SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: December 23, 2022
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 is testing a more wide-screen desktop interface for search. Google is also testing sponsored labels on desktop. Google is testing an about carousel feature. Google is also testing displaying local business profiles in Google Discover. Google said redirected spammy penalized sites do no need to be disavowed. I also posted my weekly SEO video recap with the week in summary. Finally, wishing everyone very happy, peaceful, and happy holidays – thanks for being part of this community!
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Search News Buzz Video Recap: No More Google Core Updates In 2022, Helpful Content Update Taking Longer, The Impact Of These Updates & More
Google told us that we should not expect another Core update in 2022, so you can relax about that. Google said the helpful content update would take longer to roll out… - Google Search Testing New Desktop Search User Interface Design
We’ve been covering a lot of Google user interface tests but here is a look at a revamped Google Search desktop interface including some of the tests we covered before. You see the new site links tests, the new people also ask tests, four rows of the Twitter carousel, related searches in three rows and more. - Google Tests Sponsored Label On Desktop Search Ads
Google is testing displaying the new “sponsored” ad label on the desktop search results. Google launched the new sponsored ad label on mobile search two months ago and tested it also on Discover recently, and is now also testing it on the desktop interface. - Google Tests About Carousel For Websites
Google is testing a new search feature to tell you more about a website. This is an “about” carousel that shows more information about a site, including information from the site itself and third-party sites. - Google Testing Displaying Local Business Profiles In Google Discover
Google is testing including the local business profile listings in Google Discover. There is this new section named “mentioned in this article” where Google can show the local business listing of companies that were noted in the article. - Google: Ignore Spammy Links Even When A Whole Penalized Site Is Redirected To You
Google’s advice since Penguin 4.0 was that you don’t need to disavow links since the links are neutralized and don’t end up helping or hurting you. In short, Google ignores those links. This even applies to when someone redirects a site that was penalized for spammy links to your site, said John Mueller of Google. - Rusty Google Room
Here is a photo from one of the rooms at the Google Singapore office. It is a rusty room, well, at least it looks pretty retro and hip and there is a sign that says “Rusty Nuts” – so I think it is f
Other Great Search Threads:
- As I head out for the holidays, I want to thank you for all the questions, comments and feedback this year. Very grateful to this community of passionate & talented marketers. Wishing everyone a restful seas, AdsLiaison on Twitter
- Calling all K-12 US-based artists: Get ready – the #DoodleForGoogle Student Contest returns for its 15th year on January 11th, when we’ll announce this year’s theme. Until then, save the date!, Google Doodles on Twitter
- Excited that @NFL Sunday Ticket is coming to @YouTube Primetime Channels and @YouTubeTV starting with the 2023 season!, Sundar Pichai on Twitter
- By mistake, some SEOs add ‘noindex’ tag on a page while blocking its crawling via robots.txt to remove that page from search results, Praveen Sharma on Mastodon
- I went for an interview today, and the interviewer questioned me how many sitemaps exist and I said html and xml obviously and he said there are 3. guess there is a KML sitemap as well and I searched a lot but couldnt find a lot or if it works or not., Reddit
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Other Search
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
Source: www.seroundtable.com
SEARCHENGINES
Google Hanukkah Decorations Are Live For 2023

Hanukkah (aka Chanukah) starts this coming Thursday night, December 7th. Google has added its Hanukkah decorations to the Google Search results interface to celebrate. Google does this every year and I expect to see the same rollout in the coming weeks for Christmas and Kawanzaa but for now, since Chanukah is in the coming days, we have the Hanukkah decorations live at Google Search.
Here is a screenshot of the Chanukah decorations as they look like on the mobile search results.
You can see it yourself by searching on Google for [chanukah], [hanukkah], but not yet [חֲנוּכָּה] or other spelling variations yet but it should soon. It looks better on mobile than it does on desktop results.
To see the past, the 2023 decorations, 2021 decorations, 2020 Chanukah decorations, 2019 Google holiday decorations, the 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and so on.
Happy Chanukah, everyone!
Forum discussion at X.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Pay Accepted Icons In Google Search Results

Google seems to be testing a Google Pay Accepted label or icon in the Google search results. This label has the super G logo followed by the words “Pay accepted” words next to search result snippets that support Google Pay and notate such in their structured data.
This was first spotted by Khushal Bherwani who shared some screenshots of this on X – here is one:
Here are some more screenshots:
Here is test and without test window for same query. pic.twitter.com/n9cYWBOsro
— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) October 20, 2023
Brodie Clark also posted some screenshots after on X:
In continuation from the test from October, Google is now testing out a new Google Pay label associated with organic results. Last month, Google was testing Pay Accepted text, with this month changing it to Pay encrypted checkout. More details: https://t.co/MvFNoPmMDR pic.twitter.com/WDVVc4RbTO
— SERPs Up 🌊 (@SERPalerts) November 30, 2023
I tried to replicate this but I came up short.
This is not the first time Google had similar icons like this in its search results.
Forum discussion at X.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Discover Showing Older Content Since Follow Feature Arrived

Typically, Google Discover shows content that is less than a day old, but it can show content that is weeks, months, or even years old. However, typically, Google will show more recent content in the Discover feed. Well, that may have changed with the new Google follow feature.
Glenn Gabe, who is a very active Google Discover user, noticed that since the Follow feature rolled out, he has been seeing content that is weeks and months old way more often than before the follow feature rolled out. Glenn wrote on X that “this could also be playing a role. i.e. Google isn’t providing as much recent content, but instead, focusing on providing targeted content based on the topics you are following.”
It makes sense that if you follow a specific topic and if Google Discover only shows the most authoritative types of content, it might be hard for Google to find new content on that topic. So it does make sense that Google may show older content more often for that specific topic you follow.
Here are screenshots Glenn shared:
Have you noticed this in your Discover feed?
Forum discussion at X.
-
SOCIAL6 days ago
Musk regrets controversial post but won’t bow to advertiser ‘blackmail’
-
MARKETING7 days ago
Revolutionizing Auto Retail: The Game-Changing Partnership Between Amazon and Hyundai
-
PPC6 days ago
5 Quick Tips to Increase Referral Traffic
-
SEO6 days ago
A Year Of AI Developments From OpenAI
-
SEO4 days ago
GPT Store Set To Launch In 2024 After ‘Unexpected’ Delays
-
SOCIAL5 days ago
Is this X’s (formerly Twitter) final goodbye to big advertisers? It looks like it
-
SEARCHENGINES4 days ago
Google Core Update Done Followed By Intense Search Volatility, New Structured Data, Google Ads Head Steps Down & 20 Years Covering Search
-
PPC6 days ago
5 Quick & Easy Ways to Get More Referral Traffic (+Examples)
You must be logged in to post a comment Login