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:
- Bing Not Listening To Submit URL Webmaster Tools Feature
I am hearing some reports that even the submit URL tool within Bing Webmaster Tools is not working. We know Bing killed off the anonymous submit URL tool and told us to use the one within Bing Webmaster Tools. But if you try to use it and check your server logs, you may notice that Bing is not accessing the content after you submit the request. - Google: Other Sites Outranking You For Your Content While Sourcing You
Google's John Mueller talked about the frustration some may feel when you write a breaking story about a topic no one has covered yet other web sites are outranking you for that story, even though these other web sites link to you as the source. John said they experience the same thing on their webmaster blog. - Google Cache 404 Hack & Workaround
For months and months I get complaints that the Google Cache is serving up a 404 error for their web sites. They are nervous and worried that this means there is an issue with their site and their web site rankings in Google will dive. It won't dive but here is a workaround to get it to not show a 404. - Google's John Mueller Defends His Making Links Against Guidelines Statement
Last week we reported that Google's John Mueller said that the concept of making quality links is by definition against Google's guidelines because you are making those links and they are not links that were naturally given by the party. Since then there has been a lot of debate about this statement and John Mueller has actually responded to some of it. - Google Ads URL Anchors Shouldn't Impact Campaign Performance
Google responded on Twitter to a question about using anchors in your destination URLs within your Google Ads campaigns. In short, anchors should not impact your campaign performance in a negative or positive manner. Google said "Using anchored links on the web pages that you're promoting through Google Ads shouldn't affect your campaign's performance as long as your web pages comply with our advertising policies." - Google Gives New Employees A CD-ROM Case
Did you know that Google gives each new employee a CD case, a CD-ROM holder. I don't know if there is an CD in the case, doesn't seem to be. I also don't know when the last time I had a computer that
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- No.…, John Mueller on Twitter
- Hmm Google has made links clickable w/ Meta Title on SERPs cc:@rustybrick…, Yusuf Ozbay on Twitter
- October 2018 AdSense Earnings & Observations - Google AdSense, WebmasterWorld
- Yeah, I think the philosophy there has shifted toward serving fewer customers at a higher end of the market.… https://t.co/PJ8Eumg1zL, Rand Fishkin on Twitter
- We haven't moved all sites to mobile indexing yet, so perhaps those are saved until later :).…, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google to close Google+ after 7 years: A look back at the impact it once had on Google search
- Guide to the top marketing automation platforms
- 3 reasons why Google My Business search queries don’t match Search Console
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Google Successfully Amends Its AdWords TOS to Add Arbitration Clause–Trudeau v. Google, Eric Goldman
- Europe’s Android Ruling Gives Google Rivals a Glimmer of Hope, Bloomberg
- The new Google Safety Centre comes to Europe: Helping you stay safe online, Google Blog
- UK high court blocks mass privacy action against Google, The Guardian
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Redesigned Google Assistant settings page is rolling out, Android Police
SEO
- I Understand Google Better than Google, Elephate - Medium
- Featured Snippets Change Sources Often: Here’s Why, Stone Temple
- Google Algorithm Change hints of Medic Rollback, SISTRIX
- SEO Content Writing - How to Create Copy That Ranks, Adam Riemer
PPC
- Save time managing In-market Audiences in Bing Ads Editor, Bing Ads Blog
Other Search
- How to make AMP even faster, Accelerated Mobile Pages Project
- The Internet’s keepers? “Some call us hoarders—I like to say we’re archivists”, Ars Technica
