Microsoft: Bing Chat Usage Up Big Time In Past Few Weeks
Despite all the data showing that Microsoft Bing has not gained any market share since it launched Bing Chat in February, Microsoft is saying Bing Chat’s usage has been up…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 18, 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 SGE has…
Bing Chat Pasting Images From Clipboard Into Query Box Coming Aug...
Bing Chat will soon allow you to copy and image to your clipboard and paste it directly into the query or search box. This will make it faster than manually…
Google Tests Wider Larger Image Thumbnails In Search Result Snipp...
Google is testing wider and larger image thumbnails on snippets in the desktop search results interface. The images look about twice as wide, maybe even more, the the normal image…
Google SGE Drops Links In AI-Generated Answers…
Earlier this month, we reported that Google was testing three-different citation and link formats in the Search Generative Experience AI-generated answer. It seems that as of yesterday, Google has pulled…
Google Search Showing Six Top Stories In Grid
Google can now show six top stories in a uniform gird format in the top of the desktop Google Search results. We normally see four top stories but if we…
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google SGE While Browsing, AI Conte...
Google launched some new Search Generative Experience features, like SGE while browsing and definitions in the SGE answers. Google seems to have stopped testing displaying links in SGE AI-generated answers….
Is Google Removing Reviews From Local Business Listings?
I am seeing a spike in the number of complaints around reviews going missing from Google local business profiles. This week, there are tons of new complaints that reviews that…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 17, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google Ads Tests Paid Customer Support Options
Google is testing a paid version of customer support for its advertisers who use Google Ads. Google said this is a “paid pilot” where its “smallest customers can receive specialized,…
Google Business Profiles Tests Manage Photos Button
Google is testing updating the Google Business Profile web interface by adding a “Manage Photos” button. This comes shortly after testing the Food Ordering button.
Google Business Profile Map Reviews Not Posted Notice
Google Business Profiles has shown pending status of reviews as a label on top of the review but now Google is showing to both the reviewer and the owner of…
Is Google Testing New Logo?
Google may be testing a new Google logo after launching the existing one in September 2015. The new logo looks a bit more cartoon-like but is consistent with the original…
Google: It Sounds Bad If Your Site Depends On Google Discover Tra...
Google’s John Mueller said it might be bad if your site depends on Google Discover for traffic. He said on Mastodon, “If your site depends on Discover traffic, that sounds…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 16, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google Search Generative Experience Now Has Definition Overlay Li...
Google has added those definition-based contextual links to some of the words placed in the Search Generative Experience answers and results. This is very similar to the featured snippet injected…
Add Social Media Links To Your Google Business Profiles
Google seems to now support adding social media links to your Google Business Profiles. You can add your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), YouTube and…
Google SGE While Browsing – Search Generative Experience On...
Google’s next step for its Search Generative Experience is SGE while browsing. In Chrome on desktop and in the mobile Google app on iOS and Android, Google SGE can summarize…
Microsoft Advertising Relaxes Advertiser Identity Verification
In June, we reported that Microsoft Advertising would require advertiser identity verification. Well, Microsoft posted an update relaxing those requirements in a big way.
Google Business Profile Posts Image Upload Not Working
Google Business Profiles posts feature is not accepting images for the past day or so. When you try to upload an image or photo to your new Google Posts, nothing…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 15, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
New Google Merchant Center 3D Model Link [virtual_model_link] Att...
Google has a new 3D model link [virtual_model_link] attribute, or at least new documentation on the 3D model link [virtual_model_link] attribute. This lets you provide 3D and/or AR models of…
Google: If You’re Using AI To Write Your Content, It’...
Google’s John Mueller had a nice one-liner on Reddit again, this one he said “By definition (I’m simplifying), if you’re using AI to write your content, it’s going to be…
Google Navigational Queries Shouldn’t Trigger Search Genera...
Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, said on Twitter that Google probably shouldn’t trigger a Search Generative Experience answer for navigational queries. You can always manually trigger the SGE response, but…
Google Ads Beta AI Generated Help Guide
Google Ads is testing a new AI-generative solution for help guides and answers. Google is inviting some advertisers “to try AI-generated answers in help guide,” it emailed some advertisers.
Google: Best Way To Block Search Traffic Is To Disable DNS Resolu...
I should start by saying, this is super dangerous and you probably should not do this unless you really know what you are doing and why you are doing it….
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 14, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google: CNET’s Content Pruning Plans Reasonable But SEO Imp...
Remember all that debate and chatter around Google saying not to delete old helpful content? A lot of people in our industry jumped on CNET for doing it but the…
Google Ads Shopping Campaigns Enhanced CPC Deprecation
Google Ads is deprecating Shopping campaigns using Enhanced CPC starting one early October 2023. Google said any Shopping campaigns using Enhanced CPC will behave as if they are using Manual…
Microsoft: Bing Chat Outperforms GPT-4 But Its Pricey
Microsoft Bing’s CEO, Mikhail Parakhin said on Twitter that Bing Chat outperforms raw GPT-4 but it comes at an expense. He said, “It is outperforming according to our measurements,” when…
Google: Your Domain Will Never Make Or Break Your SEO
Google’s John Mueller said on Mastodon a few tips on domain names, but one line was pretty strong. He said, “your domain name is never going to make or break…
Bing Chat New Infrastructure Upgrade Is 99% Done
A few weeks ago we reported that the Bing Chat infrastructure upgrade that Microsoft is working on was taking longer than expected. Well, on Friday, Microsoft Bing’s CEO, Mikhail Parakhin…
Vlog #236: Lance Bachmann On Local Search Marketing & Getting...
In part one with Lance Bachmann, we spoke a lot about business, growing a business and his passion for his employees. In part two…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 11, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google Tests Local Service Ads List View
Google is testing showing two local service ads in a list view, a change from it showing three local service ads in a carousel format. Google actually switched to three…
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google News Publisher Bug, FAQ &...
For the original iTunes version, click here. Google has a bug with the Google News Publisher Center where some publishers’ feeds were days behind…
New: Bing Search Select Text To Search Bing Chat
We previously reported how Bing Chat lets you select text on the Bing search results to conduct another search. Now Bing is expanding that to also let you search directly…
Google: Human Oversight For AI Generated Content Is Important
Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, said it is important that there is human oversight when it comes to using AI-generated content. He said this on Twitter after speaking at the…
Google Tests Colored +Topics Search Bar Refinements
Google is testing using colors for the +topic search bar refinements, those bubble buttons you sometimes get under this search bar in Google Search. I am seeing normal white buttons,…
Google: Text To HTML Ratio Makes No Sense For SEO & Ignore It
Google’s John Mueller is at it again, saying that text-to-HTML ratios are not a thing for SEO. He said on Reddit, “It makes absolutely no sense at all for SEO,”…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 10, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google Business Profiles Adds “Fix Photo That Doesn’t...
Google has added a new option in the Google Business Profile appeal for “Fix photo that doesn’t show.” This means you can submit a support request for when you know…
Google Ads API Version 14.1 Now Available
Google has released a minor release for its Google Ads API, version 14.1. This comes just about two months after version 14 was released. New in 14.1 includes new recommendation…
Google: No Points For Trying To Provide A Good User Experience
Google’s John Mueller said trying to provide a good user experience but not succeeding will not result in any ranking benefit in Google Search. John said during office hours at…
Google Ads Tests Scan To Call QR Code Extension
Google is testing a new phone ad extension that lets you scan a QR code on your phone to call the number. Also, you can see three images across the…
Google Local Service Ads Photo Guidelines Now Faster Reviews &...
Google is now saying that its new Local Service Ads guidelines are faster for reviews and also more flexible by allowing more creative images. What that really means, well, time…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 9, 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 will show…
Google Ads Gains New Ads & Reporting Insights For Upcoming Ho...
Google announced several new features for the upcoming holiday season; yea, it is coming… These features include Customer Acquisition with High Value optimization, local ad changes, new product reporting, and…
Google Search To Show FAQ & HowTo Rich Results Less Often
Google said you will soon see fewer FAQ and HowTo rich results showing up in the Google Search results. Why? I assume because there is just too many of these…
Google Search “From Publishers You Follow” Section
Google Search now has this section titled “From publishers you follow” in the search results. That is if the query returns content from a Google News publisher you actually follow.
Google: Don’t Delete Older Content, It May Be Helpful Conte...
Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, posted a PSA on Twitter that you should not delete old content from your site because you think Google Search doesn’t like old content. He…
75% Of SEOs Are Not Happy With Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Krista Seiden, a Google Analytics expert, posted a poll on Twitter asking if SEOs thoughts on Google Analytics 4 (GA4). 45% said they “hate it” and about 30% said they…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 8, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google: You Don’t Need A Niche Site To Rank On A Topic
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter, “You don’t need to have a niche site in order to rank in Google; in fact, sometimes that’s a good way not to rank.”…
Google: Maybe Don’t Let Google Search Index Your AI Chatbot...
With all these AI chatbots out there now, Google Search seems to be seeing more and more of them publishing AI-generated outputted content in the wild. And if you don’t…
Google Search Major League Baseball “Recent Featured Highli...
Google has a new search feature titled “recent featured highlights” for Major League Baseball players. It showcases stats for recent games, short video clips and more.
Google Images Now Shows Site Name, Favicon & Page Title
Google Images are now showing the site name, favicon and below that, a second line, for the page title that image is sourced from. Previously, Google showed just the image,…
Google Search Tests Star Store Badge
Google is testing replacing the “top quality store” badge with a “star store” badge in the search results. Previously it was a “Trusted Store” badge but that was replaced by…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 7, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google New Publisher Center Complaints – More Google News I...
Over the past several days, some news publishers have complained that their new articles are not showing up on time in Google News and the Google News Publisher Center.
OpenAI’s ChatGPT New Web Crawler – GPTBot
OpenAI, the folks behind ChatGPT, have published information on its web crawler named GPTBot. You can now see if OpenAI is crawling your site, how much so, and you can…
New Google Business Profiles Pets Attribute (Are Dogs Allowed)
Google has added a new attribute to Google Business Profiles. This one is titled “Pets” and you can specify if dogs are allowed inside and/or if dogs are allowed outside…
Vlog #235: Lance Bachmann On Growing A Winning Digital Marketing ...
I met up at one of Lance Bachmann’s businesses, 1SEO Digital Agency, where we chatted about marketing and running a business. Lance started doing digital marketing over 20 years, and…
Inappropriate Title Google Merchant Center Warning
Google Merchant Center can now issue warnings for “inappropriate titles.” This can happen for your Google Discover or Demand Gen ads within Google Merchant Center.
Google Ads Releases New Responsive Search Ads Guide (PDF)
Google has released a new Google Ads PDF guide for RSAs, responsive search ads. The new guide is a 9-page PDF document that can be downloaded here.
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 4, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
New Top Google Ad Format In Search Generative Experience
We know Google has demoed some of its ads for the new Search Generative Experience but now some are seeing a new ad format in the Search Generative Experience in…
Finally: Bing Chat Works On Chrome, Firefox and Other Browsers
This morning Bing Chat started to work across non-Edge browsers. That means, if you are logged into Bing, you can use Bing Chat on Chrome and Firefox and likely other…
Google Search Generative Experience From Google Cards
It looks like Google recently added a “from Google” card to the Google Search Generative Experience AI-generated answer section. This is when Google sources from its own data, like Google…
Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update – August 3-4 (Unconf...
It has been a full 9 days since I last reported about a Google Search ranking algorithm update and now I am seeing signs of another one starting yesterday, August…
More Links Now Displaying In Google Search Console’s Links ...
A couple of weeks ago we reported that there was a bug with the Google Search Console link report. Google’s John Mueller eventually confirmed the issue and said a fix…
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google SGE Gains Links & Videos...
This week we covered a possible Google algorithm updater yesterday and today. We also covered how the new Google Search Generative Experience now can show both links to sources and…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 3, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google Ads Outages Impacting Majority Of Advertisers
Google just confirmed an issue with Google Ads that has been impacting advertisers all day. Advertisers are getting notices that read “Google Ads can’t complete your request right now. Please…
Google Search Generative Experience AI-Generated Answers Gain Vid...
Google is also adding videos to its Search Generative Experience AI-generated answer section. So now when Google thinks a video is helpful to answer the question, Google may embed a…
Google Search Console Performance Reporting Not Tracking Search G...
With the new Google Search Generative Experience, we are all hopeful that Google will give us reporting and filtering in Search Console. This way, we can track how well our…
August 2023 Google Webmaster Report
Buckle up – it was one insane month of changes that all SEOs who care about Google need to catch up on. We had very unstable and heated Google search…
Google Business Profile Tests Generative AI To Help Owners Write ...
Google Business Profiles is testing using generative AI to help business owners write descriptions about their businesses. When you edit your business profile in Google, and then edit your business…
Google’s John Mueller On When To Worry About Keyword Stuffi...
Ever wonder at what point you need to worry that there are too many of the same keywords on the page? Well, John Mueller from Google said it is not…
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 2, 2023
Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…
Google Removes @ID from Site Name Markup Documentation
Google has removed the @id mentions in the site name documentation calling the use of @id “unneeded.” If you compare the old version of the page to the new version,…
Google Search Explore Tests “Return to Top” Button
Google is testing a “return to top” button at the bottom of the Explore section in the search results. Previously, you had to manually scroll to the top, but now…
Google Ads New Trademarks Policy Now Requires An Appeal Form
A couple of months ago we reported Google will be changing its Google Ads trademark policies to do away with the ability to have industry-wide blocks for trademarked terms. Instead,…
Google Tests New Local Search Ad Format
About a month ago, I spotted a new ad format in the Google Search results that had this local pack vibe. I shared it around, seeing if anyone else would…
Google Search Showing Too Many Ads – Google To Fix
Google, for some users, is showing up to five search ads on a page. Google generally won’t show more than four ads on a search results page. Google’s Ad Liaison,…
Google Search Generative Experience Tests Links In AI-Generated A...
Looks like all the negative feedback around the lack of links within the AI-generated answers that are generated by Google’s Search Generative Experience has made a difference. Google is testing…
