SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: January 3, 2023
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.
Google should be completing the December 2022 helpful content update and link spam update soon, but as of this morning, it was “still ongoing” according to Google. Google Search Console is not tracking local pack data properly, according to local SEOs. Google said it ignores hidden text on a page. Google is testing full coverage for news results in desktop search. Reviews with photos last longer than without photos, says a new local SEO study.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google: The Helpful Content Update & Link Spam Update Still Ongoing
Welcome back from the holidays, don’t worry; you didn’t miss much. The December 2022 helpful content update and December 2022 link spam update are not done yet. They should be done soon, but right now, when I write this, they are not done. - Ongoing Report: Google Search Console Not Tracking All Local Pack Clicks
For the past few months or so, I’ve been tracking reports that suggest that Google Search Console is not properly tracking clicks and impressions from the local pack. This first came up in September and after numerous requests from SEOs, I have not seen a serious reply from Google on the matter, not yet at least. - Google Search Full Coverage Label On Desktop
Google since 2019 had this “full coverage” label for news stories that showed up in mobile search results. I am not sure if this ever was presented in the desktop results, and that is what we have for you today. - Google: We Ignore Hidden Text On A Page
Google’s John Mueller said that when it comes to hidden text on a page, Google is “good at ignoring it.” It is one of those things that Google seems not to penalize for anymore but rather just not count the text that is not visible on the page. - Study: Reviews With Photos Last Longer In Google Local Results
Another small study says that reviews with photos with them last a lot longer in the Google local listing for a business than reviews without photos. This was another study done by Joy Hawkins and her company. - Google Outdoor Holiday Decorations In Brazil
Here are some photos from the Google Brazil office, they have this amazing outdoor area and they really decorated it up for the holiday season. You can see a massive Christmas tree, large menorah, sta
Other Great Search Threads:
- I’d recommend looking into x-frame-options and using that by default. This also prevents Google when rendering a page to use any iframed content, since it can’t be loaded like that., John Mueller on Twitter
- No, but if you’re finding that you use the feature regularly, probably Google has issues (often quality-wise) with your website that you should work on instead of clicking the button in Search Console that often. Focus on what’s important, and you’ll have, John Mueller on Twitter
- probably yes, but why?, John Mueller on Mastodon
- I’d like to better understand the reluctance about full #search on #Mastodon. Is there an overview somewhere?, John Mueller on Mastodon
- SEO The spammers are ringing in the new year w/ a fresh wave of spam @GoogleMaps @GoogleMyBiz.. Google was letting most of my edits go through last night., Len on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
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.
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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