Ecommerce Management Advisors
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Google’s John Mueller advises site owners on managing outdated AMP subdomains, suggesting redirects or complete DNS removal.
Google has announced an expansion of its Travel Feeds feature for Search Ads.
This update allows hotel advertisers to directly include more detailed information from their feeds in search results.
A Google support page reads:
“When you link your Hotel Center to Google Ads, Google will automatically enrich existing Search ad formats with prices, images, and more to help drive better performance.”
The expanded feature lets hotel advertisers display the following information in their ads:
Google notes that advertisers can:
“Use the same feed data already available in Hotel Center and used by travel advertisers in hotel campaigns to enhance more ad types.”
The hotel price and landing page are automatically sourced from your Hotel Center feed, with selections based on ad relevance, creative, and query.
Multiple designs are available as part of Travel Feeds in Search Ads.
Google provided some examples. Note, these are mockups only.
Screenshot from support.google.com, October 2024.According to Google’s internal data, advertisers using the full range of available formats have observed up to a 20% increase in click-through rates.
However, individual results may vary, and these figures have not been independently verified.
Google will automatically display Travel Feeds in Search Ads after you Link your Hotel Center feed to a Google Ads account.
You can set feed sharing controls at the account and campaign levels.
Key points:
Advertisers must have a Hotel Center account with a price accuracy rating of at least “Poor ” to use Travel Feeds in Search Ads.
The feature is currently available in 21 countries and supports 12 languages.
The expansion of Travel Feeds in Search Ads represents one of several recent changes to travel-related search results.
Google plans to test the Travel Feeds feature beyond hotels.
In the coming months, Google will include other travel-related categories such as attractions, car rentals, and events.
Featured Image: support.google.com, October 2024.
Google has announced the retirement of the sitelinks search box feature.
This change, set to take effect on November 21, marks the end of a tool that has been part of Google Search for over a decade.
We’re saying bye to the sitelinks search box in Google Search results starting Nov 21, 2024, as usage has dropped. This doesn’t affect rankings or other sitelinks. The corresponding markup doesn’t need to be removed, but won’t be used by Google.https://t.co/RocxcjyXi4 pic.twitter.com/sJO3stqdKJ
— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) October 21, 2024
The sitelinks search box, introduced in 2014, allowed users to perform site-specific searches directly from Google’s search results page.
It appeared above the sitelinks for certain websites, usually when searching for a company by name.
Google cites declining usage as the reason for this decision, stating:
“Over time, we’ve noticed that usage has dropped.”
Google affirms that removing the sitelinks search box won’t affect search rankings or the display of other sitelinks.
This change is purely visual and doesn’t impact a site’s position in search results.
This update will be rolled out globally, affecting search results in all languages and countries.
Google has confirmed that the change won’t be listed in the Search status dashboard, indicating that it’s not considered a significant algorithmic update.
Following the removal of the sitelinks search box, Google plans to update the following tools:
While you can remove the sitelinks search box structured data from their sites, Google says that’s unnecessary.
Unsupported structured data won’t cause issues in Search or trigger errors in Search Console reports.
It’s worth noting that the ‘WebSite’ structured data, also used for site names, continues to be supported.
The sitelinks search box was initially announced in September 2014 as an improvement to help users find specific website content more easily.
It supported features like autocomplete and allowed websites to implement schema markup for better integration with their own search pages.
Website owners and SEO professionals should take note of this update, though no immediate action is required.
Featured Image: MrB11/Shutterstock
A study by The College Investor finds significant inaccuracies in Google’s AI-generated summaries for finance queries.
Out of 100 personal finance searches, 43% had misleading or incorrect information.
The study evaluated AI overviews across various financial topics, including banking, credit, investing, taxes, and student loans.
The results showed:
Researchers noted that the AI struggled most with nuanced financial topics, such as taxes, investing, and student loans.
Some of the most concerning issues included:
The AI handled basic financial concepts well but overlooked important exceptions and recent policy changes.
There are notable patterns in the queries Google’s AI got right versus those it got wrong.
Here are common themes.
Google’s AI performs well at giving straightforward answers to factual queries.
On the other hand, it struggles with nuanced understanding, up-to-date information, and consideration of multiple factors.
This suggests that the AI can handle basic financial literacy topics, but it’s unreliable for complex financial decisions or advice.
Robert Farrington, founder of The College Investor, expressed concern about the findings, stating:
“If Google continues to present bad or misinformation about money topics to searchers, not only could it hurt their personal finances, but it could weaken already poor financial literacy in the United States.”
The study noted that following AI guidance could result in tax penalties or financial harm to consumers.
The College Investor believes Google should disable these AI-generated overviews for finance-related queries, especially those concerning taxes and investments.
Searchers must exercise caution when relying on AI-generated summaries for financial decisions.
When questioned about instances of misinformation, Google has previously stated, “the vast majority of AI Overviews provide high-quality information.”
The complete study, including detailed examples and methodology, is available on The College Investor’s website.
Featured Image: Koshiro K/Shutterstock
Matt Mullenweg portrayed himself as a victim in his dispute with WP Engine, claiming in a tweet and blog post that they are ‘trying to curtail’ his free speech. Social media responses ranged from polite debunking of his First Amendment claim to accusations of hypocrisy.
Matt Mullenweg, co-creator of WordPress and CEO of Automattic ignited a dispute with managed WordPress web host WP Engine (WPE), using a Q&A at the WordCamp WordPress conference to denounce WP for not giving enough back to the WordPress open source project. He followed that statement with a post on WordPress.org that called WPE a cancer to WordPress, writing:
“This is one of the many reasons they are a cancer to WordPress, and it’s important to remember that unchecked, cancer will spread. WP Engine is setting a poor standard that others may look at and think is ok to replicate. We must set a higher standard to ensure WordPress is here for the next 100 years.”
He next banned thousands of WP Engine customers, cutting them off from updating their websites. Mullenweg later offered a temporary “reprieve” to prevent further inconvenience by WordPress publishers caught in the middle of the dispute and allow WP Engine to create a workaround.
Banning WP Engine elicited a negative response from WordPress developers and businesses. A tweet by the CEO of Ruby Media Group was representative of the general sentiment:
“My dev team can’t update my plugins because of this. You are destroying people’s lives.”
WP Engine responded with a Cease and Desist letter against Mullenweg and Automattic, followed by a federal lawsuit by WP Engine against Mullenweg and Automattic seeking relief from what they allege is an attempt by Mullenweg to extort millions of dollars from WPE.
Mullenweg on Sunday published a blog post claiming that WP Engine’s lawsuit against him and Automattic is an attempt to “curtail” his “First Amendment rights.”
He wrote:
“WP Engine has filed hundreds pages of legal documents seeking an injunction against me and Automattic. They say this about community or some nonsense, but if you look at the core, what they’re trying to do is ask a judge to curtail my First Amendment rights.”
Mullenweg ended the post by stating he will no longer comment on the lawsuit filed by WP Engine but encouraged others to speak up in support of his side of the dispute.
The First Amendment is a guarantee that the United States government shall not create a law that infringes on a person’s free speech. Many on social media were quick to point out that WP Engine cannot curtain is First Amendment rights because they’re not the government.
A WordPress software developer tweeted:
“You have no first amendment rights in this context. WP Engine is not the government trying to curtail your 1A rights. 1A only applies to government entities.”
Another person followed up with:
“Please reread what the first amendment is, dum dum”
Another developer went further, calling Mullenweg “moronic”:
“WPEngine isn’t the government, how moronic can one man be?”
Another web developer advised Mullenweg to seek legal counsel to explain to him how the First Amendment works:
“Please go talk to your big expensive lawyer. I am sure they can break it down into small words for you.”
Others on social media accused Mullenweg of hypocrisy for curtailing the free speech of others in the official WordPress Slack channel and banning WP Engine users from accessing plugins from the official repository.
A tweet by a WordPress and open source enthusiast captured the general feeling:
“Yes, “freedom of speech” is so important. I assume you now will be unblocking everyone that was exercising their right to freedom of speech in the WordPress Slack and here on X. Or, did you just mean literally “my freedom of speech” only.”
A WordPress developer from Denver tweeted:
“How many people have you banned from the WP slack channel over the past couple weeks?”
And another tweet:
“This coming from the guy cancelling anyone’s account/ access that disagrees with him. Really?”
The overwhelming response to Matt Mullenweg’s post about his First Amendment rights was not sympathetic to his side of the story. A web applications developer’s tweet captured the lack of support:
“Maybe, maybe. But you probably won’t be getting a lot of sympathy from the crowd right now due to this thing the kids these days call “consequences.””
Read the original tweet by Mullenweg:
I feel that @wpengine is trying to curtail my First Amendment rights.
— Matt Mullenweg (@photomatt) October 20, 2024
Matt Mullenweg’s blog post:
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Wirestock Creators
Google Analytics 4 introduces segment sharing, improving data consistency. New features include a shared library and expanded user permissions.
Google has announced that Prabhakar Raghavan, the executive overseeing the company’s search engine and advertising products, will be stepping down from his current role.
The news came on Thursday in a memo from CEO Sundar Pichai to staff.
Taking over Raghavan’s responsibilities will be Nick Fox, a longtime Google executive with experience across various departments.
Fox will now lead the Knowledge & Information team, which includes Google’s Search, Ads, Geo, and Commerce products.
Pichai expressed confidence in Fox’s ability to lead these crucial divisions, noting:
“Throughout his career, Nick has demonstrated leadership across nearly every facet of Knowledge & Information, from Product and Design in Search and Assistant, to our Shopping, Travel, and Payments products.”
Raghavan will transition to the newly created position of Chief Technologist.
He will work closely with Pichai and other Google leaders in this role to provide technical direction.
Pichai praised Raghavan’s contributions, stating:
“Prabhakar’s leadership journey at Google has been remarkable, spanning Research, Workspace, Ads, and Knowledge & Information. He led the Gmail team in launching Smart Reply and Smart Compose as early examples of using AI to improve products, and took Gmail and Drive past 1 billion users.”
This recent announcement from Google comes in the wake of earlier criticisms leveled at the company’s search division.
In April, an opinion piece from Ed Zitron highlighted concerns about the direction of Google Search under Raghavan’s leadership.
The article cited industry analysts who claimed that Raghavan’s background in advertising, rather than search technology, had led to decisions prioritizing revenue over search quality.
Critics alleged that under Raghavan’s tenure, Google had rolled back key quality improvements to boost engagement metrics and ad revenue.
Internal emails from 2019 were referenced. They described a “Code Yellow” emergency response to lagging search revenues when Raghavan was head of Ads. This reportedly resulted in boosting sites previously downranked for using spam tactics.
Google has disputed many of these claims, maintaining that its advertising systems do not influence organic search results.
As part of Google’s restructuring:
Fox’s takeover from Raghavan could shake things up at Google.
We may see faster AI rollouts in search and ads, plus more frequent updates. Fox might revisit core search quality, addressing recent criticisms.
Fox might push for quicker adoption of new tech to fend off competitors, especially in AI. He’s also likely to be more savvy about regulatory issues.
It’s important to note that these potential changes are speculative based on the limited information available.
The actual changes in leadership style and priorities will become clearer as Fox settles into his new role.
Featured Image: One Artist/Shutterstock
In a recent discussion on Reddit’s r/SEO forum, Google’s Search Advocate, John Mueller, cautioned against relying too heavily on third-party SEO metrics.
His comments came in response to a person’s concerns about dramatic changes in tool measurements and their perceived impact on search performance.
The conversation was sparked by a website owner who reported the following series of events:
The owner, who claimed never to have purchased links, is concerned about the impact of these spammy links on their site’s performance.
Mueller addressed these concerns by highlighting the limitations of third-party SEO tools and their metrics.
He stated:
“Many SEO tools have their own metrics that are tempting to optimize for (because you see a number), but ultimately, there’s no shortcut.”
He cautioned against implementing quick fixes based on these metrics, describing many of these tactics as “smoke & mirrors.”
Mueller highlighted a crucial point: the metrics provided by SEO tools don’t directly correlate with how search engines evaluate websites.
He noted that actions like using disavow files don’t affect metrics from SEO tools, as these companies don’t have access to Google data.
This highlights the need to understand the sources and limitations of SEO tool data. Their metrics aren’t direct indicators of search engine rankings.
Mueller suggested a holistic SEO approach, prioritizing unique value over specific metrics like Domain Authority or spam scores.
He advised:
“If you want to think about the long term, finding ways to add real value that’s unique and wanted by people on the web (together with all the usual SEO best practices as a foundation) is a good target.”
However, Mueller acknowledged that creating unique content isn’t easy, adding:
“Unique doesn’t mean a unique combination of words, but really something that nobody else is providing, and ideally, that others can’t easily provide themselves.
It’s hard, it takes a lot of work, and it can take a lot of time. If it were fast & easy, others would be – and probably are already – doing it and have more practice at it.”
Mueller’s insights encourage us to focus on what really matters: strategies that put users first.
This helps align content with Google’s goals and create lasting benefits.
Featured Image: JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock
Microsoft upgrades Bing Webmaster Tools with extended data access, new recommendations system, and AI assistant in limited testing phase.
YouTube is rolling out an update with changes across desktop, mobile, TV, and YouTube Music.
The update brings visual changes to YouTube’s interface across all platforms.
These changes may improve readability and navigation, particularly on mobile devices.
YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, Johanna Voolich, stated in an interview:
“On the mobile app we’re doing things like updating the colors to be consistent with the YouTube brand and we’re also making the landscape experience a lot cleaner bigger thumbnails bigger font.”
You can now resize and move the miniplayer within the YouTube mobile app.
Additionally, you now have more control over playback speed.
Voolich explained,
“We have variable playback speed but now you can do it at the smallest finest grain increments for people who want to have a lot of control.”
YouTube is introducing collaborative playlists, allowing multiple people to contribute to shared playlists.
Describing a potential use case, Voolich said,
“A really good use case might be I’m having a party I want to invite my friends over I want to watch some comedy together I put on my favorite comedy videos and then I ask them and they could just add theirs to it we can pop it on the TV and sit and watch together.”
This feature will be accessible via a special link or QR code on TV platforms.
A new Sleep Timer feature allows you to set a duration, after which videos will automatically pause.
This may be useful for people who often fall asleep while watching content.
YouTube is implementing a badge system to acknowledge user engagement.
Voolich described this feature as:
“… ways to recognize the community and the super fans and the people for using YouTube and the milestones that they’ve created within the YouTube community.”
For people who watch on their TV, YouTube is launching immersive channel pages.
Now, a video will automatically play when visiting a creator’s channel on a connected TV
This change could potentially impact how viewers discover and engage with content on larger screens.
While many features are available now, some, like playlist voting, are scheduled for release later in the year.
With these changes, YouTube is showing its commitment to improving the platform based on user needs and preferences.
Voolich said, “These are the features that people ask for the most and what the people want.”
She encouraged continued feedback, adding, “Keep those requests coming.”
Featured Image: Screenshot from blog.youtube.com, October 2024.