Category: google

Google is now testing “price insights” in its hotel search listing results. Price insights show a searcher if they are getting a good deal or not for a specific hotel, date range and hotel they are looking at. When you are looking at a specific hotel, Google might show you a box that reads “this hotel costs more than similar hotels nearby.” That button will let you explore hotel price insights in Google search. This feature was first noticed by Sergey Alakov, who said this is currently being tested. I…

Read More

The practice, known as “Googlebombing,” is the latest stunt in a longstanding cat-and-mouse game between Google and activists who have the technical savvy to influence search rankings. In the current exploit, several posts on Reddit associating Trump’s name, photo and the word “idiot” received tens of thousands of upvotes, which Google uses as an important ranking signal. Media sources such as The Guardian, Fortune, The Hill and others writing about the story also influenced the placement of images in search results. Often broadly referred to as Googlebombing, this manipulation of…

Read More

Since the roll out of the Google Speed Update – the SEO community has been on high alert to see what type of impact it has on the overall mobile search results. The deal is, I’ve been tracking it for the past couple of days since it began rolling out and the chatter is mixed. I’d classify the chatter as mild and the tools themselves show a mix. Here is some of the chatter from the ongoing WebmasterWorld thread: Anyone seeing any ranking changes now that this speed update has…

Read More

Google Assistant, the app that answers questions and helps you get things done, has been enhanced with an eye toward automatically putting your daily tasks front and center on your phone. Initially launched as a search feature that also allowed you to do things like make quick phone calls, send text messages, set reminders and more, the new features provide curated information based on the time of day, location and your recent interactions with the Assistant. Based on your calendar and itineraries, you’ll see travel times to your next destination.…

Read More

Google My Business has added the ability for businesses to add a “call now” button to their Google Posts. Before, the call-to-action options on the Google Posts for the “What’s New” box included “book,” “order online,” “buy,” “learn more,” “sign up” and “get offer.” Now Google has a new option that lists the business’s phone number. Here is a screen shot: When I tested the “call now” button, it put in my business’s toll-free 800 phone number. I did not have the ability to change it to a different number.…

Read More

Google has confirmed on Twitter that two weeks after releasing the URL inspection tool in the new Google Search Console, it is now available to all users. When the new tool was first released, it was only available to a limited number of users. Google began rolling it out slowly to more and more users, and at this point in time, 15 days after the first announcement of the tool, Google says the tool is available for all. You can access the tool within the new Google Search Console over…

Read More

Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords) has always had frequent product updates, but with the ongoing improvements in machine learning (ML), it seems that every month brings new automated features, in addition to the manual features we’ve come to expect. These automations are exciting because they promise similar results with less work. But machines can’t do everything pay-per-click (PPC) professionals can, and machines and humans are often at their best when they work together. So, to help you better understand what is possible with today’s crop of Google Ads automated…

Read More

Google told us earlier that two News publisher features is going away. Specifically the ability to highlight mobile apps in the Google News Publisher Center and News crawl error tool on Search Console. Well, when we reported it and days after as well, the News crawl error tool on Search Console was still there. Now, as of today, you can no longer see your crawl errors in Google Search Console specific to news sites. Here is what it looked like a couple weeks ago: I should note, the Google News…

Read More

If you missed the changes Google made late last year on labeling country services, you’re not alone. Contributor Patrick Stox goes through the update and explains why you’re seeing a better experience for local users. In October 2017, Google announced it had updated the way it labeled country services on the mobile web, the Google app for iOS and desktop Search and Maps. From Google: Today, we’ve updated the way we label country services on the mobile web, the Google app for iOS, and desktop Search and Maps. Now the choice…

Read More

Science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler has been recognized on the Google home page in the United States on what would have been her 71st birthday. Over her almost 40-year writing career, she won countless awards for her work in science fiction, including the Hugo and Nebula awards, and she was the first science fiction writer to receive a MacArthur Fellowship. She fought depression and other illnesses, and according to Google, that was where she found her strength. Google said her “extreme shyness, tall build, and mild dyslexia all contributed…

Read More