In July, it became known – and noticeable to users – that the popular Chrome Web Developer extension had been compromised. Suddenly malware ads that were being served up in places such as the Google homepage and Google search results, where there obviously shouldn’t be any ads of this type. The developer issued a fix […]
Google’s Mobile First Index Changes
Google’s Mobile First Indexing Change: Everything SEOs Need to Know
Google’s search index is becoming mobile first. This means that Google will be crawling the mobile versions of the website to rank webpages… and if you truncated content on your mobile pages, your rankings could suffer. Read more…
Latest News
Google Search Console Sends Security Warning Notices for HTTP Sites
If you have sites on HTTP, Google has begin sending out notices to site owners that their sites will be flagged as “not secure” in Chrome beginning in October 2017. So what does this mean? If your site has any form – which would include things such as a comment form – then Google will […]
Bing Testing Blended Local Mini One Pack in Search Results
When it comes to the Bing search results, their local pack results are very large and noticeable in the search results. But they seem to be taking a step back and displaying a smaller local result in the Bing search results when there is only one local listing found. And it blends so well in […]
Google Still Ignores Last-Modified Meta Tag
If you are using the last-modified meta tag, be aware that Google ignores this tag when it comes to SEO. The tag is <meta http-equiv=”last-modified” content=”YYYY-MM-DD”> which was originally used to alert crawlers to the fact a page was updated, or as a reference to when it was last updated after it was initially published. […]
Google Ignores Geo Meta Tags in Regular Search Results
Geo meta tags are a meta tag that many SEOs are unfamiliar with, unless they work in local SEO or with sites with a multiple geolocations. But does Google use those meta tags, especially in leui of better signals, such as hreflag? The meta tags in question, are the geo location meta tags: <meta name=”geo.position” […]
Bing Testing Google-like Search Header at Top of Search Results
Bing has made many changes over the years to make their search results closer to Google’s style of search results. Bing is testing a significant new design that makes their search header – what appears as the search box and tabs below it – much closer to Google’s version. In fact, it would easily be […]
Google Testing Ad Tag Placement in Google Local Packs
Google is testing some new positioning for the “Ads” tag in their local packs on mobile. Normally, Google places the ads tag in the same line as the review stars. But when a listing has no review stars, it drops the ads tag even further in the listing, inexplicably adding it to the address line […]
Updated Google Quality Rater Guidelines: International Search Results & Conspiracy Theories
Google has once again very quietly updated their Google Quality Rater Guidelines with a brand new version. This update comes as the third update this year so far (following ones in March and May), only months after we saw major changes with fake news. There are some notable changes, especially for those SEOs who […]
Submitting Disavow File Not a Spam Signal to Google
I sometimes hear from people who are concerned about proactively submitting a disavow file for any reason, thinking it might signal to Google as either a spam signal or some kind of flag that alerts Google to have a closer look at the site’s backlinks. But is it a valid concern or not? The question […]
Use Rel-Canonical to Match Identical Pages Across Multiple Sites
An interesting question came up on Twitter. Someone is ranking with identical pages across multiple sites and asked how best to tell Google they should be considered the same page, if it should be with noindex or via rel=canonical. And according to Google, the answer is rel=canonical. I'd rel-canon them — Gary "鯨理" Illyes (@methode) […]
Google Ignores Canonicals When Likely Implemented in Error
Anyone who has done website audits has probably come across situations where canonicals have been set up incorrectly, sometimes to disastrous results. But how does Google handle canonicals when a large number of pages are pointing to the same page, or if the canonicals are set up in such a way that it is likely […]
Bing Adds Deal Tag to Local Pack in Search Results
Bing is testing a new feature in their local pack… adding a “Deal” tag directly into the local pack results when there is a coupon code Bing has sourced for the store. Here is what it looks like: As you can see, Bing is pulling the coupon information from the partial list that shows in […]
Google Testing “See More Results” on Mobile, Reduces Results Per Page
Google has a new mobile test which is taking a cue from infinite scroll design by adding a “see more results” button at the end of the search results, instead of the usual “next” button. And in addition, Google has reduced the number of results on the page dramatically, reducing it to 4 results from […]
Google Adds Vacation Rentals to Hotel Search
Google is getting into the vacation rental space by adding specific vacation rentals to their popular hotel search. Now, when you do a hotel search for some locations, Google will add a prompt asking if you’d rather search for vacation rentals instead. This is a huge change and could have a huge impact on the […]
Google Adds Autoplay Video to Search Results Page
If you hate when videos auto play, then you really won’t like this new feature in the Google search results. Google is now autoplaying video when you do a search query that brings up a video in the knowledge panel on the right side of the results. Yes, Google begins autoplaying the video when loading […]
Google Adds Dictionary Search Box to the Google Search Results
If you do a search in Google for a word that triggers the definition box, Google is now including an added search box just for searching definitions, directly to the answer box at the top of the search results. + AM spotted it yesterday and posted a screenshot to Twitter. Here is what it looks […]
Changes to Impressions & Position Data in Google Search Console
If you have noticed changes in Google Search Console reporting with impressions and position data, that is to be expected. Google made some changes to make searches with lower positions more accurate, which is reflected in the changes. Google has posted an update in their Data Anomalies list, as well as including a notation when […]
Google Testing Rounded Sitelinks Carousel Buttons on Mobile
Google has been testing multiple variations of a less colorful and more black mobile UI this year. This test includes an interesting feature – adding bubble style buttons in place of the usual sitelinks links at the bottom of some search results. Here is the screenshot of the test, shared by Faisal Ahmed on Twitter. […]
Google Asking Searchers to Submit Tags in Movie Knowledge Panel
Google is making a new change to their movie knowledge panels. Google is asking searchers to add tags related to the movie they search for, at the bottom of the movie knowledge panel on mobile. Paul Shapiro spotted the test. When you click to vote for tags, it brings up a pop over to […]
Google Adds Follow Button to Search Results in Google Search App
Google has added an interesting new feature to their Google search app – the ability to follow search results, allowing Google to show updated stories related to those searches in the Google search app feed. Here is what it looks like: When you click the follow button, you get the confirmation that stories related to […]