SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: August 12, 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.
Google had another volatile weekend with Google Search rankings bouncing all over the place. A new report shows publishers are getting less traffic from Google Search and other areas but an increase from Google Discover. What is with Google showing srsltid URL parameters in the search results. Google may come out with new ways to handle URL parameters. Google Ads will not pause keywords that are in paused ad groups. And have you heard of Effingo from Google, it is fast, really fast.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Search Ranking Volatility August 9th and 10th (No HCU Progress)
Since Friday, August 9th, I have been seeing yet another intense spike in Google Search ranking volatility. This is based on the SEO chatter within the communities and of course, the third-party Google Search rank volatility trackers. And no, we still do not have a new core update officially released by Google but it is coming soon, weeks away… -
Report: Google Sending More Discover Traffic But Less Search Traffic To Publishers
Google is sending news publishers a lot less traffic from Google Web Search but also a lot more traffic from Google Discover. A new report conducted by Newzdash analyzing 8.1 billion clicks across hundreds of news publishers using Google Search Console data compared 2023 to 2024 data. -
Google Search To Get Better At URL Parameter Handling?
As part of the Search Off The Record podcast from Google on crawling, which we briefly covered on Friday, Gary Illyes from Google said he is investigating ways for Google to handle URL parameters better. -
Google Search Listing srsltid URL Parameters From Merchant Center
Over the past couple of weeks, there has been an increase in complaints around Google Search listing URLs with the srsltid URL parameter tagged along to the URL, as the canonical URL in Google Search. In fact, Google matches on hundreds of thousands of these URLs now and does serve them in the search results under that parameter. -
Google Won’t Pause Keywords In Paused Campaigns Or Ad Groups
As a reminder, Google Ads has begun pausing low-activity keywords that were created over 13 months ago and have zero impressions over the past 13 months. But that does not mean Google will pause these if they are already part of paused campaigns or ad groups. -
Google Effingo – Insane Transfer Speeds Used By Google Search
Have you heard of Effingo by Google? Google actually spoke about it on their Google Cloud blog in May 2023. Now Gary Illyes from Google said it is used by Google Search and other areas of Google to do insanely fast data transfers across Google data centers. -
Google San Francisco Sign Over Oakland Bay Bridge
Here is a photo from the Google San Francisco office where they have this outdoor area overlooking the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge. You can see there is a sign for Google San Francisco.
Other Great Search Threads:
- (Update) Now Google is testing adding another tab to “Store Ratings” panels – it’s ‘Promotions’ which shows coupon codes that can be copied by users., Gagan Ghotra on X
- According to this document from the DoJ Antitrust trial, in 2017, 93% of GA properties did not have goal tracking set up., Mic King on X
- So apparently Google Ads removed audience recommendations from the Insights tab. This was one of the sections we used the most to discover new audiences for layering. Sad, Melissa L Mackey on X
- Legendary and kind are the two words that keep coming to mind when I think of Susan. I can’t believe she’s gone. My thoughts are with her family, friends, coworkers and all those she touched over the years. Such a deep loss. htt, Danny Sullivan on X
- Meet our Product Experts, Google Business Profile Community
- Unbelievably saddened by the loss of my dear friend @SusanWojcicki after two years of living with cancer. She is as core to the history of Google as anyone, and it’s hard to imagine the world without her. She was an incredible, Sundar Pichai on X
- 25 years ago today I officially started at a small search engine company, wedged into a tiny office space above what’s now a T-Mobile store in downtown Palo Alto. Since then, I have had the incredible pleasure of working with, Jeff Dean on X
- PerplexityBot, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
- Google and X lag peers in addressing non-consensual explicit images, lawmakers say, CNN
- Google lost its first antitrust case, so what happens next?, The Verge
- Google’s Rise Was Inevitable. So Was Its Antitrust Ruling, Wired
- How Google’s Antitrust Losses Could Shrink Its Business, The Information
- Since the OpenAI board dispute, Microsoft diversified AI investments and partnerships, built its own models, and hired aggressively for its consumer AI efforts (Financial Times), Techmeme
- An incredible life and career, Google Blog
- What Google rivals want after DOJ’s antitrust trial win, The Verge
- Friendly Google and Enemy Remedies, Stratechery by Ben Thompson
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
- Apple Vision Pro disappointments and beta frustrations, AppleInsider
- Advanced Apple Intelligence features could cost extra by 2027, AppleInsider
- Apple researching Smart Glasses, working on Vision Pro updates, AppleInsider
- iPhone 16 Preview: Bigger Screens, New Colors, Camera Button, AI and A18 Chip, Bloomberg
- How to Watch the Made by Google Pixel 9 Launch Event, and What to Expect, Wired
SEO
PPC
Search Features
Feedback:
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SEARCHENGINES
Google Search Volatility Still Heated After August Core Update Rollout
It is like the Google August 2024 core update didn’t finish rolling out, or maybe something else is going on, because I am still seeing a lot of signals of intense search ranking volatility in the Google Search results. The tools are all still heated and the chatter within the SEO community is still pretty lively.
I mean, Google may have announced the August core update is done rolling out, but maybe this is the remnants of the end of the rollout? It can also be a totally different update that Google did not confirm? It is hard to say but what we do know is that many site owners and SEOs are still seeing a lot of volatility and movement in the Google Search results.
It seemed to have started or continued the day Google announced the rollout was complete. The movement continued from September 3rd through today, September 6th.
Google Tracking Tools
Just look at these tools, you’d expect them to calm down a bit after September 3rd, but most have not:
SEO Chatter
The chatter across WebmasterWorld, social and here did not die down at all. Here are some quotes:
G analytics is broken or this update killed my main site. Has anyone else noticed this huge drop today?
GA4 has practically been unusable for us. Even with just the basics. Traffic way down for us as well today.
Big drop yesterday and today looks terrible as well.
Someone could think that the end of the update was the update, cause just in time traffic got worse again, sales are non existent from google traffic. google user engagement is near to ZERO.
Traffic is ridiculously high since the return from Labor Day holiday for me. Search traffic is up 60% today at 1pm. Yesterday search was up 30% overall. Will be nice if that keeps up, but…
There’s been a lot of volatility here all day since yesterday. Moments of high traffic, followed by huge drops. Old pages receiving a lot of traffic, then disappearing… The update is definitely still active…
Something is going on for sure. The SEMrush Sensors still on a high range.
Like I commented earlier… Something happened on the 3rd of September.
Just when some of us thought we had a boost or was safe from the core update, Googlers hit the “Nuke!” button and now more sites got obliterated.
There is still something running. The traffic and serps are all over the show again. Many of our keywords are out of the top 100 again. Started 2 days ago.
Same here. 2 days ago I had many sales, which was very unusual. Now again nothing
I wrote earlier that there is still something moving around. We can look at 3rd September as the start point of this movement. The movement in and out of serps again.
100% agree. Something is going on for sure.
This type of chatter just goes on and on.
Again, I am not sure if this is the tail end of the completed core update or of this is something new. But something is still brewing.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
SEARCHENGINES
Google August Core Update Done, Google Interview, Google Ads & Merchant Center News & The YouTube Algorithm SEO
This week, the Google August 2024 core update finished rolling out, a bit earlier than expected. There is still search volatility, a lot of it, days after the core update completed. I also posted a huge interview with Google’s Danny Sullivan on the core update. I posted the big Google Webmaster Report for September 2024. Google updated its canonical doc to say do not specify fragments in your canonicals. Google Search finally supports AVIF images. Google is testing a new forum display for its search results. Google is testing a new shopping search design. Bing Knowledge panels has this table of contents that is interactive. Google Business Profile may be dropping the Q&A feature in some regions. Google is testing new map pin shapes. Google Trends email subscriptions are going away. Google will automatically link Google Ads and Google Merchant Center accounts. Google Ads now has a merchant products tab for images. Google Ads will opt out new accounts from serving ads on parked domains. Google Ads product category level insights is live. Microsoft Advertising announced a bunch of new features. Google Analytics 4 has new benchmarking data. I posted a bunch of videos from YouTube algorithm and SEO questions and answers. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
Sponsor: BruceClay one of the founding fathers of the SEO space, doing search marketing optimization since 1996. Bruce Clay is big into SEO training, check out seotraining.com to learn more and check them out at bruceclay.com. Also, check out their new product, Prewriter.ai – this tool empowers writers to write better and more efficiently, so check it out.
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SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: September 6, 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.
I know the Google August core update is done, but we are still seeing significant volatility days later. I posted a large interview with Google’s Danny Sullivan on the core update and more – it is worth a read. Google also had an interview on Google Shopping and Merchant Center. Google Ads has a bug with audience insights. Google clarified its indexing API quota details. Google has these new try on icons in search ads. And I posted my weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google Search Volatility Still Heated After August Core Update Rollout Completed
It is like the Google August 2024 core update didn’t finish rolling out, or maybe something else is going on, because I am still seeing a lot of signals of intense search ranking volatility in the Google Search results. The tools are all still heated and the chatter within the SEO community is still pretty lively. -
My Interview Of Google’s Search Liaison On The August 2024 Core Update
This week I interviewed Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, with the goal of better understanding where Google Search quality is at right now, where it is going in the future and what we as content creators and search marketers need to know. -
Google Ads Audience Insights Missing For Some
There is another Google Ads bug, this time with the Audience insights going missing for some advertisers. Ginny Marvin, Google’s Ads Liaison, said on X, “Audience Insights is not being removed” but rather there is a bug. -
Google Shopping & Merchant Center Interview With Irina Tuduce
Google published an internal interview on its Search Off the Record podcast with John Mueller and Lizzi Sassman (who you know) and Irina Tuduce from the Google Shopping team. Irina Tuduce has been with Google for 18 or so years and she provided a super technical overview of Google Shopping and Merchant Center. -
Google Clarifies Indexing API Quota & Pricing Information
Google has made several changes to its indexing API quota and pricing information document for clarification purposes. Google said this was to clarify “the default quota is for setting up the Indexing API, and how to request approval and quota. Also corrected a documentation error for DefaultRequestsPerMinutePerProject quota (it’s always been a 380 quota).” -
Google Ads Try On Icon
Google launched its try on feature a year or so ago and now Google may have just added a new icon to visualize the try on feature. Below is a screenshot of it on Google Ads for lipstick. When you click on the the face/emoji/icon at the top left of the ad, below you will see a way to visualize it on real models generated by Google AI. -
Liquor at Google Event
I found these fancy photos of fancy liquor and alcohol on Instagram from a Google event. The post says there were delicious cocktails, and good fun, concerts, and great food. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google August Core Update Done, Google Interview, Google Ads & Merchant Center News & The YouTube Algorithm SEO
This week, the Google August 2024 core update finished rolling out, a bit earlier than expected. There is still search volatility, a lot of it…
Other Great Search Threads:
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Search Features
Other Search
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
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