So Now You’re Just Going To Bribe Me For Reviews?
It has begun. The Great Bribe Spam Tidal Wave Of 2025. I don’t know what else to call it. Companies desperate to be seen in AI Overviews are now (apparently – based on my limited experience) offering people … stuff … if theyR…
Daily Search Forum Recap: July 16, 2025
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 said barely indexed sites can mean Google isn’t convinced of the site overall…
Google: Barely Indexed Sites Can Mean Google Isn’t Convinced Of The Site Overall
Google’s John Mueller replied to a question around indexing issues on a site and said that if the site is hosted on a strong platform and is technically sound, and “it’s barely getting indexed, often that’s a sign that our systems aren’t convinced abou…
Google Ads Expandable Summary Row (Fed vs Asset Metrics)
Google Ads seems to be testing an expandable row in the channel performance report that shows you an overview of your feed-based vs asset-based metrics. You can click on a carrot icon to expand the row and expose the data summary.
Google Ads Change History Ghost Users – AdWords Administrator
Have you ever noticed ghost users in your Google Ads change history log? It just shows “AdWords Administrator” but doesn’t show which user, by name, made the change.
Google Core Web Vitals Update In Search Console – Bug or Normal?
Google seems to have updated its core web vitals metrics within Google Search Console a few days ago. The weird thing is that good URLs and URLs need improvements metrics all went down around that date but the poor URLs stayed the same.
Google Search Console Adds More 24 Hour Data Comparison Options
Google has added two more comparison views to the Search Console performance reports. One lets you compare last 24 hours to previous period and the other lets you compare last 24 hours week over week.
Google Business Profile Appeal Tool Now Shows Rejection Reasons
Google Business Profiles appeal tool now shows the reason your appeal was rejected. It can show a list of reasons why the appeal was rejected, so that next time you submit the appeal, you can hopefully get it approved.
The Biggest Lessons I Learned From the HCU So Far
Struggling to recover from Google’s HCU updates? Learn data-backed strategies to protect your site by understanding topical radius and helpful content signals.
The Era of Zero-Click Search and Zero Click Marketing
This is a preview of Chapter 9 from my new ebook – Strategic SEO 2025 – a PDF which is available to download for free here.
Read the full article here The Era of Zero-Click Search and Zero Click Marketing © Copyright 2006-2021 Shaun Anderson
Google Local Ranking Documentation Updated
Google has updated its local ranking documentation and Tips to improve your local ranking on Google page. The new wording is shorter and has fewer details than the older version.
Google Business Profiles Automatically Adding Social Media Links To Businesses
Google seems to be automatically adding social media links to Google Business Profiles. A post from Darren Shaw of Whitespark shows that hundreds or thousands of locations had their social media links added over the past short period of time.
Google Search Console Analytics API New Metadata Incomplete Data Points
Google announced it has a new metadata field for its Search Analytics API (for Search Console’s performance reports) that will tell you about incomplete data points you received through the API. Google said, “This field provides context about the state…
Google AdSense PIN Verification Issues
Google AdSense may have a bug with its PIN verification processs. There are tons of AdSense publishers complaining in the Google AdSense Help Forums about issues where they are unable to use the PIN verification anymore. It seems like a widespread bug …
Google Business Profiles Now Requests Text/WhatsApp Number During Setup
We know you have been able to add your text or WhatsApp number to your Google Business Profile for some time now, but now Google is asking for it when you set up your Google Business Profile for the first time.
What is Search Engine-First Content?
This is a preview of Chapter 8 from my new ebook – Strategic SEO 2025 – a PDF which is available to download for free here.
Read the full article here What is Search Engine-First Content? © Copyright 2006-2021 Shaun Anderson
Daily Search Forum Recap: July 14, 2025
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 June 2025 core update is still super heated…
Google June 2025 Core Update Volatility Remains Heated Through Weekend
Today marks the two-week mark of the start of the Google June 2025 core update. This update seems pretty significant thus far, with Google announcing the update on June 30th at about 10:30 am, then the volatility kicking off on July 2nd and seeing som…
Google Updates Merchant Return Policies & Loyalty Programs
Google has updated a number of search-related help documents for its merchant return policies and loyalty programs. Google said these updates are to “remove unclarities in the documentation and examples.”
Google Local Service Ads Reviews Now Managed By Business Profiles
We knew this was coming but as of July 11th, your reviews on Google Local Service Ads are now managed by Google Business Profiles. I know a number of local folks noticed who have LSAs noticed their Business Profiles reviews jumped on Friday, and this i…