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:
- Unusual Google Search Ranking Algorithm Chatter
Over the past few days there has been weird levels of chatter from within the SEO industry around a possible Google Search algorithm update. I say weird because some are saying the fluctuations in the search results are super high and some are saying nothing is going on at all. Plus most of the tools show nothing but some do show some changes. - Google Page Experience Update To Launch May 2021 With New Snippet Labels
Google announced that the Page Experience Update will be live in about 6-months, i.e. in May 2021. With that launch, Google will also be testing new visual indicators, like labels, in the search results to communicate to searchers if that page does well with the core web vitals metrics. - iFrame Loophole Won't Work For Google Core Web Vitals & Page Experience Update
As you know, we now know the Google Page Experience Update is coming on May 2021. But don't try to fool or trick the metrics, specifically the iFrame loophole. Google's Addy Osmani said that the Chrome UX report does not take into account content in iFrames. - Google Tests Bolder Font For Search Result URLs
Google always is testing and here is a bolder font for the search result snippet URLs. Andrea Cruz spotted this test and posted a screen shot on Twitter. You can see when you compare the normal snippet URL font to the one she spotted, the test is a bolder font type for the URL. - Google: No Plans On Taking Away Request Indexing Tool
So I put John Mueller of Google on the hot seat and asked him what is up with Google taking away goodies from us like the request indexing tool. He said "I am not planning on taking away anything." He said the survey was just for him to learn what, if anything, Google can do better and more efficiently. - On Veterans Day Google, Bing, Yahoo & The Search Industry Pay Respect
Today is Veterans Day in the United State of America, a day where Americans honor military veterans. It is a Federal holiday, so the banks and some government offices are closed. Like every year, Google, Bing, Yahoo and others pay its respects to the day with special logos or backgrounds. - Google South Lake Union Building Photo
Here is a really nice photo I found on Instagram of the Google South Lake Union Campus, it is in Seattle, Washington. It is a nice shot from the sky of the building all light up and as they put it
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Google Ads Not Showing Right Now, WebmasterWorld
- Looks like Google may be testing a new look for the "More images" button in mobile results. Very eye catching 👀. https://t.co/rhsGw6L3a1, Brian Freiesleben on Twitter
- Slooowwwwmageddon, John Mueller on Twitter
- Yeah, if you do a site:-query for an older, redirecting site, you'll often still see URLs listed there, but if you check the cache or use Inspect URL, you'll see we pick the current version for, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Building connections between siloed channels, technologies and teams
- Amazon uses its data to undermine third party sellers, EU antitrust action says
- Google Page Experience Update to launch May 2021 with new labels in search results
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- How to Use Google Analytics 4 to Track User Behavior, Blast Analytics
- Fixing Misattributed Referral Traffic In Google Analytics, Koozai
Industry & Business
- Waze CEO Noam Bardin to leave company in early 2021, TechCrunch
- How Google supports military communities, Google Blog
Local & Maps
- Google features and tips for holiday travel planning, Google Blog
- Location Data + Reviews: The 1–2 Punch of Local SEO (Updated for 2020), Moz
Mobile & Voice
- Amazon rolls out new Alexa update in the US, adds Device Discovery, PhoneArena
- Google Chrome tests showing a voice search button in the top toolbar, XDA Developers
- Siri's Answer to 'How Old is the President?' Has Got Conspiracy Theorists Triggered, Newsweek
SEO
- Google Indexing Update: Better Rankings for Specific Web Page Passages, Search Metrics
- How to optimise your product feed for Google Shopping success, Vertical Leap
PPC
- Announcing v202011 of the Google Ad Manager API, Google Ads Developer Blog
- November update to Display & Video 360 API v1, Google Ads Developer Blog
- Competitor Analysis: How to Spot Shifts in Your Rival’s Marketing Strategies, SEM Rush
- The Download, Episode 3: Digital transformation, growth, and change, Microsoft Advertising
Search Features
