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.
Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
- Google COVID-19 Posts Replacing Normal Google Posts
Tim Capper, a local SEO, said you should be aware that in many cases, if you post a Google Post using the COVID-19 update, then it will likely replace any other normal Google Posts you add. He said on Twitter "it would seem that COVID-19 post in GMB are replacing normal Google Posts. So the choice is - COVID Posts or Regular Posts" - Google Drops Your Web Site & Phone Number Button When Marked As Temporarily Closed
Did you know that if you mark your business as temporarily closed in Google My Business that Google will remove the buttons on your listing to go to your web site or call your business? Amy Toman shard this on Twitter and this is something a lot of businesses have been using with the COVID-19 outbreak. - Google: Negative SEO Is Not Why Google Made Disavow Link Tool
Google's John Mueller said on Twitter that the disavow tool was not created for negative SEO. He said "Not to put more fuel on the fire, but negative SEO is not a reason we have this tool -- and I honestly can't recall a situation where a site ever needed to do a disavow for that." - Google Local Inventory Adds Curbside Pickup Badge
Google announced it is now testing curbside pickup labels in the local inventory ads in Google search. This should help increase business and sales for some retailers according to Google. The "curbside pickup badge to highlight contactless pickup availability," Google added. - Google My Business Adds Donation & Gift Card Links
A couple weeks after Bing Places added integration with GoFundMe, Google My Business follows suit and also integrates with GoFundMe for donation links in your Google local listing. Well, Google also added PayPal as another option. In addition, Google is also allowing you to link to sell gift cards from your Google local listing. - Google Office Got Persian Rugs
In February, Google got its hands on some new Persian rugs. Here is a photo from the Google Boulder office with one of those rugs. I found this on Instagram where they wrote
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- A site:-query like that isn't designed to be a diagnostics tool -- I'd use the index coverage report in Search Console if you're keen on understanding how many URLs from your site are indexed., John Mueller on Twitter
- How Do You Do Local SEO Keyword Research?, Local Search Forum
- Not that I'm aware of. AFAIK we still need an image URL & a clear landing page URL for Google Images. Are you seeing things otherwise?, John Mueller on Twitter
- We don't use DA as a ranking factor, and in general, I think it's awesome to see new sites in the search results. The search results are not set in stone, we work hard to reg, John Mueller on Twitter
- When it comes to the disavow tool, I suspect the greatest environmental impact would be to deprecate it :-). Some people really like it though., John Mueller on Twitter
- If Googlebot can't see the contents of the page, it can't use it., John Mueller on Twitter
- Internal Linking - What works best for you?, WebmasterWorld
- JavaScript SEO office hours May 6th, 2020, YouTube
- Local SEO Zoom, Local Search Forum
- My guess is some assocations drop away over time + there's always new content that was never on the old domain. That said, the counts really, really aren't designed to be complete..., John Mueller on Twitter
- Technically the more explicit will win, but ... if you're making things this similar, you'll struggle to maintain it in the long run. I'd make the robots.txt file much simpler & clearer, to avoid having to inte, John Mueller on Twitter
- Y'all! Would you mind terribly if i asked you to stop sending documentation feedback comparable to War and Peace in length? Get to the point, you're not Tolstoy! Also, we can't respond there, so if you expect a, Gary Illyes on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- Stores have been closed so location data isn’t relevant, right? Wrong.
- What are enterprise workflow and project management tools and how do they help marketers?
- Many marketers unlikely to attend in-person conferences until COVID-19 vaccine
- Don’t try to reinvent the SEO wheel, says Google’s Martin Splitt
- The time for a website migration is now
- Google tests ‘Curbside Pickup’ badge for local Shopping ads
- The return of retail stores: If you reopen will they come?
- Video: Limor Barenholtz on how SEO has changed over the years
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- Displaying BigQuery results on Google Maps using Data Studio, Medium
- How to Migrate To Google Tag Manager For Google Analytics, Conversion Uplift
Industry & Business
- Marketing in the Age of COVID-19 Survey Results, iPullRank
- Google parent Alphabet's stock price target raised by Citigroup, sees strong rebound from COVID-19 in 2021, MarketWatch
Links & Content Marketing
- Leveraging your existing knowledge to create new content, Builtvisible
Local & Maps
- Google Maps location sharing gets redesigned on Android, 9to5Google
- Apple Car may have radical airbag designs for passenger safety, Appleinsider
Mobile & Voice
- 5 ways to improve your relationship with Google Assistant, TechHive
- Voice Industry Professionals Say Amazon Alexa is Having the Biggest Impact Followed by Google with Everyone Else Far Behind - New Report, Voicebot
SEO
- Helping news publishers control how their content is displayed in Bing, Bing Webmaster Blog
- JavaScript SEO Office Hours Notes: April 29th 2020, DeepCrawl
- Search Suggestions from Previously Submitted Searcher Queries, SEO By The Sea
- The Day LinkedIn Disappeared from Google, Five Blocks
- How to Run SEO Audits & Not Waste Your Time: In Search SEO Podcast, RankRanger
- New Age Cloaking, SEO Book
PPC
- COVID-19: Consumer trends & insights for Europe - May 12, Microsoft Advertising
- Promote curbside pickup in your local inventory ads, Google Blog
- Five clever ways to do keyword research, Vertical Leap
Search Features
Other Search
