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.
Google tries to clarify how sites show up in Google News but I don't think it helped that much. Google Hotel search ads now can show video extensions. Google My Business shows hours of operations for support. Google lets you delete the last 15 minutes of your search history. I interviewed Richard Naz from the Wall Street Journal, a lot of good nuggets in this one.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Tries To Clarify Google News Inclusion But Did It Help?
Danny Sullivan of Google published a blog post on Friday named answers to some common questions about appearing in Google News. Sadly, I honestly don't think this will lead to less questions and frustration from new publishers and their questions around sites appearing in Google News or not. - Google Hotel Search Ads With Images
It looks like Google is now testing shows image extensions in the Google Hotel Ads. Lluc B. Penycate, who follows the hotel space carefully in Google, noticed this and said this is the "first time seeing images in Google Ads for hotel branded searches." - Google My Business Support Hours Of Operation Details
Google My Business offers support options on their web site and now it may even show you the hours of operation for those support channels. Here is a screen shot from Usama Ali on Twitter showing this support feature. - Delete The Last 15 Minutes Of Your Google Search History
Google announced a new feature to quickly delete the last 15 minutes of your search history. So if you do something in search that you rather not let others see if they stumble on your search history, you can quickly delete that last 15 minutes of search history. - Vlog #129: Richard Nazarewicz On SEO For The Wall Street Journal
In part one of my interview with Richard Nazarewicz with spoke more about his career and approach to SEO for a global news organization. In part two we got into a huge array of SEO topics... - Google Colorful Art Mural
Here is a super colorful art montage of some sorts at the GooglePlex. I don't think I've ever seen this one, it might be new. It was shared on Instagram by Peter The Greeter last week.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google Chrome Test "Follow" Button and "Following" Section, WebmasterWorld
- What's going on with SEO publications? Almost every site has been down in traffic lately: - Search Engine Watch - Search Engine Land - Search Engine Journal - Backlinko - Ahrefs - SEMrush Who is up? https://t.co/SVzp7eKMDa, Kevin_Indig on Twitter
- FWIW we'll possibly reduce the number visible in Search Console too, since it's essentially impossible for people to use 1000 sitemaps in the UI like th, John Mueller on Twitter
- People Card in Search - Do you remember the 'People Card' that Google launched a few months back in India? Well, they are now visible in the search results on desktop, most probably, only in India., Praveen Sharma on Twitter
- We don't use that. Unfortunately, the best approach is boring: write better titles. We see a lot of cross-site titles, a lot of super-short ones, a lot with keyword stuffing, and none of these are, John Mueller on Twitter
- Google's internal meme generator is old, and one of the more active places internally for voicing opinions. Closing in on the #1 all-time spot is a black image with just the words "I'm so tired" on it. If you think smart folks, John Mueller on Twitter
- "Did you ever get that win?" This question was in my inbox yesterday. Couldn't help reflecting on it this weekend. Technically, I guess the answer is "sort of?". My first company was acquired last month, though I was years re, Rand Fishkin on Twitter
- You can't specify separate URLs per surface (there are also a lot more surfaces than just those), and I don't see that coming as an option anytime soon. It would just make things, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Video: Richard Nazarewicz, Technical SEO Manager at the Wall Street Journal
- Google tries to answer publishers questions on visibility concerns in Google News
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Android apps can seek more time to use Google Play Billing, 9to5Google
- Google engineer who criticized company in viral comics on why he finally quit, Mashable
- Amol Rajan Interviews - Sundar Pichai, BBC iPlayer
Links & Content Marketing
- 7 content marketing trends you can’t ignore in 2021, TechTalks
- 8 Steps to a Lead-Generating Content Marketing Strategy, Business 2 Community
- How to Win a Google Penalty Shoot-Out, Search Metrics
Local & Maps
- GMB for Dealerships, DealerOn
- We’re expanding the Local Love challenge to new countries, Local Guides Connect
- Google My Business - Should I set a Physical Address or Service Area Business?, Steady Demand
- Robotaxis: have Google and Amazon backed the wrong technology?, Financial Times
Mobile & Voice
- Improving Voice Assistant User Experiences, Voicebot
- Enabling Google Assistant’s Workday Reminders was a decision I sorely regret, Chrome Unboxed
- Google adds toggle to divorce the Assistant from its corner gesture in Android 12 Beta 3, Android Police
SEO
- Does Website Speed Boost SEO?, Botify
- Robots.txt: The Ultimate Guide for SEO (Includes Examples), SEOSherpa
- Ecommerce SEO and Beyond - The Complete Guide, Koozai
- How to sell the value of SEO to your leadership, DeepCrawl
PPC
- 3 steps to creating a better first-party data strategy, Hallam
- Google Concludes FLoC Origin Trial, Does Not Intend to Share Feedback from Participants, WP Tavern
Other Search
- Polishing up emoji and making them easier to share, Google Blog
- Introducing new ways to help you find answers to your health questions, YouTube Blog
Feedback:
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