Daily Search Forum Recap: August 6, 2024

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 DOJ ruled Google is a monopoly and action will be taken to limit that. Google Search rankings are also heating up. Google Search Console has a new recommendations section. Google Business Profiles shows your competitors in the see also carousel. There is a new SEO scam going around. Google served ads for products from other merchants and will issue credits. Google Trends has a new design for trending now results.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Is A Monopoly, Federal Judge Rules (What's Next)
  Judge Amit Mehta, a US federal judge ruled on Monday that Google is a monopoly. "Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly," Judge Mehta wrote in his 286-page filing (PDF).
• Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up After DOJ Monopoly Ruling
  It's been about a week since the superheated and bursting Google Search ranking volatility, and since then, it did happen to calm down a bit, at least relatively speaking. But now I am seeing the Google search ranking volatility heat up again.
• Google Search Console Recommendations (Experimental)
  Google Search Console is rolling out a new recommendations feature where Google will show you site improvement recommendations. These recommendations are based on the data in Search Console and aim to help improve your site's performance on Google Search.
• Google Served Ads For Products From Other Merchants, Google Will Issue Credits
  The big Google Ads reporting outage from the eve of August 1st was an intentional outage due to Google serving ads for products from other Google Merchant Center accounts. This was not just an ad spend issue but also a privacy and data issue for Google advertisers. But don't worry, Google will issue credits to the "small fraction of advertisers" that were impacted by this.
• SEO Scam Where You Pay Google To Fix Your Search Rankings
  There is this SEO scam going around where scammers are saying you pay Google to fix your rankings in Google Search. All you need to do is prepay them and Google will fix your site. John Mueller from Google said "this is a scam," that Google does not offer such a service.
• Google Trends Rolls Out New Trending Now Design
  Google Trends began rolling out a new design for the trending now page a day or so ago. The new design seems to give you more filter options and provide more keyword data on the same page.
• Google Business Profiles Listings See Also Carousel Leading To Competitors
  Google is testing the "see also" carousel on Google Business Profiles. This means, someone can be looking directly at your local listing on Google, maybe because they searched for your company name, and Google can be suggesting competitors right under your listing.
• Google Secret Room Behind Bookcase
  Here is a GIF or video of the secret room at the Google Kitchener office. Google has this hidden room only accessible by tilting the correct book in this bookshelf. They also have this in New York City and, Boulder, Colorado.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Data: 14 of the top 1000 sites are now blocking OAI-SearchBot, which is for SearchGPT (including NYT, Wired, NewYorker, Vogue, GQ, and more), Glenn Gabe on X
• Can you tell if this image is real or not? Take the quiz to test your AI-detection skills and repost with your score to help stop the spread of deepfakes. (Yes, it’s an AI generated image), Brad Smith on X
• Do you remember Google Alerts? Pepperidge farm remembers... because it's…, Gary Illyes on LinkedIn
• Is value-based bidding for lead gen right for me, Google Ads on YouTube
• This is due to a bug that led to the Google Display Network label appearing in error in some Demand Gen campaign reporting. I’ll get back to you on this when I have more information., AdsLiaison on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Federal judge rules Google violated antitrust law
• Google Ads bug mislabels Demand Gen campaigns as Display Network
• Google to sunset Structured Data Files v6 in Display & Video 360
• Google Search Console launches recommendations
• How to document your SEO strategy
• Report: Google Search traffic and queries not impacted by new competing AI search engines
• The restaurateur: A new essential human role in PPC and digital marketing
• 10 advanced strategy ideas for Google Ads

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• 5 Google Analytics Alternatives to Better Safeguard Your Privacy, Make Tech Easier

Industry & Business

• After Google Antitrust Loss, Some at Microsoft See an Opening for Bing, The Information
• Donald Trump says Google ‘has to be careful’ or it will be ‘shut down’, The Verge
• Google Payments to Apple in Jeopardy After Antitrust Ruling, Bloomberg
• Internal memo: Microsoft makes security a 'core priority' for employee review process, GeekWire
• Trio of Leaders Leave OpenAI, The Information
• How the Google Antitrust Ruling May Influence Tech Competition, New York Times
• Struggling AI Startups Look for a Bailout from Big Tech, Wall Street Journal
• Wall Street Unperturbed by Google Ruling, The Information

Links & Content Marketing

• How To Create User Stories That End Frustrating Conversations About Marketing, Content Marketing Institute

Local & Maps

• How to create custom routes in Apple Maps iOS 18, Tom's Guide
• PSA: Google Maps for CarPlay Not Feeling at Home Yet on iOS 18, AutoEvolution
• You Might Want to Hide Your Home From Google Maps Street View: Here's How to Do It, CNET

Mobile & Voice

• 'Gemini on earbuds' is 'new AI assistant' ahead of Pixel Buds Pro 2, 9to5Google
• ‘You are a helpful mail assistant,’ and other Apple Intelligence instructions, The Verge

SEO

• 10 New JavaScript SEO Statistics for 2024, Sitebulb
• What Is a Sitemap? Website Sitemaps Explained, Semrush
• Which Factors Matter Most for Winning SEO Rankings?, TopRank
• Introducing the SEO testing maturity curve, SearchPilot

PPC

• Is the GenAI tool in Google Ads any good?, Browser Media
• Advertisers say their Google ads are showing up on X. Why?, Marketing Brew
• Even Google isn’t safe from malicious Google ads, PC World

Search Features

• Bing Generative Search: An In-Depth Analysis of Bing's Response to Google AI Overviews, Rich Sanger SEO
• Google is testing showing Reddit content in Discover & its concerning, Gagan Ghotra

Other Search

• How do people use ChatGPT? We analyzed real AI chatbot conversations, Washington Post
• Google fixes Android kernel zero-day exploited in targeted attacks, Bleeping Computer

Feedback:

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