Daily Search Forum Recap: December 18, 2024

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.

The Google search API leak, now with an end point leak, shows some real interesting Google ranking information. Forbes fired its freelancers likely due to the Google site reputation abuse policy. Google Ads is testing double serving ads from the same advertiser on the same search results page. Google is testing things to do image carousels. Google is testing a shadow effect to search results snippets.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Video On Google Exploit With End Points Reveal Interesting Ranking Signals
  Mark Williams-Cook gave an unbelievable presentation at SearchNorwich named Improving your SEO with conceptual models. Lucky for you and me, this presentation was posted on YouTube for us all to enjoy. It covers how Mark found an exploit in Google's end points and was able to extrapolate from that interesting data that aligns with the search API leak from earlier this year.
• Google Ads Tests Double Serving Ads From Same Advertiser On Same Page
  Google has confirmed it is testing allowing showing the same ad, from the same advertiser, on the same search results page. Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison said, "We're conducting a small experiment testing different ad configurations" in regards to this test being spotted.
• Forbes Fires Freelancers Over Google's Site Reputation Abuse Policy
  Forbes has reportedly fired some of its freelancers for some stories over its ongoing issue with Google's site reputation abuse policy, aka parasite SEO. The Verge wrote, "Forbes will stop using freelancers for some types of stories indefinitely '" and has blamed the change on a recent update to Google Search policies."
• Google Search Tests Rich Things To Do Image Carousel
  Google is testing a much richer experience for things to do style queries. Instead of showing a calendar box, text format with image boxes, Google is testing showing this rich image carousel of events that slides by itself from right to left.
• Google Search Shadow On Hover Of Search Results
  Google is testing another search result snippet interface change, this one is when you hover your mouse over the snippet, it adds a shadow effect to the snippet.
• Google Gurus Experts Awards
  Here is some cute Google swag that they gave the Google Brazil office, probably for an experts summit. You can see these Google Guru Experts awards, in lego style.

Other Great Search Threads:

• Usually that picks up again, but it can take some time., John Mueller on Bluesky
• Benioff: Microsoft isn’t using Copilot themselves Us, using Copilot: Customer Service: 11.5% faster case resolution Sales: 9.4% higher revenue per seller Marketing: 21.5% higher conversion rates on, Frank X. Shaw on X
• Is it just me, or do the current times just lend themselves particularly well to doing industry predictions for 2025 by all the known experts?, John Mueller on Bluesky
• Is this a bug? The Google AI overview is overlapping with the normal SERP in mobile search results. I checked 3 or 4 random queries, and it's happening with all of them. Good job, Vijay Chauhan on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

• Bing Search gets faster, more accurate and efficient through SLM models and TensorRT-LLM
• LinkedIn tests personal post boost option
• Google AI Overviews rising in B2B technology, healthcare sectors
• 5 PPC measurement initiatives to set yourself up for 2025 success
• Snap overhauls creator monetization, raises performance bar
• Does schema still matter in AI search?
• Google’s new help document on faceted navigation
• How to beat audience saturation in PPC: KPIs, methodology and case studies

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• GA4 Metrics Every Advertiser Should Pay Attention To, Search Engine Journal

Industry & Business

• 6 unique ways we advanced energy solutions in 2024, Google Blog
• Google Invested More than $600 Million in Oregon this Year, Cascade Business News
• How OpenAI Plans to Move From Being a Nonprofit, New York Times

Links & Content Marketing

• What is Entity Linking?, Schema App Solutions
• Creating an AI-Driven Content Marketing Workflow, Social Media Examiner
• The importance of data insights in shaping effective content marketing campaigns, Marketing Mag
• Understanding Influencer Marketing Conversions, SERP's Up SEO Podcast

Local & Maps

• Apple Maps on the web now supports Look Around feature, 9to5Mac
• Google Business Profile Study: Car Dealers, SearchLab Digital
• Why Does Google Delete Your 5-Star Reviews and What To Do About It?, GMBapi

Mobile & Voice

• Apple is already working on visionOS 3.0 and visionOS 2.4, AppleInsider
• How to add extensions to Gemini, The Verge

SEO

• Black Friday and Cyber Monday Reveal How AI Overviews Could Shape Search in 2025: First Large-Scale Analysis of a Major Holiday Event Shows Dramatic Shifts, BrightEdge
• Google updates in 2024, Oncrawl
• How I Got a Knowledge Panel and Lost It, Sara Taher
• What Are Orphan Pages? (How to Find & Fix Them), Backlinko
• Get instant clarity on your SEO with the new Yoast SEO dashboard, Yoast

PPC

• 18 Hidden PPC Conversion Killers—And How to Fix Them, PPC Hero
• Google Ads Location Extension Tips: Essential Implementation Guide, Hopskip Media
• Google Ads Smart Bidding: Breaking Down 5 Top Strategies, WordStream
• Update to Gambling and Games Policy, Brazil (December 2024), Google Advertising Policies Help
• A Guide to Setting Your Google Ads Budget, Jyll Saskin Gales
• Help Page on Adding Negative Keywords for PMAX, PPC News Feed
• How to balance paid and organic activity, Blue Array SEO

Search Features

• Bing's Transition to LLM/SLM Models: Optimizing Search with..., Bing Search Blog
• News Showcase is launching in Switzerland, Google Blog
• OpenAI brings its o1 reasoning model to its API — for certain developers, TechCrunch
• OpenAI says it has no plans for a Sora API — yet, TechCrunch

Other Search

• Gemini Exp-1206 now available as a preview in Gemini Advanced, Google Blog
• The rise of the AI crawler, Vercel
• We're updating our Generative AI Prohibited Use Policy., Google Blog
• FACTS Grounding: A new benchmark for evaluating the factuality of large language models, Google DeepMind

Feedback:

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