SEARCHENGINES
Google Search Showing Fewer Brand Names In Search Result Titles

Google may be showing less site names and brand names in the title of the search results snippet. Yes, Google has a sitename and favicon change for the search results, so maybe Google is less likely to repeat the site name in the title of the search result snippet because of that new search result layout design?
Google may be showing fewer site names and brand names in the title of the search results snippet. I received a couple of complaints about this and now the Screaming Frog team also noticed it. So I think this is legit and maybe it will stick, maybe it won’t but SEOs and site owners are noticing the lack of site names in the title of the snippet.
For example, search for Air Jordan shoes return Nike.com and as you can see from the snippet, it just says “Jordan Shoes” in the title. Yes, the favicon and site name are above, but the title tag says “Jordan Shoes. Nike.com” but Google just shows “Jordan Shoes” in the snippet.
Similar with this American Airline snippet, it shows “Find New York to Miami flights” but the title tag says “American Airlines® – Find New York to Miami flights.”
Here is what Screaming Frog posted:
Looks like over the last week, Google has started showing less brand names at the end of SERP titles. Makes sense with site names already. pic.twitter.com/blh0d4Thd4
— Screaming Frog (@screamingfrog) March 28, 2023
The logic makes sense:
Yup, not really needed as much with site names!
— Screaming Frog (@screamingfrog) March 28, 2023
John Mueller thinks that is why:
Isn’t this just a side-effect of showing the site name a line above the title? https://t.co/v1RMUGoPyK
— johnmu likes 🥚 staplers 🥚 (@JohnMu) March 28, 2023
In any event, this may be happening intentionally and SEOs are noticing.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Doesn’t Allow Charitable Donations In Exchange For Business Reviews

Google has told Joy Hawkins that giving charitable donations in exchange for a positive review on your Google Business Profile listing is against its guidelines.
It would go specifically against the fake engagement policy that reads, “Paying, incentivizing or encouraging the posting of content that does not represent a genuine experience.” A charitable donation would be considered “incentivizing” and thus against the rules.
Joy wrote, “In this case, the person leaving the review isn’t technically receiving the incentive since the money is going to a charity, but Google confirmed it is still against the guidelines. Although the user leaving the review technically isn’t getting the money, it can still lead to bias towards a positive review given the incentive of a donation. Ultimately, Google doesn’t want the customer experience to be swayed either way.”
How does Google know this? That is a totally different story.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
SEARCHENGINES
A Home Away From Home Google NYC Mural

Here is a photo of a newish mural put up in the Google New York City office. It was named “A Home Away From Home.” The artist, Carla Torres posted it on Instagram and wrote “I had these photos of the final result and some process of “A Home Away From Home” mural for Google NYC. It was so much fun to work on this piece I enjoyed every minute of it. If you want to know more about the creative process behind it please see the video next to this post.”
Here is the embed:
This post is part of our daily Search Photo of the Day column, where we find fun and interesting photos related to the search industry and share them with our readers.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Bard Gives More Precise Local Results

Google released an update to Google Bard last night that allows you to share your precise location with Bard for it to give you more accurate and relevant local results.
Google wrote, “Bard can start providing more relevant responses if you choose to let it use your device’s precise location. You can manage your preferences in location settings Opens in a new window.” Google said this “helps Bard provide more relevant responses about restaurants near you and many other things about your area.”
When you go to Bard, you might see this overlay asking you to share your precise location:
It says, “Bard uses location from your Google Account’s Home and Work addresses and your IP address. Learn more about location settings. To get more relevant responses, you can also choose to let Bard use your device’s precise location. Use your precise location for Bard? You can change your settings anytime.”
I tried it last night and the local results were not too precise but I am sure they will improve.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
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