Google is testing a new card style layout in the search results. But those screenshots didn’t also show a local pack. And for those site owners who appear in the local pack, this particular test – especially if it becomes the standard. Here is a screenshot that shows the full compliment of four AdWords ads […]
Archives for 2016
Sued for Leaving a Negative Review? It Will Soon Be Illegal in the US
We have periodically heard of the lengths some businesses go to in order to prevent negative reviews, or to see them removed after the fact. And it is in everyone’s best interests to ensure that online reviews are as honest as possible, and if a business prevents negative reviews, it can give others the false […]
Google Testing Another News Card Styles in Desktop Search Results
Google is testing yet another card style in the Google desktop results for their “Top Stories” news related listings. This test is quite distinctive because it does have some mobile elements, with it being in the card format. But it isn’t displayed carousel style and Google has removed the images from the test. So while […]
Google Adds “Buy e-Book” Options to Book Knowledge Panels
Google has launched new “buy e-books online” feature in the Google knowledge panel for books. These first showed up for book related searches on Friday morning. Here is what it looks like: The most interesting thing about these is that they seem to be organic results and NOT paid. They do not have a sponsored […]
‘#BusterTheBoxer’ from John Lewis Tops List of Most Shared Ads of 2016
UK retailer John Lewis is bouncing with joy today after its Christmas campaign “#BusterTheBoxer” was named the most shared ad of 2016 by video ad tech company Unruly. The two-minute video ad, which features an array of animals playing on a family’s trampoline at Christmas time, appears at the top of Unruly’s annual Top 20 […]
Using Emojis in Google’s Local Pack & Knowledge Panel
Many webmasters have used (and abused) emojis within Google’s search results, and it seems there is a new way for using them in the Google search results, this time within both the local pack, map results and local knowledge panel. First, this is how it looks in the local knowledge panel, in Chrome: And in […]
Google Testing New Card Style News in Desktop Search Results
Google is testing a new card style of news results in the regular Google search results on desktop. These cards are somewhat similar to what you see on mobile, except that they are not a carousel. Here is what it looks like: The title above the news card results translates to “headlines”, as in news […]
Google Updates Site Move Recommendations for Webmasters
Google has updated their site move recommendations for those who are moving sites to new domains, to https or to a new URL structure. The new recommendations are specifically about when to move a site at once and when to do it in steps or phases. The new section reads: Decide how you will move […]
Google & Bing Increase Size of Sitemap Files to 50MB
Bing has announced a change to the sitemap file size limit, increasing it from 10MB to 50MB. Google has also confirmed they are honoring the new sitemap size increase too. It is important to note that the change doesn’t increase the actual number of URLs in the sitemap file. That is still limited to 50,000 […]
Google Removing “Content Keywords” from Search Console
Google will be removing the “Content Keywords” section from Google Search Console, removing Google’s tracking of the keywords they see as most popular on your pages and site overall. Content Keywords is a combined report that lists the most common keywords within a site, including variants, and reports it within Search Console. This feature will […]