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: We Give Guidance & Provide Transparency On Core Updates
Google's Danny Sullivan said that Google does and did provide "transparency and guidance" around its core updates. He said on Twitter "my response is that we're giving a lot of things to consider. That page doesn't guarantee doing all these things somehow equates to improve ranking." - Google's John Mueller Gives SEO Clues To Site Owner
Chris Dicker, the Managing Director at Trusted Reviews, has been asking for advice on "traffic loss after traffic loss" for the site Trustedreviews.com. Google's John Mueller dropped some hints after "briefly" looking at the site and thread. - Google Search "Learn More About" Within People Also Ask
Google seems to be testing or rolling out a new feature in the people also ask section named "learn more about." It shows a box that basically teaches you more about the topic you searched for. - Google Mobile Search Sharable GIFs Carousel
This is a cute mobile search feature, where Google is showing you a carousel of GIFs that you can click on to share with your friends. It is query dependent, and will match relevant GIFs to your query. - Google Guaranteed Testing New Badge Design
It looks like Google is testing a new design for the Google Guaranteed badge or icon. The previous design was a green circle with a white check mark inside of it. The new design is more in Google colors, it is a shield with a checkmark in it, using Google colored lines. - The Google Chanukah Decorations Are Live For 2020
Generally when Chanukah/Hanukkah falls out in early December, like it does this year, Google launches the Chanukah decorations before the other holiday decorations for Christmas or Kwanzaa. This year, Chanukah starts this Thursday night, December 10 so the decorations were added last night, Tuesday, December 8th. - Windy Day Hat At Google In Rafters
Here is an old photo but recently added to Instagram by Jeffrey Carlyle of Google who posted that it took him "over a year to notice the hat from "Windy Day" hidden away in the rafters."
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Do you create Sustainable Monetized Websites? 🌱💰 In a new video series, @Aurora_Morales (and her co-hosts🏃♀️👩💼) will share policies, best practices and tools to help you create sustainable m, Google Search Central on Twitter
- I don't think we'd use the accent - often when people search on their phones, the location is roughly provided already, so the accent would seem like an unnecessary source of confusion., John Mueller on Twitter
- If it matches what's on the page, and is done for accessibility or design purposes, then I don't see a problem. If the primary content is hidden, that's annoying (promise X in search, don't show users X)., John Mueller on Twitter
- It's not a silver bullet that will catapult your site in rankings from one day to the next, but without a fantastic site as a support, everything else is just a tweak., John Mueller on Twitter
- Setting up the site move again is a good idea, but if we're picking up your old domain instead of the new one for most pages/queries, that sounds like a more general canonicalization problem. Make, John Mueller on Twitter
- We uploaded a new version of the robots.txt internet draft. No substantial changes, just fixed some dates and the ABNF. https://t.co/5uSN2Gvigu https://t.co/PBA9xECU4u, Gary Illyes on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Why your content strategy needs both rank-worthy and link-worthy content in the mix
- New EU regulations compel more transparency for search rankings
- YouTube remains dominant source of video in top Google ranking positions
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- A Guide to Custom Dimensions in Google Analytics 4, Analytics Mania
- How To Upgrade to Google Analytics 4 with Google Tag Manager, Conversion Uplift
- Using Parameters in Data Studio, ClickInsight
Industry & Business
- Behind the Paper That Led to a Google Researcher's Firing, Wired
- Timnit Gebru dismissal: Perfect storm for Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, CNBC
- Former Salesforce chief scientist announces new search engine to take on Google, TechCrunch
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- Improving Android's GPS accuracy with 3D mapping in big cities, Android Community
- Local Service Ads (Google Guaranteed) Being Displayed in UK Search Results, Online Ownership
Mobile & Voice
- Future HomePods may only answer Siri queries if you look at it, Appleinsider
- New Gboard beta update with new font now rolling out to all beta users, GSMArena
SEO
- Google integrates Web Vitals HUD into the Chrome browser, Chrome Unboxed
- Seasonal SEO How to Optimize Your E-commerce Site, Botify
- What is digital PR? A beginner’s guide to backlinks and PR for SEO, Koozai
- Why You Should Track Traffic, Not Rankings, SEO Theory
- Black Friday Winners and Losers, Searchmetrics
- How to Use Canonical Tags: Practical Tips, RankRanger
- SEO Planning: Defining Yearly Initiatives, Searchmetrics
- What Is Lazy Loading? Understanding Lazy Loading for SEO, WordStream
PPC
- Google is now blocking the ads publishers sell if they don’t meet Google’s standards, Nieman Journalism Lab
- App campaigns for engagement now available for eligible advertisers globally, Google Ads Help
Search Features
Other Search
- Look to Speak helps people communicate with their eyes, Google Blog
- 2020: The new normals of daily life, Google Blog
- 2020: The year the world asked "why?", Google Blog
- Sweet streams: 2020's top trending TV shows and movies, Google Blog
