SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: January 20, 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.
There may have been another unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update yesterday and today according to multiple signals I track. And no, crawl rate spikes do not signal a Google algorithm update is coming – that is a myth. Google seems to say that they are not able to understand when two pieces of content are equivalent when they are the same content but translated. Google said it is getting better at handling languages even without hreflang support. Google local service ads now allows you to submit a request to have your own background verification check. Danny Goodwin joined Search Engine Land, after being at Search Engine Journal and before that Search Engine Watch.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Another Unconfirmed Google Search Ranking Update (January 19th & 20th)
Google has been busy over the last couple of weeks after being taking a bit of a break with the new years. It seems we are seeing again signs of another Google search ranking algorithm update occurring yesterday and today, January 19th and 20th. There is both SEO industry chatter and data from the tracking tools that support this but yes, we do not have a Google confirmation about an update. - Google Reiterates That A Spike In Crawling Unrelated To Upcoming Algorithm Updates
Google’s John Mueller said again that a spike in crawling activity on your site is unrelated to an upcoming search ranking algorithm update. John Mueller said on Twitter “it’s unrelated” when asked if crawl spikes are related to Google updates. - Google: We Don’t Understand If Content Is Equivalent When In A Different Language
Google’s John Mueller said in an SEO hangout last Friday that it is impossible for Google to understand that one piece of content is equivalent to another piece of content when those content pieces are in different languages. So Google is basically trusting the hreflang attribute provided by publishers. - Google: We’re Getting Better At Languages & Location Without Hreflang
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter that “anecdotally, it feels like we’re already doing much better with getting languages & location right, even without hreflang or geotargeting settings.” This was in response to an excellent question from Glenn Gabe about can Google use MUM AI to figure out page language pairs without hreflang. - Google Local Service Ads Allows Alternative Background Checks Process
Ben Fisher spotted an update to the Google Local Service ads help documents around the screening and verification process for businesses. Google added a section that says businesses can request that their “own dedicated background check partner” do the verification. - Danny Goodwin Joins Search Engine Land : Reaction
As you all know, I have been with Search Engine Land and SMX since the company was founded and the company has been through many changes over the past dozen years or so. This week, Search Engine Land hired seasoned search marketing writer and editor Danny Goodwin. - Google London Rooftop Deck
Here is a photo from the Google London office, I guess the rooftop deck and porch. This was recently shared on Instagram. Looks like a nice view from that office but I bet the new $1 billion office
Other Great Search Threads:
- 🚧 Paywalled content and SEO 🚧 Following @aleyda’s advice, I’ll start tweeting sometimes in English. In this thread, I’ll explain how to be SEO compliant if you have paywalled content, like the NYT for example. https, Antoine Eripret on Twitter
- Hey Google, have you been drinking today? Your search results look a bit wonky!, Casey Bryan on Twitter
- I sold Backlinko, Brian Dean on Twitter
- Interesting possible update to how Knowledge Panels handle towns/cities. Seeing more carousels for events showing up and restaurant categories. Here’s what I see now (see next tweet for what I saw a few months ago). https://t., Mordy Oberstein on Twitter
- Since Google uses neither DA nor the spam score, it doesn’t really matter either way, right? That’s why I said to just ignore all of that and do something real instead. If experts are telling you to, John Mueller on Twitter
- U.S. Proposal to Ban Ad Targeting Would Change Facebook and Google’s Ad Model, WebmasterWorld
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Search Features
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
Daily Search Forum Recap: April 25, 2024
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.
The Google March 2024 core update is still rolling out and the SEO chatter is super heated despite the tools calming. Google Ads API version 16.1 is now out. Google’s John Mueller says splitting and merging sites takes longer than normal site moves for Google to process. Google updated its favicon documentation. And a scathing report on how Google executive Prabhakar Raghavan killed Google Search.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
-
Google March Core Update Stilling Rolling Out & Heated SEO Chatter Continue
Over the past few days, while I was offline, the SEO chatter around the Google search ranking volatility continued to be super heated. The Google tracking tools seemed to calm down a bit, but the chatter is still very heated. This is all while the Google March 2024 core update is still rolling out 51 days later. -
Report: How Prabhakar Raghavan Killed Google Search
Ed Zitron wrote a piece named The Man Who Killed Google Search. It goes through in detail how Prabhakar Raghavan, Google’s former head of ads – led a coup so that he could run Google Search, and how an email chain from 2019 began a cascade of events that would lead to him running it into the ground, he said. -
Google Favicon Documentation Adds Rel Attribute Value Definitions
Google has updated its favicon documentation for Google Search to add definitions for each supported rel attribute value in the Google Search favicon documentation. -
Google Ads API Version 16.1 Now Available
Google released version 16.1 of the Google Ads API yesterday. The update includes query assets for Demand Gen, more location service details, more support warnings, Target ROAS bid simulation and more. -
Google: Splitting & Merging Sites Takes Longer Than Normal Site Migrations
Want to scare an SEO? Just tell them they need to manage a site migration. Want to make an SEO faint? Tell them they need to manage to split a site into two or more sites while merging content on those sites. John Mueller from Google said it takes Google longer to process site splits and merges than normal site migrations. -
Google Chefs In Dublin
Here is a photo I found on Instagram of a bunch of chefs at the Google office in Dublin. I am not sure if this was for some event or if Googlers were doing some sort of cooking class but it was a photo that caught my eye.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Interested in AI assistants within YouTube? -> The new experimental “Ask AI” feature in YouTube is pretty cool. Just tap the button and ask any question about the video you’re watching. Note, AI can’t control the video player as of n, Glenn Gabe on X
- What skeleton do you have in your closet?, WebmasterWorld
- Googlebot will crawl from one location (often the US), and if you redirect it based on its location, Googlebot would only see (and index) that country version. It’s better to use something like a banner., John Mueller on X
- I don’t know your sites, but even if the content’s the same, they’re essentially different sites (especially with ccTLDs), so it would be normal for a migration to affect them differently (and this seems to be quite a way back in the meantime)., John Mueller on X
- Search engines recrawl URLs at different rates, sometimes it’s multiple times a day, sometimes it’s once every few months. The verified removal tool is fastest, the public removal tool takes a few days because it needs to verify the URL properly., John Mueller on X
- You are now a Google Search Engineer. How do you fix organic search?, Gareth Boyd on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
- PPC for Retail: Biggest Trends, Challenges, & Strategies for Success, WordStream
- Unlocking Success with Performance Max Campaigns, Location3 Media
- Discovering and Diagnosing a Google AdSense Rendering Bug, Merj
- Google delays third-party cookie demise yet again, Digiday
- How to Find and Use Competitor Keywords, Ahrefs
- Q&A: Promoting your app or game with Apple Search Ads, Apple Developer
- Updates to Healthcare and Medicines Policy (May 2024), Google Advertising Policies Help
- Windows 11 Start menu ads are now rolling out to everyone, The Verge
Search Features
Other Search
Feedback:
Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Won’t Change The 301 Signals For Ranking & SEO
Gary Illyes from Google said on stage at the SERP conference last week that there is no way that Google would change how the 301 redirect signal works for SEO or search rankings. Gary added that it’s a very reliable signal.
Nikola Minkov quoted Gary Illyes as saying, “It is a very reliable signal, and there is no way we could change that signal,” when asked if a 301 redirect not working is a myth. Honestly, I am not sure the context of this question, as it is not clear from the post on X, but here it is:
More from @methode:
– 301 redirect not working is a myth. “It is a very reliable signal, and there is no way we could change that signal”.#SERPConf2024#SERPConf2024International— Nikola Minkov (@n_minkov) April 19, 2024
We’ve covered 301 redirects here countless times – but I never saw a myth that Google does not use 301 redirects as a signal for canonicalization or for passing signals from an old URL to the redirected URL.
Forum discussion at X.
Note: This was pre-written and scheduled to be posted today, I am currently offline for Passover.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Again Says Ignore Link Spam Especially To 404 Pages
I am not sure how many times Google has said that you do not need to disavow spammy links, that you can ignore link spam attacks and that links pointing to pages that 404/410 are links that do not count – but John Mueller from Google said it again.
In a thread on X, John Mueller from Google wrote, “if the links are going to URLs that 404 on your site, they’re already dropped.” “They do nothing,” he added, “If there’s no indexable destination URL, there’s no link.”
John then added, “I’d generally ignore link-spam, and definitely ignore link-spam to 404s.”
Asking if it would hurt to disavow, after responding with the messages above, John wrote:
It will do absolutely nothing. I would take the time to rework a holistic & forward-looking strategy for the site overall instead of working on incremental tweaks (other tweaks might do something, but you probably need real change, not tweaks).
Earlier this year we had tons of SEOs notice spammy links to 404 error pages, John said ignore them. In 2021, Google said links to 404 pages do not count, Google also said that in 2012 and many other times.
Plus, outside of links to 404 pages, Google has said to ignore spammy links, time and time again – even the toxic links – ignore them. The messaging around this changed in 2016 when Penguin 4.0 was released and Google began devaluing links over demoting them.
Here are those new posts in context:
I’d say add both. Lol
— Jeremy Rivera (@JeremyRiveraSEO) April 11, 2024
Sure. But also, save yourself the work completely :-).
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 11, 2024
Re-reading your initial post – if the links are going to URLs that 404 on your site, they’re already dropped. They do nothing. If there’s no indexable destination URL, there’s no link. I’d generally ignore link-spam, and definitely ignore link-spam to 404s.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 11, 2024
… but still… is this a dumb idea?
— Rebekah Edwards (@rebekah_creates) April 11, 2024
It will do absolutely nothing. I would take the time to rework a holistic & forward-looking strategy for the site overall instead of working on incremental tweaks (other tweaks might do something, but you probably need real change, not tweaks).
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 11, 2024
And in general, Google says it ignores spammy links, so you should too (not new) but this post from John Mueller is:
I would just ignore them, Google ignores them too. Sometimes they’re just more visible in tools, but that doesn’t mean they’re a problem.
— John 🧀 … 🧀 (@JohnMu) April 18, 2024
And then also on Mastodon wrote about a similar situation, “Google has 2 decades of practice of ignoring spammy links. There’s no need to do anything for those links.”
Forum discussion at X.
Note: This was pre-written and scheduled to be posted today, I am currently offline for Passover.
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