Daily Search Forum Recap: October 28, 2024

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 Search has systems to downgrade rankings when portions of your site's content is starkly different from the rest of your site. Google had more search ranking volatility over the weekend, it just won't calm down. Google Search Console updated its performance reports and it freaked out SEOs big time. Google updated its URL structure, favicon documentation and added new Google Trends docs. Google has mentioned in products carousel snippets. Google Business Profiles can show reviews within photos now. Google Ads to sunset call ads.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google Search Downgrading Rankings Of Content Starkly Different From Main Content
Google is now saying it has ranking systems that "aim to understand if a section of a site is independent or starkly different from the main content of the site. This helps us surface the most useful information from a range of sites." This is the reason that sites like Fortune Recommends, Forbes Advisor and other sections of sites saw declines in Google Search rankings over the past several weeks.
Google Search Ranking Volatility Again On October 26th & 27th & 23rd & 24th
While I was offline, it seems we had two bouts of Google Search ranking volatility, one starting around Wednesday, October 23rd and 24th, and then again in the past 24 hours, starting on October 26th and 27th. I mean, this is a lot of the same as my previous Google Search ranking algorithm update coverage.
Google Search Console Performance Report Showing Almost No Data Today
Google Search Console's performance report seems to have a bug where it is showing almost zero data for today. I can replicate this across numerous Search Console properties, so maybe something is stuck with Search Console right now. This might be a feature where Google is showing more real-time data.
Google To Sunset Call Ads; Migrating To Responsive Search Ads
Google Ads will be sunsetting call ads sometime next year and will be migrating those to responsive search ads. Google wrote, "Call ads are being upgraded to responsive search ads to enable new features and simplify asset creation and management."
Google Updates URL Structure, Favicon & Adds Google Trends Docs
Google has added a new search document on Google Trends while also making some small updates to the URL structure, best practices documentation, and favicons documentation. Google has been doing a lot of videos around Google Trends, so the new documentation around that topic is not a surprise.
Google Search Snippet With Mentioned Products Carousel
Google is testing showing a carousel named mentioned products, that can be displayed under a search result snippet that shows the products mentioned in that search result. This came up for Reddit results, in the Discussions and forums section in Google Search.
Google Business Profiles Testing Reviews Within Photo Carousels
Google is now testing showing reviews within the photos carousel within a Google Business Profile listing. So when you scroll through the photos for a business, Google can also show review snippets.
Google Business Profiles: Answer Questions About Your Inventory
Google Business Profiles may now ask you to verify your information about your store inventory within the Products section of your profile. Google will ask "Do you sell these products in-store?"
Google Nuts In An Ice Cream Cup
Here is an ice cream cup with a Google super G logo sticker on it with nuts on top. Yep, Google nuts.