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.

Did you know that most SEOs said the pandemic resulted in an increase in demand for their SEO services? Google local might have a bug with double ad placements (update, this is not a bug). Google had to say that URLs with UTM parameters on them are not by default paid links. Bing migrated the Bing News PubHub into Bing Webmaster Tools. Google Chrome is rolling out Journeys, which is browser history improved.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Survey Says: The Pandemic Brought An Increase In Demand For SEO
  
  Joe Hall posted a Twitter poll asking the SEO community how the pandemic impacted their SEO business. The poll had 614 responses and most said that the pandemic has brought an increased demand in SEO.
• Google: Links With UTM Parameters Are Not By Default Paid Links
  
  John Mueller of Google has to say on Twitter that just because a link has UTM parameters on them, it doesn’t make it a paid link. He said “links with UTM parameters are just links.” “They’re definitely not considered paid links,” he added.
• Google Local Pack With Double Ad Placement Bug? (Not a bug)
  
  We’ve seen Google legitimately test two ads in the local pack but what Iampk spotted on Twitter and some were able to replicate seems like Google placing an ad unit spot twice in the local pack. Like this is some bug where Google decided to not show two ads, but ads two ad features to the local pack – it is a subtle difference.
• Bing News PubHub Moved To Bing Webmaster Tools
  
  Microsoft Bing has moved the Bing News PubHub to within Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing News PubHub is a way for publishers to submit their site for approval in Bing News and also check on the status of their approval. It is no longer available at pubhub.bing.com – it has been moved to Bing Webmaster Tools.
• Google Chrome Journeys Rolling Out
  
  Back in October 2021 we reported that Google was testing in Chrome something called Journeys. Journeys will cluster all the pages you’ve visited related to your previous browsing history so you can easily view them without having to sift through your browsing history.




• Google Pillow Swag: Google TV & Chrome
  
  Satyajeet Salgar from Google shared a photo on Twitter of some recent (the past year) of Google pillow swag he accumulated. This looks like a Google TV pillow and a Chrome pillow.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:

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