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.
Yes, Google did release a core update this afternoon - tomorrow I will have a story on this update and how the SEO industry is noticing the early impact of this June 2021 core update - so stay tuned. Today I also covered how Google documented a lot of the signals it uses to rank news sites and articles in Google Search and Google News. Also covered how Google's CLS score is now updated in the core web vitals Search Console report. Plus a lot more - so read through the newsletter below and send me your feedback - there are tons of search nuggets here for you.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google News Article & Site Wide Factors Trust Signals
Google published its Google News transparency policy listing its principles behind these policies. Google said these policies help determine what is eligible to appear on Google News and other News surfaces, and they help ensure that Google is elevating content from trusted, authoritative sources. - Updated Cumulative Layout Shift Metric Is Live In Google Search Console
In April, Google updated how the Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) metric within the core web vitals was calculated. In short, Google made the metric more beneficial to most sites, so your CLS scores may go up by themselves on June 1st. - Google Explains When To Delete Tag Or Category Pages
Google's John Mueller was asked by an SEO named Promothash Boruah when is it safe to delete tag and/or category pages on your web site. John responded that you can remove those pages with no real impact on your organic search traffic if those pages have "almost no traffic or no visibility of those pages." - Google Page Experience & Core Web Vitals Label/Icon - Will It Go Live?
It has been half a year since I saw Google test the Google page experience and core web vitals label or icon in the search results. Google's latest messaging is that Google will continue to test it but made no promises that this label will launch. Well, John Mueller of Google said the other day that has not "seen talk of it in a while though" about this label. - Hey Google, Bring My Business Online Feature In Google My Business Assistant App
Google seems to have launched in Italy a new Google Assistant app for the Google My Business platform. This app lets you ask Google Assistant to bring your business online. All you do is say "Hey Google, bring my business online." - Reverse Google Image Search And Google Lens Coming Closer Together
Rajan Patel, VP of Engineering at Google where he leads teams working on Lens, AR, and Consumer Shopping, told me that Google Image Search and Google Lens are coming "closer together soon." This was after I failed at using a reverse image search feature on Google Images. - Weight Lifting At The Google Office
Here is a Googler doing some weight lifting training at the Google Irvine, California office. This was pre-COVID but I am digging through the archives to find images from the Google offices to share
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google Ads Audits - A 🧵 Join me as I audit an ads account. Disclaimer: There are so many ways to do this. Mine is not the only way. Nor is it necessarily the best way, Amalia Fowler on Twitter
- How is content not a ranking factor? What should a page rank for if not its content? :), John Mueller on Twitter
- It's about the pages that perform the action. You have a form that lets users buy something (fine to index), the page which the form uses to do the action (add to database, etc) doesn't need to be, John Mueller on Twitter
- June 2021 AdSense Earnings and Observations, WebmasterWorld
- Turn off or delete a sitemap in the new Search Console. In this latest episode of #AskGooglebot, @JohnMu explains what a sitemap is and gives step-by-step instructions on how to remove it in the Search Conso, Google Search Central on Twitter
- Yandex Webmaster Tools may be clunky but they literally say 'removed due to low search demand / value'. Wish GWT and BWT had this because lots of SEOs would realise why things don't get indexed and just move on to improving, Dawn Anderson on Twitter
- Delisted SERP pos 1 site for low competition keyword (client's name), WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Similar Audiences and Google Merchant Center store importing are coming to Microsoft Advertising
- Google publishes Google News transparency policy for publishers
- SMX Advanced kicks off in two weeks… don’t miss out!
- Optimize your email campaigns with the updated Email Marketing Periodic Table; Tuesday’s daily brief
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Google Analytics 4 or Bust: Lessons from Google Marketing Live 2021, Christopher S. Penn
- How to View Entrances in Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Hannah Wiginton
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
- 7 Myths About Pitching Journalists, Go Fish Digital
- Lessons From Building a 100-Person Content Marketing Team, Siege Media
Local & Maps
- How to fight Google My Business spam, SearchLab Digital
- Image Packs and the Localization of Google Product Search, Near Media
- Supporting an inclusive recovery this Pride Month, Google Blog
Mobile & Voice
- Google Assistant drops speech bubbles for larger text replies, 9to5Google
- How to help people navigate the internet, voice-first, Google Blog
SEO
- Accessibility and SEO should go hand in hand, Billie Geena
- Core Web Vitals Optimization Best Practices, Amsive Digital
- What is Organic Search? Everything You Need to Know, Ahrefs
- 5 ways to spice up your content when you have a ‘boring’ product, Builtvisible
- Featured Snippet Volatility Studies (How to Win a Featured Snippet), RankRanger
PPC
- Announcing the Google Ads Query Language Query Validator, Google Ads Developer Blog
- Updating Default Reporting Versions in Google Ads Scripts, Google Ads Developer Blog
- Advertising spend for your small businesses, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
- Google Search adds fabulous Pride Month Easter egg, 9to5Google
- You can now set a custom header theme for Bing search results, MSPoweruser
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel or just contact us the old fashion way.
