It has been an interesting week at Google, from being sued by the Department of Justice for anticompetitive practices to passage indexing questions and clarity. I first talked about how Google's new Passage Indexing is really Passage Ranking and that I got Google to publicly post something for all those who doubted my coverage. Google passage indexing is also different from featured snippets and I explain how. Google’s request indexing feature is still not working but the question is for how long. Google posted a final status update for the indexing issues saying 99% are resolved but the edge cases will be resolved in a week or so. SEOs are still waiting for the next core update, it has almost been six-months. Googlers seem way more comfortable talking about E-A-T and YMYL/health pages. Google said some slow URLs can potentially impact other URLs that are not slow. Google said links in HTML that is commented out do not pass ranking weight. Google talked about rendering, indexing, SEO/developer relations, conferences and bitcoin scams in their recent podcast. Google said there is a “stupid high” limit on the number of links it can extract from a single page. Just because Google indexes a piece of content first, it does not mean it will consider it the original source. Google still does support, unofficially, the data-vocabulary.org format. Google Search Console sent out messages for Google Discover tips. Google Local and Maps is showing health and safety information on the front end now. Google is testing showing about this result with site age, security, paid information and more. Google has added new features for advertisers and searchers around shopping and price comparison. Google AdSense launched vignette ads on wider screens. And the Department of Justice sued Google for monopolistic practices, it should be an interesting lawsuit to say the least. Oh and if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
SPONSOR: This week's video recap is sponsored by Loud Interactive, a Chicago-based SEO firm led by Brent D. Payne.
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Search Topics of Discussion:
- Google Passage Ranking, It Is Not Passage Indexing
- Google Squashes Myths Around Passage Indexing
- Google: Passage Indexing vs Featured Snippets
- Will The Request Indexing Feature In Google Search Console Return?
- Google: Indexing Issues Resolved, No More Status Updates
- SEOs Waiting For The Next Google Core Update
- Google More Comfortable Discussing E-A-T & Its Importance With Health Queries
- Google: Slow URLs Can Potentially Impact Ranking Of Other Faster URLs On Your Site
- Google Says Links In Commented Out HTML Do Not Impact Ranking
- Google Talks Rendering, Indexing, SEO & Developer Relations, Conferences & Bitcoin Scams
- Google Has A "Stupid" High Limit On Number Of Links On A Page
- Google: First Indexed Does Not Mean That Content Is Yours
- Google Still Supports Data-Vocabulary Four Months After It Was Deprecated
- Google Search Console Sends Notifications For Discover Optimization Tips
- Google Local & Maps Displays Health & Safety On Search Results
- Google About This Result: Site Age, Security, Paid Listing Details & More
- Google Adds Shopping Features For Advertisers & Searchers
- Google AdSense Vignette Ads Now Supported On Wider Screens
- DOJ Sues Google Over Monopolistic Actions In Search & Search Advertising
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