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 Ads To Limit Targeting & Content Options For Political Ads In US
Google announced last night that it will soon enforce new limitations on what you can use Google Ads for with political ads. Specifically Google said the targeting options have been limited to "age, gender, and general location." - Google Ads Tests Car Rental Ad Unit
The folks at SEMRush spotted a new Google Ad format for car rentals. This ad unit lets you compare prices from different car rental companies for a specific location through a pricing carousel. You enter the location, car type, and dates and Google will show you pricing options in the ad. - Google Tests Recipe Rich Result Preview; Making It Harder To Go To Publisher
Let's add this to the list of things Google is doing or trying to test, in order to keep the searcher in the Google search results. Google is testing a new preview feature for the recipe results that overlay more details about the steps of a recipe without immediately taking you to the publishers site with the full recipe. - Product Results Filter Added To Google Search Console Performance Results
Yesterday, Google added a new search appearance filter to the Google Search Console performance reports for "product results." If you use product rich result markup on your pages, you are eligible to see this data in Search Console. - Google Workaround To Get Google To Find Noindex Faster
There is a known issue of some sorts with following the Google help documents around getting Google to pick up on your noindex tags faster through the fetch as Google. John Mueller of Google is aware of the issue and said the workaround "is to test the page live without noindex, then add the noindex before you submit it for indexing." - Massive Google Stadia Remote Control
Stadia, Google's new live stream gaming engine service (which is getting poor ratings right now) just launched and I guess Google had some event. Here is a photo of a massive Stadia remote control, l
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Happy we got this clarification from @google today during keynote @UnGaggedUSA I did with @methode. Schema has nothing to do with #BERT, MichelleRobbins on Twitter
- I think https://t.co/ETag1xw1zD is testing “What do you want to know?” in #GoogleSearch Bar. No other domains (https://t.co/cdaunYyTYk) display that text in search bar!! Am I the only one who is this? #Google, Manikandan N on Twitter
- Should I listen to Google's advice or follow big sites? : TechSEO, Reddit
- Er, so this just happened 😭😭😭😭 #uksearchawards https://t.co/iIemOvpvZD, Arianne Donoghue on Twitter
- GMB supervisor just told me that GMB doesn't allow posts to link to a website and that doing so can lead to a suspension. Ummmm., Joe Youngblood on Twitter
- Apple Maps: Verifying and SABs, Local Search Forum
- If it's loaded in the HTML and can be made visible to users, that's fine. It's problematic if the tab content only loads when you click on the tab, but your example doesn't do that., John Mueller on Twitter
- Use the CONCAT function to create Custom Dimensions in Data Studio, Michael Howeely
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Google’s ‘Duplex on the web’ enables the Assistant to buy movie tickets for you
- Commerce marketers: Take our Amazon Advertising survey, enter to win an SMX All-Access Pass
- The benefits of using call analytics
- Google Search Console adds Product results filters to performance report
- Preview your recipe results on Google Home Hub devices
- Image search click data dropped by Google Search Console
- Video: Frédéric Dubut of Bing on core ranking, spam fighting and much more
- Digital advertising is not the dot com bubble, improper attribution is
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 15 Ways for Using Google Analytics to Track Your SEO Efforts for Free, Databox Blog
- How to optimize your fundraising emails with A/B testing, Whole Whale
- Modeling Google Analytics and Back-End Retail Data on Google Cloud Platform, E-Nor Analytics
- Non-Interaction Events in Google Analytics, Bounteous
- Use the CONCAT function to create Custom Dimensions in Data Studio, Michael Howeely
Industry & Business
- Google Hires Firm Known for Anti-Union Efforts, New York Times
- Google Wants to Do Business With the Military—Its Employees Don’t, Bloomberg
Local & Maps
- Create your own maps and stories in Google Earth, Google Blog
- Google corrects their image of Scarberia, Toronto Sun
Mobile & Voice
- (Update: Fixed) Google Assistant refuses to answer some users on Android Auto, despite understanding requests, Android Police
- Buy movie tickets with the Google Assistant on Chrome, Google Blog
- Cortana on Windows (Beta)–Now with more productivity!, Windows Insider
- Google Assistant for G Suite adding more Calendar features, 9to5Google
SEO
- Does Your SEO Client Suffer from UGE?, SuccessWorks
- How to Find the Right Keywords for the Right Audience, RankRanger
- JavaScript Crawling for Better & More Accurate Site Audits, Cognitive SEO
PPC
- 6 tips to get the most of Google Responsive Search Ads, Go Fish Digital
- Introducing TV data in Reach Planner, to help advertisers balance their spend across YouTube and TV., Google Blog
- 3 Ways to Boost PPC Performance Using First Party Data, Hallam
- Find Ranking Keywords, Uncover Opportunities, Check Rankings, & More: 5 Workflows for Easier Keyword Research, Moz
