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:
- Google Halloween Ranking Update: Possible Targeted Update Yesterday?
Yesterday, on Halloween, I saw a some chatter within the industry around significant ranking changes in Google's search results. The thing is, the complaints are not widespread but there are a nice number of complaints in the SEO communities. I am thinking this is a niche targeted update, impacting a specific tactic or vertical - but it is way too early to know the specifics. - Google Structured Data Testing Tool Uses Neutral Crawler; Mostly Desktop
Google has a said that when the Google Structured Data Testing tool accesses a site, it uses a neutral crawler in terms of desktop versus mobile. It depends on what the site serves by default and John Mueller said, it probably will serve Google the desktop version. - Googlers Disagrees About Removing vs Improving Content For Google Ranking Benefit
For past few years, we have heard Google suggest that it is better to improve content and not remove content that is low quality. We also heard Google say removing content also works improve overall site quality. Which is it? The answer is that it is a debate and what is feasibly practical for the webmaster. - Google Wants SEOs To Tell Them How They Can Do Better With Search Results Snippets
Danny Sullivan posted a bit of a cryptic tweet last night, asking SEOs how they want the search results listings to appear, what controls they want, things they dislike, etc. He wrote "We're curious about what's top-of-mind in your hopes and dreams about how Google displays listings. More control over titles? Sitelinks? Things we don't do that you'd want? What you'd do with markup or other ways to help?" - Google My Business Removes Addresses From Some Service Area Businesses
Google seems to have dropped some the addresses from Google My Business listings for service area businesses. It seems like some businesses that set a service area in their accounts would see their addresses disappear from the Google My Business console. - Google Opens Googleland on Googleween
Googlers really get into Halloween and the number of photos and videos of them dressing up, the pumpkins, the cakes and food are simply impossible to all share here. But Google seemed to have opened
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- I'm meeting with the webspam team soon to talk about the state of links -- what should I bring up? Do they still work?, John Mueller on Twitter
- #ShoppingSeries Step 1: Create Merchant Center Account & Link with Google Ads To start advertising with Smart Shopping campaigns, you'll first need to create a Merchant Center Account and link with Google Ads ➡ https://t.co/eaIC, Google Ads on Twitter
- That sounds like a quirk in the setup, AFAIK if they redirect, all verification methods should give the owner access to HTTPS & HTTP versions.… https://t.co/H1hgc0IqQE, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google employee walkout followed by call for Google blackout at 11:10 am Pacific time
- Yelp vs Google: How they deal with fake reviews
- Google wants to hear from SEOs on the search result listings
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Assisted Conversions: What Are They? And Do They Matter?, Zion and Zion
- When & How To Run An A/B Test On Your Website Using Google Optimize, Data Driven Design
- Google Optimize: Conversion Rate Optimization Made Easy, Ladder
- New Ways to Showcase Your Google Analytics Data, RankRanger
Industry & Business
- Google spends $155M on large North San Jose office buildings at 4300 and 4400 North First St., Silicon Valley Business Journal
- Over 1,500 at Google Plan Walkout to Protest Handling of Sexual Harassment, New York Times
- The Privacy Battle to Save Google From Itself, Wired
Links & Promotion Building
- Link Prospecting & Audits Made Easy With (Free) New Tool!, The Upper Ranks
Local & Maps
- Google and Apple Maps have plenty of errors. Here’s how to fix them., Popular Science
- Google Maps Street View car swept away in US floods, The Independent
Mobile & Voice
- Google Assistant on Android regressing to previous, non-Smart Display-inspired design, 9to5Google
- Sonos delays Google Assistant voice features until 2019, Engadget
SEO
- Out now: our new Site structure training!, Yoast
- SEO Case Study: How I Increased My Organic Traffic 652% in 7 Days, backlinko.com
- Structured Data Google Penalties - 5 Mistakes to Avoid, Search Engine Journal
- The Future of SEO is on the SERP - with Rand Fishkin, Site Visibility
PPC
- Big or small, stay close to all the latest Google Ads changes, Google Blog
- How To Perfect Your Christmas PPC Campaigns, Hallam Internet
- Most Common Mistakes of Automated Bidding, PPC Hero
