Google Search Explore Tests “Return to Top” Button
Google is testing a “return to top” button at the bottom of the Explore section in the search results. Previously, you had to manually scroll to the top, but now you can just jump to the top with the click of a button.
Google Ads New Trademarks Policy Now Requires An Appeal Form
A couple of months ago we reported Google will be changing its Google Ads trademark policies to do away with the ability to have industry-wide blocks for trademarked terms. Instead, you will need to do this on the specific advertiser level. Google sai…
Google Tests New Local Search Ad Format
About a month ago, I spotted a new ad format in the Google Search results that had this local pack vibe. I shared it around, seeing if anyone else would notice it but I didn’t hear back. The new ad format looks like a local result but has a sponsored…
Google Removes @ID from Site Name Markup Documentation
Google has removed the @id mentions in the site name documentation calling the use of @id “unneeded.” If you compare the old version of the page to the new version, you will see the example code that shows @id lines were removed.
Google Search Generative Experience Does Not Show Snapshot Answers For Original Responses
The other day Agile SEO posted on Twitter an example of Google’s Search Generative Experience not showing any answer boxes, aka snapshots, for an answer it generated. Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, responded by saying Google would do that wh…
Google: Content Written By Tapping Into Popular Searches Is Likely Not People-First Content
Danny Sullivan, Google’s Search Liaison, commented about a popular tactic content marketers use before writing content – using trending keyword tools to find topics that are trending or popular now. Sullivan wrote “Content with the primary purpose of t…
Google: We Don’t Archive Our Own Search Result Pages
Google’s John Mueller was asked if Google stores a permanent or semi-permanent copy of its own search result pages for future reference. John replied basically saying no, because it is not an efficient use of Google’s resources.
Google Business Profile Adds View As Customer Link
Google is testing adding a “view as customer” link to your Google Business Profile web search dashboard. This, I assume, allows you to view your business listing in web search as a customer would see it and not as you, the owner, would see it.
New Google Business Profile Policies Overview Page
Google has launched a new help document that gives business owners an overview of the Google Business Profile policies. I received an email about this update yesterday that read, “we’re simplifying our policies and guidelines.”
Vlog #234: Fabrice Canel On Sitemaps & Next Big Thing In Search
In part one, we learned more about Fabrice Canel of Microsoft Bing and spoke about indexing quality. In part two we dig more into the concern around content generation through generative AI tools and IndexNow…
Google’s Revised Site Name Questions & Resources Thread
With the updates to Site names last week, Google decided to post a revised set of questions, FAQs, resources, support and timelines on the whole Google Search site name bit in the Google Webmaster Help forums.
Bing Chat New Infrastructure Upgrade Taking Longer Than Expected – 30% Out
Microsoft is working hard to upgrade the Bing Chat infrastructure. This will not only make Bing Chat faster and more reliable but also enable features like third-party plugins and nosearch. But this upgrade is taking longer than expected, according to…
Can You Spot The Ad Label On These Microsoft Bing Search Ads?
Here are two screenshots of search ads in the Bing Search results. Let me know how long it takes you to find the “ad” label on these ads. It took me a while, like a good 20-30 seconds to find the ad label on these ads.
Google Search Tests Bold & Underlined Title Links For Snippets & Triangle About This Result Icon
Google seems to be testing bolding and underlining the title links in the search results snippets in the mobile search interface. Google is also testing a triangular format for the three dots icon used for the about this result feature.
Google Drops Google News Sitemap Validation & Errors Help Documents
Google has removed a couple of the Google News sitemaps help documentation. I should note, it seems these were removed a very long time ago, but the links to those documents still exist – but return a 404, page not found error.
Daily Search Forum Recap: July 28, 2023
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 says AI-generated reviews are spam according to Merchant Center policies…
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Ranking Cooling But Chatter Heated, AI Reviews, TLDs, Programmatic SEO, UI Changes, Bing Dark, Local, Earnings & More
This week, we noticed that many, but not all, of the Google rank tracking tools were cooling, but then later this week, the SEO chatter heated up. Google Merchant Center says AI-generated reviews are spam. John, Gary…
New Google Merchant Center Policy Says AI Generated Reviews Are Spam & Disallowed
Google has posted a new policy saying AI-generated reviews are against its policies, disallowed and considered spam. If you find such content, Google said you must mark it as spam in your feed with the is_spam attribute.
Google Site Names In Search Results Updated With More Subdomain Support & Workarounds
As Google promised, it has updated its support for site names in its search results. Google said it has expanded support for subdomains and also has compiled more information on how site names work in Google Search. Plus, Google had documented a few w…
Google Officially Rolling Out New Search Settings Interface
Ashwarya, Google Search Community Manager, posted that Google Search will soon roll out “a new experience to make access to key items easier on the Search Results Page on the web.” In short, it is a new way to access Google Search Settings on desktop a…