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Daily Search Forum Recap: January 12, 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.
We now have the first unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update of 2022, it happened on January 11th. Gary Illyes of Google wants to share more details about specific core updates but it seems others at Google do not. Most SEOs are not confident about giving advice for Google Discover. Google is still recommending you disavow whole domains, if you disavow. It is not wise to block whole countries or regions to improve your core web vitals scores.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google Search Ranking Update On January 11th (Unconfirmed)
There may have been a Google search ranking algorithm update on January 11, 2022. This would be the first real unconfirmed update for the 2022 year. I am seeing both chatter spike up starting on January 10th and continue through today. Plus, many of the tracking tools are showing big movements in the Google search results. - Listen To Googlers Debate About Sharing More Details On Core Updates
In the most recent Search Off The Record podcast, John Mueller, Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt debate about if and what they should share when it comes to the Google core updates. It seems like Gary Illyes wants Google to share more specifics about what each update does so SEOs can act on it, but if not, stop announcing them all together. - Poll: SEOs Not Confident In Giving Advice Around Google Discover
Alan Kent from Google posted an “informal poll” on Twitter asking SEOs “how confident are you in giving advice or planning strategies for Google Discover?” The poll only had 161 responses, so it is super informal but it showed that most SEOs are not confident in this area. - Google Still Recommending Disavowing Whole Domains With Machete
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter “disavow the whole domain if you know there’s an issue with some of its links.” He said there is “no need to be exact when everything on a site is bad from your point of view.” This reminds me of the advice from Matt Cutts to use the disavow link tool as a machete. - Do Not Block Slow Countries To Improve Your Google Core Web Vitals
It is probably not the best advice to block slow countries or regions with the goal of improving your Google search rankings. Yes, Google has a page experience algorithm that is mostly made up of speed factors from its core web vitals. But it is such a light weight factor, the benefits you’d see from blocking those users would not outweigh the negatives you see from blocking those users. - New Job Google Duffle Bag
Here is a photo from an Instagram video of someone getting a new job at Google, a Project Management Apprentice job, where Google sent her a card and this duffle bag. Here is the video below.
Other Great Search Threads:
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
- Creating Semantic Content Networks with Query and Document Templates, Oncrawl
- How Google’s Roadmap For MUM Will Impact SEO In 2022 and Beyond, Vertical Leap
- How to be an SEO Trailblazer with Structured Data, Schema App
- The [Enterprise] Guide to Rich Snippets: JSON-LD, Microdata, and Schema, iPullRank
- Yoast SEO 17.9: Track the performance of your keyphrases with Wincher, Yoast
- Analyzing Google‘s December 2021 Product Review Update, Semrush
- Being Mid-Career Sucks: The Context Crisis, SEO MBA
- What are Google Entities?, RankRanger
PPC
Search Features
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.
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Unconfirmed Google Update Impacting Product Reviews Sites On January 26th

On Thursday, January 26th, there were some signs of a possible Google search ranking algorithm update. The signals and chatter I was tracking, honestly, were not at super high levels. However, now that I see Glenn Gabe shared some really shocking charts of sites previously impacted by Google updates but now seeing a big swing. This is not necessarily a product reviews update but rather sites in the product reviews space that are seeing massive swings on the 26th.
Let me first share Glenn’s charts, which he posted on Twitter and said, “Heads-up, run a product reviews site? Google pushed something on 1/26 that, once again, impacted some product review sites HEAVILY. These are sites I’ve documented before with crazy surges/drops, even outside of Product Reviews Updates. Let’s see if this sticks. I hope it does.”
Here is that tweet:
Heads-up, run a product reviews site? Google pushed something on 1/26 that, once again, impacted some product review sites HEAVILY. These are sites I’ve documented before with crazy surges/drops, even outside of Product Reviews Updates. Let’s see if this sticks. I hope it does 🙂 pic.twitter.com/ZXa1r3xwcD
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) January 29, 2023
Starting on the 25th, I began to see limited chatter kick into gear at WebmasterWorld. The chatter there was not specific to the product reviews update but it could have been related to it. Here are some quotes from there:
My site has been climbing rankings all week and yet today the traffic has been dismal (UK). Do I smell an update?
My ranks, as I said, have been getting better after being in decline steadily since this time last year. I haven’t done anything to improve. Could this mean that google are indeed looking at different ranking signals, not just links? I could have gained a link or two that has turned it around I suppose but no evidence so far.
After great improvement over the month of January, got a big bang down since January 24 onwards. Changes again?
Definitely, something is wrong with Google. My traffic is going down without any reason. Are there any delays with Analytics?
I don’t know what’s going on, but my website has been in free fall for a week now. And it’s the usual picture again, old news articles or meaningless keyword spam ranks in my area on the top places. It’s really no fun anymore …
Google Tracking Tools
Here are what the tracking tool are showing:
So the tools are not lighting up but this update may have been something tweaked with the product reviews update, or a new update impacting product review sites or limited to those segments of websites?
Have any of you seen any big changes around January 26th?
Forum discussion at Twitter.
SEARCHENGINES
Jeff Ferguson On Starting His Own Digital Marketing Agency

In part one, we go through Jeff Ferguson’s long history in search marketing. Here, in part two, we pick up with him starting his own agency. Jeff explained how he was working at this arbitrage company, and they were not profitable for a decade, and then overnight, he helped them become profitable, and they were making a ton of money. But they didn’t do it right, and eventually, they took a major hit. So he was offered a package to leave but picked up doing consulting during that time. He ran his agency for ten years before merging with Amplitude Digital.
He loves agency life and doing his own thing. He is at a point in life where doing his own thing and owning his agency is where he wants to be. He does write a lot of content; he shares a lot of advice on Twitter and Facebook.
You can learn more about Jeff Ferguson at Amplitude Digital and follow him on Twitter @CountXero.
You can subscribe to our YouTube channel by clicking here so you don’t miss the next vlog where I interviews. I do have a nice lineup of interviews scheduled with SEOs and SEMS, many of which you don’t want to miss – and I promise to continue to make these vlogs better over time. If you want to be interviewed, please fill out this form with your details.
Forum discussion at YouTube.
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Google Pier 57 Display Wall

Here is one of the many walls at the new Google Pier 57 location. You can see they set up a display wall that houses a Google surfboard, Google letters, Android figurine, and much more.
I spotted this on Instagram.
This post is part of our daily Search Photo of the Day column, where we find fun and interesting photos related to the search industry and share them with our readers.
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