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 Search Ranking Algorithm Update May 19th & 20th - Not Confirmed
I seem like a broken record but for the past several weeks the Google Search ranking volatility has been off the charts. And yesterday and today are no different with a huge amount of SEO chatter from the forums and most of the tracking tools supporting that chatter. It looks like we had another google Search ranking update around May 19th and May 20th. - Google Video Results On Right Side Of Search Results
This may be a bug or it may be a feature test - but Google is showing video results, i.e. the key moments interface, on the right side of the search results page. This was spotted by two folks including Aakash Singh and Brian Freiesleben - they both provided screen shots. - Google About This Result Expands Worldwide For English Queries
Last February, Google launched the "about this result" feature in its search results for English queries in the US. Well, now, Google is going to expand this feature worldwide for all English language queries. - Google Shopping I/O: Shopping Graph, Shopify Integration, Google Lens & More
At Google I/O, Google also announced a bunch of Google Shopping and commerce related features. This includes the announcement of the Google Google Shopping Graph, a new Shopify partnership, Google Lens upgrades and more. - Google Maps Will Tailor Results For You & Time Of Day
Google announced at I/O a bunch of updates to Google Maps but one that you might care more about, being a local SEO, is that Google Maps will begin to tailor the map results based on time of day and who the searcher is. Google said "soon Maps will tailor what you see on the map based on things like the time of day or where you are." - Google: We're Crawling Half Of The URLs Over HTTP/2
Google's John Mueller said in his I/O talk that Google is now crawling "more than half of all URLs with HTTP/2." GoogleBot first started crawling over HTTP/2 for a limited number of URLs in November 2020 and now half-a-year later, over 50% of what GoogleBot crawls is done over HTTP/2. - JohnMu In Google I/O Adventure Game
Google has this virtual area called the adventure game which is a virtual sandbox for registered attendees and visitors to get a hands-on experience with Google's new products and features.
Other Great Search Forum Threads:
- Absolutely - if our systems aren't convinced of the quality, essentially if our systems aren't convinced that users need or want that content, then there's no need for them to index it quickly., John Mueller on Twitter
- I'm comforted by Google repeatedly showing that they care about long-term success over short-term profits (I'm sure there are exceptions tho). Long term, if you rely somethi, John Mueller on Twitter
- It doesn't matter for search, but it can get confusing for users if the non-hyphen version is also live (it's hard to search for it by name then, or hard to use in offline ads where people have to remember a URL), John Mueller on Twitter
- That’s a wrap! In case you missed it, here are a few things to know from the #GoogleIO keynote. Watch the full show here → https://t.co/muYGfi08eK https://t.co/96xz8O5Nt7, Google on Twitter
- And remember that is only the crawler side, there's also the energy consumption on the server side (the sites being crawled). That's one of the reasons we believe the future of crawl will be push/submission AP, Frederic Dubut on Twitter
- It's Coming Back: Pubcon LIVE! Florida 2021, WebmasterWorld
- Take a moment to revisit some of the singers celebrated with a past #GoogleDoodle🎙 Whether belting out Taiwanese love ballads 🇹🇼 or Argentine songs for social justice 🇦🇷, each singer struck a chord in listene, Google Doodles on Twitter
Search Engine Land Stories:
- New Smart Bidding features in Google Ads: Top signals for Target ROAS and max conversions, manager account level seasonality adjustments and more
- Guide to on-page search engine optimization
- Google unveils its Shopping Graph, an expanded Shopify integration and more shopping features at I/O
- Google’s LaMDA will enable open-ended voice conversations
- MUM’s the word, and it’s 1,000x more powerful than BERT; Wednesday’s daily brief
- Google page experience update will come to desktop pages
Other Great Search Stories:
Analytics
- 3 Tips for Using Google Analytics 4 To Track Affiliate Sales, Post Affiliate Pro
- 4 Types of Google Analytics Goals: Crucial Data to Track Now, Monster Insights
- Measure and debug performance with Google Analytics 4 and BigQuery, Web Dev
- Measuring Impact — Picking the success metrics in Product, Medium
Industry & Business
- Google made AI language the centerpiece of I/O while ignoring its troubled past at the company, The Verge
- Google's huge new Mountain View campus is poised to be green, Mercury News
- Microsoft is finally retiring Internet Explorer in 2022, The Verge
Links & Content Marketing
- How to build links in difficult niches, Receptional
- Visualise Competitive Position with Related Sites, Majestic Blog
Local & Maps
- A smoother ride and a more detailed Map thanks to AI, Google Blog
- Google I/O: AI Everywhere, AR Maps, Shopping Graph, Near Media
Mobile & Voice
SEO
- 3 Gut-wrenching SEO Filters Lessons from an Enterprise In-house SEO, MarketingSyrup
- Google’s Product Review Algorithm Update: What You Need to Know, BruceClay
- The HTML A Tag Attribute and Its Importance for SEO, SEM Rush
- The Unique Benefits of Daily Rank Tracking, SEO Clarity
- A new open source content library from Google, Google Developers Blog
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and SEO, Moz
PPC
- Increasing PPC CTR & Conversions with Behavioural Psychology, PPC Protect
- Should You Use the New Google Ads Insights Page? [Pros and Cons], WordStream
- What is ad retargeting?, Microsoft Advertising
- Report: Q1 2021 Google trends for the B2B eCommerce industry, Vertical Leap
- Report: Q1 2021 Google trends for the manufacturing industry, Vertical Leap
Search Features
- Search, explore and shop the world’s information, powered by AI, Google Blog
- 11 ways we're innovating with AI, Google Blog
- An experiment in helping users and web publishers create deeper connections on Chrome, Chromium Blog
- Update on User-Agent String Reduction in Chrome, Chromium Blog
