Google 1/11 Search Algorithm Update, Manual Actions Delayed, Core Update Specifics & Microsoft Bing IndexNow News

We had our first unconfirmed Google search ranking algorithm update of the 2022 year, it was on January 11th. Google admitted that there is a backlog of responding to manual actions. Google said they want to share more specifics on core updates but are not allowed to. IndexNow co-sharing URLs is now fully live between Microsoft Bing and Yandex. Google said fluff content is hard for it to understand but yet it seems Google ranks the content well. Many SEOs said they will still buy links in 2022 despite it being against Google’s webmaster guidelines. Google said for links to be counted, they need to be on indexed pages and even then Google might not count them. Google is still recommending you disavow whole domain names. Google reminded us that the search quality raters guidelines are not designed for SEOs. Most SEOs are not confident in strategy around Google Discover. SEOs said they will focus more resources on content this year. Do not, I repeat, do not block users from slower regions to speed up your core web vitals. Google Business Profiles now makes new owners and managers wait seven days to make changes. Google is testing trending videos in the mobile search results. Google is testing web stories for NFL games. Google Ads launched a disapproved ads auditor tool code. And a poll shows that 90% of SEOs are vaccinated – go figure. 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.

SPONSOR: This week’s video recap is sponsored by Semrush.

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