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.
The July Google core update is here and it touched down in a fast and furious way, we got you covered in our story below. Also, Google said the page experience update does not use any exception lists. Non AMP URLs are growing rapidly in the top stories carousel. I posted my weekly video, it sums up one of the most insane weeks in Google SEO in a long time. Plus much much more.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google July Core Update, Spam Update Part Two, Ranking Changes Two Days Later & MUM Goes Live
Google kicked off the July 2021 core update yesterday, right after the spam update. Google ran part two of the spam update on June 28th, the first part ran in June 23rd... - Google July 2021 Core Update Is Live - What We Are Seeing
Google announced that on July 1, 2021 it began to roll out the July 2021 core update. We knew we would soon see another core update, and Google delivered this one a month after the June 2021 core update. This one seems to have started out pretty strong and many are seeing big changes with this update. - Large Google Popular Products With Two Rows On Desktop
Google is testing showing two rows of the popular products section on desktop. Brodie Clark shared a video of it on Twitter and it is really really big - it takes up a lot of the search results page. - Google: Spammy Links Do Not Cause Soft 404 Errors
Google's John Mueller said that spammy links to your site would not be the cause of soft 404 errors being displayed in Google Search Console. Honestly, I've never heard of this theory before, so it is new, and I figured I would share it. But I do not fully understand why someone would think spammy links would cause soft 404s. - Google: Crawl Budget, GoogleBot, Scheduler & JavaScript
I read one of those deep thought lines online from Johan Hulsen on Twitter who asked Gary Illyes of Google a question on crawling. In short, Johan asked if the crawl budget looks to the scheduler, which kind of depends on Googlebot, but Googlebot does not render pages, how does it find links within JavaScript pages. - Google: Page Experience Update Does Not Have A Whitelist List
Google's John Mueller said as far as he knows the page experience update does not have any exception list or whitelist. Meaning, there is not a list of sites where Google says do not apply the page experience update to. John wrote on Twitter "as far as I know, there's no list of exceptions," when asked about it for the page experience update. - Newzdash: 12% Of Google Top Stories URLs Are Not AMP
John Shehata shared some data from his Newzdash product showing that the top stories carousel in Google Search broke displaying over 12% of non-AMP URLs for the first time. We expect that figure to grow with the AMP requirement for top stories going away earlier this month. - Some Photos & Videos Of The Google Store In NYC
We knew that Google was prepping to open a store in NYC and they did about a month or so ago. Here are some photos and videos of the store that I found on Instagram.
Other Great Search Threads:
- I'd use the common scanners to test the files and go from there. If you continue to see issues and can't work it out, I'd recommend going to the Search Central help community and posting the details there., John Mueller on Twitter
- Product pages being seen as soft 404s, then returning, then soft 404s -> Via @johnmu: One approach Google is taking is to automatically learn what a soft 404 page is. In some situations, the team needs to adjust the systems (t, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- Web Stories are essentially just web pages, so you can list them in sitemaps as appropriate. I don't know if there are any special requirements from the News side for news sitemaps though., John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Webinar: How much of the search market do you really own?
- Google July 2021 core update rolling out now
- So Google gave you another year to prepare for the Cookiegeddon. Now what?; Thursday’s daily brief
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- The Benefits of Using BigQuery with Google Analytics Data, Bounteous
- Track Contact Form Submissions | Google Tag Manager & Google Analytics, Jeff Reinhold
Industry & Business
- An update on our progress in responsible AI innovation, Google Blog
- Microsoft and Google prepare to battle again after ending six-year truce, The Verge
Links & Content Marketing
- Short-Form vs. Long-Form Content: Which Do I Use?, SEM Rush
- The Intermediate Guide to Link Building, I Love SEO
Local & Maps
- How Local Guides highlight safe LGBTQ+ spaces on Google Maps, Local Guides Connect
- Celebrating Connect’s 5th Birthday, Local Guides Connect
Mobile & Voice
- Google updates Passes API to store COVID vaccination and testing information on Android devices, Google Developers Blog
- iPhone 12 Series Sales Cross 100 Million Mark Within 7 Months of Launch, Counter Point Research
SEO
- 7 Traffic-Crushing Google Penalties and How to Prevent Them, WordStream
- Core Web Vitals: A Guide to Improving Page Speed, SEM Rush
- Do the SEO workout to rank higher with your best content, Yoast
- Google Spam Update June 2021, Part 2, SISTRIX
PPC
- Building a better viewer experience with ad pods, Google Ads Help
- Factors Affecting Ecommerce PPC Performance, PPC Hero
- How We Prioritize Ongoing PPC Tasks, Clix Marketing PPC Blog
- Updating Bulk Upload in Google Ads Scripts, Google Ads Developer Blog
Search Features
Other Search
- Google rolls out 'more streamlined' Discover feed on Android, 9to5Google
- An exploration of art, nature and technology, Google Blog
Feedback:
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