Google’s KP Tests are A Hot Mess, Zero-Click Search, meh?
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Breach at Hy-Vee Supermarket Chain Tied to Sale of 5M+ Stolen Credit, Debit Cards — Krebs on Security
Source: krebsonsecurity.com
Mike: Cyber-thieves involved in stealing card data from main street merchants have gradually moved down the food chain from big-box retailers like Target and Home Depot to smaller but far more plentiful and probably less secure merchants (either by choice or because the larger stores became a harder target).
Yelp adds ‘powered by Grubhub’ on referral numbers
Source: www.nrn.com
Mike: Is there hope for Yelp? They actually responded to a small business complaint.
DoorDash is still pocketing workers’ tips, almost a month after it promised to stop
Source: www.vox.com
Mike: I doubt that there is hope for DoorDash.
DoorDash breaks silence on driver tips, says it’ll start paying them next month – The Verge
Source: www.theverge.com
Mike: Oops, DoorDash finally responds and notes that it will be “next month” before they will fix the tip issue.
Amazon will no longer use tips to pay delivery drivers’ base salaries – The Verge
Source: www.theverge.com
Mike: Another oops… Amazon which wasn’t called out, fixes the tip issue BEFORE they become front page news on the Washington Post. Oh, that won’t happen.
SEO Click Loss Angst!? SOLVED- Now Quit Whining & Get Over It – Aimclear® Blog
Source: www.aimclearblog.com
Mike: SEOs, led by Rand Fishkin have bemoaned Google’s shift to a “walled garden” approach to users. Marty Wientraub says: Get over it!
In Local we have dealt with this issue for years and have found plenty of opportunities.
Does Using Unicode Help Click-Through-Rate? – Sterling Sky Inc
Source: www.sterlingsky.ca
Mike: Should you use fancy characters to your Title Tags? Joy thinks no.
Ben Fisher on Twitter: “GMB Ad In-Listing Spotted in the Wild. Check this out! There is an ad for a Honda dealership on a Doge dealerships GMB Listing. https://t.co/JsUN8KVCfm”
Source: twitter.com
Mike: From Twitter, There is an ad for a Honda dealership on a Doge dealerships GMB Listing.
Every surface is a target as Google expands its local advertising and your business profile is one of those surfaces. So be ready to a) check your listing and b) get your own ads in that space.
Want to Protest SeaWorld? Visit their Knowledge Panel for Details
Source: blumenthals.com
Mike: Speaking of not owning but renting your Business Profile at Google, Google might now be highlighting protestor’s events on your listing. Oh joy.
Google Local Testing Splitting CTA’s From Main Business Profile on Mobile
Source: blumenthals.com
Mike: Talk about a test with a bad user experience. This is one such test from Google.
Joy Hawkins On Local Ranking Factors, Google Maps & Local SEO : Vlog #13 – YouTube
Source: www.youtube.com
Mike: Barry Schwartz interviews Joy.
The Hidden Opportunity Cost of Google Plus: Review Volume | Street Fight
Source: streetfightmag.com
Mike: Google’s review volume has absolutely gone through the roof as users behaviors have changed. Not sure where this leaves the likes of Yelp.
A quarter of desktop searches are now on Bing in the USA – MSPoweruser
Source: mspoweruser.com
Mary: Why do Comscore numbers not reflect reality?
Google Recommends You Specify If A Doctor Reviewed Your Medical Content
Source: www.seroundtable.com
Mary: Do this! “Google’s John Mueller was asked how should a web site document that its medical and health content was reviewed by a doctor or expert on the topic. John said you can use text, link to the doctor’s profile and add other elements to the page to communicate this.”
Delivery Icons Appearing in the 3-Pack – Local Search Forum
Source: www.localsearchforum.com
Mary: @JoyanneHawkins reports seeingspotted delivery icons in the 3-pack for McDonalds while searching.
Clicking on it leads you to a Google interface that allows you to order from guess who?
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: Helping publishers and users get more out of visual searches on Google Images with AMP
Source: webmasters.googleblog.com
Mary: This does not take you to the place where the image lives! Cyrus Shepard says: “Counts as a pageview, but the visitor stays on the same Google URL, and includes additional Google navigation (which you can’t remove)”
Google’s inconsistency with third-party reviews is a confusing user experience – Search Engine Land
Source: searchengineland.com
Carrie: Joy Hawkins explores the inconsistent messaging around using 3rd party reviews. The inconsistency to me actually seems to be in Google not vetting the validity of the rating system that they’re pulling in – the example from Angie’s List in Joy’s article is particularly glaring. Birdeye is republishing reviews from Google but gets real estate in the KP. Why not let
FAQ, HowTo, and Q&A: Using New Schema Types to Create Interactive Rich Results – Moz
Source: moz.com
Carrie: FAQ, HowTo, and Q&A: Using New Schema Types to Create Interactive Rich Results – It’s no secret I’m a big fan of Schema – this great article by Lily Ray of Path Interactive over at the Moz blog is excellent!
Mike Blumenthal on Twitter: “.@FTC & @TripAdvisorB2B @TripAdvisor Does this type of incentive (making a donation to charity if someone leaves a TripAdvisor review) violate FTC guidelines OR TripAdvisor Terms of Service?… https://t.co/lfSLmqdZon”
Source: twitter.com
Carrie: An excellent question that Google/FTC has failed to answer – can you incentivize reviews by offering a donation to charity vs giving something to the reviewer?
What is ‘Google Screened’ and how does it differ from ‘Google Guaranteed’? – Search Engine Land
Source: searchengineland.com
Carrie: Google Screened is showing up in LSA ads for some categories. I can’t imagine what kind of legal issues they’d run into if a Lawyer or doctor LSA ad had “Google Guaranteed” on it.
What Kind Of Client Work Will You Turn Down? — David C. Baker
Source: www.davidcbaker.com
Carrie: Thought-provoking article about types of work consultants will turn down, and why. I know there are some categories I’m leery of as a consultant – this was an interesting article AND Twitter discussion.
Can You Increase Keyword Rank Without Any Link Building?
Source: www.searchenginejournal.com
Carrie: Great article from Kristine Schachinger at SEJournal about getting rankings without links. I think links are still important, but there are ways to get improvements without links. Market and competition are HUGE factors.
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