SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: December 8, 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.
Subscribe with Google sites may see an increase in impressions and clicks in the performance report in Search Console. Google said using explicit and extreme curse words can trigger your site to be filtered by SafeSearch. Google is testing “where to stop along the way” for some queries. Google is testing removing the estimated number of results. SEOs are split on if Google is getting worse or if the web is to blame.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Poll Shows SEOs Split On If Google Or The Web Is Getting Worse
There have been a lot of complaints about the quality of Google search results – the truth is, there are always complaints. Assuming you believe the results are indeed getting worse (which not everyone would agree with), is Google to blame, or is it the fault of the web in general to blame? - Google Tests Removing Estimated Number Of Search Results Again
Seems Google is once again testing removing the estimated number of search results under the search bar. You know, the line that says “About X results in Y seconds” Google is testing removing that again. - Google Search Console: Sites Using Subscribe With Google May See Increase In Impressions & Clicks
Google added a new annotation to the Google Search Console performance reports on December 5th, saying that sites that use Subscribe with Google may see an increase in clicks and impressions. I’ll be honest, I am a bit confused by the annotation was added this week and not in 2018 when the feature was added. - Google SafeSearch Can Be Triggered By Use Of Explicit & Extreme Cursing
A couple of years ago, Gary Illyes of Google noted that using many more X-rated curse words can trigger Google to think your site is adult oriented and thus be filtered out by SafeSearch. But how much, how often, and how explicit do those words need to be on your site to trigger it? - Google Search Tests “Where To Stop Along The Way”
Let’s say you are going on a road trip from one location to the next. One thing I expect some of those who do such entertainment would want to know is where are good places to stop along the way. Google is answering that now, I think, in a new test, with a carousel of locations you can stop along the route. - Teddy Bear Hardly Working At The GooglePlex
Here is a random photo I found posted by a Googler of his massive teddy bear hardly working at the Google office, the GooglePlex. The bear’s feet are up on the desk and he sits back and looks at the
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google has updated the Multi-location dashboard so that 1- there are no more hacks to get to the old dashboard 2- You can now easily have multiple locations open from the dashboard 3- the web editor has been moved to the n, Mike Blumenthal on Twitter
- LSAs will show at the top of the page, but they don’t preclude other ad formats from showing., AdsLiaison on Twitter
- We’ve just added 20 more videos explaining Publisher Policies (https://t.co/kthfMcQKxi) & Restrictions (https://t.co/58ZfgrItay). These aim to help pubs understand Google’s policies better, contextualizing them in the adver, Aurora Morales on Twitter
- GA4 – Configure settings has moved to Admin. As of now Events, Conversions, Audiences, Custom definitions and DebugView are now under property settings in Admin, Shameem Adhikarath on Twitter
- Google merchant center links are using up my crawl budget, WebmasterWorld
- In the end, these are all just tools, how you use them is up to you. Not every tool needs to be used to build a house, not every house needs to be a skyscraper. Build what you need, use what works for you & which you have experience with., John Mueller on Mastodon
- Introducing the 2022 Guiding Stars, Local Guides Connect
- Probably just because tracking them takes resources, and most people don’t dig into those details., John Mueller on Mastodon
- I don’t think there’s an issue with crawl budget, at least it would surprise me., John Mueller on Mastodon
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
- Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle get $9 billion Pentagon cloud deals, CNBC
- Google Faces a Serious Threat From ChatGPT, Washington Post
- Google Offices: You Won’t Believe Work Gets Done at These Three Spaces, Architectural Digest
- Google must delete search results about you if they’re fake, EU court rules, POLITICO
- Google must remove ‘manifestly inaccurate’ data, EU top court says, Reuters
- US Sides Against Alphabet’s Google in Social Media Case, Bloomberg
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Search Features
Other Search
Feedback:
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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.
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