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:
- New York Times Search Ranking Drop After Google BERT Update
The New York Times said it may have seen a "huge" impact from the Google BERT update and by impact it means a decline in search traffic from the search engine. Hannah Poferl, the Associate Masthead Editor for Audience at The New York Times told me so on Twitter. - Google: Don't Crawl Your Site To Build A Sitemap File
I never understood why people would use a crawler to build their XML sitemap file. I guess if you don't have access to read the database of your CMS you would do that but seems so inefficient. John Mueller of Google said that also on Reddit. - Vlog #22: Eric Enge On SEO Testing, Structuring Content & Managing Client Expectations
Here is part two of my interview with Eric Enge (@stonetemple) where we get into more SEO focused topics... - Google: We Are Not Working On Content Submission & Crawling Removal
Earlier this month, Bing announced a pilot to allow some publishers to submit content and the HTML to the search engine without Bing having to crawl the page at all. This would effectively remove the requirement to crawl these sites. I asked Google if it is considering doing so as well and the company said no. - Google Ads Login Bug Did Not Impact Ad Serving Or Reporting
Google confirmed it has an issue with the login feature to the Google Ads console. Google said on Twitter "At ~8am PDT we experienced an outage for - Google Is Investigating Broken Search Operators
Google is investigating possible issues with what appears to be broken search operators. Specifically issues with the related search command and also intitle and inurl commands. Danny from Google said he will investigate and try to find out what is going on. - Noogler Cookies With Ingredients
Here is a photo of cookies, shortbread cookies, Google made for the Nooglers, new Googlers, at the Google office the other day. We can even see the ingredients for these Noogler shortbread cookies.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- BREAKING: @JohnMu says we should trust @dannysullivan https://t.co/GJo2YMFFaK, Barry Schwartz on Twitter
- Google Releases .new For Any Company to Register, WebmasterWorld
- Entry-level is where the big wins are, and where even "experts" can learn a ton. It's easy & natural to over-estimate yourself (certainly in front of peers). It takes time & practice to bec, John Mueller on Twitter
- I'll pass this on. Our summary comes from Wikipedia. It looks like Wikipedia was vandalized to change the word "murder" to "help." It's already been rectified on Wikiped, Danny Sullivan on Twitter
- Lost majority of Featured Snippets: possible causes?, WebmasterWorld
- New Webmaster Conference alert 🔔! We are happy to invite you to the Google Tel Aviv 🇮🇱 offices for an afternoon full of conversations around #SEO, Search Console, and more. Learn more and apply for a seat at https:/, Google Webmasters on Twitter
- Placements reporting updates, Google Ads Help
- You can't optimize for BERT, but apparently the way to optimize for GARY is to reduce the cloud density., John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Are TrueView video discovery ads the better option for your brand?
- Build a sound foundation to scale your Facebook campaigns
- Google’s Q3 ad revenue growth propelled by mobile search, YouTube
- You’re about to miss Search Marketing Expo
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Integrate Google Analytics with Mailchimp, Mailchimp
- Using Analytics to Answer: Who are my donors? with CauseVox, Whole Whale
Industry & Business
- Vint Cerf’s top moments from 50 years of the Internet, Google Blog
- How we can help more American small businesses export, Google Blog
- New Research on Search Preference Menus Shows Increased Market Share, SpreadPrivacy
Links & Promotion Building
- SEO Link-building for Ecommerce, Practical Ecommerce
Local & Maps
- Yext Answers helps businesses provide better site search, TechCrunch
- Edmunds tests Android Auto and Apple CarPlay updates, StarTribune
- Google Maps, But For Underwater, Entrepreneur
Mobile & Voice
- How to Keep Your Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant Voice Recordings Private, WIRED
- More Than Half of Consumers Want to Use Voice Assistants for Healthcare - New Report from Voicebot and Orbita, Voicebot
- Tune into the radio with the Google Assistant and SiriusXM, Google Blog
SEO
- Content Hubs: An Effective Content Marketing Strategy, Hallam
- How Might Google Extract Entity Relationship Information from Q&A Pages?, Go Fish Digital
- Site Migration Best Practices When Upgrading, Redesigning, Rebranding, Red Canoe Media
- University of Arizona switches from UA to UArizona for SEO, AP News
- Video Series for New Webmasters: Search for Beginners!, Official Google Webmaster Central Blog
- Want SEO Success? Check Your Priorities, Botify
- The BERT Update – What Can You Do As A Webmaster, Digital Trawler
- The Definitive Guide to Google Search Console, SEM Rush
PPC
- Negative Keywords: Why They're Important, PPC Hero
