Google reminded site owners about using the perils of link building via articles, such as guest blogging. But one part of their blog post seems to have passed unnoticed – the request Google made that site owners file spam reports for any “Post my article” requests they receive. Many sites engage in large scale “post […]
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 Warns Against Link Building Via Articles & Guest Posts
Google has issued a new warning to site owners about utilizing spammy articles as a link building technique. While this is a reminder, and not a new policy, it is targeting specific types of link building by site owners utilizing various article publishing tactics, such as guest blogging. The blog post also calls out a […]
Google AdWords Aims to Increase AMP Publisher Revenue with New AMP Ads Conversion
Google has begun converting display ads into AMP format, so that ads on AMP pages will load faster than traditional ad formats into those pages. With the AMP conversions, ads will load within AMP pages on average of 5 seconds faster. For site owners utilizing AMP, this means that ads on AMP pages will load […]
Google Adds Reporting Flag to Local “Check the Facts” Feature
Google has added an option to flag parts of the Google My Business listing as part of the “Check the Facts” feature which allows searchers to update certain parts of the information about a Google local listings. Now, in addition to the “is this correct?” prompt, there is a new flag icon which enables a […]
Google Tests Blue Versus Black Sitelinks in Mobile Search
Google is testing two different colors of sitelinks in their mobile search results – one with blue sitelinks and the other with those sitelinks swapped to black. But what makes it fairly interesting is that Google is testing both within the same search results page, instead of the usual one style per page. Sergey Alakov […]
Google Adds “On This Page” Above Internal Section Sitelinks
Google has added a new feature to alert searchers that some sitelinks within an organic search result actually lead to specific sections of the page within the entire webpage. The example is for Wikipedia, which is well known for having multiple sections within a page, which each have internal hoplinks to easily jump to specific […]
Google Adds Expandable AdWords Ads With Carousels on Mobile
Google is running a new style of AdWords ad that includes an expandable section which will then display an added carousel on the bottom of the ad. This format is similar to some carousels we have seen used in AdWords ads, except these ones cannot be viewed without expanding the section first. Here is it […]
Google Continues Featured Snippets Without Second Organic Listing
Google is continuing their widespread test of featured snippets that we reported here first on Monday. It has Google showing a featured snippet at the top of the search results as usual, but while previously that result would be shown a second time in the organic search results, Google would drop that second listing entirely. […]
Google Adds Visit History to Featured Snippets
When you do a search in Google that brings up a result that includes a page you have visited previously, Google will often add a notation about your visit history, from the date you visited or the fact you have visited the page many times. Google is now finally bringing that to featured snippets too. […]
Google Testing Pop Up AdWords Ads on Google Maps
Google is testing a new type of AdWords ad, this one which pops up right on a Google Map when someone is viewing local results within Google Maps itself. Local SEO expert Joy Hawkins spotted the test. Here is what it looks like: What is especially noteworthy is that this isn’t an ad for the […]
Google Adds New AdWords & Reviews Hybrid Mobile Ad
Google is testing a new hybrid ad style that shows both site links and a review card in a carousel format, below a regular AdWords ad on mobile. Here is what it looks like: The carousel side scrolls to show more detail about the reviews. I first noticed this ad running on Friday.
Google Drops Regular Organic Result For Pages Shown as Featured Snippet
If you are a site with a featured snippet for a search query, you used to get a bit of a bonus – you were shown both as the featured snippet, and then your result was shown a second time as a regular organic listing too. This meant you got top spot showcased as a […]
Bing Adds Hotel Carousel to Top of Search Results
If you are searching for a hotel on Bing, the search engine has added a new hotel carousel to the top of the search results. One great thing about this is that it lists some of the most common amenities right in the search results, saving a click for searchers. Here is what it looks […]
Google Testing New Black UI on Mobile
Google doesn’t run nearly as many of their color UI tests on mobile as they do desktop. But they are currently running a black UI version of their mobile search results for some users. Felicia Crawford spotted the changed UI on mobile. The search results look normal, except Google has dropped the usual blue and green […]
Google Adds Detail Showing Number of Businesses in Home Services Ads
Google is making it clear to searchers who trigger Home Services Ads that there are many more businesses beyond the three shown in the main search results page. Normally, Google has a header at the top of Home Services Ads that says “<Business Type> serving <Location>”. But when there are many more results beyond those […]
Google Won’t Demote Pages For Linking to a 404 Page
If you happen to link to a 404 page from your site, will Google demote that page since it delivers a perceived sub-optimal user experience? Or would linking to a page that ends up becoming a 404 just be seen as a typical thing on the web as far as Google is concerned? I asked […]
Google AdWords Testing Two Card Style Home Service Ads
Google is testing two different versions of the mobile card style results for their Home Services Ads in the desktop search results. Here is the first style. While this appears carousel style, it is actually not a carousel, so Google is still only displaying 3 results on the search results page. They are also testing […]
Google Testing New Local Ad Carousel in Mobile Search Results
Google is testing a new format for the local “Nearby Businesses” ads. Instead of the usual pack style we have usually seen in the search results, Google has switched it to a carousel style. Joy Hawkins shared it on Twitter: This new carousel appears above the regular AdWords ads for added exposure. It also means for […]
Google AdWords Adds Messaging Feature in Home Service Ads
Google is testing a new messaging feature in their Home Service ads. When doing a search for a business query that triggers the Home Services ad block, there is a new messaging icon, allowing potential customers to message the business. Google does seem to be ensuring that the feature isn’t being abused and that the […]
Google AdWords Testing 8 Ads in Search Results with 4 on Bottom
Google is doing a test right now which ups the number of ads on the search results page from 7 ads up to 8 ads, changing the bottom set of three ads to a set of four instead. This is good news for advertisers who were concerned about the loss of the sidebar ad positions, […]