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More “Google Explore” Testing As The Dynamic SERP Feature Now Covers Topics, People, and Even Companies

Published

1 year ago

November 16, 2022

Google Shopping Search Discover Filter For Black, Women, Veteran & Latino Owned Businesses

In June of 2022, Mordy Oberstein first spotted a new SERP feature being tested called Google Explore. That’s where a feed of content shows up after a user scrolls through several pages in the mobile SERPs. It has a special treatment in the SERPs and looks like the combination of Search and Discover. As of now, Explore contains a lot of article content and videos. Since it does resemble Discover, I’ve been joking that a Web Stories and Short Videos carousel could end up there (and maybe it will!)

After Mordy spotted Explore, I was able to trigger it a number of times and covered it in my post about the latest experiments and SERP features I was seeing. It’s a wild feature and I’ve been in the test many times since then.

I’m seeing Google Explore more and more recently…

Well, over the past few weeks I have seen Explore more and more in the mobile SERPs. I’m not sure if it has officially rolled out, or if this is just more testing, but it’s worth noting. And I’m seeing Explore trigger for a range of queries, including people and companies now. Melissa Fach pinged me on Twitter about Explore triggering for various companies she was searching for and I was able to replicate that yesterday.

For example, you can see Explore showing up for various types of queries in the tweets below:

Here is Explore showing up for Aaron Rodgers:

More Google Explore activity. I’m now seeing Explore trigger for people, as well as topics. I love how the first category in Explore for Aaron Rodgers is about him playing the guitar. 🙂 That said, there are many subtopics showing for Aaron… pic.twitter.com/dSlLlKQ9XE
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) November 14, 2022
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Here is Explore showing up for Tom Cruise (via Khushal Bherwani):

Yes, 🧵 pic.twitter.com/XPrld9UNSG
— Khushal Bherwani (@b4k_khushal) November 14, 2022

And here is Explore showing up for Wix (via Mordy Oberstein):

Yeah def see them for companies but often not as prolific pic.twitter.com/2mWBeyCnVL
— Mordy Oberstein 🇺🇦 (@MordyOberstein) November 14, 2022

Tracking Google Explore in GSC: Good luck.

I’ve said several times on Twitter after triggering Explore, good luck trying to track the feature in GSC!

And believe me, I have tried tracking it… Well, after triggering Explore many times in the SERPs, I ended up tracking an article showing up in Explore from one of my clients. It showed up in GSC in the Performance reporting under Web Search and ranked #32 in the SERPs…

Let’s face it, there’s no way I would be able to tie that to Explore unless I knew it was showing up there. So, you could very well have Explore data in GSC right now, but there’s no way to surface it specifically as Explore. That’s why a filter in GSC for “Explore” would be amazing.

I checked for GSC when a client was ranking there, it’s like normal Web Search (so you won’t know it’s from Explore). If this ever rolls out, they should add a filter for Explore (but I’m not sure that would happen). 🙂
— Glenn Gabe (@glenngabe) September 10, 2022

Google (Sort Of) Officially Announces Explore At Search On 2022:

During the Search On 2022 live stream, Google did mention that Explore was rolling out, but it seemed focused on travel-related queries. They didn’t cover Explore heavily but did mention it (see the video clip below). And Barry was one of the few people to actually document what he called “Scroll to Explore” in his blog post recapping Search On 2022.

Here is the segment from Search On 2022 where Google explains you’ll be able to “scroll and then branch out and get inspired by related topics…”

Be on the lookout for Explore:

So, if you publish a lot of article content, videos, etc., then be on the lookout for Google Explore in the mobile SERPs. You can trigger it by scrolling several pages on mobile. Sometimes it triggers after just one or two scrolls, but other times it requires four to five scrolls. Again, it’s a fascinating SERP feature that is flying under the radar right now. So scroll away and see what you find.

Forum discussion at Twitter.

Source: www.seroundtable.com

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Daily Search Forum Recap: April 19, 2024

Published

3 hours ago

April 20, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

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.

Google is testing more ad formats for its search ads. BingBot is testing new compression methods. Google said it is unlikely your rankings would drop just because you have two or more sites. Google says the indexing API might work for unsupported formats. Google said hyphenated domains are not bad by themselves. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Core Update Flux, AdSense Ad Intent, California Link Tax & More

The Google March 2024 core update is still rolling out, almost 6 weeks now, and we saw two shifts of ranking volatility, both mid-week and the weekend before. Google’s Danny Sullivan went on the defensive on search quality and forum listings…

Google Tests More Google Ad Card Formats

Google is testing another ad format, another card like format, for its search ads. We previously saw the vertical and tall ad cards, then the carousel horizontal card format and now here are just plain horizontal ad cards.

Google: It’s Unlikely Your Rankings Dropped Because You Have Two Websites

Google was asked if having two websites and Google finding out about them would cause the websites to drop in rankings. John Mueller from Google said that is “not likely,” adding that many people have several websites and that is fine.

Google: Indexing API May Work For Unsupported Content But…

Gary Illyes from Google said in the recent Google SEO office hours the Google Indexing API may work for unsupported content formats, but that you shouldn’t be “surprised if suddenly it stopped working for unsupported verticals overnight.”

Google: Are Hyphenated Domains Are Bad For Google Ranking?

The topic of using hyphens in domain names is one of the oldest SEO topics we have in this space. Heck, in 2004, SEOs said there was a specific Google ranking algorithm that filtered out domains with hyphens in them (Google did not by the way).

Bingbot To Test Zstd Compression After Fully Gaining Full Brotli Compression

Fabrice Canel from Microsoft announced that BingBot now fully supports Brotli compression and will soon be testing zstd Zstandard compression, a lossless data compression, for its crawler.

Google Cloud Socks

Google loves to print socks for its various swag and here are two variations of socks from the Google Cloud team. I like the white socks because they look more retro but here are nicer versions as well.

Other Great Search Threads:

From a practical POV, you can specify your prices using structured data on the page, with a merchant center feed (which many ecommerce systems can make for you) or manually in merchant center., John Mueller on X

I passed this on. I don’t think there’s anything special going on here, but the feedback on this being confusing is good to pass on., John Mueller on X

If you have older reports that are still helpful, you’ll just need to click the View “button” and access ones you want to remain active., AdsLiaison on X

The way I see this is more that there are things which can be recognized & ignored, but a site might still be appropriate to show (I don’t know this site/query). Folks get bad SEO advice, and if that can be neutralized granularly without broader effects, , John Mueller on X

Search Engine Land Stories:

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, on Threads, Mastodon and Bluesky and you can follow us on Facebook and on Google News and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

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Daily Search Forum Recap: April 18, 2024

Published

1 day ago

April 19, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

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.

Google Ads notified advertisers that some ad customizers will stop working soon. Google discontinued the limited use video carousel markup. Google Maps has new directions and travel features, plus a bunch of new EV features. Google Notes on Search might not end in May 2024 despite what people suggest. Google Business Profiles asked businesses to register their defibrillators, their AEDs.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Google Notes On Search Won’t Necessarily Go Away In May

There have been some people noticing that the Google Notes On Search labs experiment has an end date of May 2024 and thus they are expecting Notes on Search to be turned off by then. Just because it has that end date listed, it does not mean the labs experiment will end on that date.

Google Maps Releases New Directions, Travel & EV Features

Google has announced a number of new travel features with Google Maps and Travel around driving alternatives, trains and buses, travel impact mode and then some new EV driving direction features. Google says these features are to give you more “sustainable choices.”

Google Ads Reminds Advertisers Some Ad Customizers Will Go Away May 31st

On August 31, 2021, Google notified advertisers it would drop support for expanded text ads for responsive search ads. Google is now reminding advertisers that Ad customizers for text ads, expanded text ads and Dynamic Search Ads will stop serving after May 31, 2024.

Google Drops Video Carousel Markup

Google has discontinued its support for video carousel markup and has thus removed it from its video structured data help documentation. Initially, Google tested video carousel on a limited number of sites and is now saying that it “ultimately found that it wasn’t useful for the ecosystem at scale.”

Google Business Profiles Register Your Defibrillator (AED)

Google sent out emails a couple of days ago to businesses asking them to register their Automated External Defibrillator (AED) with Google Business Profiles. Google said, “you could save lives” if you do it.

Google NYC Earthquake Reaction Video

A couple of weeks ago we had an earthquake in the New York region and I finally found a video from the Google NYC office of the reaction of some Googlers while the earthquake happened. These Googlers were recording a video and felt it but were unsure if that was a real earthquake.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Feedback:

SEARCHENGINES

Daily Search Forum Recap: April 17, 2024

Published

2 days ago

April 18, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

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.

The Google March core update still is causing volatility and it is deepening. Google may make changes to the crawl stats report in Search Console. Google Search Console now shows unused ownership tokens. Google Maps will drop the review drafts. Google Add added generative AI for image generate for Demand Gen campaigns. Google Search is testing more sitelinks designs.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

Deepening Google Core Ranking Volatility Hits Yesterday & Today

I know we just reported on more volatility this Monday, possibly related to the Google March 2024 core update, but we are seeing even more volatility over the past 24 hours related to this update. This volatility shows deepening movement for those who were hit, which is incredibly sad in many cases.

Google Search Console Adds Unused Ownership Tokens

Google Search Console has a new security feature under user and permission management to help you manage your unused ownership tokens. Basically, it helps you manage who has permissions to your Search Console profiles and who should not, maybe some legacy verifications.

Google: Should We Explain The Crawl Stats Report in Search Console

Martin Splitt from Google posted a one-line question asking, “Should we do something to explain the crawl stats report in GSC?” This was posted on Mastodon, which has a small audience, but the responses were pretty good.

New Google Ads AI Generated Image Tool For Demand Gen Campaigns

Google Ads announced that Demand Gen campaigns are getting generative AI tools to create image assets. This is rolling out to advertisers around the world in English with more languages to come later this year, Google said.

Google Tests Horizontal Lines For Sitelinks & People Also Ask

Google Search is testing horizontal lines under the sitelinks and the people also ask elements in the search results. This is a long horizontal line that goes across the while search result snippet.

Google Maps No Longer Will Support Draft Reviews

Google Maps will soon stop supporting drafting reviews for local business listings and Google Business Profiles. Google said that starting July 16, 2024, review drafts will no longer be supported.

Doogler In Google Play Area

Some of you love photos of dogs, so here is another one of a Doogler, a Google dog, in a play area, at the Google office. This was shared by the Life at Google Twitter account.