Google’s Gary Illyes confirmed at a recent search marketing conference that Google needs very few links, adding to the growing body of evidence that publishers need to focus on other factors. Gary tweeted confirmation that he indeed say those words. Background Of Links For Ranking Links were discovered in the late 1990’s to be a … Read more
In a Google Office Hours podcast, Google’s Gary Illyes answered a question about 404 Page Not Found errors that coincided with a drop in rankings. Fake External 404 Errors There are probably many reasons for 404 errors created by bots. One reason for those error responses could be that they are originating from automated scanners … Read more
Google’s John Mueller answered a question about a WordPress site that was completely deindexed from Google Search after changing to a different web hosting platform. Mueller’s answer shows where to start investigating the reasons why that happens. Dropped From Index After A Site Migration A submitted question to the Google Office Hours podcast related that … Read more
Google’s John Mueller answered whether having two sites could negatively affect search rankings. His answer is surprisingly applicable to different ways of interpreting the question. Can Having Two Sites Affect Rankings? A person submitted a question to Google where they wanted to know if having two sites could negatively affect their rankings. The question as … Read more
Google’s Gary Illyes answered if switching web hosting platforms could result in a negative outcome for rankings and SEO. It’s a reasonable question because migrating a site to a new web host involves multiple technical factors that can go wrong and have an immediately negative effect. What Does Changing A Website Host Entail? Changing web … Read more
Meta’s AI assistant, powered by the new Llama 3 model, will now incorporate real-time search results from Google and Bing. This integration marks a step forward in AI assistant capabilities and their potential impact on the search industry. You can access Meta AI within Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and the newly launched Meta.ai desktop experience. … Read more
Searchers who expect a website to always be available may be disappointed to encounter a 503 status code. However, brief downtime is perfectly acceptable. During the April edition of the Google Search Central SEO office hours, a question was raised about the potential impact of intermittently serving 503 “Service Unavailable” status codes. Gary Illyes, a … Read more
Google has ended support for the video carousel (limited access) markup documentation and the associated rich results because after testing the structured data they realized that it wasn’t useful at scale. Site publishers who use this specific structured data don’t necessarily have to remove it, other search engines may find it useful. However, Google won’t … Read more
Google announced updates to its Maps and Search products on Monday aimed at helping users find and choose more sustainable transportation options over gas-powered vehicles. James Byers, Google Search’s Group Product Manager, states: “When it comes to traveling and commuting, we want people to have the right information to make more sustainable choices.” Eco-Friendly Route … Read more
Google’s structured data documentation for vacation rentals was recently updated to require more specific data in a change that is more of a clarification than it is a change in requirements. This change was made without any formal announcement or notation in the developer pages changelog. Vacation Rentals Structured Data These specific structured data types … Read more
Google rolls out Search Console enhancements allowing owners to remove, verify unused ownership tokens for improved security. Google updated Search Console with the ability to remove unused ownership tokens. You can now verify token removal to prevent unauthorized access. The update enhances security and access control for website properties. Source link
Google announced the rollout of new generative AI capabilities for Demand Gen campaigns in Google Ads today. The tools, powered by Google’s artificial intelligence, will allow advertisers to create high-quality image assets using text prompts in just a few steps. The AI-powered creative features aim to enhance visual storytelling to help brands generate new demand … Read more
Google’s John Mueller answered a question on Reddit about why people don’t use hyphens with domains and if there was something to be concerned about that they were missing. Domain Names With Hyphens For SEO I’ve been working online for 25 years and I remember when using hyphens in domains was something that affiliates did … Read more
In an email sent to Google Ads advertisers this week, the company announced a change coming to search ads. Effective May 31, 2024, ad customizers will stop serving for expanded text ads (ETAs) and Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs). The notification reads in part: “On May 31, 2024, existing ad customizers for text ads, expanded text … Read more
A recent report shows that while Gen Z increasingly turns to social media platforms for information searches, Google remains the primary starting point for a significant portion of this age group. The data published by Axios shows that 46% of internet users aged 18-24 begin their online queries on Google, compared to 58% of those … Read more
Google’s Danny Sullivan disputed the assertions made in a Reddit discussion that Google is showing a preference for Reddit in the search results. But a Redditor’s example proves that it’s possible for a Reddit post to rank in the top ten of the search results within minutes and to actually improve rankings to position #2 … Read more
Google announced that it plans to reduce access to California news websites for a portion of users in the state. The decision comes as Google prepares for the potential passage of the California Journalism Preservation Act (CJPA), a bill requiring online platforms like Google to pay news publishers for linking to their content. What Is … Read more
Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai recently discussed the future of search, affirming the importance of websites (good news for SEO). But how can that be if AI is supposed to make search engines obsolete (along with SEO)? Search vs Chatbots vs Generative Search There’s a lot of discussion about AI search but what’s consistently missing is … Read more
