SEARCHENGINES
DOJ Sues Google Again To Break Up Its Ad Business
The big news out of yesterday was that the US Department of Justice and several states has once again sued Google calling for the breakup of its ad tech business that allegedly monopolizes the US ad market. Google of course does not agree with this action.
Nicole Farley does a really good job explaining all of this on Search Engine Land, plus there is a ton of content written by humans and machines consolidated at Techmeme, so check that out. I personally hate covering legal news but my gut, this lawsuit will make a big dent in Google – although, it will likely drag out for a while.
Bloomberg wrote, “The lawsuit we have filed today seeks to hold Google to account for what we allege are its longstanding monopolies in digital advertising technologies that content creators use to sell ads and advertisers use to buy ads on the open Internet,” said the Justice Department’s antitrust chief Jonathan Kanter in a news conference Tuesday announcing the suit.”
Google responds, DOJ is doubling down on a flawed argument that would slow innovation, raise advertising fees and make it harder for thousands of small businesses and publishers to grow. We’ve already responded in detail to many similar claims made in the complaint led by the Texas Attorney General.”
Here is the DOJ statement that says, “As alleged in the complaint, over the past 15 years, Google has engaged in a course of anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct that consisted of neutralizing or eliminating ad tech competitors through acquisitions; wielding its dominance across digital advertising markets to force more publishers and advertisers to use its products; and thwarting the ability to use competing products. In doing so, Google cemented its dominance in tools relied on by website publishers and online advertisers, as well as the digital advertising exchange that runs ad auctions.”
Didn’t this happen before? Yes, the DOJ previously sued Google in 2020 for this as well.
Here is what some folks in the search industry think:
This is good news for Amazon. Amazon has been signing up publishers left and right. Any kind of FUD for publishers will accelerate that process.
— Tony Zara 🪣 (@tonyzara) January 24, 2023
idk, but someone needs to start a class action for their #LSA platform which is being completely neglected..
— Len (@lenraleigh) January 24, 2023
To call this industry monopolistic is a gross understatement.🫠
— Alain Machado (@Alainmachado7) January 24, 2023
I mean they kinda have a point about Google dominance
— dan72ros (@dan72ros) January 25, 2023
You can’t dismantle the ad division from the core google service. It will take away EXACTLY what makes the ads so targeted… and annoying.
— BenzoJones (@benzojones) January 24, 2023
Plus the timing is a little ironic with the emergence of bigger-than-ever threats to Google’s search engine dominance.
— Steve Chipman (@SteveChipman) January 24, 2023
Consumers have choice. There are numerous ad networks. Google ≠ monopoly.
— Steve Huskey (@TalkNerdie2Me) January 25, 2023
This should be a fun year or so for Google…
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
SEARCHENGINES
Google’s Search Liaison Urges Patience As The March 2024 Core Update Continues To Rollout
Google is urging site owners and SEOs to have patience as the Google March 2024 core update continues to roll out over the coming weeks. Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, said on X to wait for the update to complete before deciding on what changes you may want to make.
He wrote, “I would let the update complete before deciding if there are any fundamental changes you might want to make.” In fact, he said, “There might not be any to do at all,” and maybe whatever ranking declines you are seeing now won’t be there when the update is done rolling out.
As a reminder, the March 2024 core update started officially on March 5th, then we first saw ranking shifts on March 8th and 9th, then some reversals on March 12th and then more movement on March 15th. The update can take a full month to roll out, so it may go into April 2024.
Sullivan then went into what other changes or factors may lead to a site seeing less search visibility and traffic.
Your site seems clean and nice. Going through the site, I see [steak pie] as one of your featured recipes. You’re in the carousel and second in web links for that. That’s a pretty solid sign that we like your content.
If you were previously first, trying to move up from second by doing a lot of technical and content stuff wouldn’t be something I’d recommend. Second is super successful. Rankings can also change for various reasons, so you might move back up.
You might also look to see if there’s any seasonal change. IE: instead of looking at rankings, look at your traffic. If it was higher previously, what for? Perhaps you had some seasonal recipes a few months ago that people are looking for less. We have a page about debugging traffic drops that talks about seasonality here.
Here are those posts within context:
I would let the update complete before deciding if there are any fundamental changes you might want to make. There might not be any to do at all.
Your site seems clean and nice. Going through the site, I see [steak pie] as one of your featured recipes. You’re in the carousel and…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 15, 2024
Please be kind in your responses.
Forum discussion at X.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More
For the original iTunes version, click here.
This past weekend (a week ago) we saw the first ranking volatility likely from the Google March 2024 core update. We also some saw possible reversals or recoveries a few days later. Then today, Friday, March 15th, I am seeing more ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates. Google posted its official FAQs for pure spam manual actions. Google has clarified its page experience and core web vitals help documentation and how it relates to rankings. Google has replaced FID with INP as a core web vital metric, as expected. Google said sites use AI for some articles but don’t specify which are the lowest quality pages. Google explains that double down on AI content may be a bad idea now. John Mueller’s site dropped out of the Google index this week, no joke. Bing Webmaster Tools may provide up to 24 months of data. Bing Webmaster Tools’s new top SEO insights report can tell you if you have inadequate links. Bingbot now supports Brotli compression. Google Top Stories has this “more context” section written by AI. Google image search is testing like buttons. Google Local panels are testing numerous interface changes. Google local reviews can show photos related to reviews and related photos to photos. Google is testing placing website links next to hotels and restaurants. Google Business Profiles shows services with book now buttons. Google Merchant Center Product Studio released themed templates, with the first being for St. Patrick’s Day. Microsoft Advertising is testing a new advertising console. Microsoft Copilot is now using GPT-4 Turbo. Copilot is now in that Microsoft Advertising console. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.
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Search Topics of Discussion:
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SEARCHENGINES
Daily Search Forum Recap: March 15, 2024
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.
We’re seeing more ranking fluctuations likely related to the Google March core and spam updates. Google Merchant Center Product Studio has new AI generated themed templates, one ready for St. Patrick’s Day. Google Image search is testing thumbs up like buttons. Google tests dishes near me. Google has trending icons in the people also search for section. Plus, I posted the weekly SEO video recap.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
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Google March 2024 Core & Spam Update Movement Today
Today is day 10 of the Google March 2024 core update rollout and Google March 2024 spam update. We believe we saw the core update touch down on March 8th and 9th and some possible recoveries or fluctuations on March 12th. Now I see more signs of Google search ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates today. -
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Core Update Rumbling, Manual Actions FAQs, Core Web Vitals Updates, AI, Bing, Ads & More
This past weekend (a week ago) we saw the first ranking volatility likely from the Google March 2024 core update. We also some saw possible reversals or recoveries a few days later. Then today, Friday, March 15th, I am seeing more ranking volatility likely related to the core and spam updates. Google posted…. -
Google Merchant Center Product Studio With Themed Templates Including St. Patrick’s Day
Google Merchant Center has added new themed templates to the Product Studio. The new theme was for St. Patrick’s Day, which is coming up this Sunday. But Google will soon add Easter, Spring, and Mother’s Day themed templates to the Product Studio as well. -
Google Image Search Results Testing Like Button
Google seems to be testing a like, thumbs-up, button on image search results. The thumbs-up icon is near the share and save button and below the image, description and visit button. -
Google Search Dishes Nearby Carousel
Have you seen the “dishes nearby” carousel in the mobile Google Search results? I am not 100% sure if it is new, but I don’t think I’ve covered it before. But Google will show dishes served by nearby restaurants in a carousel interface. -
Google People Also Search For Trending Icons
Google is placing trending icons on some of the people also search for people in the knowledge panel. We’ve seen various forms of this and I don’t think this is specifically new, but I don’t think I covered this specific example. -
Wall Of Superstars At Google
Here is a photo from the Google Hong Kong office of a wall that says “Superstars at Google” and it then shows photos, names and descriptions of specific Googlers.
Other Great Search Threads:
- Bing is testing a large font size for the first title on Bing SERP., Shameem Adhikarath on X
- Google, in an effort to display and prioritize even more expertise, is showing a short bio of who the person is who’s writing or tweeting about a “Perspective” Notice how they add “covers technology” This looks very ve, Shalom Goodman on X
- Are these JavaScript Errors Anything to Worry About?, Reddit
- I think this might be new (DMA), for bus and train searches. Don’t recall a “Transport sites” module (like the Places sites one) being mentioned in Google’s announcements…, Lluc B. Penycate on X
- Perplexity’s integration of Yelp data is imperfect but points to exciting times ahead for “Local AI.”, Greg Sterling on X
- Want your mind blown today? -> Ray Kurzweil is Google’s AI visionary and has over *61* years of experience with AI. Yes, 61. On Rogan’s podcast, he covered a number of topics that would blow your mind. To say he knows his stuff AI-wi, Glenn Gabe on X
Search Engine Land Stories:
Other Great Search Stories:
Industry & Business
Links & Content Marketing
Local & Maps
- How Local Businesses Inspire Love, Loyalty, and Friendship, Moz
- Apple Maps Cycling Directions Expand to Austria, Belgium, and Sweden, MacRumors
- Apple Maps vs. Google Maps: Which Is Better?, MacRumors
- Istanbul construction pit mistaken as lake on Google, Apple, Yandex maps, Daily Sabah
Mobile & Voice
SEO
PPC
Other Search
Feedback:
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