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.
Saturday night, Google had a major search bug with its Google Android app. I posted a bunch of resources around the US vs Google monopoly trial. Google updated its crawler documentation in a big way. Google posted new local review restrictions and enforcements. Google is asking how you will use Gemini and AI for SEO. Google is testing a recent posts carousel in Google Search.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Search App Stopped Working Saturday Night
The Google Search App stopped working last night (Saturday night) for a few hours. Google was quick to fix it in the middle of the night but by then, hundreds, if not, thousands of complaints flooded the support forums and social media. -
Google Updates Google Crawlers & Fetchers Docs With Affects & Snippets
Google has completely reorganized its crawlers and user-triggered fetchers documentation. It used to be all on one page and now it is in several pages. Most of the changes were just moving content around but Google did add sections for what product each crawler affects, and added a robots.txt snippet for each crawler to demonstrate how to use the user agent tokens. -
Google Reviews Restrictions For Business Profile Policy Violations
Google has posted a new document about the way Google may apply restrictions to your Google Business Profiles over review or other policy violations. In the document, Google wrote that it takes "take fake and/or incentivized reviews and ratings on businesses very seriously." -
Google US DOJ Trial Exhibit Files, Documents & Responses
As many of you know, Google is now in court over its monopoly ruling by the Department of Justice before the court rules on the remedy for such a ruling. The ruling may not come for a year or so, and Google will be in court for some time. -
Google Search Tests Recent Posts Carousel
Google Search is testing a new recent posts carousel in the desktop and mobile search results. This carousel can show YouTube videos, TikTok videos, Reddit or other "hidden gems" of sorts. -
Google Asks On Social If You Will Use Gemini AI For SEO
In one of the more disassociated social posts Google has made in a while, Google's Small Business account posted a poll asking if you will use Gemini, Google's AI models, to help with your SEO, to help boost your search rankings. -
Sheds Inside The Google
Google likes to put outdoor things, inside its office. Here are outdoor sheds that are inside the Google London office. It seems they are uses as coat rooms, called cloakrooms?
Other Great Search Threads:
- I found out today what happens when google deletes a vertical you're using | NAP, Categories, Dashboard Data, Local Search Forum
- The Digital Advertising Alliance has new standards for CTV, using its "Ad Choices" opt-out framework. Ad Choices has been a near-total failure and it's effectively a fiction. Most consumers don't understand AdChoices (the DAA, Greg Sterling on X
- This is a friendly reminder to make sure automatic asset creation is turned off for Google search ad campagins, Nate Louis on X
- This is not new. A social security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) may be required to complete verification. This information will be deleted and will not be stored after comple, AdsLiaison on X
- Heads-up: There's been a lot of chatter about crazy swings in rankings AFTER the August core update. I am now picking up some wild reversals, surges, and drops post-August core update. And a lot of that seems tied to the tremors I re, Glenn Gabe on X
- More about forums, hidden gems, and recent adjustments: Here's another example of a forum that surged with the hidden gems update in the fall of 2023, but has seen adjustments in the spring of 2024 (right after the March core update ende, Glenn Gabe on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google adtech antitrust trial: Everything you need to know
- Google Ads bug hits GCLID conversion tracking
- The latest jobs in search marketing
- How to create images and visuals with generative AI
- Key SEO, UX and CRO tips to boost brick-and-mortar retail sales
- How to handle negative Google reviews: Remove, respond, recover
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- DOJ vs. Google, Day Four: Behind The Scenes On The Fraught Rollout Of Unified Pricing Rules, AdExchanger
- EU break-up order to Google unlikely for now, sources say, Reuters
- Header Bidding Was Decimated, Top Trade Desk Exec Testifies at Google Trial, AdWeek
- How Google altered a deal with publishers who couldn’t say no, The Verge
- Microsoft’s Hypocrisy on AI, The Atlantic
- Democratic Senators Urge US DOJ To Investigate Google's AI Overviews, Hall Analysis
- Even Facebook Couldn’t Compete With Google, Bloomberg
- Sam Altman told OpenAI staff the company’s non-profit corporate structure will change next year, Fortune
- Data centers strain power grids. Should tech firms pay for upgrades?, Washington Post
- Google Dodged Jury in Antitrust Trial With a Check, Business Insider
- Google sheds its nice guy poise as the legal heat dials up, Digiday
Links & Content Marketing
- MAICON Highlights: Determining the Role of AI in Marketing, Content Marketing Institute
Local & Maps
- How Many Citations Does a Small Business Need? [Case Study], Sterling Sky
- Apple Maps features: 8 secret tricks you might not know, Cult of Mac
- Google Maps Is Becoming More Like Waze, And Users Hate It for an Obvious Reason, AutoEvolution
Mobile & Voice
- Apple Intelligence timeline — new report reveals which features are coming when, Tom's Guide
- Google Gemini's Android assistant just got a lot better at creating tasks, Android Police
- iPhone 16 first weekend pre-order analysis: estimated total sales of about 37 million units; Pro series demand lower than expected, Ming-Chi Kuo
SEO
- 12 B2B SEO Stats to Inform Your Strategy + Get Buy-In for It, Semrush
- The Importance of Logos on Google Shopping, Increase Performance Part 2, FeedArmy
PPC
- AI Keyword Research: 5 Ways to Use AI to Discover Keywords, Semrush
- Apple Search Ads: Past, Present, and Future, PPC Hero
- Managing Spend Heading into the US Election - Cory Henke, PPCChat
- Should You Only Use Exact Match Keywords?, Jyll Saskin Gales
- Updates to Gambling and games policy for Greece (September 2024), Google Advertising Policies Help
Search Features
- Google News redesign may make minimalists very happy, Android Central
- Your Discover feed could soon work better with your Search history for personalized content, Android Police
- Google's 'About this result' Explained, Practical Ecommerce
Other Search
- Getting Buy-In for Customer Stories — Whiteboard Friday, Moz
- Google's DataGemma AI is a statistics wizard, VentureBeat
- Google AI Search: Antitrust Issues and SEO Impact, Rich Sanger SEO
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