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 #86: Martin Splitt Of Google On SEO Mythbusting & His History
Martin Splitt and I decided to make the interview very intimate, so we chatted a bit in one of the Google sleep pods at the New York office. This was a while back, in November 2019... - Early Signs Of A Google Search Algorithm Ranking Update On September 23rd
I am seeing signs both in terms of SEO community chatter and the automated tracking tools of another Google search ranking algorithm update. Unlike the last one, where all the tools were spiking but the community chatter was at the same level of the tools, this one seems to have support of both the community and the tracking tools. - Google Doesn't Rank Sites Hosting On Google Cloud Higher
Google's John Mueller had to say after he disputed that cheap and shared hosting does not influence your rankings, that hosting on Google Cloud servers won't give you a ranking boost. He said on Twitter "we don't do anything special for hosting on Google Cloud." - Google Updates Document On How Reviews Impact Local Rankings
Google has slightly updated the document on the local ranking factors, specifically the section around how reviews impact local rankings. The change was from "will probably improve" to "can improve" local rankings in the document. - Google Merchant Center Image Policy Enforcement Going On The Item Level
Google has announced that the image policy enforcement in Google Merchant Center is now longer going to be on the account-level and will switch to item-level disapprovals. So disapprovals will be on a more granular basis going forward. - New Google Supported Shipping Details Schema Markup
Google announced yesterday that you no longer need to use Google Merchant Center to communicate your shipping details in the product search results. Now you can use new shipping detail schema markup to do the same thing. - Google Dongles
This looks like an old photo of some old Google swag that was before its time. Before the time of needing dongles and adapters. I guess there was really never a time before we needed adapters or dong
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Google Launches a Work Tracking Tool, "Tables" (beta), WebmasterWorld
- Just because a page is ranking first at some point in time doesn't mean it'll rank first forever. That's both a challenge, and an opportunity., John Mueller on Twitter
- Sounds like a good site to stop linking to. Might also be worth submitting to the webspam report form, if you feel that's appropriate., John Mueller on Twitter
- Tune into Ads on air for deep dives into our latest Google Ads products, Google Ads Help
- Facebook: Creators and Publishers Get New Rights Manager for Images, WebmasterWorld
- It looks like the team is on it. Thanks for the tweet!, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google opens the source for its robots.txt parser in Java and testing framework in C++
- Your all-access guide to improving your Google search visibility
- Google local ads gain Smart Bidding for store sales, ‘pick up later,’ service attributes
- Women in search: Why allies and networking are critical
- Google now supports shipping details schema for product results
- Google rolling out video appointments, online classes to local business profiles
- Here’s why you need to attend SMX
- How to (re)build an SEO agency today – Part 3: Changing business models
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 10 Google Analytics Tips To Make Your Job Easier, Business 2 Community
- 4 Practical Requirements for Compliant Tag Management, Tag Inspector
- Google Data Studio: advanced tips for marketers & analysts, Supermetrics
Industry & Business
- Justice Dept. Case Against Google Is Said to Focus on Search Dominance, New York Times
- Paid Google Chrome extensions will go away by next year, 9to5Google
- California court reinstates suit against Google over disclosing company information, SF Chronicle
Local & Maps
- Jimmy Fallon and Google support NYC small businesses, Google Blog
- Local Service Ads (LSA) Imminent for UK & Europe, Online Ownership
- Cherokee Nation Reservation now visible on Google Maps, KOKH
- Help local customers reconnect with your store, Google Blog
Mobile & Voice
- Easily create Web Stories on WordPress, Google Blog
- Need a dose of Disney+? Just ask!, Google Blog
SEO
- 10 SEO Myths You Should Ignore, Ahrefs
- How Do I Make a Mobile-Friendly Site?, BruceClay
- Podcast: How to identify a problem with your SEO, Vertical Leap
- How To Find The Crawl Path Report In Screaming Frog, Koozai
- What Causes Rank Volatility and How to Deal With it (3 Case Studies), RankRanger
PPC
- 5 Ways to Maximize Your ROI With Responsive Search Ads, WordStream
- Mastering the Microsoft Audience Network, Microsoft Advertising
Other Search
- A community for web creators to grow and get inspired, Google Blog
- Google beta launches Tables in the U.S., Google Blog
- Doodle for Google 2020 - US Winner, Google Doodle
