Search Engine Roundtable Podcast

This week, we had the Google April 2023 reviews update finish rolling out after 13 days. That update was pretty heated toward the last week of the rollout. Google clarified that page experience is a ranking signal but not a ranking system. Google asked you to submit issues with Site names in the search results and then pushed a fix for some of those site names. Bing is also testing site names and favicons in its search results. Google may be testing rewriting more titles in its search results. Google has documented its three types of web crawlers. Google is testing displaying follower counts in the search result snippets. Google is testing a new grid format for local results. Google is texting businesses to validate the information in their Google Business Profilers. Bing Chat support for Webmaster Tools may be coming in May. Bing Chat is better at news and sports answers, while Google Bard can now code. Bing Chat also reduced disengagements by over three times for some categories. Google Ads had some latency issues this week. Google Ads API version 13.1 was released this week. Google will let you access your historical Universal Analytics 3 data until July 1, 2024. And Google and Microsoft published their earnings reports this week, and we dug into the ad revenue numbers. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

SPONSOR: This week's video recap is sponsored by Duda, the Professional Website Builder You Can Call Your Own.

0:00 - Introduction

0:50 - Google April 2023 Reviews Update Done Rolling Out

1:55 - Google Reviews Update Heats Up Again

2:10 - Google: Page Experience Is A Ranking Signal, Not A Ranking System

4:39 - Google Search Wants You To Report Inaccurate Site Names

5:15 - Google Search Update Fixes Some Problematic Site Names

5:43 - Bing Adds Site Name & Favicon To Search Result Snippets

6:02 - Is Google Search Rewriting More Titles Again?

6:40 - Google Documents Its Three Types Of Web Crawlers

7:12 - Google Tests Grid Format For Local Results In Mobile Web Search

7:32 - Google Texting Businesses To Validate Google Business Profile Information

8:16 - Google Tests Displaying Follower Counts In Search Result Snippets

8:29 - Microsoft: Bing Chat To Show Referrer Analytics Data In Coming Weeks

8:51 - Bing Chat Better At News / Sports & Google Bard Can Code, Plus More AI Updates

9:07 - Bing Chat Reduces Disengagement By Over 3X For Most Egregious Category

9:26 - Google Ads Latency Issues & Errors With Advertiser Interface & API

9:39 - Google Ads API Version 13.1 Now Available

9:47 - Google Analytics To Show UA3 Data For A Year After It Stops Collecting Data On July 1, 2023

10:27 - Google Ads Revenue Flat While & Microsoft Bing Ads Revenues Up 10%

11:21 - Conclusion 

In part one, we learned about who is Igal Stolpner, and in part two we dive into the topic of international SEO. Now we dive deeper into this topic and dig into AI-translated content and Google Maps and local results, competitive analysis and Google algorithm rollouts globally.

He said the concept of using translation tools to translate your content is being used by more companies than he originally thought, and it is an issue he has to deal with his clients. He said the issue is that these companies use Google Translate to translate the content initially but never have an editor review that content. He said the May 2022 core update hit these AI-translated content big.

He said with using AI to translate content and budget matters, and sometimes you need to translate some of the pages with editors and some with AI. You need to edit and review to make sure the localization is done right within the budget. They primarily hire freelancers, and the right people for the right languages and regions, are important.

We then talked a bit about Google Maps and local and then moved into site optimization. You need to look at your competitors, you need to be better than your competitors in search not just on language but also in how your site works. Make sure you do the right competitive analysis, this goes across content, site design, user experience, and more. One example that gets him a lot are date formats, like May 5th versus 5/5 or 5.5, etc.

Also, we dabbled a bit about Google algorithm updates and how they may roll out slower internationally. He said he saw it a lot in Israel. All niches are a lot more competitive in the states, he said.

You can learn more about Igal Stolpner at @igalst or on LinkedIn.

What a busy week, we had Google confirm it is working on an all-new search engine that uses AI and Bard. There is no ETA for when that will go live, but in the coming months, we will see more minor updates to Google Search to embed AI throughout; this is code-named Magi. Google’s April 2023 reviews update saw some tremors this week, and it is probably almost done rolling out. Google has changed its guidance for what is considered helpful content, adding a section for page experience. Meanwhile, Google removed a bunch of old “retired” ranking systems from its help documentation. Google is dropping the page experience report, the mobile usability report, and the mobile-friendly test from Google Search Console. FAQ-rich results are showing up a lot less often in the mobile results. Google launched the Reader Revenue Manager in Google’s publisher center and a new Subscribed content report in Search Console for paywalled content. Google expanded its shipping and return search snippet details and added a new Search Console report for them. Google’s Gary Illyes spoke about what to do if your site drops for a single keyword. Google said do not let Google index your internal search result pages, especially if they return no results. GoogleOther is a new Googlebot that Google launched this week. Google Bard drafts are more diverse, and Bing Chat has nicer math formula formatting. Bing Chat will soon be able to process book-sized documents. I posted numerous polls on search marketers' use of generative AI, like ChatGPT, Bing Chat, and Google Bard. There is a bug with the Google Business Profile Manager listings. Google showed off generative AI within Google Ads performance max. Google Ads is looking to surface more search term data to advertisers. Google AdSense has this lingering zero-clicks bug. Google Search is testing color swatches for product grids and pricing overlays for product image thumbnails in the search snippets. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

SPONSOR: Wix - did you know they have a new monthly search newsletter named Searchlight? You can subscribe at wix.com/seo/learn/subscribe.

0:00 - Introduction

1:30 - Report: Google Working On New More Personalized Search Engine & Project Magi

3:03 - Google April 2023 Reviews Update - What We're Seeing...

3:55 - Here Is What Changed with the Google Helpful Content Guidance - Page Experience & More

5:47 - Google Drops Mobile-Friendly, Page Speed, Secure Sites & Page Experience As Retired Ranking Systems

7:25 - Google Search Console To Drop Page Experience Report, Mobile Usability Report & Mobile-Friendly Tests

7:54 - Google FAQ Snippets Drop For Many Sites On April 5th

8:16 - Google Publisher Center Reader Revenue Manager & Search Console Subscribed Content Report

9:02 - Google Expands Return / Shipping Details In Search Results & New Search Console Reporting

9:35 - Google On A Site Dropping In Ranking For One Keyword

10:06 - Google: If You Can't Block No Result Found Internal Search Results Then Block All Search Results

10:36 - GoogleOther: A New Generic Google Crawler To Help Googlebot

11:12 - Google Bard Drafts More Varied & Bing Chat Math Formulas Nicer

11:51 - Bing Chat To Be Able To Process Book Size Documents

12:00 - Poll: How Often Search Marketers Are Using ChatGPT, Bing Chat & Google Bard vs Traditional Search

13:02 - Google Business Profile Manager Search & Dashboard Bug Hiding Businesses

13:12 - Is This Google's Generative AI In Google Ads Test Showed Internally

13:42 - Google Ads Looking To Surface More Search Term Data

13:53 - Google AdSense 0 Clicks Bug Lingers On For Several Weeks

14:10 - Google Search Tests Color Swatch For Product Grid Results

14:20 - Google Search Product Image Thumbnail Snippets With Pricing Overlays

14:30 - Conclusion

In part one, we learned about who is Igal Stolpner and now in part two we dive into the topic of international SEO.

He said while hreflang is important for international SEO, it is just a tag and there is more to international SEO than just hreflang. He said hreflang may be more complex than you think and then the technical SEO aspects are there but it is a very small part of taking a site internationally, he said.

You need to make a site run in multiple languages and that is the hard part. The hardest part with international SEO is figuring out the culture and making that local user feels like he is at home. He said it is about understanding how the local users in those regions interact with search, your site and your content. These aspects can be very different from country to country.

Keyword research is much more difficult than just translating your keywords. He does something called the international assessment report, where they do a much deeper dive beyond translation but thinking about how to change the content, do you need different content and so forth.

He said the concept of using translation tools to translate your content is being used by more companies than he originally thought and it is an issue he has to deal with his clients. He said the issue is that these companies use Google Translate to initially translate the content but never have an editor review that content. He said the May 2022 core update hit these AI-translated content big.

We will dive more into this topic and more in part three.

You can learn more about Igal Stolpner at @igalst or on LinkedIn.

This week in search, we covered the new April 2023 reviews update that goes beyond just product reviews. We also covered the possible impact the Google March 2023 broad core update had on local search. Google’s John Mueller said they don’t launch algorithm updates and say they got everything wrong. Google released its web spam report, showing how SpamBrain significantly reduced spam. Google will remove video thumbnail images when the video is not the main part of the content. Google’s CEO said Google Search would use generative AI. Google Bard added "Google it" search topics and a release notes page. Bing Chat may soon support third-party plugins. Google Ads is testing another design for the advertiser verification badge. Google Ads is testing new identity verification for business name and logos. Google Ads will deprecate non-last-click rules-based attribution. Google Ads tests an expanded Your Google Ads Summary box in web search. Google said it learns how to crawl your site’s URL patterns. Google said there is no reason to delay the release of thousands of pages. Bing spoke a bit about private domain name registration. And Wylie Gustafson, who created and voiced the “Yahoo-oo-oo” was back at Yahoo. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Sponsored by Rank Ranger, the all-in-one- professional SEO software. Rank Ranger is a comprehensive SEO platform that allows you to grow your business with data and analytics. It offers valuable insights through advanced rank tracking, including above-the-fold tracking, Organic Share of Voice reporting, actionable SERP feature data, and SERP analysis tools.

0:00 - Introduction

1:23 - Google April 2023 Reviews Update Rolls Out, Expands To Cover Reviews About Products, Services, and Things

3:25 - Google March 2023 Broad Core Update Impact Local Rankings?

3:59 - Google Has Not Pushed Search Ranking Updates Where They Got Everything Wrong

4:56 - SpamBrain Flexes In Google's 2022 Web Spam Report

5:57 - Google Removes Video Thumbnails In Search Results When Video Is Not Main Content

6:57 - Google Will Use Generative AI In Search

7:38 - Google Bard Adds Google It Related Topics & Release Notes Page

8:02 - Bing Chat May Support Third-Party Plugins Soon

8:23 - Google Ads Testing Another Verification Badge Style

8:50 - Google Ads Tests Identify Verification For Business Name & Logo In Search Ads

9:23 - Google Ads To Deprecate Non-Last-Click Rules-Based Attribution Models: First Click, Linear, Time Decay & Position-Based Attribution Models

9:49 - Google Tests Expanded Your Google Ad Summary With Edit Ad & Apply Recommendations

10:09 - Google: We Learn How To Crawl Your Site's URL Patterns

10:19 - Google: No SEO Reason To Delay Release Of Thousands Of Pages

10:46 - Bing on Private Domain Registration & SEO

11:23 - Yodeling Wylie Gustafson Back Yahoo

11:49 - Conclusion 

I’ve known Igal Stolpner for a long time now, he was doing SEO at Investing.com while based in Israel for over a decade, I met Igal at SMX Israel and he spoke on a few panels over the years then. He moved to the New York area over a year ago and founded his own SEO agency named Webify.io. So he stopped by my office to chat.

We spent some time talking about his history in the SEO space and what he did at Investing.com. He was one of the first folks to talk about App SEO, specifically with indexing apps, back then it was revolutionary. We spoke about why he made the move from Investing.com to his own agency and it was about expanding his curiosity in SEO. And from his curiosity, it organically grew into a niche agency. We also spoke about him moving from Israel to the States.

That is part one, in part two we get into some SEO topics, specifically about international SEO.

You can learn more about Igal Stolpner at @igalst or on LinkedIn.

Note I recorded and wrote this recap on Wednesday but scheduled it to go live on Friday morning, and I am offline for Passover. I posted the monthly Google Webmaster report, and it is an excellent way to catch up on the last month of Google SEO topics. Google said they upgraded Bard’s math and logic support. Bing Chat was also upgraded with images, videos, better local results, and more. Also, Bing Chat v98 brings a reduction in refusals to create and a reduction in disengagements. Fabrice Canel said better content controls are coming to Bing Chat. Google said the remove outdated content tool does not remove any competitor content. Google’s John Mueller spoke more about using AI to write content. Danny Sullivan explained why evergreen content doesn’t always rank well in Google for trending topics. Bing added AI-generated stories in the search results. Google added hotel stories, flight price guarantees, and new discovery tools. Google Maps blocked a lot of bad reviews and bad players. Google is testing local pack overlays directly in the search results. Google is also testing auto-expanding map features in search. Google Ads has an appear warning dialog. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

In part one, we spoke about who Sam Michelson is and his business development techniques. In part two, we dove into CRM software and how they use it, including looking at a new piece of software for partner management. Then in part three, we go into pricing your services, and in part four, we talk about human resources. In part five, we talk about Google algorithm updates, and in part six, we talk more about search intent and features. This is the last part where we get into emotions around reputation management online.

There are certain situations that Sam Michelson won’t touch, specifically where the work they do might cause harm. So they do turn away a lot of business because they are either uncomfortable with the situation or it might cause harm.

This also plays into employee retention, where he doesn’t have his employees working on work that can end up hurting others. It would be hard to retain employees in a situation like that.

For more on Sam Michelson, visit Five Blocks and find him on LinkedIn.

Sponsored by SE Ranking.

Google finished rolling out the March 2023 broad core update on Tuesday, and it took about 13 days to roll out. Microsoft said they are exploring sharing ad revenue from Bing Chat with publishers through the Microsoft Start program. Microsoft executives also mocked Google for Bard's lack of citations and said Bing Chat is better. Did you know you can block ChatGPT's plugins from crawling your site. Google is showing fewer brand and company names in titles in the search results. Bing is testing adding “official site” to the title of the search results. Google launched perspectives for top stores, added an “about this author” section, and rolled out more search verification features. Google is testing a new search carousel “products gaining attention.” Google Search Console broke out merchant listings and product snippets in its reporting. Google Search Console updated the core web vitals report in Search Console. Google Search Console’s automated bulk export for BigQuery now supports multiple properties to one Cloud instance. Microsoft fixed the Bing Webmaster Tool API data gap issue. Google Ads is testing blue verified badges for some ads. Google Ads removed tons of ads and suspended tons of advertisers, and they also launched the new ad transparency center. Google Ads Editor 2.3 is now out. Microsoft Advertising is testing third-party government service ads. Spammers are using ChatGPT to spam Google Maps reviews. Whitespark released its local search ranking study for 2023. And Google is looking into AMP support for GA4, maybe. A quick programming note, I am offline Thursday and Friday (and Saturday) for Passover next week, so any stories or videos are pre-written/recorded and scheduled on those days. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Sponsored by BruceClay, who has been doing search marketing optimization since 1996 and also has an amazing SEO training platform.

In part one, we spoke about who Sam Michelson is and his business development techniques. In part two, we dove into CRM software and how they use it, including looking at a new piece of software for partner management. Then in part three, we go into pricing your services, and in part four, we talk about human resources. In part five, we talk about Google algorithm updates, and now we talk more about search intent and features.

People often think about their online reputation as what information they want to put out, but they shouldn’t. But there are search features like people also ask and the things Google shows there you need to be on top of. So they analyze a lot of the results coming back from people also ask and other features.

They looked at this data to map the intent for searchers around their client queries. They can find patterns where articles from Bloomberg would replace Forbes articles. We also mentioned Google Q&A in Google Local. There is also Google Search Console for data and much more. He looks at the knowledge panel, featured snippets, other search features by harvesting Google Search.

We also briefly spoke about Google Discover ORM.

For more on Sam Michelson, visit Five Blocks and find him on LinkedIn.