Daily Search Forum Recap: December 31, 2019

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: XML Sitemaps Are Mixed Up & Used As An Energy Drink
  Google's John Mueller said on Reddit that Google uses XML Sitemaps like an energy drink. John said "All sitemap files of a site are imported into a common, big mixing cup, lightly shaken, and then given to Googlebot by URL in the form of an energy drink."
• Google: Not Cloaking When Content In NoScript Missing Due To A Blocked Endpoint
  Mike King asked John Mueller of Google an interesting question around issues that come up with the web rendering engine and blocked endpoints with JavaScript rendering issues. Mike asked if it would be considered cloaking if Google does not end us seeing the content in the rendered version because of the blocked endpoint.
• A Cheesy Video On Google's URL Inspection Tool
  John Mueller and Martin Splitt from Google released a cheesy video, literally cheesy in many ways, around questions around the URL inspection tool. These are FAQs that you probably know the answers to already but the video is so funny to watch that you kind of want to watch it more than once.
• Lists On Google Maps Search Carousel For Restaurants?
  Google is testing a new search user interface treatment for map results called "Lists on Google Maps." This shows you a carousel of results from Google Maps, Google My Business listings, that you can scroll through and learn more about.
• Google's New Year's Day Doodle For 2020
  It is a new year, 2020, in some places now and if you visit the Google home page in those locations you can see Google's frog-themed New Year's Day Doodle. The frog is also looking out at a city landscape, over the water, as the sunrises. It looks like an optimistic 2020, right?
• A Sunset View From The Google Irvine Office
  Here is a photo I found on Instagram of a sunset looking out from the Google office building in Irvine, California. The person who posted this on Instagram wrote "beautiful sunset at work today" usin

Other Great Search Forum Threads:

• Countdown to the new year is here! Get your agency ready for a successful 2020 by earning the latest Google Ads certifications on #Skillshop. ➡ https://t.co/HkD4nqOUIv https://t.co/SzfsxcxY2Q, Google Ads on Twitter
• Weird bug in my Google Search: Google thinks today is yesterday. I've tried this on multiple results, and it's the same each time, even for pages I opened for the first time today - Last visit date is yesterday! anyone se, Natalia Witczyk on Twitter
• Jobs in Google for SEOs, Reddit

Search Engine Land Stories:

• The big list of Google My Business changes, upgrades and tests in 2019
• Bing revives its cashback program with Rebates

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

• Top 5 Best Server Log Analysing Tools, On Page Rocks

Industry & Business

• Bing Cashback Returns as Bing Rebates after a Decade on Ice, WinBuzzer
• 2 Things Google Should Consider Doing in 2020 to Boost Performance, TheStreet

Local & Maps

• Google Maps uses hyperspace to travel between planets, 9to5Google
• Google Maps adds whooshy new 'hyperdrive' effect as you browse the cosmos, Android Police

Mobile & Voice

• The 4 Biggest Controversies For Voice Assistants in 2019, Voicebot

SEO

• Closing thoughts on the Wix SEO competition, and how we made our final push, Marie Haynes Consulting
• Does Getting a Google My Business Suspension Impact Ranking?, Sterling Sky
• Entity Clustering in Google Search Results, Go Fish Digital

PPC

• 6 Easy Steps to Get Your Google Ads Ready for 2020, WordStream
• Microsoft Advertising UK Blog Greatest Hits of 2019, Microsoft Advertising