Google is testing adding a new rich result type to the search results snippet named “Shop nearby.” The shop nearby link will open the Google Business Profile of the business’s website.

We have seen similar snippets before with city names in the snippets and also shop nearby features but this is a variation of that, I believe.

This new one was posted by SERP Alerts (Brodie Clark) on X and SERP notes, here is a screenshot:

Here is the video of this in action:

This local SEO test seems to work quite well. A ‘shop nearby’ rich result is appearing for some eComm stores, triggering the GBP hover panel for the closest store to show. The fast loading panel on mobile works well. Details: https://t.co/WupmipgeQg cc @DarrenShaw_ @mblumenthal pic.twitter.com/Hid1O0SU3U

— SERP Alert (@SERPalerts) October 21, 2024

Forum discussion at X.

Note: This was pre-written and scheduled to be posted today, I am currently offline for Simchat Torah.

Google may have hit Fortune Recommends with a search penalty, downgrading its Google search rankings. This may be related to the site reputation abuse policy, like it may have done previously to Forbes Advisor a few weeks ago and some other large publications.

Fortune Recommends is hosted on a subfolder at fortune.com/recommends and is the product reviews arm of Fortune Media. Fortune says it publishes “unbiased research and information on the products and services readers use every day to make their lives better.”

It seems the site got hit around October 11th, as per Glenn Gabe who documented the hit in a post on X. Glenn wrote, “now Fortune Recommends is dropping heavily as of October 11th. And it’s a BIG drop in search visibility. I’m seeing close to 400K queries drop in position with many completely lost.”

Here are two charts, one from Sistrix and the other from Semrush, I believe:

Glenn asked, “is it a manual action for Site reputation abuse, or is it algorithmic like it seems for Forbes’ affiliate content? Only Google knows. Muahahaha.” Very true.

As we previously covered, the site reputation abuse policy is still not algorithmic, this does seem to be a manual action, that Google actually started to enforce back in May. But when I spoke to Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, he said the site reputation abuse policy will be manually enforced for a long time.

Google also updated its spam guidelines a few weeks ago and added more detail about site reputation abuse.

Here is Glenn’s post:

I’ve already covered how Forbes Advisor and APNews Buyline both dropped heavily, but now Fortune Recommends is dropping heavily as of October 11th. And it’s a BIG drop in search visibility. I’m seeing close to 400K queries drop in position with many completely lost. So, is it a… pic.twitter.com/ACBR2S1pVX

— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) October 22, 2024

Maybe it was hit because of this post on X?

For example: https://t.co/xSUJukW8xghttps://t.co/0nxcZH8pqR

— Goog Enough (@Goog_Enough) October 17, 2024

I mean, it seems algorithmic but who knows…

Forum discussion at X.

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.

Nick Fox has replaced Prabhakar Raghavan as the head of Google Search. Google LSA has this new request competitive quotes sneaky feature. Google will pause ads post elections temporarily. Google is testing generative AI throughout the search results. Yep, and we have more Google ranking volatility.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Google Search Ranking Volatility Continues October 19th & 20th
  
  
  Nope, Google won’t let up with its Google Search ranking volatility. We are seeing sites that are showing better rankings one day, only to see those rankings jump back up the next day and continue to see this pattern over and over again. It is like Google cannot make up its mind and it is beyond unusual to see this happening for this long of a period of time.
• 
  Nick Fox New Lead Of Google Search; Replaced Prabhakar Raghavan
  
  
  Nick Fox is now the new head of Google Search, replacing Prabhakar Raghavan who is moving into Chief Technologist role at Google. Nick Fox has been with Google since July 2003 and is someone we have quoted here for 20 years on this site.
• 
  Google To Pause Ads Related To Elections After Polls Close On Nov. 5
  
  
  Google will temporarily pause ads related to the US elections after the polls close on November 5th. Google said this “is a temporary measure, and we will notify advertisers when this policy is lifted.”
• 
  Google Local Service Ads At It Again With Request Competitive Quotes
  
  
  Google is at it again, double dipping on Local Service Ads clicks, by adding a “Request competitive quotes” button after you have already selected the business you want a quote from. Google is now showing you other competitive to get quotes from, even though you clicked on a specific business.





• 
  Google Generative AI Snippets Throughout Search Results
  
  
  Google has been doing a lot with generative AI and I know some of you have seen featured snippets, some knowledge panels, local listings and other forms of generative AI in the search results. Here is an example of Google Search placing generative AI snippets and cards within the middle of the search results, in the featured snippets things to know like results.
• 
  Sundar Pichai Takes Selfie With Pikachu Pokémon
  
  
  Here is a photo of Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google, taking a selfie with Pikachu from the Pokémon series. He did this at the Google offices in Japan a few weeks back.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

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