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 may have done another search algorithm update around May 1st, but the prior week was pretty volatile anyway. Google says you can use hashtags in your meta descriptions if you want. Google Discover added a long tap to preview a story. Google Search added tips to dictionary results to give you similar sounding words. Google has changed the format for the SEO office hours – which is a bit concerning to me. I also released a vlog today with a former special ops and now PPC consultant, Lior Krolewicz.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• • Possible Google Search Algorithm Update May 1st With Rumbles All Week

    For the past week, I have been seeing a different pattern with a possible Google search ranking algorithm update. The forums and SEO discussion around a possible Google update was brewing a good part of last week but the automated tracking tools, most of them, didn’t really pick up signs of a Google update.

• • Google Discover Long Tap To Preview Stories For iOS Chrome

    Google has added long tap to preview for Google Discover within iOS for Chrome according to Glenn Gabe. Glenn Gabe posted about this on Twitter and said “Google just launched “long tap to preview” functionality in Discover in Chrome on iOS. Long tap the story & you see a preview of the article, you can open in a new tab, incognito, or add to your reading list.”

• • Google SEO Office Hours Change: John Mueller Won’t Record Answer To Live Questions

    Google’s John Mueller said there has been a change to the SEO office-hours format he hosts often on Google Meet and YouTube. The change is that Google will only record and post the video of questions submitted ahead of time, live questions will not be recorded and shared in the recorded version.

• • Google: You Can Use Hashtags In Meta Descriptions (#shouldyou?)

    Google’s John Mueller was asked if you could use hashtags in meta descriptions? He responded on Twitter saying #sure. But the bigger question is, should you use hashtags in meta descriptions?

• • Google Search Dictionary Has A Tip For Similar-Sounding Words

    Google has been offering dictionary search results over a dozen years and the search company continues to make tweaks to that feature. Google now will show a “tip” section on some terms that communicate “similar-sounding words” to the word you searched for.

• • Vlog #171: Lior Krolewicz On Being In The Special Ops & How Paid Search Has Changed

    Lior Krolewicz is the founder and CEO of Yael Consulting, a marketing consulting company. I’ve known Lior from when he was based in Israel, he spoke at a previous SMX Israel event back in the day. We spoke about his history in the space…

• • John Mueller With “It Depends” Google Shirt, Also He Has Hair

    Last Friday, John Mueller of Google posted a photo of Twitter of himself in a Google branded “It Depends” shirt and some hair on his head. I love how he can have fun with the industry like this – he i

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