SEARCHENGINES
Microsoft Advertising Rolls Out Automotive Ads, New Ad Formats, More Bidding Options & More

Microsoft announced its monthly updates for the Microsoft Advertising platform. This includes rolling out automotive ads, new ad formats, more bidding options, vertical ads and so much more.
I am not going to go through all the announcements, you can read them on the Microsoft blog linked above.
Automotive Ads Rolling Out
Microsoft Advertising has been testing automotive ads since last year and now said it is rolling it out to all. Microsoft said it is currently “piloting vertical ads in areas like Travel and Financial services, and today we’re delighted to share that we’ll be making Automotive Ads generally available to all advertisers globally in the coming weeks!”
Vertical-Based Ads
Microsoft explained how vertical ads work saying they “are different for each category or industry. They focus on information that a specific consumer is looking for and provide it in an engaging, easy-to-read format, pre-click, and with images.”
Vertical ad content comes from dynamic data feeds. They use search intent data, and a deep understanding of users’ needs to connect customers to richer ad experiences that break through the clutter. Microsoft artificial intelligence (AI) uses these feeds to source all attributes displayed in the ads, using advertisers’ existing digital catalogs. It also minimizes the time and resources required to set up and manage campaigns on our network.
More…
- Microsoft is now available in 64 markets globally—with more markets coming later this year.
- You can now use Dynamic Remarketing for Travel, Automotive, and Events. Once you have your dynamic data feed, you have two options to get set up with Dynamic Remarketing on the Microsoft Audience Network.
- Video ads allows you choose between three different bidding options for video; reach/impressions, video views, and website visits
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Source: www.seroundtable.com
SEARCHENGINES
Google Search Console Verification Does Not Impact Your Ranking In Google Search

Gary Illyes of Google said in the Google SEO office-hours from yesterday that verifying your website in Google Search Console won’t impact your Google Search indexing or ranking whatsoever.
Gary said, “Having your site verified in Search Console or changing the verification code and method has no effect on indexing or ranking whatsoever.”
John Mueller of Google previously said that Search Console verification doesn’t help with crawling either.
Gary added later that Search Console gives you data and analytics that can help you make improvements to your site to help you rank better in Google Search potentially. “You can use the data that Search Console gives you to improve your site and thus potentially do better in Search with your site, but otherwise has no effect on search whatsoever,” he added.
Here is the video embed at the 15:27 mark:
Forum discussion at Twitter.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Say Most Common Reason For Blocking Googlebot Are Firewalls or CDNs Issues

Gary Illyes from Google posted a new PSA on LinkedIn saying that the most common reason a site unexpectedly blocks Googlebot from crawling is due to a misconfiguration of a firewall or CDN.
Gary wrote, “check what traffic your firewalls and CDN are blocking.” “By far the most common issue in my inbox is related to firewalls or CDNs blocking googlebot traffic. If I reach out to the blocking site, in the vast majority of the cases the blockage is unintended.”
So what can you do? Gary said, “I’ve said this before, but want to emphasize it again: make a habit of checking your block rules. We publish our IP ranges so it should be very easy to run an automation that checks the block rules against the googlebot subnets.”
Gary linked to this help document for more details.
In short, do what you can to test to see if your site is accessible to Googlebot. You can use the URL inspection tool in Google Search Console, as one method. Also, confirm with your CDN or firewall company that they are allowing Googlebot and ask them to prove it.
Forum discussion at on LinkedIn.
SEARCHENGINES
Google Search Testing More Card Box Like Buttons In Search

Google is testing more card and box-like elements in the search results. We covered this with the product results interface a few weeks back but now we are seeing them for other elements.
Here are screenshots shared with me of these designs:
Via @b4k_khushal:
Via @mblumenthal via @b4k_khushal:
I kind of like them but I might be wrong. 🙂
Forum discussion at Twitter.
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