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:
- Search Buzz Video Recap: Google October Algorithm Update, GoogleBot's New Name, Search Console Changes & More
This week we covered a new unconfirmed Google algorithm update that touched down on October 3rd. Google announced a new user agent name for GoogleBot launching in December. Google added the change of address tool to the new Google Search Console... - You Can Now Edit Google Maps Business Listings When Unverified
Google announced that you can now make some edits to Google My Business listings as an unverified business owner within Google My Business. Google said "Business owners will be able to suggest edits to some core business information directly from their Google My Business account before verifying their business. This is like the 'Suggest an edit' experience, but for unverified business owners." - Google: Large Sites Should Not Use The Google Crawl Setting
Google's John Mueller said "really large sites" should not use the crawl setting because "setting maximum value is probably too small for what your need." Larger sites need to go beyond that max value in Google Search Console and it is not possible to do that with the crawl setting. - Timely: Google Posts H1 Tag Video After H1 SEO Controversy
Earlier this week, we covered that Google's John Mueller said H1 tags are not critical for your search rankings. The SEO community kind of divided and went nuts on this topic. Some said, but how can H1 tags not be critical to rankings, while others agreed with Google and said yea, they don't matter. Yesterday, Google published a polished video on the H1 topic. - Awkward: Google Asks Moz How It Gets Its Ranking Data
This is funny and awkward at the same time. Dr. Pete from Moz was excited to share that Moz rebuilt its rank tracking software and posted about it on Twitter. John Mueller from Google asked Pete "How do you pull the rankings?" It got super awkward very quickly. - Google NYC Hidden Game Room With Darts & Toss Game
Here is a hidden game room at the Google NYC offices that has darts and a toss game, amongst other things. This was posted on Instagram by a Googler who wrote "When you stumble across a hidden games r
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Something that occasionally happens is that there's a removal request for the site pending, for example if the webmaster wants to remove the "http" version of their site. These requests remove all variatio, John Mueller on Twitter
- We've said countless times that normal sites don't need to use this tool. We don't even link to it in Search Console. Use it if you're aware of something specific - by far the largest part of si, John Mueller on Twitter
- I personally have never seen a carousel of food categories above the Local Pack that brings you to new SERPs. It's not a Discover More Places box (which appeared at the bottom of this SERP). Have you seen this @sergey_ala, Mordy Oberstein on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Gift-giving shopping behavior from religious holidays to relationships and beyond
- Please Take Our 3-minute Martech Upgrade Survey
- Multiple H1s won’t get in the way of your SEO, Google says
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How to Integrate Google Analytics 360 & Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Seer Interactive
- How to use Google Analytics to Check if Your B2B Tech Marketing is Working, Swyft
- Planning your reports in Google Data Studio, Smart Insights
Industry & Business
- Local Legends: Greg Gifford on Pay-to-Play, Real-world Signals and What's Next for Local Search, BrightLocal
- Section 230 Helps Search Engine Defeat "Right to Be Forgotten" Lawsuit-Mosha v. Yandex, Eric Goldman
Links & Promotion Building
- 3 Steps to Leverage LinkedIn for Link Building, Search Engine Journal
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- A smarter wardrobe with Jacquard by Google, Google Blog
- Amazon Teaches Alexa Portuguese Ahead of Brazilian Launch, Voicebot
SEO
- 9 Reasons Your Website Isn't Showing Up On Google (and How to Fix It), Ahrefs
- How we make Yoast SEO understand your language, Yoast
- Custom Extraction Using an SEO Crawler for CRO and UX Insights - Whiteboard Friday, Moz
- Proving that your SEO activity is paying off, State of Digital
PPC
- Reach and empower with Accessible Marketing, Microsoft Advertising
- Political Ads Come Under Fire As Media Organizations Enforce, Update Policies, MediaPost
Search Features
- No More Mixed Messages About HTTPS, Google Online Security Blog
