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's 25th birthday is today - wow - 25 years! Bing Chat precise mode got a lot better. Google updated its charts and blog posts on organic search drops. Google is blocking Bard conversations from its search results. Google updated its spam policies and ranking systems guide to clarify CSAM policies.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google To Block Bard Shared Conversations From Google Search
Google launched shared conversations in Google Bard about a week ago and forgot to ensure search engines can't index the results. The robots.txt had(s) nothing in it to block bard.google.com/share from being indexed and since Google Search likes to index things, it indexed those public conversations. - Google Updates Charts & Content On Analyzing Organic Search Traffic Drops
A few years ago, Google's Daniel Waisberg wrote two blog posts, one on analyzing Google Search traffic drops and the other on improving SEO with a Search Console bubble chart. Both those blog posts are now new evergreen Google search help documents with significant changes to the content and illustrations. - Google's 25th Birthday Doodle Shows Some Of The Early Google Logos
Today is Google's official 25th birthday and to celebrate Google has a special Doodle that showcases some of Google's early Google logos. Google wrote, "Let's take a walk down memory lane to learn how we were born 25 years ago..." - Microsoft: Bing Chat Precise Mode Now Better
Bing Chat's precise mode has received a big upgrade that makes those answers a lot better. "Finished rolling out a pretty big update in our Precise mode of Bing Chat - no new features, just better answers," Mikhail Parakhin from Microsoft announced on X. - Google Spam Policies & Ranking Systems Guide Updated For CSAM Content
Google has added new content to its spam policies and ranking systems guide specific to child sexual abuse material (CSAM) content. Google now clearly says that they "always remove such content when it is identified" and Google will "demote all content from sites with a high proportion of CSAM content." - Google 25th Birthday Cappuccino - 25
How do Googlers drink cappuccino on Google's 25th birthday? They do it like the cappuccino in this photo - the barista writes 25 on it. I found this photo on Instagram yesterday.
Other Great Search Threads:
- 11 new Google Business Profile categories, Joy Hawkins on X
- LSA The two Local Service Ads in a list view has become pretty common over the last couple of months, showing up about 50% of the time now (instead of the traditional 3 horizonal listings)., Len on X
- That is the main thing we are gradually grinding. Whisper is great, but to reduce latency you need something called "full duplex" - and it's really hard to set up., Mikhail Parakhin on X
- URLs that were removed but which are still known will often be recrawled at a very low frequency, sometimes even years later. We want to make sure we don't miss anything good & helpful. To block crawling completely, use robots.txt (I'd only use it if craw, John Mueller on X
- Why would you do that? It seems like the kind of thing you'd want to get lined up (for accessibility & search), if you care about that level of detail. This won't make or break your site for search either way, so I'd put it on the rainy-day nice-to-do lis, John Mueller on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google Search at 25: SEO experts share memorable moments
- Has Google Ads lost all credibility? Why one advertiser says it’s time to leave
- Google to block Bard’s shared chats from showing in Google Search
- Facebook can be sued over biased ad algorithm claims, court rules
- Apple has 19 billion reasons not to build a Google Search rival
- Microsoft Advertising Network for retail launches in the US
- What is generative AI and how does it work?
- How to create an SEO roadmap
- AI in SEO: How to navigate legal challenges and ensure compliance
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Google Optimize will no longer be available after Sept. 30. This means you will no longer be able to create or edit experiments, personalizations, or view experiment reports after this date. You'll still be able to run A/B test, Google Analytics on X
- Yandex open-sources DataLens, its system for data analysis and visualization, Yandex
Industry & Business
- 25 fun facts about Google offices around the world, Google Blog
- Apple defends Google Search deal in court: ‘There wasn’t a valid alternative’, The Verge
- Apple exec Eddy Cue testify Google trial about $19 billion search deal, CNBC
- ‘Unprecedented’ Secrecy in Google Trial as Tech Giants Push to Limit Disclosures, New York Times
- Google Judge Rules Trial Documents Can Be Posted by US Online, Bloomberg
- How Microsoft is Trying to Lessen Its Addiction to OpenAI as AI Costs Soar, The Information
- OpenAI Seeks New Valuation of Up to $90 Billion in Sale of Existing Shares, Wall Street Journal
- Top Apple Executive Defends Favoring Google on iPhones, New York Times
- Yelp wants Google's lawyers tossed from US antitrust case, Reuters
- Amazon, Google Among Firms Focusing on AI Lobbying in States, Bloomberg
- Google celebrates 25 years since launch of Search, Google Blog
Links & Content Marketing
- Top Content Marketing Solutions for Boosting Efficiency and ROI, Semrush
- Designing The Content Marketing Strategy Measurement, Search Engine Journal
- Future of Content Marketing Service Market by 2030 | Trends and Predictions, Benzinga
Local & Maps
- Geofencing : The Basics of Location-Based Ads, Street Fight
- Takeaways from an Irish Locksmith: Listing Spam Scandal, Moz
- How to Effectively Manage Practitioner Listings with BrightLocal, BrightLocal
Mobile & Voice
- 3 Ways Google’s Privacy Changes On Android Will Impact Your Business, AdExchanger
- Ming-Chi Kuo predicts a dim future for Apple Vision Pro, AppleInsider
SEO
- 7 Google News SEO Tactics To Help Your Content Rank, Semrush
- A Guide To Shopify Sitemaps, Go Fish Digital
- International SEO: Best Practices for Global Online Success, Semrush
- Even SEO pros need a refresher, SERP's Up SEO Podcast
- The SEO Tutorial That Even Your Mom Would Understand, Ahrefs
- Which AI tools are most useful to local SEO and marketing professionals?, Insider Intelligence
PPC
- A Guide to Commercial Intent Keywords & How to Find Them, Semrush
- Advertising Trends: Using Competitor Ad Spending Data for Benchmarking [Study], Semrush
- Google Ads for Real Estate: The Ultimate Step-by-Step Guide, WordStream
- Introducing Microsoft Advertising Network for retail: a Game-Changer in Retail Media Revenue Growth, Microsoft Advertising
- Keyword Match Types in Google Ads & SEO [2023], Semrush
Search Features
- Google Podcasts shutting down in 2024 for YouTube Music, 9to5Google
- Some users will find Microsoft’s Bing AI chatbot is suddenly a lot more helpful, TechRadar
Other Search
- A timeline of Google’s biggest AI and ML moments, Google Blog
- Creating a centralized podcast destination on YouTube Music, YouTube Blog
- OpenAI’s GPT-4 with vision still has flaws, paper reveals, TechCrunch
Feedback:
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