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:
- May 2020 Google Webmaster Report
The past thirty-days in the Google organic universe was pretty busy, not just with COVID-19 changes to Google search but well beyond that. We had the May 2020 core update released just a few days ago (it was big), there were unconfirmed updates as well, including in local search. Google Shopping went from a paid model to a free model. - New Google My Business COVID-19 Responder Policy For Hotels
Google has added a new feature to Google My Business for hotels. This is a new feature lets hotels add if they offer free or discounted rooms for COVID-19 responders. Many hotels are being used to house COVID-19 responders so these responders do not potentially infect their families or so they can be closer to the hospital or facility they are working at. - Google Local Panel Can Show COVID Testing Center Details
Google can now show if a specific location, pharmacy, etc, is a COVID-19 testing center and what requirements there are to be tested. Mike Blumenthal shared a screen shot of a Walmart store that has this testing set up and that in this one, you do need an appointment to be tested. - Reminder: Google Core Updates Impact Google Discover Results
This is just a gentle reminder that when Google does a core update, that it does not only impact the rankings in the main Google search results. Core updates do impact Google Discover results as well. We knew this already but it is worth reminding everyone with the release of the May 2020 Core Update. - Here Is Why LinkedIn Search Results Returned So Quickly In Google
Yesterday was a fun day in the SEO space, at the expense of LinkedIn. LinkedIn's www.linkedin.com pages dropped out of the Google search results for about 10 hours. But when it came back, it all came back really quickly. The SEO community is asking how did Google reprocess everything so quickly and how did LinkedIn return in Google search so quickly. - Google Graffiti Art - Google Some Things
Here is a cool wall of graffiti art at the Google Nederland office. It says Google Some Things in graffiti art style. There is a toy tiger there also for some reason. I spotted this on Instagram.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- If you care about speed, these are some great metrics to focus on. If you don't care about speed, maybe you should :-) https://t.co/aceop1zLMM, John Mueller on Twitter
- GMB API: In the coming weeks, additional attributes will roll out to all Business Profiles. For example, shopping attributes such as “Delivery” and “Pickup” as well as dining attributes such “Curbside pickup”, Mike Blumenthal on Twitter
- PSA: Removing the "http://" version of your site will remove all variations (http/https/www/non-www). Don't use the removal tools for canonicalization. https://t.co/yTfRzWZGtd, John Mueller on Twitter
- Our new guide for retailers and brands provides tips and insights to help your business adapt to this dynamic environment. Get the guide ➡ https://t.co/Kg6VnzwVQw https://t.co/mxCVxEbL62, Google Ads on Twitter
- Robotstxt user-agent, disallow, and allow fields are not suggestions. Those are directives. Hard stance. The 'intelligent decisions' are about typos or status codes. The former you can al, Gary Illyes on Twitter
- This essentially would just be a matter of normal crawling -- there's no mechanism to force canonicalization changes (eg, using sitemaps would create conflicting signals). Also, it's not guaranteed that we'd switc, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- New Google ‘Rising Retail Categories’ tool exposes fast-growing product searches
- Google is suggesting searches based on users’ recent activity
- Pro Tip: How to find and fix 404 errors that really matter to win your traffic back
- Oops, LinkedIn temporarily drops out of Google Search
- Attend SMX June 23-24… for free!
- Less than essential: Why smart speakers are like smartwatches, not smartphones
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 3 awesome examples of Google Data Studio community visualizations, Super Metrics
- 6 Ways to Use Attribution Modeling in GMP, DELVE
- How to build a custom Google Map in Data Studio using Google Sheets and Geocode, Michael Howeely
- How to Track Surfaces Across Google (Free Shopping Ads) Traffic in Google Analytics, ZATO Marketing
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- AMP + Web Vitals – a better web, together, The AMP Blog
SEO
- How Google May Classify Offensive Content, Go Fish Digital
- These 4 SEO and Website Grader Tools Can Improve Visibility, Business 2 Community
PPC
- The Step-by-Step Guide to Google Ads Account Recovery, WordStream
- Google Shopping Listings and What this Means for Your Retails Search Strategy, PerformanceIN
- PPC RSAs: Do They Live Up to The Hype?, PPC Hero
Search Features
Other Search
