Daily Search Forum Recap: August 12, 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.

Google had another volatile weekend with Google Search rankings bouncing all over the place. A new report shows publishers are getting less traffic from Google Search and other areas but an increase from Google Discover. What is with Google showing srsltid URL parameters in the search results. Google may come out with new ways to handle URL parameters. Google Ads will not pause keywords that are in paused ad groups. And have you heard of Effingo from Google, it is fast, really fast.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Ranking Volatility August 9th and 10th (No HCU Progress)
  Since Friday, August 9th, I have been seeing yet another intense spike in Google Search ranking volatility. This is based on the SEO chatter within the communities and of course, the third-party Google Search rank volatility trackers. And no, we still do not have a new core update officially released by Google but it is coming soon, weeks away...
• Report: Google Sending More Discover Traffic But Less Search Traffic To Publishers
  Google is sending news publishers a lot less traffic from Google Web Search but also a lot more traffic from Google Discover. A new report conducted by Newzdash analyzing 8.1 billion clicks across hundreds of news publishers using Google Search Console data compared 2023 to 2024 data.
• Google Search To Get Better At URL Parameter Handling?
  As part of the Search Off The Record podcast from Google on crawling, which we briefly covered on Friday, Gary Illyes from Google said he is investigating ways for Google to handle URL parameters better.
• Google Search Listing srsltid URL Parameters From Merchant Center
  Over the past couple of weeks, there has been an increase in complaints around Google Search listing URLs with the srsltid URL parameter tagged along to the URL, as the canonical URL in Google Search. In fact, Google matches on hundreds of thousands of these URLs now and does serve them in the search results under that parameter.
• Google Won't Pause Keywords In Paused Campaigns Or Ad Groups
  As a reminder, Google Ads has begun pausing low-activity keywords that were created over 13 months ago and have zero impressions over the past 13 months. But that does not mean Google will pause these if they are already part of paused campaigns or ad groups.
• Google Effingo - Insane Transfer Speeds Used By Google Search
  Have you heard of Effingo by Google? Google actually spoke about it on their Google Cloud blog in May 2023. Now Gary Illyes from Google said it is used by Google Search and other areas of Google to do insanely fast data transfers across Google data centers.
• Google San Francisco Sign Over Oakland Bay Bridge
  Here is a photo from the Google San Francisco office where they have this outdoor area overlooking the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge. You can see there is a sign for Google San Francisco.

Other Great Search Threads:

• (Update) Now Google is testing adding another tab to "Store Ratings" panels - it's 'Promotions' which shows coupon codes that can be copied by users., Gagan Ghotra on X
• According to this document from the DoJ Antitrust trial, in 2017, 93% of GA properties did not have goal tracking set up., Mic King on X
• So apparently Google Ads removed audience recommendations from the Insights tab. This was one of the sections we used the most to discover new audiences for layering. Sad, Melissa L Mackey on X
• Legendary and kind are the two words that keep coming to mind when I think of Susan. I can't believe she's gone. My thoughts are with her family, friends, coworkers and all those she touched over the years. Such a deep loss. htt, Danny Sullivan on X
• Meet our Product Experts, Google Business Profile Community
• Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend @SusanWojcicki after two years of living with cancer. She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her. She was an incredible, Sundar Pichai on X
• 25 years ago today I officially started at a small search engine company, wedged into a tiny office space above what's now a T-Mobile store in downtown Palo Alto. Since then, I have had the incredible pleasure of working with, Jeff Dean on X
• PerplexityBot, WebmasterWorld

Search Engine Land Stories:

• TikTok partners with Amazon for in-app shopping
• Google rolls out Structured Data Files QA format for Display & Video 360
• How to succeed in the era of AI-driven search advertising
• Evaluating technical SEO data: Key segmentation approaches

Other Great Search Stories:

Industry & Business

• Google and X lag peers in addressing non-consensual explicit images, lawmakers say, CNN
• Google lost its first antitrust case, so what happens next?, The Verge
• Google's Rise Was Inevitable. So Was Its Antitrust Ruling, Wired
• How Google’s Antitrust Losses Could Shrink Its Business, The Information
• Since the OpenAI board dispute, Microsoft diversified AI investments and partnerships, built its own models, and hired aggressively for its consumer AI efforts (Financial Times), Techmeme
• An incredible life and career, Google Blog
• What Google rivals want after DOJ’s antitrust trial win, The Verge
• Friendly Google and Enemy Remedies, Stratechery by Ben Thompson

Links & Content Marketing

• Link Building & Machine Learning, Dejan Marketing
• How Social Platforms Measure Content Views [Infographic], Social Media Today

Local & Maps

• Apple Maps support extended to Edge for Mac, Firefox, AppleInsider
• The Easiest (Advanced) Way To Claim A Service Area Business Listing On Google, Sterling Sky
• One man decided to take on Google Maps, 20 years later OpenStreetMap is still going strong, TechCrunch

Mobile & Voice

• Apple Vision Pro disappointments and beta frustrations, AppleInsider
• Advanced Apple Intelligence features could cost extra by 2027, AppleInsider
• Apple researching Smart Glasses, working on Vision Pro updates, AppleInsider
• iPhone 16 Preview: Bigger Screens, New Colors, Camera Button, AI and A18 Chip, Bloomberg
• How to Watch the Made by Google Pixel 9 Launch Event, and What to Expect, Wired

SEO

• Beyond Reddit and Quora: How Google’s Hidden Gems Update Yielded Explosive Growth In Search Visibility For Many Forums, GSQI
• Search Intent and the Organic Funnel — Whiteboard Friday, Moz
• Why Seasonality Matters for SEO & How to Identify Trends, seoClarity
• Best SEO for Dropshipping, Practical Ecommerce
• New: 46% of Real Estate Searches Produce an AI Overview, SEO Savvy Agent
• Introducing Dejan Re-Ranking Algorithm, Dejan Marketing
• The Realities of In-House SEO: What to Expect and How to Succeed, Ahrefs

PPC

• Optimizing value-based bidding for lead gen, Google Ads on YouTube
• Streamline your paid strategy in the SaaS industry, Hallam
• How Much Do Google Ads Cost? [2025 Pricing Guide], MarlinSEM
• Recommendation for Customized Assets Tailored to Specific Audiences, PPC News Feed
• How to Add Audiences to Your Google Shopping Campaigns, Jyll Saskin Gales

Search Features

• Google preparing for AI organized Search Results, Gagan Ghotra

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.