Daily Search Forum Recap: January 13, 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 search volatility tracking tools have finally calmed down but there are still, as always…
Google Map Pin Attack Exploit Fixed
Google has reportedly fixed the Google Maps pin attack exploit that has been lingering on with Google for several months. The exploit allowed one to move business locations to another location, making them disappear in the rankings and local pack for …
Google Search Result Snippets Related Reviews Carousel
Google Search has these search results snippets that show a related reviews carousel under the snippet. You can swipe through the related reviews and then click on them to reveal a YouTube video or other format of a review.
Bing Testing Bold Sponsored Labels
Microsoft is testing using bold sponsored labels in the Bing Search results. So instead of the very hard to see sponsored labels in Bing Search, Microsoft is testing bolding those sponsored labels.
Bing Tests Updated AI Copilot Answer Which Is More Publisher Friendly
Microsoft is testing an updated Bing Search AI answer box powered by Copilot is testing an updated interface, that seems to promote links to publishers more. The links are more publisher-friendly, including showing the full domain name of the publishe…
Google Manual Actions For News & Discover Policy Violations Updated
A few months ago, Google quietly updated the manual action policy violations list for News and Discover policy violations. Google removed the adult-theme and artificial freshening sections and then added a slew of deceptive practices sections, while a…
How to Integrate LLMs into Your SEO Workflow
Struggling to integrate LLMs into your SEO workflow? Learn how to harness AI’s potential while ensuring originality with effective validation systems.
Google Search Ranking Volatility Tools Cool Down
For the first time in forever (see what I did there?) the third-party Google Search volatility tools have cooled down to normal volatility levels. The chatter has been somewhat more typical levels over the past week, that is not to say some have not s…
Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Local Ranking Bug, Reddit Drops, Microsoft Fools Searchers & More SEO, PPC & Local
We had this weird Google local ranking bug that seemed to happen over last weekend but resolved itself by around Tuesday. Then, the other day, we noticed that Reddit may be seeing a decline in Google Search traffic and visibility, but it might…
Google: URLs Don’t Need To Be Lower Case For Search
Google’s John Mueller clarified once again that your URLs do not need to be lowercase, they can be uppercase, it really doesn’t matter. But he did say, pick either lowercase or uppercase, just be consistent.
Google Local Services Ads For Tax Specialist Drops Auto Credits & Features
Google has turned down some features for the tax specialist vertical in Google Local Service Ads. The big one is that there is no auto-crediting for this vertical. Also, Google removed message leads, booking and all recording for the Tax Specialist ve…
Google Ads Updates Political Content Policy For CA Residents For Deepfakes
Google has announced it has updated its Google Ads political content policy this month for to include a form related to California restrictions. “California residents may use this form to report ads that may violate California Elections Code Division 2…
Google Search Product Detail View Tests Share Icons
Google is testing adding a share icon to the product detail view within the search results. This comes up at the top of the panel, after you click on a product from the popular products section of the search results. And as you scroll, the share and ot…
Google Tests Super Long Cookie Notice On Home Page
Google is testing writing out a 57 words, 364 characters, notice on its home page, about its cookie usage and data usage. It is super weird to see three lines of legal text right below the Google search box on its home page.
Finding Striking Distance Keywords — Whiteboard Friday
Striking distance keywords can highlight where sites may be able to make a big impact on their rankings and traffic with less effort. In this episode of Whiteboard Friday, Jo talks about how to locate, track, and label these keyword opportunities in Mo…
Daily Search Forum Recap: January 9, 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.
Reddit seems like it is not ranking as well as it used to…
Reddit Not Ranking As Well In Google Suddenly?
It seems like Reddit, the site that ranks well for every single query in Google Search, is starting to see a small but visible ranking drop in Google Search. It seems Reddit is losing Google Search visibility when you look at its ranking reports in Sem…
Screenshot: Google Ads Negative Keywords In Performance Max
We have been hearing Google Ads will provide a feature to manage negative keywords for Performance Max campaigns for a while and now, maybe, the day has come. Joe Shmo on X posted a screenshot of him seeing the feature in his Google Ads account.
Google: Using Generative AI To Create Content For Links Against Spam Policies
Google’s John Mueller said that using generative AI to create blog posts and content for the purpose of getting backlinks is “almost certainly against Google’s spam policies.” He said this in response to a complaint that this was being done on their si…
Google Tests A Darker Dark Mode
Google Search is testing a darker dark mode. Instead of the grayish dark mode, Google is testing a dark black version of the dark mode. The darker version is #111217 whereas the gray version is #1f1f1f.