SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: January 5, 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.
Google said that the stock level of a product should not impact its rankings. Google also said that you do not need to nofollow links to internal pages that have sponsored content with affiliate links on them. Google may be showing more web stories in the top stories carousel. Google fixed an issue with Search Console’s user and permissions screens. I also posted the big Google webmaster report for January 2022 – do not miss it.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- January 2022 Google Webmaster Report
Normally the month of December is not that busy because people take off for the holidays and such. But the past month was really not that calm at all. We had huge Google ranking volatility most of the past month, we had a confirmed three-week rollout of the December product reviews update, Google confirmed a local update and much more. - Google: Stock Levels Should Not Impact Search Rankings
Google’s John Mueller was asked if stock levels can impact the ranking of products on an e-commerce site. John implied that the answer is no, he said “that seems unrelated, at least for normal search. It might impact product search but he is not sure if it will or won’t – but normal web search, it should not impact. - Google May Be Showing More Web Stories In Top Stories
John Shehata shared a chart from his Newzdash service that showed how Google is showing more web stories in the top positions of the top stories carousel in the mobile search results. John said on Twitter “I am starting to see more and more web stories in Google Search Top Stories (News Box) carousels. The numbers are still small.” - Google: Rel Sponsored Not Needed For Internal Links To Affiliate Product Reviews
You do not need to nofollow or use a rel sponsored attribute on your internal links, even if those internal links lead to sponsored reviews content with affiliate links to those products. Lily Ray asked Google’s John Mueller about this and John said while half away, the link attributes are not needed. - Google Search Console Users and Permissions Issue Fixed
A few months ago we reported about a Google Search Console users permissions issue. Well, that issue is now resolved according to Caio Barros from Google. The issue seemed more like an issue with communicating the true access than a bug with access. - Google Search Console Office Corner
Here is a photo from the Google Tel Aviv office, this is on the Search Console team floor, where Daniel Waisberg is based. He shared this photo on Twitter saying “Love this corner on the Search Consol
Other Great Search Threads:
- Did anyone notice that if you click on Performance on Google Search Console, it opens in a new tab instead of the same tab? @rustybrick – No Tweet goes without confirmation from Barry! 😀👏🤝 @googlesearchc What do, siddhesh assawa on Twitter
- It’s average top position, so sitelinks tend not to be relevant there (since the top position will be another URL from your site)., John Mueller on Twitter
- Just doing a little address research and spotted this “Most popular places at this address” #localseo #FirstTweetOf2022 https://t.co/c34jKu7z7d, Andy Simpson on Twitter
- The New Define option when you select the text on the Featured snippet is being tested by Google. Is it new? @rustybrick @JohnMu https://t.co/sNxcf3E2Zo, Pradeep on Twitter
- Google Acquires Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) Provider, Siemplify, WebmasterWorld
- Google and others working to soften new US antitrust bills?, WebmasterWorld
- Heads-up, Chrome 97 is rolling out today. New in DevTools: *Use the new Recorder panel to record, replay and measure user flows (like a checkout process). *More modern devices are now added in the device list. https://t.co/0xl, Glenn Gabe on Twitter
- I think what you’re noticing is the page groups. If a page doesn’t have data of its own (which is common), it ends up using data from its group. With that, every page on a site could have data,, John Mueller on Twitter
- Not currently available but that’s good feedback, thank you., Daniel Waisberg on Twitter
- Still interested in the December Product Reviews Update? I just published a companion Web Story to my blog post about the update. The Web Story contains key findings for site owners and SEOs. Includes dueling machine learning a, Glenn Gabe 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.
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.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Golf Tee T-Shirt

Andy Stewart is a Creative Director at Google and he posted this really cool t-shirt design he made. He calls it the Google Golf Club tee shirt. Maybe there is a golf club at Google that he is a part of.
He posted 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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