


Test: Google Top Stories With Author Names
It looks like Google is testing placing author names in the top stories carousel within the mobile search results. I believe Google had this at some point before, but I…

Google: It Doesn’t Matter If You Use Blog Folders For URLs ...
Google’s John Mueller said it doesn’t matter either way if you put your blog posts on a subfolder of /blog or just on the root directory of the site, without…

Daily Search Forum Recap: July 5, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Bing Chat To Allow You Not To Search The Web (No-Search)
Bing Chat will be adding a feature to tell it not to search the web for an answer. Mikhail Parakhin, the CEO of Bing Search at Microsoft, said on Twitter,…

Google’s John Mueller: No Ranking Factor Compensates For Mi...
Google’s John Mueller has another good one-liner about SEO and Google ranking. He said on Mastodon, “No ranking factor compensates missing relevance, or missing user interest.”

ChatGPT Shut Down Browse With Bing After Accessing Paywalled Cont...
The other day Open AI announced that it disabled the browse with Bing add-on to ChatGPT “out of an abundance of caution.” The issue was that some content that was…

Google Ads Editor Version 2.4 Gains Multi-Account Overview, Googl...
Google has released version 2.4 of the Google Ads Editor, this comes 14 weeks since version 2.3 was released in March 2023. The new version gains video asset library, multi-account…

Twitter Makes Changes To Show Content To Google, Tweets Returning...
On Monday, I reported that Google stopped crawling and indexing Twitter content after Twitter made it that unregistered (signed-out) users were not able to see tweets. Well, Twitter made a…


Daily Search Forum Recap: July 3, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Vlog #230: Matt Abbagnaro On Getting Into PPC & Google Ads Pe...
Matt Abbagnaro was kind enough to meet me in some parking lot last minute to discuss search marketing. We picked the parking lot so I can find an Electrify America…

July 2023 Google Webmaster Report
If I had to sum up this month, I’d call it the month of way too many unconfirmed Google search ranking updates. I wrote about five of these, but it…

Google Search Generative Experience Shows Local Store Inventory
Did you know that the new Google Search Generative Experience that launched to us a month ago shows nearby stores that have products in stock directly in the generative AI…


Bing Chat Improves Efficiency & Reduces Latency Issues By 25%
Bing Chat has made some big efficiency improvements and reduced latency issues for some queries by 25%. Mikhail Parakhin, the CEO of Bing, said on Twitter, “yesterday we released a…

Google Search Showing 50% Fewer Twitter URLs After Twitter Blocke...
On Friday afternoon, Twitter decided to block unregistered, signed-out users, from seeing public tweets. That meant that for Google’s normal crawling purposes, it was unable to see some of these…

Google Analytics UA 3 Still Collecting Data But Google Says Not F...
On Saturday morning many of us were surprised to see that Universal Analytics 3, Google Analytics (not GA4) still showed to be collecting data, after the deadline. Well, Google said…

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 30, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Search Ranking Volatility, P...
This week in search, we had yet another week of heated Google search ranking volatility without a confirmed Google search ranking update. Google said it would drop the Ping endpoints…


Bing Chat Share Feature Returning On July 4th
In May, Bing added a share feature to Bing Chat and then had to abruptly remove the feature in early June. Bing’s Mikhail Parakhin said that the feature should start…

Bing Gains AI Shopping Features For Price Match, Buying Guides &a...
Bing announced a number of new features it says are powered by AI in both Bing, Bing Chat, and the Edge sidebar. The features include AI-generated buying guides, AI-generated review…

Google Ads New Brand Restrictions For Search & Brand Exclusio...
Google Ads announced that new brand settings are rolling out for Search and Performance Max campaigns. Specifically, brand restrictions for broad match in Search campaigns and brand exclusions in Performance…

Google To Shutter Buy On Google Program In US
Google sent merchants an email yesterday informing them that Buy on Google in the United States will be closing on September 26, 2023. Google is piloting a new feature to…

Google Ads Showing Larger Images Again
Google Ads has been showing larger images on and off for a while now. But here is an ad for a law firm that has really large images on the…

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 29, 2023
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. Yep, we are…

Google Rolling Out Dedicated Perspectives Feature?
Google may be rolling out the dedicated “perspectives” filter, not just the perspectives filter that rolled out a couple of weeks ago, but the perspectives carousel.

Google Rich Testing Tools Drop Down Selector Now Shows URL Inspec...
Google has updated the Google Rich Results test to spell out that the test is coming from the Google URL Inspection tool. This update probably happened when added the new…

Google Search Product Pricing Graph Over 3-Months
Google is testing showing the price fluctuations of a product in a graph over a three-month period in the search results. We saw product pricing sliders but this is on…

Microsoft: Bing Chat Slow Rollouts Are Random To Reduce Bias
Bing, and other software companies, like Google, tend to roll out new features slowly. So they might roll out a new feature first to 1% of users, then 10%, then…

Bing Search Answer Panel Adds Interactive Reaction Emojis
Bing Search lets searchers interact with some of the right bar answer panels using emojis. If you search for [barack obama] and look at the side bar, you will see…


Google Search Ranking Volatility Heated Again (June 28 & 29th...
We are back with you with another report of another unconfirmed Google Search ranking algorithm update. This one seemed to have kicked off yesterday, June 28th and is heating up…

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 28, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Bing Chat Can Predict Future Stock Prices
Bing Chat is now rolling out a feature to infer the market’s probability of future stock prices. Mikhail Parakhin from Microsoft Bing said this feature is starting to roll out…

Bing Webmaster Tools Testing Sitemap Index Coverage Report In The...
A few months ago, Fabrice Canel from Microsoft Bing, told us and even showed us an example, of a new Sitemap Index Coverage Report within Bing Webmaster Tools. It seems…

Google Local Panel With “By Owner” Button
Google has added a “by owner” button to the local panel, the local business profile listing, within Google Search. When you click on it, it shows you the business description…

Google Analytics 4 Supports AMP Pages – Days Before GA4 Mig...
With the Google Analytics 4 migration deadline just a couple days away now, Google finally added support for AMP pages with GA4. This is something many have been asking for…

Google Ads May Disapprove Ads For Using Third-Party Click Trackin...
Google has posted an update that says it may disapprove some ads for using third-party click-tracking services that are not on their approved list. Google said this currently only applies…


Daily Search Forum Recap: June 27, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Google Ads Bug With Displaying Recent Data
As of 7:13 am ET this morning, Google has confirmed an issue with Google Ads where advertisers “may not have access to the most recent data,” Google said.

Google’s Ads Liaison Gives Explainer On Value Based Bidding
Ginny Marvin, Google’s Ads Liaison, posted a Twitter thread with an explainer on Google Ads value-based bidding, VBB. Ginny wrote, “We’ve had lots of questions & heard some misconceptions about…

Google Knowledge Panels Gets Small Update For Newsy Topics
It looks like Google is rolling out a small update for knowledge panels in the mobile search results with more card-like results and a larger card at the top and…

Google Analytics 4 Dropping Many Attribution Models
A Google Analytics expert, Charles Farina spotted that Google Analytics 4, which had tracking for many attribution models, keeps reducing the specific attribution cases you can track. We are now…


Google To Drop Support For Sitemaps Ping Endpoints In 6-Months
Google announced it would end support for Sitemaps ping endpoints in six months. Google said this is because they are “not very useful” and the “vast majority of the submissions…

Google Tests Larger Product Images For Search Snippets Again
Google is once again testing larger product images in the search results for specific search results snippets. This is not the product grid results, but the product images on the…

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 26, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

With A Few Days Left Are Search Marketers Ready For GA4
This coming Friday, June 30, 2023, will be the last day Google Analytics’s Universal Analytics 3 collects new data. The deadline is not being pushed off and you either switch…


Microsoft Wants Bing On CarPlay & Android Auto But Does Apple...
It seems Microsoft would love to have the Bing app on Apple CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto. Technically, it does not seem to be an issue with Microsoft Bing making…

Microsoft Advertising Policy Updates Coming July 1st
Microsoft Advertising sent out emails to its advertisers about changes to its advertising policies that start off next week on July 1st.

Google: Word Count For SEO & Google Rankings Is Not A Thing
The Google Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, posted another PSA last week on Twitter, saying word count is not a thing again. He said, “Reminder. The best word count needed to…

Google: New Web Sites Homepages Should Get Indexed
Gary Illyes from Google on the last Search Off The Record podcast said that for brand-new websites, their homepages should be indexed without a problem. If not, then the site…

Vlog #229: Amy Toman On Helping Small Businesses Succeed In Googl...
In part one we learned about Amy Toman and her love for small business. We dug more into that love in part two and also spoke about helping small businesses…

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 23, 2023
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. Google’s search results…

Google Search Ranking Volatility Exploding Today – Where Is...
So it’s been well over a week of incredible volatility within the Google search results. Pages have been bouncing all over the place, rankings are jumping and then last night…

Google Issues PSA Saying 302 Redirects Are Fine
Google’s John Mueller went to Twitter and Reddit to issue a PSA saying, “302 redirects are fine.” Yea, we covered the 302 versus 301 topic countless times over almost 20…

Google Selling Google Domains Won’t Impact Your SEO Or Goog...
I have seen some folks in the SEO industry suggest that there will be some sort of search ranking and SEO impact with the sale of Google Domains to Squarespace….

Google Business Profile Dashboard Now With Red Dots To Unread Ite...
Google has added red dots to the unread reviews, messages and other items on your Google Business Profile web search dashboard. If Google thinks you have not seen a new…

Bing Search Within Search Results By Selecting Text To Search
Bing Search now lets you select text within the search results page and search for that selected text. I believe Bing was testing this for a while, and so has…

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Heated Search Results, Using...
This week we saw the continues heated and incredibly volatile Google search results continue throughout the whole week, and then it exploded this morning. Google’s Gary Illyes said we should…


Daily Search Forum Recap: June 22, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Google Ads Automatically Created Assets For Performance Max Campa...
Google Ads seems to be testing the Automatically created assets setting for Performance Max campaigns. And Google Ads is replacing the “Final URL expansion” setting for some accounts, as well.


Google Merchant Center Timeout & Crawl Issues Bug?
I am hearing reports of issues with Google Merchant Center, specifically DNS issues, timeout issues, 404 issues and other crawl issues being reported by Merchant Center when there are no…

Google Pushes Non-Last-Click Rules-Based Attribution Models Depre...
Google has pushed off the date when data-driven attribution (DDA) will be deprecating. It was supposed to be this month, but it was pushed to mid-July, so a month later.

Google’s Gary Illyes: Don’t Use AI & LLMs To Diag...
Gary Illyes from the Google Search team said on LinkedIn that you should avoid using LLMs and AI for diagnosing potential SEO issues or other issues with your site. Gary…

Google Ads: Upgrade From Dynamic Search Ads To Performance Max
Google Ads is asking advertisers to “upgrade” from dynamic search ads (DSAs) to Performance Max (PMax) campaigns. Many PPCers think that DSAs will not last and will ultimately be replaced…

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 21, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Google Analytics 4 Adds Google Ads Conversion Credit Selection El...
Google Analytics announced that you can now select which channels are eligible to receive conversion credit for web conversions shared with Google Ads. The default channel is Google paid channels,…

Microsoft: Bing Image Creator Will See Big Improvements In A Mont...
Bing Image Creator will get some big improvements in about a month. Microsoft Bing CEO, Mikhail Parakhin said this on Twitter the other day, saying the language model for Bing…

INP Core Web Vitals Report Now Live In Google Search Console
Google has just launched the new INP report within the Core Web Vitals reporting in Google Search Console. As a reminder, INP, Interaction to Next, is replacing FID, First Input…

Google Ads Brings Store Sales Reporting & Bidding To Performa...
Google announced that store sales reporting and bidding are now available across Performance Max Campaigns within Google Ads. This means advertisers can “measure total sales wherever customers prefer to shop…

Google Mobile Search Results With Business Profile Listing & ...
Google mobile search results can show the Google Business Profile listing in one section and the reviews later down in another section. I am pretty sure I’ve seen this on…


Daily Search Forum Recap: June 20, 2023
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. Bing Chat goes…

Bing Search Tests Larger Favicons That Animate
Microsoft is testing showing larger favicons that also animate in the Bing Search results. The favicons look a lot larger in this test, here are side by side comparisons so…

Google Price Range Product Slider With Store Names
Google is now showing the product price range slider with a store name overlayed. I know the slider is not new, it shows you the price range of that product…

Google: Launching A New Domain Before Migrating Content To It Red...
Google’s John Mueller said it “reduces some risk” to launch a new domain prior weeks before migrating your site to it. John said this helps both with internal site risks…

Google Business Profiles Adds More Detailed Notification Settings
Google Business Profiles seems to have added more options to when you should be notified from the platform. The list includes 13 different notification categories you can turn on or…

Bing Chat Gets Significant Performance Improvements
Microsoft’s Bing CEO, Mikhail Parakhin, said that Bing Chat has received significant performance improvements last week that makes Bing Chat more responsive and faster. Bing also reworked voice SDK in…


Daily Search Forum Recap: June 19, 2023
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. Google’s search result…

Study: Removing The Address In Google Business Profiles Will Make...
A recent small study by Joy Hawkins showed that if you remove the address from your Google Business Profile listings your rankings in the local pack and in Google Maps…

Vlog #228: Amy Toman’s History & Passion With Local &am...
Amy Toman and I met at a beach in New Jersey on a stormy rainy day, because we wanted to be weather reporters. Amy is a local SEO specialist at…

Google Search Ranking Volatile Super Heated Over Father’s D...
On June 14th we reported on a Google Search ranking algorithm update and since then the Google search results have not stopped with its larger than normal volatility. It is…


The Mysterious Appearance Of “Local Guide Program” Qu...
Google’s Local Guide Program queries are showing up in Google Search Console across sites, always ranking number one, mostly for desktop queries, and for many landing pages.

Google Sues Business Over Alleged Fake Business Profiles & Re...
Google had filed a lawsuit against a company that allegedly created fake Google Business Profiles and tons of fake reviews. Google said it filed the suit “to help put an…

AI Topics From Google Search Central Live Tokyo
Google on Friday held the Google Search Central Live event in Tokyo, they do this event around the world and Google’s last stop was Tokyo. The topic, at least from…

Daily Search Forum Recap: June 16, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

How Google Search Handles 103 Early Hints HTTP Server Response
Gary Illyes from Google posted information on how Google Search handles the 103 early hints HTTP server status response. He said, “Googlebot will ignore the 103 and wait for the…


2023 Google Merchant Center Product Data Specification Updates
Google has done its yearly update for its Merchant Center product data specification. Some of the changes listed below went into effect yesterday, some go into effect July 18, 2023…

Google Maps iOS App Also Gets Business Tab
In February, Google added a “Business” tab to the Android Google Maps app for those who have verified Google Business Profiles. Now that feature is live in the iOS version…

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Ranking Fluctuations, Perspe...
This week, we had yet another pretty hot and unconfirmed Google search ranking update in the middle of the week. Google finally launched that perspectives filter in the mobile US…