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:
- Vlog #16: Dr. Pete Meyers Of Moz On Mozcast & Google Algorithm Changes
In episode #16 of the vlog series at the Search Engine Roundtable I interviewed Dr. Pete Meyers (aka Dr. Pete) (@dr_pete) of Moz. Dr. Pete and I share a similar passion - the passion is a weird one - we love to track how Google changes its search results... - Google: Redirect Old AJAX Crawling Scheme URLs Using JavaScript Redirects
Google's John Mueller said in an #AskGoogleWebmasters video that now that "you no longer need to do anything special for hashbang URLs," if you still have those old URLs for the old AJAX crawling scheme, you should redirect those URLs. - New Report Offensive Images In Google Web Search Results
I think this is new, a new way to report images as being offensive or having issues in Google's main web search results. Sunny sent this to me on Twitter and I think it is new, but basically there is a "report images" button that when you click it, it lets you report specific images to Google. - Weird: Google Auto-Complete Suggestions Showing Emojis
Go to Google.com and just type into the search box "what" and you will see Google suggest the search phrase what does the antsð¡ð mean. This is no joke, here is a screen shot I took of it myself. - Data Shows A 4-5 Point Drop In Review Rich Results In Google
Google just announced this week a new algorithmic update to not show review markup, review rich results, in the Google search results for specific cases. You can learn more about those new rules over here. And it looks like Google is acting on it. According to Moz and RankRanger's tools there is a 4 to 5 point drop in the rate these review rich results show up in Google search. - Google Launches Video Key Moments For YouTube Videos In Search
The other day we reported that we spotted Google testing a cool feature in search that shows you a timeline that shows you what is in a video. Well, Google announced this as video key moments and it works for English videos posted to YouTube and Google will expand it to other providers soon. - Googlers Painting
Here is a photo of a bunch of Googlers showing off their artistic skills by painting a lighthouse. I wonder if they picked a lighthouse because of Google Lighthouse. Well, I hope they did but I doubt
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- No effect on rankings, but if the structured data isn't valid, we wouldn't be able to show it in search., John Mueller on Twitter
- Rankings can always change, I just wouldn't assume that it's a matter of CTR. If you get a higher CTR, that's pretty awesome regardless of the ranking anyway!, John Mueller on Twitter
- Well, that sucks - at least it's clear the noindex isn't a hint :). I'd do manual submissions for the most critical URLs (max clicks from search) + use a sitemap with lastmod set (with all indexable URLs includ, John Mueller on Twitter
- Asking for the advice about where to learn SEO online, WebmasterWorld
- From hobby websites to making money, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Breaking loyalty silos
- Call tracking demystified for search marketers
- Google search adds key moments for videos in search
- Pinterest brings Shoppable Pins to visual searches for fashion, home products
- Yoast 12.1 adds custom favicons to the mobile snippet preview
- You can’t advertise that: The big list of prohibited ads across social and search platforms
- Which local citation sources matter now?
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Personalization vs. Segmentation: Understanding the Difference & Activating the Benefits, Cardinal Path Blog
- Tracking Rage Clicks Using Google Tag Manager and Google Analytics, Reflective Data
Industry & Business
- Brave’s Johnny Ryan Claims That Google Is Non-Compliant With GDPR, Martech Advisor
- Google, Facebook Cozy Up to Publishers as Regulators Circle, Wall Street Journal
Links & Promotion Building
- Diving Deeper: Advanced Content Marketing Guide, BrightEdge SEO Blog
- On comparing backlink indexes..., Majestic Blog
Local & Maps
- Did Local Review Spammers Just Get Self-Served?, Local SEO Guide
- Waze not updating maps and driving info, Windows Report
Mobile & Voice
- Exclusive: New Google Nest Wifi adds an Assistant speaker, 9to5Google
- Google Assistant Adds New International Voice Options, Voicebot
SEO
- Keyword Tracking For Enterprise SEO: Scale, Segmentation, & Real Searcher Data, Botify
- Long Tail Keywords for eCommerce: Our Advanced Strategies to Rank for and Profit from Them, Go Inflow
- What Google's Star Rating Rich Snippet Changes Mean for You, Distilled
- How To Identify & Best Optimize for User Search Intent. The Step by Step Guide, Cognitive SEO
PPC
- AdMob's new reporting delivers better insights, Google Blog
- New Research! The State of PPC, PPC Hero
Search Features
- Google App tests new features in Search, Discover, Podcasts, & Assistant, XDA Developers
- Upgrading Lens for more online to offline inspiration, Pinterest Newsroom