Microsoft Email: Use The Bing WordPress URL Submission Plugin
Microsoft sent me an email yesterday asking me to use the Bing URL Submissions Plugin for my WordPress site. No, this is not a WordPress site, but the intent was nice. Plus, this site already integrates with the URL submission API directly. So I am n…
Google Posts Spike In Rejection Notices
There may be a bug with the Google My Business Google Posts feature. There is a spike in the number of complaints about rejection notices for Google Posts. So when a business owner posts an update to Google Posts, those updates are more likely to be …
Microsoft Bing Three Column Search Results, A Test Or Bug
Frank Sandtmann, an SEO who sends me tips every now and then, sent me a screenshot of Microsoft Bing showing three columns in the search results interface. I suspect it is a bug because it just looks wrong and when I collapse the screen, the right box …
Google Officially Adds Full Coverage News Links From Search Results
Google announced that full coverage news is now rolling out in Google Search on mobile devices in the United States. I thought it rolled out in 2019 but here is Google’s official announcement that it is now rolling out officially, officially.
Google Local Results Has A New Arrow Directions Icon
Google has updated the directions icon it uses for its local search results. Before the icon had a shape with an arrow in white within it, now it has a simple arrow upwards. This is present both in the local pack and in the Google Maps listings on mob…
Google Preparing For New Search Console Functionality
Google is likely going to keep releasing new features and functionality for Google Search Console over the years. John Mueller of Google kind of confirmed that when he said on Twitter that the Search Console team is preparing for “future functionality…
Google: Technically Indexed vs Practically Indexed
John Mueller of Google wrote something on Twitter that caught my eye (well, everything he writes on Twitter catches my eye but this one more than others). He said “Yeah, the difference between technically indexed, and practically indexed is tricky.” So…
Google Search Console Q&A and FAQ Reports Upgraded
Google has upgraded the Search Console reports specifically for the Q&A and FAQ structured data. Now Google will check the validity of FAQ and Q&A structured data that is below the root entity level.
Google PageSpeed Insights Now Supports HTTP/2 – Scores Might Go Up
Google announced that its PageSpeed Insights tool as of March 3, 2021 uses http/2 to make network requests, that is if the server supports it. If your site is on HTPT/2, you may see your PageSpeed Insights scores go up as a result. No, your rankings …
When Losing A Google Featured Snippet Hurts
A couple of weeks ago we reported a steep dive in the number of featured snippets Google showed in its search results. Those numbers have not improved and not it is settling in that this may be the new norm – for now. Glenn Gabe shared some examples …
Google Search Does Not Use Blockchain (For Timestamps)
Google’s John Mueller asked if it would help if a site timestamped its content and pages using blockchain. John responded “Google doesn’t use that.” In short, he said Google does not use blockchain for search.
Google: When Unindexing Pages From Search Use Noindex, Not Robots.txt
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter that when you want to “unindex,” remove indexed pages from Google Search, you should not block Google with robots.txt, but rather use noindex. He said only unindex pages when if you don’t care if the page doesn’t…
Google’s New Free Hotel Listings Option
Google has announced that it is now offering a free version of its hotel listings, this is now in addition to the paid option. This is very much like how Google made Google Shopping free last year. Google wrote “we’re improving this experience by makin…
Google: We Won’t Build Alternative Identifiers To Track Users Across The Web
Google announced last week that while other companies are planning to replace third-party cookies with alternative user-level identifiers, Google will not. Google said “we will not build alternate identifiers to track individuals as they browse across …
Microsoft Bing Search More Visual Updates
Microsoft Bing announced a slew of “visually immersive” upgrades to the search results interface. This includes updates to how it shows recipe results, image search similar looking items, expandable search result carousels, infographic knowledge panel…
If Google Can’t Fetch/Read Your Sitemap File? Try A New File URL.
Google’s John Mueller was asked about an error with Sitemaps files. The question was around Google not being able to fetch and read two of the few XML Sitemap files but those files are perfectly valid. John said it can be a lot of issues but there is …
Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update/Instability Over Weekend
Over the weekend there are a nice amount of chatter from the SEO community around the Google search results rankings being all over the place. The chatter was unusually high for the weekend and some of the tools have also picked up on the fluctuations…
Vlog #110: Alex Genadinik On Why Focusing On Niches For SEO Is Important
Alex Genadinik is in the business of helping businesses and individuals learn about SEO and digital marketing. He owns a company named Problemio and is a top 1% instructor at Udemy and has authored numerous bestselling books on Amazon…
Fun Video: How Google Changes Since 1998
Google just posted a short four-minute video on how Google has changed since it first launched in 1998. In short, it is about going from ten-blue links to a giving you a much richer search experience with answers.
Google Rolls Out New Key Moment Videos Interface
Google seems to be rolling out a new interface for key moments videos they have been testing for maybe a year now? The results show the location of the key moment but also add the text from the video of what that section is about. It use to show vide…