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:
- Video: Big Changes Coming To Google Search, Indexing Issues Grow, New Quality Raters Guidelines & Bing Site Explorer
It was a super busy week in the SEM world this week, a ton of things to talk about this week. Yesterday, Google announced a slew up updates, I broke down what is important for SEOs to know about including BERT updates, passage indexing, subtopic... - Google Search Announcements: BERT, Passages & Subtopic Indexing & More
Google made a boat load of announcements last night around Google Search. Now, while some of the announcements were things already launched, many were new. Google covered changes to BERT, how it understands passages and subtopics on a page, to humming to Google and health and safety features and so much more... - Google Local Wait Times For Restaurants Inaccurate
Remember the days where you use to look at Google Maps to see how busy a place was before you went there? Oh you still do that, to make sure it is not busy at all because of the plaque? Well, it seems to be broken. Google wait times for restaurants and probably other local businesses are simply off. - Bing Site Explorer: Old But New
Bing has relaunched Site Explorer in Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing said this is not a simple migration from the old Bing Webmaster Tools but building it up from the ground up, new. So it is old but it really is something new. - Google Tests How To Rich Results Results On Desktop Again
Google is once again testing how-to schema rich results on the desktop search results again. Brian Freiesleben first noticed this a couple of days ago. Google first tested this for a couple weeks back in late May and then discontinued the test. - Google Tests Ads In Google Maps Autocomplete Predictions
Google seems to be testing a new ad unit, this one is in the Google Maps search feature. So as you type, Google Maps gives you autocomplete search predictions. Google is also showing ads now for those autocomplete suggestions. - Google Will Disapprove Out Of Stock Products From Data Feed When In Stock On Site
Google announced that it will begin to preemptively disapprove free standard listings for products that are marked as out of stock in the product data in Merchant Center, but are in stock on their landing pages. I do not think this applied to paid listings, just the free listings. - Googler Returns To Office After Six-Months
Yana Italiana, I believe that is her name, posted on Instagram that she went back to the Google office for the first time in six-months.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- For one-off things like that it's fine to use (well, once it's back :)). That said, if you're redirecting a domain and key pages don't "move over", that sounds more like a canonicalization issue rather than, John Mueller on Twitter
- Introducing the new Google Analytics, designed to help you get the essential insights you need to be ready for what's next. Read the announcement → https://t.co/5rRMdnVGYS https://t.co/to4PV25j96, Google Analytics on Twitter
- 1/ After a very long gradual rollout, thanks to @carlosjoan91's efforts, mixed content is no longer really a thing in Chrome: any http:// subresources on https:// pages will be either upgraded to https:// or blocked. (https:/, Emily Stark on Twitter
- I don't know the dettails of that element, but one way to check is to do a/b testing with instrumented pages. If it's broadly used, then I'm sure they'd be happy for feedback., John Mueller on Twitter
- If the m-dot & desktop are properly connected, then that's not something to worry about (previously the same would be the other way around anyway)., John Mueller on Twitter
- Most of the code I "work" on is short & just for me :). I like to see it more as practicing & learning - not everything needs to be world-changing., John Mueller on Twitter
- SEOs are generally extremely resilient & quick to adapt. And there are so many awesome & smart folks in the community happy to help out (some are also friendly)., John Mueller on Twitter
- Yes, if they're in the HTML (either directly, or in the DOM after rendering) then they'll be used normally, even if they're not visible by default (hidden with CSS)., John Mueller on Twitter
- The Last Part of Yahoo Groups to Go Offline December 15, 2020, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google tests local ads in Maps auto-suggest results
- How Google indexes passages of a page and what it means for SEO
- Google: BERT now used on almost every English query
- 2020 Search Engine Land Awards campaign category finalists announced
- Last chance: Search Marketing Expo Rates Go Up In 2 Days!
- Bing revamps Site Explorer in new Bing Webmaster Tools
- Google search quality guidelines update breaks down dictionary and encyclopedia results and more
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Demystifying Google Analytics 4 FKA App + Web, Seer Interactive
- Google Analytics 4 User-Centric Analytics Guide, InfoTrust
- Google Analytics Gets A Major Privacy And Machine Learning-Focused Overhaul, AdExchanger
- The new Google Analytics will give you the essential insights you need to be ready for what’s next., Google Blog
Industry & Business
- An inside look at Hispanic Heritage Month at Google, Google Blog
- A new partnership with Spain's public service media, Google Blog
Links & Content Marketing
- The Absurd Myth of Passive Link Building, The Upper Ranks
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Apple’s HomePod will soon support Dolby Atmos with the Apple TV 4K, The Verge
- From smart clocks to TVs, new ways to get help from Google, Google Blog
SEO
- 15 Google SEO Ranking Factors (That Really Matter), SEM Rush
- 5 Emerging SEO Concerns for Universities, Search Metrics
- How to Get Google to Index Your Website, Content King App
- How to Improve Core Web Vitals “FID” for SEO, BruceClay
- Internal Linking for SEO: Best Practices & Big Mistakes, Terakeet
- What is Structured Data? And Why Should You Implement It?, Ahrefs
- 10 Basic SEO Tips to Index + Rank New Content Faster — Best of Whiteboard Friday, Moz
PPC
- Free holiday tools and resources for retailers from Google, Google Blog
- Google Ads and AdWords APIs upgrading authorization scope to "sensitive", Google Ads Developer Blog
- How to Bid Like a Pro in Google Ads (in a Fraction of the Time), WordStream
- Automated bidding strategies update, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
- Announcing the Microsoft Bing app on Xbox, Bing Search Blog
- Find voting and ballot drop box locations on Google, Google Blog
- Google Free Shopping Tab Listings Now Available Globally (Official Launch), Brodie Clark Consulting
Other Search
