IGNITE SEARCH WEEKLY WRAP –
15TH JANUARY 2020
100% CURATED SEO/ONLINE MARKETING GOODNESS:
HELPFUL STRATEGIES, TIPS &
TRICKS:
SEO: Google buys Pointy to bring SMB store inventory online
Google is acquiring Irish startup Pointy on the 14th of January 2020.
SEO: The New GoogleBot Dynamic User Agent Names Are Live
Google seems to have recently made the new GoogleBot user agent name that is dynamic for the evergreen GoogleBot live.
SEO: Google January 2020 Core Update is Rolling Out Imminently
Google confirmed that a broad core algorithm update, simply titled the ‘January 2020 Core Update’ is rolling out today.
Related Articles:
- Google January 2020 Core Update rolling out later today
- Google January 2020 Core Update Is Live & It’s Big
SEO: Google rolling out desktop search redesign with black “Ad” label, favicons for organic results
Google is now rolling out this redesign to desktop search results with a new black “Ad” label and favicons by the URLs in the organic search result snippets.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google Rich Results testing tool now reports on unloadable embedded resources
Google’s rich result test tool can now show external elements included by a page.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google: It Would Be Rare For A Ranking Improvement After Removing Tag/Search Pages From Index
Google’s John Mueller said that would be pretty rare” if you removed your tag and/or search pages from Google’s index and preventing Google from crawling them, that it would it would result in a ranking boost for your site.
SEO: Google: We Treat Links On HTTP & HTTPS Pages Equally
Google’s John Mueller said a link on an HTTP page is just as valuable to Google as a link on an HTTPS page and visa versa.
SEO: Google Indexing Its Own Cache Now Fixed
Google’s Gary Illyes said that Google has fixed an issue with the search engine indexing its own cache pages.
SEO: Google Answers How to Optimize for BERT
Google’s John Mueller answered a question about what to do to optimise for the BERT algorithm.
SEO: Google Says Move Full Domain, Not Pieces, If You Want A Fast Site Migration
Google’s John Mueller said that if you’re keeping pages on the old domain that are not redirecting, then that’s something that will confuse our systems.
SEO: Google: Evergreen Content Doesn’t Need To Change, Keep The Date
Google’s John Mueller said that if your content is evergreen, then by definition it is not necessary for your to refresh your content.
SEO: Did Google Drops Table Schema Support In Search?
Google may have dropped table schema for datasets that it launched in beta in 2018.
SEO: Google Ads Still Displaying Emojis In Display URL
Google has been spotted displaying emojis in display URLs after dropping it in 2019 and 2016.
SEO: Google: FAQ Schema Must Be On Page, Not In External PDF
Google’s John Mueller said you really cannot use FAQ schema for PDF documents.
SEO: Google: As Search Engines Get Better At Intent, Keyword Research Won’t Go Away
Bing’s Frédéric Dubut and Google’s John Mueller said that 2020 will be the year where keyword research for search less important.
Related Articles:
SEO: Bing Pages Launches To Promote Your Public Persona
Bing has quietly launched Bing Pages, a beta program that lets users manage their presence on Microsoft products such as Bing and Outlook.com.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google Search Console Crawl Stats Report Data Fixed
Google seems to have fixed the stalled data in the crawl stats report within Google Search Console.
SEO: Google handles reconsideration requests in batches
Google’s John Mueller said that when you get a manual action in Google Search Console and then submit that reconsideration request that Google will likely go through those requests in batches, group them into categories either by language or by type.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google: Crawling At Large Scale Is Complicated; Don’t Oversimplify It
Google’s John Mueller said that crawling at a large scale website is much more complicated.
SEO: Google People Also Ask: Summarized From Table With Link To Source
Google has been spotted making effort to link to the source of the information in featured snippets and the people also ask (PAAs) section in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
SEO: Chrome 80 Will Block Push Notification
Google’s Chrome version 80 will begin blocking website push notifications.
SEO: Google tests user comments for live TV shows
Google has confirmed that they have been testing user comments in the search results for queries related to live TV shows.
Paid: Google Ads Makes Parallel Tracking Mandatory for Video Campaigns
Google Ads is making parallel tracking available for video campaigns, which is optional for now but will soon become mandatory.
Paid: Google Changes the Look of Paid and Organic Search Results on Desktop
Google is rolling out an updated look for paid and organic search results on desktop, bringing it more inline with the look of mobile search results.
Paid: Google Ads Introduces Bid Simulator Support for Smart Bidding
Google Ads is rolling out bid simulator support for the Target ROAS (return on ad spend) bid strategy, as well as a new budget simulator.
Related Articles:
Paid: Responsive search ads available globally in all Microsoft Advertising interfaces
Advertisers in all available markets can now set up responsive search ads in their Microsoft Advertising accounts.
Paid: Google Screened Ads Tests Photos
Google Screened Ads – like Google guaranteed ads – is testing showing photos of the professional.
Paid: Google Ads testing custom dimensions to enable reporting based on your business structure
Google Ads is testing custom dimensions that might help simplify business reporting efforts and campaign naming systems.
Paid: Microsoft Advertising’s PromoteIQ integration for retailers, brands is now in beta
The on-site search product Microsoft Bing for Commerce is also becoming available to retailers.
Social: Facebook is Preparing to Launch a Desktop Redesign to All Users
Facebook is planning to roll out a redesign of its desktop website to all users before this spring.
Social: Twitter Rolls Out a New Ad Unit in the Explore Tab
Twitter is launching the Promoted Trend Spotlight, a takeover ad displayed at the top of the Explore tab.
Local: DuckDuckGo is Now a Default Search Engine Option on Android in the EU
DuckDuckGo will soon be offered as an option for default search engine on Android devices across the EU.
Local: Yelp cracks down on ‘review rings’ as Google continues to see widespread mapspam
Yelp is now introducing a new category of consumer alerts intended to flag businesses, closing more than 400 user accounts associated with one vast review ring recently uncovered.
Local: Google Local/Maps With “In Between” Links To Other Businesses
Google Maps and Local can show in a business listing profile the address but near the address it sometimes shows other businesses nearby.
Mobile: DuckDuckGo, Info.com crowd out Bing in Google’s Android search options
Bing will only appear in the UK, but DuckDuckGo and Info.com will be choices in all territories.
Mobile: Google Assistant Now Has 500 Million Users Worldwide
Google announced that 500 million people are now using Google Assistant across smartphones, TVs, smart home devices, and other gadgets.
Mobile: Direct site navigation via voice arrives on iOS Bing Search app
Microsoft’s Bing Search App has been updated with a new design aesthetic and its latest update, version 6.48, brings direct site navigation via voice to iOS users.
KEY INDUSTRY UPDATES:
SEO: Google buys Pointy to bring SMB store inventory online
Google is acquiring Irish startup Pointy on the 14th of January 2020.
SEO: The New GoogleBot Dynamic User Agent Names Are Live
Google seems to have recently made the new GoogleBot user agent name that is dynamic for the evergreen GoogleBot live.
SEO: Google January 2020 Core Update is Rolling Out Imminently
Google confirmed that a broad core algorithm update, simply titled the ‘January 2020 Core Update’ is rolling out today.
Related Articles:
- Google January 2020 Core Update rolling out later today
- Google January 2020 Core Update Is Live & It’s Big
SEO: Google rolling out desktop search redesign with black “Ad” label, favicons for organic results
Google is now rolling out this redesign to desktop search results with a new black “Ad” label and favicons by the URLs in the organic search result snippets.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google Rich Results testing tool now reports on unloadable embedded resources
Google’s rich result test tool can now show external elements included by a page.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google: It Would Be Rare For A Ranking Improvement After Removing Tag/Search Pages From Index
Google’s John Mueller said that would be pretty rare” if you removed your tag and/or search pages from Google’s index and preventing Google from crawling them, that it would it would result in a ranking boost for your site.
SEO: Google: We Treat Links On HTTP & HTTPS Pages Equally
Google’s John Mueller said a link on an HTTP page is just as valuable to Google as a link on an HTTPS page and visa versa.
SEO: Google Indexing Its Own Cache Now Fixed
Google’s Gary Illyes said that Google has fixed an issue with the search engine indexing its own cache pages.
SEO: Google Answers How to Optimize for BERT
Google’s John Mueller answered a question about what to do to optimise for the BERT algorithm.
SEO: Google Says Move Full Domain, Not Pieces, If You Want A Fast Site Migration
Google’s John Mueller said that if you’re keeping pages on the old domain that are not redirecting, then that’s something that will confuse our systems.
SEO: Google: Evergreen Content Doesn’t Need To Change, Keep The Date
Google’s John Mueller said that if your content is evergreen, then by definition it is not necessary for your to refresh your content.
SEO: Did Google Drops Table Schema Support In Search?
Google may have dropped table schema for datasets that it launched in beta in 2018.
SEO: Google Ads Still Displaying Emojis In Display URL
Google has been spotted displaying emojis in display URLs after dropping it in 2019 and 2016.
SEO: Google: FAQ Schema Must Be On Page, Not In External PDF
Google’s John Mueller said you really cannot use FAQ schema for PDF documents.
SEO: Google: As Search Engines Get Better At Intent, Keyword Research Won’t Go Away
Bing’s Frédéric Dubut and Google’s John Mueller said that 2020 will be the year where keyword research for search less important.
Related Articles:
SEO: Bing Pages Launches To Promote Your Public Persona
Bing has quietly launched Bing Pages, a beta program that lets users manage their presence on Microsoft products such as Bing and Outlook.com.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google Search Console Crawl Stats Report Data Fixed
Google seems to have fixed the stalled data in the crawl stats report within Google Search Console.
SEO: Google handles reconsideration requests in batches
Google’s John Mueller said that when you get a manual action in Google Search Console and then submit that reconsideration request that Google will likely go through those requests in batches, group them into categories either by language or by type.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google: Crawling At Large Scale Is Complicated; Don’t Oversimplify It
Google’s John Mueller said that crawling at a large scale website is much more complicated.
SEO: Google People Also Ask: Summarized From Table With Link To Source
Google has been spotted making effort to link to the source of the information in featured snippets and the people also ask (PAAs) section in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).
SEO: Chrome 80 Will Block Push Notification
Google’s Chrome version 80 will begin blocking website push notifications.
SEO: Google tests user comments for live TV shows
Google has confirmed that they have been testing user comments in the search results for queries related to live TV shows.
Paid: Google Ads Makes Parallel Tracking Mandatory for Video Campaigns
Google Ads is making parallel tracking available for video campaigns, which is optional for now but will soon become mandatory.
Paid: Google Changes the Look of Paid and Organic Search Results on Desktop
Google is rolling out an updated look for paid and organic search results on desktop, bringing it more inline with the look of mobile search results.
Paid: Google Ads Introduces Bid Simulator Support for Smart Bidding
Google Ads is rolling out bid simulator support for the Target ROAS (return on ad spend) bid strategy, as well as a new budget simulator.
Related Articles:
Paid: Responsive search ads available globally in all Microsoft Advertising interfaces
Advertisers in all available markets can now set up responsive search ads in their Microsoft Advertising accounts.
Paid: Google Screened Ads Tests Photos
Google Screened Ads – like Google guaranteed ads – is testing showing photos of the professional.
Paid: Google Ads testing custom dimensions to enable reporting based on your business structure
Google Ads is testing custom dimensions that might help simplify business reporting efforts and campaign naming systems.
Paid: Microsoft Advertising’s PromoteIQ integration for retailers, brands is now in beta
The on-site search product Microsoft Bing for Commerce is also becoming available to retailers.
Social: Facebook is Preparing to Launch a Desktop Redesign to All Users
Facebook is planning to roll out a redesign of its desktop website to all users before this spring.
Social: Twitter Rolls Out a New Ad Unit in the Explore Tab
Twitter is launching the Promoted Trend Spotlight, a takeover ad displayed at the top of the Explore tab.
Local: DuckDuckGo is Now a Default Search Engine Option on Android in the EU
DuckDuckGo will soon be offered as an option for default search engine on Android devices across the EU.
Local: Yelp cracks down on ‘review rings’ as Google continues to see widespread mapspam
Yelp is now introducing a new category of consumer alerts intended to flag businesses, closing more than 400 user accounts associated with one vast review ring recently uncovered.
Local: Google Local/Maps With “In Between” Links To Other Businesses
Google Maps and Local can show in a business listing profile the address but near the address it sometimes shows other businesses nearby.
Mobile: DuckDuckGo, Info.com crowd out Bing in Google’s Android search options
Bing will only appear in the UK, but DuckDuckGo and Info.com will be choices in all territories.
Mobile: Google Assistant Now Has 500 Million Users Worldwide
Google announced that 500 million people are now using Google Assistant across smartphones, TVs, smart home devices, and other gadgets.
Mobile: Direct site navigation via voice arrives on iOS Bing Search app
Microsoft’s Bing Search App has been updated with a new design aesthetic and its latest update, version 6.48, brings direct site navigation via voice to iOS users.
Read Our Blog Post:
MozCon 2019: Luke Carthy – Killer CRO & UX Wins Using An SEO Crawler.
