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: The December 2020 Core Update Is Still Rolling Out
Danny Sullivan of Google has confirmed that the December 2020 core update is still rolling out. I asked, despite Google saying the rollout normally takes two weeks, I asked because unlike previous updates, you would "feel" it more over time - in this update, it was felt in a big way on Friday, December 4th and that was it. - Google Search Console API Gets Fresher Data, News Filter & More
Google has updated the Google Search Console API to give us faster and fresher data, the ability to filter data based on the news filter, domain property support in Sitemaps and guidelines on how to migrate the Discovery document. - Google Search Testing Taller Shopping Ads
It looks like Google is testing taller shopping ad formats in Google Search. Shalom Goodman noticed this and posted both sizes on Twitter. I made them into a GIF so you can easily see how much taller these are. - Google Has Plans For Regex Filters In Search Console
Remember in July we saw Google testing adding regular expressions (regex) filters to some of the Search Console performance report. It then went away quickly. Well, Google's John Mueller was asked about that and if they will be coming back to Search Console. - Google Search New Look For Question & Answers Carousel, Combines Multiple Sites
It looks like Google has launched a new look for its question and answers carousel. This is not the local Q&A box, this is also not the question hub. This is when you add QA structured data to your pages and Google can show these rich results in the search results. - Greg Sterling Is Leaving Search Engine Land
I am so sad to report that Greg Sterling is leaving Search Engine Land. I've been writing with Greg at Search Engine Land and before that, Search Engine Watch, for over 14 years. He is one of the smartest, honest, caring and funny people I know. And I will greatly miss reading his stories and our work calls. - Google Pajamas Gifts For Some Employees
It looks like some Googlers are receiving packages from Google for the 2020 holiday season that contain pajamas with the Google logo on them. Daniel Waisberg from Google, based in Israel, shared this
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- How does Google Autocomplete work? Our two-minute video covers how it saves time, reducing typing by 25%. It also explains how it uses language, location and trends to make predictions more useful & how we work to pr, Google SearchLiaison on Twitter
- I'm proud & humbled to have had the chance to author this year's SEO chapter of the Web Almanac along the amazing @Jammer_Volts and @iPullRank 🤩 and the great help of @TonyMcCreath and @antoineripret who were the chapter, Aleyda Solis on Twitter
- Introducing the 2020 Web Almanac! This is our second annual state of the web report: a free, open source ebook made by the web community. 22 chapters 40 expert authors 116 contributors I'm so proud of all of the hard wo, Rick Viscomi on Twitter
- Differences in field data and lab data can happen -- both can be "right", they're just different kinds of measurements. I recommend using lab data to iterate & improve, and confirm / track, John Mueller on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- How to compete with Google in the SERPs, make the jump to agency or in-house, and support ‘the doers’ in your organization
- Google Search Console API gains fresh data & more
- New key insights from Google’s John Mueller at SMX
- Google rolls out App campaign type to re-engage existing users
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- New Google Tag Manager Web Container Client For Server Side Tagging, Simo Ahava's blog
Industry & Business
- Google Chief Apologizes for A.I. Researcher’s Dismissal, New York Times
- France fines Google $120M and Amazon $42M for dropping tracking cookies without consent, TechCrunch
- Meet the new board of Yoast!, Yoast
Local & Maps
- First Observations of Local Service Ads in UK - (Not Great), Online Ownership
- Google (Testing) Tourist Attractions Getting Large Icons, Local University
- How To Do Local SEO for Businesses Without Physical Locations in 2021, Moz
Mobile & Voice
- Apple and Google to Stop X-Mode From Collecting Location Data From Users’ Phones, Wall Street Journal
SEO
- How to Define Your Target Audience for SEO, SEM Rush
- SEO Planning: Setting SMART SEO Goals, Searchmetrics
PPC
- Google to lift post-election political ad ban on Dec. 10, Axios
- New segments & key product updates for December, Microsoft Advertising
- Our work on the 2020 U.S. election, Google Blog
- The Untapped Potential of Microsoft Ads' Zero-Click Queries, Seer Interactive
- Wasteful Wednesday #21 - Google vs. Bing, Seer Interactive
Search Features
Other Search
- SearchResearch Challenge (12/9/20): The mystery of the grape leaf polygonally changing color, SearchReSearch
- Celebrating Sir W. Arthur Lewis, Google Doodle
