SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: January 14, 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.
IndexNow is now co-sharing URLs with those who participate in the protocol, which means if you push a URL to IndexNow, both Microsoft Bing and Yandex get it immediately. Microsoft Bing is also testing showing the related searches on the left bar. There was a bug with a chat feature in Shopify that resulted in Google Search showing (1) in the titles of the search results – it should go away over time. Google Ads versatile text ads is another name for responsive search ads? And a poll shows 90% of SEOs are vaccinated. Finally, I posted my weekly SEO video recap, I have a bit more energy in this one, it might be worth listening to on YouTube or your favorite podcast player.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google 1/11 Search Algorithm Update, Manual Actions Delayed, Core Update Specifics & Microsoft Bing IndexNow News
We had our first unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update of the 2022 year… - IndexNow Now Sharing URLs Between Search Engines & IndexNow API
When IndexNow was first announced by Microsoft Bing in October, it was not yet at a point where the participating search engines we co-sharing URLs – but that is no longer the case. Participating IndexNow search engines, which is still just Microsoft Bing and Yandex, are now co-sharing URLs. - Microsoft Bing Tests Related Searches On Left
Microsoft Bing is testing placing the related searches list on the left side of the search results page. Normally, Microsoft places these related searches on the right side of the Bing search results page. - Google Search Showing (1) In Shopify Websites Titles
Most SEOs often look at titles tags when browsing web sites, I mean, I do, while the average person does not. So you’ve probably seen numbers in the tab bar representing an unread direct message count or chat request. Well, Shopify sites using chat-bot script was adding a 1 to the titles of pages and that is what Google has been indexing. - Poll: 90% Of SEOs Are Vaccinated
A Twitter poll with over 1,320 votes shows that 90% of SEOs are vaccinated. Well, at least 90% of the SEOs who took the poll are vaccinated. Although, I’d think that 90% figure is probably accurate across the industry. - Google Ads Versatile Text Ads = Responsive Search Ads?
Steve Plimmer posted a screenshot from the Google Ads console’s change history log showing how Google has named the RSAs, response search ads, versatile text ads. It makes you wonder if Google will rename RSA responsive search ads to VTA versatile text ads or if this is just how Google originally named it internally and forgo to remove some references? - Doogler Playing With Android Plush Toy At Google
Here is a screenshot from a video of a Doogler, Google dog, playing with an Android plush toy at the Google office. This is from the GooglePlex, the Mountain View, Google headquarters. It looks like
Other Great Search Threads:
- Google trends data on shopping searches through the pandemic. https://t.co/bmRIhMLZpy, Alan Kent on Twitter
- Of course not, if you’re providing something of unique, compelling, and high-quality, which adds significant value to the web. You may have seen ot, John Mueller on Twitter
- Do documentation inconsistencies cause distrust in SEOs? Does context matter when it comes to automation, tools and rules? @g33konaut and @iPullRank sit down to discuss that and more on episode 3 of SEO &, Google Search Central on Twitter
- Google is again testing the removal of the URL and breadcrumbs for indented results. This test first appeared last month and is out in force today. As someone who uses the breadcrumbs as a prompt, this test is disorientating., Brodie Clark on Twitter
- Sure, you can make a new site, and it can become popular over time too., John Mueller on Twitter
- This is a pretty old-school hack — I’d ignore it. If you want to do more, you can try to contact the site owner or hoster to encourage them to fix it / take the site down., John Mueller on Twitter
- URLs are just identifiers to us – you can use whichever setup you like, as long as it’s a unique, crawlable URL., John Mueller on Twitter
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:
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.
SEARCHENGINES
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.
SEARCHENGINES
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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