SEARCHENGINES
Does Google Conduct Link Buying Sting Operations

A Reddit thread asks if Google engages in link-buying sting operations where they will pretend to want to buy a link and then use that to penalize the network. John Mueller of Google responded by saying, “I get sent offers all the time to an official Google email address.” That means, Google does not need to do that proactively; they come to Google without any official or necessary operation.
This question came up on Reddit, “That is, do they send out spam, disguised as marketers, to bloggers and publishers, asking to buy links on their websites, and then after completing the transaction, delisting them from Google for violating the paid links rule?”
I don’t think Google does this, but I know Googlers have received such communication via email over the years, unsolicited. And as John said, they even send them to official Google email addresses.
It seems like Google may use these emails against the network. This is not the first time Google has said this. Gary Illyes from Google in 2017 where someone emailed him about link buying based on DA. Heck, even in 2016, someone emailed Matt Cutts with paid link requests and in 2012 they sent it to a different Googler. In 2019, Gary Illyes from Google said they even talked to these folks. It is not smart to ask Googlers who work on Google Search to break their webmaster guidelines.
I know you all get these emails, not once or twice a month, but more like several times a day. So I am not surprised these go to Googlers without any need for Google to try to do some special operation to get them.
Forum discussion at Reddit.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Search Testing New Video Layout In Search

Google may be testing a new layout for videos it displays in the Google Search results. Google is testing a new format for how the videos show in the Google Search results.
This new format shows a larger video in the listings, as opposed to a smaller thumbnail image with more details. This was spotted by Khushal Bherwani on Twitter who shared the new and old screenshots.
New video format:
Old video format:
Google has been testing and displaying larger video thumbnails for some time, as an FYI.
I am not sure which one I like more, I would have to pick I guess the smaller thumbnail?
Forum discussion at Twitter.
SEARCHENGINES
Microsoft Bing Event Today – Expecting ChatGPT Search Integration

I am currently in Seattle and headed to the Microsoft Campus in Redmond for an in-person press event. I decided to go, assuming it would be related to ChatGPT and Bing but Microsoft would not tell me what it was about, nor would Microsoft let us say we are going to the event. Then yesterday at 2pm, when the news broke about Google Bard (story will be here), Microsoft said we can talk about the event.
So the news is out there that there is a event, see Techmeme. The email Microsoft sent says, “Microsoft has some exciting news coming in February and we’d like to invite you to an in-person experience at the Microsoft Campus in Redmond.”
“We can’t share a lot more at this stage, but you won’t want to miss it. This invitation is for you only, but if you’re unable to attend please let us know and we’ll see if we can consider another of your teammates,” Microsoft added.
Then after the Google news came out, Microsoft sent an email saying, “In light of recent announcements, you may now acknowledge your participation in tomorrow’s briefing in Redmond, leveraging the language in the briefing invitation.”
So yea, this press event seems to be about the Bing ChatGPT solution. I am very much looking forward to seeing what Microsoft Bing has to show here and I’ll be sharing the news here, on Search Engine Land and likely will be tweeting a ton @rustybrick. So make sure to follow me on Twitter to see the latest from Bing on this news.
And we have this photo of Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft with Sam Altman of OpenAI together last night:
hello from redmond! excited for the event tomorrow pic.twitter.com/b7TUr0ti42
— Sam Altman (@sama) February 6, 2023
I am expecting this to look a lot like the Bing ChatGPT interface leaks we covered earlier. Here are those screenshots:
Here is the home page screenshot that widens and enlarges the search box and says “Ask me anything”:
Here is his screenshot of the results, the answers being returned:
And here is the GIF he made of this:
Brain buzzing with all the search news and announcements this week! SEOs cannot sleep. What a time to be alive! The future is bright 🚀
— Fabrice Canel (@facan) February 7, 2023
More to come soon.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Search People Cards Visible In US

Back in 2020, Google Search introduced a feature named people cards. It was only available in India but now it seems like it might be expanding, as I can now see it in the United States.
Brian Freiesleben’s card, which he created when it was first announced by spoofing his location to be in India, is now showing up as a people card for searchers in the United States. Personally, I was able to bring it up on my mobile device in New York.
Here is a screenshot he shared of this on Twitter:
He said, “I found my name now triggers a ‘people card’. This was introduced in Google India back in 2020. I spoofed my location back then to create the card and now (finally) it’s appearing.”
Glenn Gabe was able to replicate it as well:
Thanks!
Man, I have tried to kill that flickr page so many times…it pops back like a weed every time. This is new motivation to try to unlock that account and delete it haha.
— Brian Freiesleben (@type_SEO) February 3, 2023
Forum discussion at Twitter.
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