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:
- Early Signs: June Google Search Ranking Update & Fluctuations
I am seeing some early signs of a possible Google search ranking algorithm update touching down in the past several hours. Google has not announced anything, and the last core update was last month, the May 2020 core update. So we are not due an update but Google may have made some tweaks or maybe this is a blip? - Is Google Not Showing Fresh Content In Search Results Again?
Something is off with Google search this morning. It seems Google is not showing some fresh content in the search results. Site commands for this site and Wall Street Journal, as well as many other sites show little to zero new content in Google's search results in the past hour. Some content I search for on this site is showing up and some is not. - Google: Robots.txt Can Be In Any Content Type
John Mueller of Google said that your robots.txt content-type can be anything really. He said "any content type is fine," adding "the important part is the content itself." - Google & Bing Black Lives Matter Statements
You have to be living under a rock to not know what has occurred in the United States over the past week and actually years. We have many many protests going on in the United States now in support of Black and African American communities. Google and Bing, as well as some other search engines have issued statements. - Google Tests Sitelinks With Borders
Over the past several days, in addition to Google testing outlined snippets, Google is also testing outlining sitelinks within the search results with borders. I had numerous people share screen shots with me on Twitter. Here are some of those screen shots. - Bing Webmaster Tools Link Tool Lets You Compare Link Profiles
Bing relaunched its link tool within the new Bing Webmaster Tools and with it added a new sub-report named "similar sites." Bing lets you compare your site's link profile to any other site you want. - Live Stream Of Penguin Man Running Half Marathon In His Home
John Mueller of Google tweeted about a Penguin update last week, but this was not your typical Google Penguin update. It was of Dom Hodgson running a half marathon in his home on a treadmill over a li
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- You're responsible for what you host on your site, it doesn't matter who makes the elements that you use., John Mueller on Twitter
- We want to see an empowered consumer, with the ability to select a real private search engine. Unfortunately, a pay-to-play auction is bad for consumers (and competition), and today's auction results prove it. Google kno, Gabriel Weinberg on Twitter
- There's no special treatment in Search - in favor or against - a site based on the platform they use (such as Blogger). For some search features specific kinds of structured data or HTML formats are required, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Soapbox: Don’t kick SMBs to the curbside – for many, it’s their new lifeline
- Why the evergreen Googlebot is such a big deal [Video]
- Google local ranking changes in early May? Thank a bug
- Video: Sarah Teach on conscious capitalism in SEO
- Your customers aren’t interested in your COVID messaging anymore, what now?
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 7 Things to Know About Google Analytics App + Web and Tag Manager: An Analytics Bootcamp Recap, Adswerve
- Google Optimize Anti-flicker Snippet Delay Test, Simo Ahava's blog
- Understanding 'Sessions' in Google Analytics, Practical Ecommerce
Industry & Business
- The GNI Fellowship supports diversity in journalism, Google Blog
Local & Maps
- Microsoft Bing Maps is switching to TomTom for base map data, MSPoweruser
- Android Auto gets updated Material Theme icons in Maps, 9to5Google
- Apple Maps adds local transit directions for Hong Kong, Appleinsider
Mobile & Voice
- Bedtime tools to help improve your sleep, Google Blog
- New Assistant Routines missing 'Home control' actions, 9to5Google
- New features for better sleep, personal safety for Pixel, Google Blog
- Third Pixel feature drop improves AI-powered Adaptive Battery, integrates Recorder and Google Assistant, VentureBeat
SEO
- How to Perform an SEO Audit in 2020 (a Step-by-Step Guide), SEM Rush
- Organic Click-Through-Rate (CTR) Analysis Tool, Hallam
- Word Sense Disambiguation Using Neural Networks, Go Fish Digital
- SERP Features Explained [Data & Analysis]: In Search SEO Podcast, RankRanger
- The "Death" of Ranking Factors - Brianna Anderson // BEAST Analytics, Search Metrics
PPC
- Google Ads Affinity Audiences for Search, Metric Theory
- Google Helps Place Ads on Sites Amplifying Covid-19 Conspiracies, Bloomberg
- SMBs Rely On Social Media During COVID-19 – Just Not The Paid Ads, AdExchanger
Other Search
