voice
- Compared: Apple's second-generation Siri Remote versus its predecessors, AppleInsider
- Four alternatives to Apple’s HomePod smart speaker, Reviewed
- Google Fixes 2 Annoying Quirks in Its Voice Assistant, Wired
- How to find your misplaced phone with Google Assistant, Android Central
- How to use Siri to record your conversation if you are pulled over by police, The Independent
SEO
- The Beginner’s Guide to Technical SEO, Ahrefs
- When Bad Redirects Happen to Good Websites, Leverable SEO
PPC
- Apple Search Ads introduces a new way to promote apps, Apple Developer News
- Feed-based Extensions Sunset in Google Ads APIs, Google Ads Developer Blog
- Microsoft to bring Dynamics 365 Customer Insight segments to Microsoft Advertising, MS Dynamics World
- Our upcoming changes to phrase match and broad match modifier, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
