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:
- Will Google Crack Down On Sites Leasing Out Its Subdomains
Google's John Mueller addressed the topic of sites leasing or renting out subdomains off of their main domain and letting third-parties put their content on those subdomains in an effort to rank better in Google and sell more. John didn't call it spam but did say the search leads at Google are aware of this and have been in discussions about how to handle such efforts. - Google Says Sometimes Old Posts Are Still Relevant, But Not In That Example
Google's John Mueller said something very true on Twitter, he said "Sometimes even posts from 2014 are relevant." "The date is not the only ranking factor," he added. But the issue is, the example given is really not the case and that article is really not all that relevant today. - Google Works To Make Robots Exclusion Protocol A Real Standard
Google's webmaster channel is on a series of posts every hour around the Robots Exclusion Protocol - in short, an hour ago, Google announced that after 25 years of being a de-facto standard, Google has worked with Martijn Koster, webmasters, and other search engines to make the Robots Exclusion Protocol an official standard. - Vlog # 1: Ryan Clutter of Horizon Media on Google Core Updates & More SEO
In our first ever vlog as part of the Search Engine Roundtable vlog series, I interviewed Ryan Clutter (@RyanClutt). Ryan is the Senior SEO Analyst at Horizon Media and full service marketing agency with an estimated billings of $8 billion and over 2,000 employees. - Google Images Makes It Easier To Share GIFs
You all know I love GIFs and now Google is making it easier than ever to share GIFs that you find in Google Image search. I personally cannot replicate the feature on my iPhone on any browser but Google said it was here. - Google: It May Be Worth Looking Into Compressing HTML & CSS
Google's John Mueller confirmed on Twitter that it may be worth looking into compressing your HTML and CSS. He said "Sometimes minifying HTML & CSS can reduce the size of the files, so it can certainly be worth looking into that," when he was asked if it can help with SEO or rankings. - Google NYC Rooftop Connect Four?
I am not 100% sure but this photo is supposedly on one of the rooftops or balconies at the Google NYC office and there is a massive connect four game. I found this photo on Instagram of this person pl
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Simplifying portfolio bid strategies, Google Ads Help
- Google traffic to https://t.co/O1o5u2UBiz has plummeted by about 99% over the past few weeks." -> Google buries Mercola in their latest search engine update, Part 1 of 2 (From @mercola himself) https://t.co/EbWFeK0IAM… https://t, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- Dan Shure on Twitter: "About the @mercola "traffic drop" - I don't think the drop is a severe as 3rd party tools make it seem. Also, there are so many issues with the site, where to begin: - super distracting & low-quality supplementary content - CTA's th, mobile.twitter.com
- Glenn Gabe on Twitter: "Newsguard, which I've written about before, now has ratings for some health/medical sites. As you can guess, it's not pretty for https://t.co/O1o5u2UBiz. "Proceed with caution: This website severely violates basic standards of cred, twitter.com
- Lily Ray on Twitter: ""Now, when you Google a medical term such as "heart disease" or "Type 2 diabetes," you will not find https://t.co/IC1NdTPmIx articles in the search results." Hmm, maybe because https://t.co/IC1NdTPmIx has been routinely investigated, twitter.com
- Update: GMB Profile Logo's Are Here on Mobile I am seeing this for myself and for clients ranging across multiple categories. Upload your 250x250 logo today! #localseo #locasearch… https://t.co/oJASWeYLbb, Ben Fisher on Twitter
- We’re excited to share some new features rolling out in the coming months: parallel tracking, the final URL suffix, and an expansion of the number of available custom parameter. Get the full details here: https://t.co/, Microsoft Advertising on Twitter
- This is interesting: - The mobile carousel has image results. - That aren’t top image search results. - That look like they’re part of the below snippet. - They’re not from the page that the below snippet is from., Ric Rodriguez on Twitter
- Creating content that's not keyword-based?, WebmasterWorld
- Not entirely sure what to call these Google Shopping Panels, but they're looking more and more like standard Knowledge Panels lately. I'm now seeing shareable links (same as KP's) and content without clear attribution. See commen, Brodie Clark on Twitter
- That's fine -- the image sitemap should match what the pages themselves include. Also, think about how users might be searching visually for your content (make an image search strategy!), rather than just "listing" jpg on the s, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Lessons from a search marketer of the year
- Today’s customer decision journey is so complex but AI can help
- SMX Replay: How to use data storytelling to earn top-tier media coverage
- What do you do if Google My Business doesn’t understand your business?
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- A Perfect Pair: Analytics 360 & Optimize 360, Seer Interactive
- Google Analytics: Getting The Basics Right For Your Business, Contact Online Ltd.
- Six Principles for Designing Any Chart - Google Design, Medium
Industry & Business
- Government hackers reportedly broke into Russian search company Yandex, Engadget
- Ready for takeoff: Meet the Doodle for Google national finalists, Google Blog
- Responsible AI: Putting our principles into action, Google Blog
- After Europe, Google under fire for 'Android dominance' in India, The Next Web
- Microsoft’s Bing, MSN Don’t Infringe Web Server Patents, Bloomberg Law
Links & Promotion Building
- Everything You Need to Know About Internal Link Building, Search Engine Journal
- 20 Graphics on Google’s Valuation of Links, Moz
- Google's John Mueller on Good Links and How to Get Them, Search Engine Journal
Local & Maps
- Google Maps ‘Stay Safer’ feature launched in India, Autocar India
Mobile & Voice
- Microsoft continues distancing Cortana from Windows, Engadget
- Google Assistant updates might soon live on the Ambient Display, Android Police
SEO
- Retargeting Improves Conversions from SEO, Practical Ecommerce
- Why Content Is More King than Ever, Stone Temple
PPC
- Get clearer insights with prominence metrics, Microsoft Advertising
Other Search
