We hope you are in good health. Here are some of the major SEO news updates of the week you need to know:
Search Related Updates and News from Major Search Engines
Google Launched a new Label That Will Help People Search Easily For Highly Cited Sources
Google is set to roll out the new label in search results pages identified as highly cited sources. This label is likely to appear next to pages in top stories and is intended to assist users in finding credible information without much struggle. The label debuts on April 2, which is just in time for International Fact-Checking Day!
Google Data Studio now includes more Search Console insights
More Search Console data is now available via the Google Data Studio connector, enabling users to visualise traffic from more Google sources. Google Search Advocate Daniel Waisberg announced this update in the second post of a blog series about Data Studio and Search Console.
How does Google manage to keep AI Search Safe?
Google is utilising its Artificial Intelligence systems to assist people in gaining access to sensitive information while avoiding potentially shocking or harmful content, allowing them to remain safe both online and offline.
Google displays contact information alongside the most useful and relevant results when people search for suicide, sexual assault, substance abuse, or domestic violence. However, understanding the language of people in personal crisis requires the assistance of machine learning. The latest AI model from the tech giant, the Multitask Unified Model, or MUM, can detect a broader range of personal crisis searches automatically and accurately.
Google adds the Trusted Store Badge to free shopping listings
The coveted Google Trusted Store Badge has been available for nearly a decade. Indeed, Google reported that over 67 per cent of users used Google ratings, price comparison, and reviews to help them make a purchase during the holiday season. A positive customer experience is critical in any industry, but especially in ecommerce. As a result, Google announced the extension of the Trusted Stores badge to free shopping listings.
Now you can find hotel booking links in Google Search and Maps!
Google introduced a way for hotels to display free booking links last year. Google announced an expansion of free booking links earlier this month. These free links can now be found in Search and Maps. Since the pandemic, the travel industry has shown signs of recovery, with “spring vacation” searches approaching the volume seen in 2019. With travel returning to pre-pandemic levels, Google has released new guidelines to assist hotels in connecting with and reaching people who are ready to travel.
It’s time for some Google Updates!
I mentioned earlier this week that the March 2022 Google Products Reviews upgrade was not yet showing significant improvements. Well, it appears that some of the tools and a few SEOs are now noticing more significant changes relating to sites that fall into the product review categories.
John Mueller says, “Nofollow is not a dampening factor”!
On Twitter, Google’s John Mueller stated that “Nofollow is not a dampening factor.” When you use the Nofollow attribute on a link, it does not reduce the link’s value; in fact, it gives the link no credit or value at all. Some SEOs have previously believed that a Nofollowed link on a prominent website is counted or counted in some way. No, it doesn’t matter where the link is, if it has a Nofollow property on it, Google won’t count it.
Microsoft might soon launch a new feature for the search results
Microsoft Bing appears to be experimenting with a new search function that embeds Wikipedia excerpts in a huge Wikipedia box in the search results. It basically pulls in sections of Wikipedia content that are divided down by page content.
John Mueller from Google asks to keep your old redirected web links in sitemaps files temporarily
Google’s John Mueller reiterated on Twitter that previous URLs that have been redirected elsewhere should only be kept in your XML sitemap file temporarily, not indefinitely. John has suggested this before, but now he is recommending that they stay for one to three months rather than fewer than six months. Indeed, John has already argued that these tactics have a limited overall impact.
“For a transitory state, it’s fine to have redirects in the sitemap file,” John stated on Twitter this morning. “In the long run, you want the canonical URLs listed there,” he added.
PPC Related Updates and News
Now you can create performance max campaigns via Google Ads Editor version 2.0
Google has pushed the adoption of one of its newest campaign types, Performance Max, over the last quarter. Until now, these campaigns could only be created through the Google Ads online interface.
Google Editor v2.0 was released on March 29 to support this campaign type. This is just a single update, and there is a lot more to go!
On June 30, 2022, Google will discontinue support for expanded text ads
All Google Ads advertisers should be aware that there are only three months left to use expanded text ads before they are phased out. Google announced in August that standard expanded text ads for Search campaigns would be phased out. Beginning July 1, 2022, responsive search ads will be the sole ad type for future Search campaigns.
Social Media Updates And News
You can now publish newsletters on Linkedin!
Email marketing used to be the domain of newsletters, but LinkedIn is working to modernise them for the social media age. LinkedIn Newsletters are an expansion of the Articles for Pages function, which allowed businesses to develop and publish long-form content last year. The purpose of Articles for Pages is to improve engagement with followers and to encourage dialogues. The notion is expanded upon in the newsletter, which offers subscriptions to recurrent articles on comparable topics.
Now it might get easier for you to search for the right video on desktop Youtube!
YouTube is experimenting with ‘Search Chips,’ a new way to search for videos on the desktop that allows users to narrow results using recommended keywords. For video creators, this function may increase the odds of their work being noticed. Search Chips look and operate like the search suggestions at the bottom of Google’s SERPs. By clicking on a Search Chip, users can narrow their video searches and improve the relevancy of their search results.
