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: Stock Photography For Google Search Does Not Matter
Google's John Mueller was asked if using stock photography on your pages would hurt the page's chances of ranking well in Google search. Do you need a unique image per page? John Mueller responded that "it doesn't matter for web-search directly." - Google Tests Trending Icon In Search Suggestions On Desktop
Four years ago, Google began testing trending icons and results in the Google search suggestions on mobile. Some searchers really disliked it and Google enabled an opt out method for it. But it seems recently Google now began testing the same thing on desktop. - Disqus Comments May Not Get Indexed Even After Google's Fix
It seems that even after Google said it fixed the indexing issues with Disqus that has been lingering on for a while, that Google still may not be able to index all Disqus comments. Glenn Gabe said he noticed issues after the fix was rolled out. He showed those issues to Martin Splitt of Google who said that can happen. - Top Ranking Sites In Google Use SEO Plugins?
John Mueller of Google posted on Twitter "I imagine the top-ranking sites don't use any SEO plugin." This was after someone posted a poll asking "which SEO Plugin is perfect for SEO?" - Google Shopping Free On Google.com, Not Just Google Shopping Tab
Google announced yesterday that it is expanding its free Google Shopping service to not just Google Shopping but to the main Google.com Google search results. Bill Ready, the President of Commerce at Google, said "we're now bringing free retail listings to Google Search." - Google New York City Essential Worker
Here is a photo I found on Instagram of an individual who was at the Google New York City office about two weeks ago. He is wearing a mask and said "Being Essential I Guess 🤷🏾♂️" It is unclear wh
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- As part of https://t.co/aEjyytH7qS our Googlebot whisperer @g33konaut will be presenting two sessions: - Debugging JavaScript SEO issues - Implementing structured data with JavaScript Join the live premiere and the Q&A, Google Webmasters on Twitter
- Google AdWords (Google Ads) problems affecting AdSense Earnings, WebmasterWorld
- Ladies and gentlemen who don't speak Chinese, I give you Huawei Search Console developer docs: https://t.co/msqOsOz6JS - looks like it borrows heavily from GSC, Victor Pan on Twitter
- For multilingual content, the URL structure doesn't matter. For geotargeting (multi-country) it needs either a ccTLD or a gTLD + subdomain or subdirectory. Do you have a sample site I could poke at?, John Mueller on Twitter
- Today's #GoogleDoodle celebrates pioneering LGBTQ+ rights activist, performer, and self-identified drag queen Marsha P. Johnson. Thank you, Marsha P. Johnson, for inspiring people everywhere to stand up for the freedom to be th, Google UK on Twitter
- You can now listen to Google Podcasts with Apple CarPlay, Google Search Community
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Top 5 free backlink checkers you should be using
- How in-house SEO teams and enterprise tech can boost organizational efficiency
- TripAdvisor, Yelp and others highlight venue safety, an emerging consumer decision factor
- July boycott: Marketing without Facebook Ads
- Google tests showing Analytics data in Search Console with ‘Insights’
- Google positioned to dominate the ‘O2O economy’
- Free Google product listings expand to knowledge panels in Search results
- Video: Chris Sherman on helping build Search Marketing Expo and Search Engine Land
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Getting Started in Google Data Studio, InfoTrust
- Use Google Analytics To See Where Your Best Traffic Is Coming From, Svbtle
Industry & Business
- Solutions To Avoid Five Common CRO Mistakes, Go Fish Digital
- The New York Times Pulls Out of Apple News, New York Times
Links & Content Marketing
- How to Measure Link Building ROI, Search Engine Journal
- Thinking Beyond the Link Building “Campaign” [Case Study], Moz
- Why Content Marketing is More Important Than Ever for B2B Brands, Online Marketing Blog
Local & Maps
- Google Notifying Listing Managers of Review Removals, Local University
- Waze gets a new logo for 2020, overall design update, 9to5Google
Mobile & Voice
- Join the "Hey Google" Smart Home Virtual Summit, Google Developers Blog
SEO
- Expired Content & SEO: 5 Examples of How to Handle Old Listings, Botify
- Which pages to noindex or nofollow on your site?, Yoast
- New Ways to Think About FAQs for SEO: In Search SEO Podcast, RankRanger
PPC
- Searchify Your Shopping: How to Use Supplemental Feeds, Aimclear
- Business value: Trust, love, and loyalty, Microsoft Advertising
- Does Adding Keywords in an Image Filename Help Ranking?, Sterling Sky Inc
- Google removes misleading ads in voting-related searches, Reuters
- Linking Google Ads and Analytics in Different Accounts, Hallam
Search Features
- Understand how COVID-19 is impacting your community, Google Blog
Other Search
