Daily Search Forum Recap: August 30, 2019

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:

• Google Algorithm Update, Penalizing Domain Leasing, Bing Integrates With Google & Much More
  I did this video outside a hotel in St. Louis right by a highway, so I apologize for the quality - I also exported it lower resolution so I can upload it on my slow internet speed. Google seems to be doing a search ranking algorithm update...
• Signs Of A Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On August 29th
  There are signs of a Google search ranking update touching down late August 28th through August 29th. There is both forum chatter within the SEO industry and the rank checking tools also. It is hard to say if this is a big update at this point, it started off pretty mellow but I will watch the chatter and keep you all posted.
• Google Image Search Removes Exact Size & Larger Than Tools
  Google has removed the exact size and larger than search tools for image search. There are numerous complaints about this in the Google Web Search Forums and Google has yet to chime in about this feature going away but it is now getting some coverage from more mainstream blogs.
• Google My Business Insights Now On Google Maps Profiles
  Google is now showing your Google My Business insights, or a snap shot of it, directly on your Google Maps profile - if you are the business owner or manager.
• Bing Places Also Lets You Import Your Google My Business Listings
  Yesterday we reported that Bing Webmaster Tools lets you import your Google Search Console listings. Well now it also seems you can import your Google My Business listings into Bing Places.
• Google AMP Stories For Live Major League Baseball Games
  Mordy Oberstein noticed and posted on Twitter that Google is showing AMP Stories for live baseball games for Major League Baseball. This is literally during the airing of the live game.
• Google Ads Now With Seasonality Adjustments For Smart Bidding
  Google Ads has launched the a new feature for Smart Bidding that gives you more control over seasonality adjustments. To provide more control in these rare situations, you can now apply seasonality adjustments for Search and Display campaigns, Google said.
• Google French Twist Bird Thing?
  I am not sure what this is, the Google bird, but it is being used to promote a new book named Yoga With A French Twist. But the bird is very Googley and it say the photo was taken inside the Google N

Other Great Search Forum Threads:

• Google's Job Search Tool Under E.U. Investigation, WebmasterWorld
• Good things take time - Next up on #AskGoogleWebmasters, @JohnMu discusses the transition of features from the old Search Console to the new version (such as submitting a robots.txt) and the thoughts behind the process., Google Webmasters on Twitter
• If there were a webspam manual action on those sites, that would generally be visible in their Search Console accounts to verified owners., John Mueller on Twitter
• My personal blog needs new content, what would you like me to write about?, Martin Splitt on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Google now showing competitor ads on local business profiles
• The trouble with automation and Google Ads
• 3 Trends from Prime Day 2019 to guide your Black Friday and Cyber Monday Amazon strategy
• Bing Webmaster Tools allows site verification via Google Search Console

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Cost Analysis in Google Analytics, OWOX BI
• Lotte Hotel boosts booking rates by 49% with Google Optimize, Google
• Micro funnels: What They Are and How to Use Them, CXL

Industry & Business

• Alphabet Dips Its Toe Into Infrastructure Investing, Wall Street Journal
• Google lets David Drummond do the talking, TechCrunch
• Google Parent Alphabet’s Stock Can Rise 25%, Analyst Says, Barron's

Links & Promotion Building

• How to Combine PR Outreach and SEO Efforts for a Brand Marketing Powerhouse, Skyword

Local & Maps

• Here and There: Local Search Rankings For Lawyers, Bigger Law Firm

Mobile & Voice

• A very deep dive into iOS Exploit chains found in the wild, Project Zero
• Apple was a little behind on Siri privacy, now it’s way ahead, The Verge

SEO

• Can pages blocked by robots.txt still rank?, DealerOn Blog
• Google Podcasts Search Results and SEO, Portent

PPC

• Google clamps down on adverts ripping off Kiwis, NZ Herald
• The Positive Negative: How to Use Negative Keywords to Save on Spend, Seer Interactive