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 finished rolling out the August 2024 core update and while there was some positive movements, most SEOs are not happy. Google updated its canonicalization documentation around fragments in URLs. Google Business Profiles no longer showing Q&A option in India and other regions. Microsoft Advertising launched some new ad features. Google Image Search has a new feature named "from this image."
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google August 2024 Core Update Finished Rolling Out
The Google August 2024 core update finished rolling out yesterday at around 3 pm ET. It took over 19 days to roll out, starting on August 15th at 11 am and finishing on September 3rd at 3 pm. The update was expected to take a month but ended up taking less than 3 weeks to roll out. -
Google Business Profiles Drops Q&A Feature In India (& Other Some Regions)
Google Business Profiles seems to have dropped the Q&A feature from businesses in India and some other regions, or at least, a number of them. The issue started a few months ago, and the feature is still missing in that region. -
Google Docs: Do Not Specify A Fragment URL As Canonical
Google has updated its search developer canonical documentation to specify that you should not set specify a fragment URL as canonical. Google added that bullet point to the best practices section of the document. -
Microsoft Advertising Logos / Call To Actions & Other Search Ad Updates
Microsoft published its updates for September 2024 yesterday and a lot is around Performance Max updates for Microsoft Advertising. Plus, you can now add logos and call to actions to your ads, a new Search term insights report is rolling out, Search themes are available for pilot in Performance Max and more. -
Google Image Search: From This Image
Google is testing a new feature, or search refinement, within the image search results that shows you "from this image." I suspect this shows you matches of other image search results, from the image you are currently looking at. -
Vietnamese Government Delegation At The GooglePlex
Several weeks ago, Google hosted a delegation from the Vietnamese government at its main headquarters, the GooglePlex, in Mountain View, California. This photo was shared on Instagram and the person wrote:
Other Great Search Threads:
- Besides tracking the visibility shift before/after a Google Update, remember to track the clicks trend over time to check what's actually engaging -and likely better satisfying users' needs- to take into account in your ow, Aleyda Solis on X
- Nice transparency from the ZipTie team on the Google AI Overview reporting may be underreporting, Barry Schwartz on X
- Performance Planner launched new "Advanced Plans" including Demand Gen campaigns for Action and Awareness, Thomas Eccel on X
- SEO News: Semrush just launched my most requested feature ever - I’m very happy. The ability to track AI Overviews in Organic Research is here (not just in Position Tracking). This is a big deal for the industry, am able to see, Brodie Clark on X
- So, how hard is it to track AI overviews? Pretty freaking hard. Here's the same search via logged in, incognito, and then via labs. All are different. In labs, there's no AIO (third screenshot). When logged in, the new link treatment, Glenn Gabe on X
- The other day I was rotating my creatives as usual in one the App Campaigns of my client and I saw the feature PROMOTIONS as a beta option, David Vargas on LinkedIn
- GA4 report update - You can now visualize up to 5 rows of data directly within your detail reports using plot rows, Barry Schwartz on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google August 2024 core update rollout is now complete
- Google Ads unveils advanced performance planner for YouTube campaigns
- Google Ads rolls out new promotions feature for App campaigns
- Microsoft Advertising September product roundup
- ChatGPT for PPC: 17 strategic prompts you can use today
- Google Trends email subscriptions to stop working on October 29
- 15 questions to ask your new SEO clients
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- You can now visualize up to 5 rows of data directly within your detail reports using plot rows, Google Analytics Help
Industry & Business
- 'No-Tech' Tuesday Night a Hit at Google, Advisor Says, Business Insider
- Clearview AI hit with its largest GDPR fine yet as Dutch regulator considers holding execs personally liable, TechCrunch
- How Microsoft Copilot’s rebrand can help its marketing, Ad Age
- Sam Altman's Infrastructure Plan Aims to Spend Tens of Billions in US, Bloomberg
- US antitrust trial targets Google's digital ad business, Reuters
Links & Content Marketing
- “Education” Isn’t Enough: How to Market When Information is Dirt Cheap, Ahrefs
- Do Backlinks Impact Rankings on Google?, Sterling Sky
Local & Maps
- Mail Boxes Loophole in Google Business Profiles, Online Ownership
- Moon GPS Is Coming, Wired
Mobile & Voice
- Volkswagen is rolling out its ChatGPT assistant to the US, TechCrunch
- Gemini app rolling out file upload on Android, iOS, 9to5Google
SEO
- 13 Free and Low-Cost SEO Slack Communities You Should Join Today, Ahrefs
- Bing Webmaster Tools data now in SEOTesting, SEOTesting
- Branding & SEO, Google Non-Compliant, AI Eating Social, Near Media
- Google's Unusual, Special Relationship with Reddit, SISTRIX
- How To Eliminate Duplicate Content on E-Commerce Sites, BruceClay
- NO ONE knows what Helpful Content Update is & How to recover?, Gagan Ghotra
- What are Twiddlers in Google's ranking systems? And how can we use this knowledge to rank better?, Marie Haynes
- Analyzing Google AI Overview Rankings at Scale, Brodie Clark Consulting
- SEO for Misspelled Words: When and How to Do It, SEO Savvy Agent
PPC
- 5 Powerful Google Ads Reports to Track Results, WordStream
- An AMA With Reddit’s New VP Of Ad Product, AdExchanger
- How to Achieve a Balance Between Your PPC and SEO, PPC Hero
- How to run branding campaigns with a performance mindset, PPC Hero
- Impact of upcoming reporting changes on Bid Manager API, Google Ads Developer Blog
- You Need to Know About Google Ads Measurement for 2024 & Beyond with Ginny Marvin, KP Playbook
- Advanced Performance Planner Plans for Demand Gen, PPC News Feed
- Masthead format requirements (September 2024), Google Advertising Policies Help
- Unintended Consequences under Insights, PPC News Feed
Search Features
- Circle to Search adds song lookup, Gemini TalkBack coming, 9to5Google
- Google rolling out Android Earthquake Alerts across the US, 9to5Google
Other Search
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.
