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:
- Google Images Algorithm Now Uses Page Authority & Image Placement On A Page
Google said on Monday that they have updated their image search algorithm to use the authority of a web page as a more important factor. They also said they are looking at prioritizing images from fresher content and Google looks at the placement of the image on the page. So an image that is central to the page, and higher up on the page is valued more to Google. - Google Topic Layer To Knowledge Graph, Enabling Dynamic Categorization & More
As part of the blitz of new announcements from Google this past Monday, Google also introduced what they call the Topic Layer in the Knowledge Graph. With that, they can also dynamically categorize knowledge panels based on sub-categories and topics to better provide search answers to their users. - Google Related Activity & Collections In Search
Earlier this month we saw Google testing what we called relevant history, but now Google is calling it related activity cards. In short, Google announced Monday a new card that shows past searches related to your current search. - Google Stops Showing Sexual Assault Attorney Local Listings
Google may have stopped showing listings for searches for Sexual Assault Attorney in Google, both Google Maps and web search. The local panel does not seem to come up very often anymore and/or some listings have been recently removed. - Google Double URL In A Single Snippet
I've never seen this before, Google showing a double URL in a single search result snippet. In fact, I was able to reproduce this by turning off safe search and trying the query multiple ways. This was spotted by @dudesweet on Twitter. - Google's 20th Birthday Logo Remembers Popular Searches
Tomorrow, September 27th is Google's official 20th birthday or anniversary. To celebrate the day, Google has a special Google logo, Doodle, remembering the day they launched with a video of someone searching on the original Google.com. It also takes you through some of the more popular searches throughout the past 20 years. - The Google 20th Anniversary Search Event
Here is a photo from outside of the building where Google held their 20th anniversary search event. A lot of news came out of the event, which I will cover today. I was not able to attend, since I wa
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- E.U. Parliament Approve New Copyright Changes, Article 11 and 13, WebmasterWorld
- How to improve the new Google Search Console layout, Reddit
- Learn more about the changes and enhancements to the Overview tab. https://t.co/XBB2iQvaMW via @sengineland…, Bing Ads on Twitter
- Google Moving AMP Project to Open Governance Model, WebmasterWorld
- If the noindex is in the right place in the static version, that should be fine (we probably wouldn't even need to render the page then). It's different when you need the meta tag to do something specific after indexing & rend, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- The secret formula for determining a marketing budget
- Google now builds its own AMP stories for search
- Connect with the best and brightest marketers at SMX East
- Solving complex SEO problems when standard fixes don’t apply
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How to Track Social Media Traffic Using Google Analytics, Social Media Examiner
- Pro Guide to Shopping Behavior Analysis Report in Google Analytics, Online Metrics
- Why is Google Analytics so important for SMEs?, Shelton Associates
Industry & Business
- Google C.E.O. Denies Allegations of Political Bias in Search Results, The New York Times
- Google CEO Sundar Pichai to Meet With Top GOP Lawmakers, WSJ
- Google, Yandex Discuss Creation of Anti-Piracy Database, TorrentFreak
- Tech and ad giants sign up to Europe’s first weak bite at ‘fake news’, TechCrunch
Links & Promotion Building
- How to outrank competitors and dominate difficult SEO markets in 2018, Majestic Blog
- How Your Audits and Backlink Research Fail, SEO Theory
Local & Maps
- Waze Apple CarPlay App Now Available For All - Here is our Walkthrough, CarPlay Life
- All together now: group planning on Google Maps, Google Blog
- Google launches its group planning feature for Maps, TechCrunch
Mobile & Voice
- Conductor Introduces New Enterprise SEO for Mobile and Local Search, MarTech Advisor
- For ecommerce brands, the race is on for top spots in voice search, ClickZ
- Voice Search Technology and What it Means for Pay-Per-Click, Performancein
SEO
- 21 Effective SEO Techniques for 2019 | Low Effort & High Return, cognitiveseo.com
- 7 Steps to Making the Most out of the New Google Search Console, WordStream
- Has Your Site Moved to Google's Mobile-First Indexing? What To Do Next., Keylime Toolbox
- How Rich Results May be Chosen and Created, Go Fish Digital
- Understanding Search Intention with the help of Google Search Results., SISTRIX
- An SEO's Guide to Writing Structured Data (JSON-LD), Go Fish Digital
PPC
- Optimize your AMP pages for high ad viewability rate or high ads served, Accelerated Mobile Pages Project
- Google Ads exact match has expanded, again., Hallam Internet
- The Art and Science of the Microsoft Audience Network webcast Q&A, Bing Ads Blog
- Thinking About PPC Strategy, PPC Hero
Search Features
- Chrome is a Google Service that happens to include a Browser Engine, Bálint's extended musings
- Improving Search for the next 20 years, Google Blog
- Working together to fight disinformation online, Google Blog
Other Search
- Product updates based on your feedback, Google Blog
