The Week In Search & SEO: August 10, 2018

The Week In Search & SEO: August 10, 2018

Worried you might have missed something? Last week saw some great info come out on the August 1st Google update, new negative SEO strategies, big changes to Google Ads extended ad format and major enhancements to Google Analytics.

Top Global Search News

Google OKs Requiring Links

In an interesting discussion on Twitter, Google’s Danny Sullivan basically OK’d requiring links for content being used by others but cautioned that on a large scale it could be considered a link scheme. I had thought Google’s answer was that even one would be a schema and that requiring links was not allowed. Now we know.

Bing Growing & Improving

How Bing is enhancing search and apparently growing as a result

Over on Search Engine Land, Adam Dorfman looks as some of the improvements Bing has been making to their SERP layout. He gives some important tips on how to react to the new layouts and hopefully, a stronger Bing.

Google Cache Date In Last Indexed

Just a quick note about cache dates.  Google has confirmed that the cache date of a web document is not necessarily the last time it was crawled but the last time it was indexed.

YMOYL Get A Big Update

Google Medic Update: Google's Core Search Update Had Big Impact On Health/Medical Sites

In an analysis of the top sites impacted by the August 1st Google update, Barry Schwartz found that the lion’s share of impact occurred to what’s commonly referred to as Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) sites.  These are sites that contain information important to health or finance. It’s also likely that this ties to the new quality rater’s guidelines in some way as it appears to me it might involve the credibility of authorship.

August 1st Update Winners & Losers

Google’s Aug. 1 core algorithm update: Who did it impact, and how much?

In a followup piece for Search Engine Land, Barry Schwartz outlines the data from the August 1st update, pulling together communications from Google and stats from the industry to really dig into who won and who lost and what it might mean.

Warning: Fake DMCA The New Negative SEO

A new type of negative SEO is afoot.  Imposters are faking DMCA takedown requests, posing as legitimate copyright holders and have reportedly succeeding in getting hundreds of thousands of links removed from Google’s index.

Top Local Search News

Bing Local Is Getting Awesome

Bing Hotel Search, Home Repair Search & Deal Search Gets A Boost

I’ve been reporting a LOT about Google and their big moves in travel. Enter Bing. Bing is going a slightly different route with some excellent results in the local space (hotels, home repair and deals). It appears to me that they’re looking to be the starting point of these types of searches, pitting them against Expedia and Angie’s List as opposed to Google – presumably in hopes that once there, supplemental queries will also be run on Bing.

Top PPC News

Google Sponsored Units

Google’s Sponsored Units on Search: What Marketers Need to Know

Elizabeth Marsten wrote a great piece for Search Engine Journal on Google Sponsored Units that’s a must read in my opinion for anyone involved in paid search.  She discusses the ins and outs of how it works, where it displays and why you won’t be double-serving ads.

Google Ads Character(s) to Ads

Google extends added character benefits of Responsive Search Ads to text ads

When responsive ads were rolling out back in May we discussed the benefits of giving them a shot, basically more headlines and description length. These enhancements will roll out to all expanded text ads in September.

Basically – get ready to revamp every ad you’ve ever made.

New Chat Time Comparison

Google Ads Report Editor Now Supports Chart Time Comparison DataGoogle has announce the rollout of an AdWords feature that allows users to compare data ranges in charts.  It’s nothing revolutionary in regards to the data you can access but it sure makes visualizing it a lot easier.

Top Social Media News

Facebook Taking On Google Local

Facebook Challenges Google in Local Search

In an important read for anyone involved in local, Roger Montti outlines a number of features and methods Facebook has rolled out to challenge Google in local search and discovery. It’s a very good read and can lend a lot of insight into ways you could be marketing and likely aren’t if you’re focused on search alone.

Internet Marketing-Related Tech

Index Coverage More Accurate

Google Search Console Index Coverage Upgraded & More Accurate

Google has been rolling out a more accurate Search Console Index Coverage report.  The rollout starts on July 14th and ended on August 1st though we only found out about it on the 7th. Changes seen during this time likely reflect the changed system and not a change in the site itself.

Google Analytics Cross Device Capabilities

Google Analytics Signals - Cross Device Capabilities

Google has rolled out Google Signals. This feature facilitates the tracking of logged in users across devices lending deeping insight into who they are, what they’re doing and how they’re doing it.

Best Opinion Pieces

HTTP/2 FAQ

HTTP/2 FAQ: What Every SEO Professional Needs to Know

My favorite opinion piece this week was written by Sam Marsden over on Search Engine Journal. In the piece he discusses HTTP/2, how it works, its pros-and-cons and how to implement it (or get your host to). It’s probably one of the last things folks think about but it’s important and I’ve been talking about it since it was approved back in February 2015.