Daily Search Forum Recap: September 2, 2021

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 may have pushed an algorithm update on September 1st, we have a story showing the SEO chatter and tracking tools picking up on the update. Google added shipping and return annotations to both paid and free shopping and search results. Chrome beta can really push your competitors when your customers are visiting your website. Google added new documentation on how to optimize your feed for the Chrome follow feature. John Mueller of Google said he uses Bing to debug Google. I posted the big Google webmaster report for September - go check it out.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Was There A Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On September 1st?
  There are some signs of the start of a Google search ranking algorithm update that kicked off on September 1, 2021. The truth is, it seemed like an update touched down for a short period of time and then slowed down. There are not a huge number of complaints, but the tools are picking up on the fluctuations in the Google search results.
• September 2021 Google Webmaster Report
  Well, I got to say, the last month was an interesting one for webmasters, marketers and SEOs in the Google organic space. We finished off the prolonger link spam update, safe browsing was removed from the page experience update, which should have been fully rolled out by now but Google did not confirm. Oh and that update might be bigger than just a tiebreaker but it is still pretty small.
• John Mueller Often Debugs Google Using Bing
  John Mueller, a Google search advocate, who we all know so well if you read this site. He said he will use Bing to debug Google issues. He said on Twitter "I often use Bing when debugging."
• Google Adds Shipping / Return Annotations To Shopping & Search Results
  Google announced it has added new shipping and return annotations in Google Search and Shopping results. This works across both the free and paid listings.
• Google Adds Documentation On Chrome Follow Beta Feature
  Google had added a new section to the Google Discover help documents around markup you can use to define your RSS feed for Chrome to use for the "follow" feature. In May, Google Chrome announced an RSS reader like feature for Chrome named Follow.
• Chrome Beta Can Display Competitors When Customers Are On Your Site
  Part of the latest version of the Chrome beta, not out to the masses yet, is a feature named "continuous search." Continuous search basically will show you search results along the top of the page when you are browsing web sites. Essentially, it can show your competitors sites when people are looking at your site.
• SEO Perfume
  Here is a bottle of perfume designed for SEOs. It was shared by Malte Landwehr on Twitter where the bottle says "sexist SEO alive" with the label Bluebox, Eau De Parfum on the bottom.

Other Great Search Threads:

• A birthday #GoogleDoodle for Polish doctor, immunologist & microbe hunter Rudolf Weigl 🔬 Through research of bacteria carried by body lice, he developed the first effective vaccine against epidemic typhus & helped save, Google Doodles on Twitter
• Did you catch the recent update to Google's Featured Snippet results? It related to bolding of content in the snippet, allowing users to locate important text and answers faster. The same update actually applies to some PAA, Brodie Clark on Twitter
• Hreflang just swaps out URLs, there's no mechanism to block URLs from being shown only in certain locations (regions, countries, states). Maybe you can do something with GMB entries (I don't know)? Normal web, John Mueller on Twitter
• I’m part of a test where the borders on Top Stories are removed. Neat. cc @rustybrick https://t.co/vvP6i6Lzuj, Shalom Goodman on Twitter
• Occasional server errors are not a problem, they're pretty common across the web. Search is pretty good at dealing with that., John Mueller on Twitter
• robots.txt is a long standing way to prevent crawling. People absolutely make mistakes with it, as I'm sure you know. But to be crawled or not is a, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
• September 2021 AdSense Earnings and Observations, WebmasterWorld
• Web search is so ingrained in our daily behavior that some may argue it's a solved problem with little room for innovation. I disagree — learn more about how our @Microsoft #Bing team is making search more modern, intuitive, Jordi Ribas on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

• How to write ad copy that actually converts (and 3 major mistakes to avoid)
• Search marketing in the dark: Google, give us more data!; Wednesday’s daily brief

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Defining Your North Star Metrics: Which Metrics Should Your Company Priorities Be Aligned Around?, Databox Blog
• Google analytics chief addresses critics and plans for measurement in post-cookie world, Ad Age

Industry & Business

• Google, Facebook and Microsoft face pressure over January 6th subpoenas, The Verge
• Paid Search Association (PSA) Offers Free Memberships and Expanded Learning, Paid Search Association
• US Prepares Google Antitrust Lawsuit Over Digital Advertising Business, Bloomberg

Links & Content Marketing

• The Guide to Targeted-Impact Link Building, Moz

Local & Maps

• Apple Maps in iOS 15 can finally go toe-to-toe with Google navigation. Here's how, CNET
• New Academy Course: How to Master Local Keyword Research, BrightLocal

Mobile & Voice

• Apple Plans Blood-Pressure Measure, Wrist Thermometer in Watch, Wall Street Journal
• Google Lens gets a touch of Material You Dynamic Color, 9to5Google
• Quick phrases could let you skip ‘Hey, Google’ for common tasks, The Verge

SEO

• SEO Split-Testing [Case Study] “Replacing “You’ll Love in 2021” with “Online” in the Title Tag for Category Pages“, Semrush
• Tested: Is Joomla Good For SEO In 2021?, Seobility Blog
• YouTube SEO: How to Optimize Videos for YouTube Search, Jeff Bullas
• "If your page isn’t indexed, other things don't matter" - Interview with Renata Gwizdak, Onely Blog
• Google E-A-T: Authority of Content, Its Author, and The Website Where It Lives, Wellspring Digital
• Multilingual Image SEO: Reflecting your audience for maximum success, Hallam
• Word Count Content Study 2021, Embryo

PPC

• Understanding & Optimizing Google Location Targeting Settings, Adalysis

Search Features

• Google app adds SafeSearch 'Hide explicit results' setting, 9to5Google
• This Googler’s team is making shopping more inclusive, Google Blog

Other Search

• 50 years of film with NFTS and Google Arts & Culture, Google Blog

Feedback:

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