Google Updates - May 2022

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In general, may month is always a busy month for Google and those who work around google.

Google has made several changes in its products and the jewel of 2022 is the Google Marketing Live event.

Because this event gives a glimpse of how Google is going to look in the future.

This one has a lot of material to discuss so I decided to create one blog as a Final Thoughts on Google Marketing Live - May 2022

here are some other updates you might find useful.

Google Search Algorithm Update Tremors & Instability Continues...

• So last Monday, we reported about a Google search ranking algorithm update that touched down on May 16th - the 6-month or so anniversary of the last confirmed Google core update. Well, that unconfirmed Google update continued on throughout the rest of the week through today, I updated that story a bit to reflect that.

Entities and E-A-T: The role of entities in authority and trust

• Learn the relationship between entities and expertise, authority and trust, or E-A-T evaluation of authors, publishers, and companies.

Google Search Console adds translated results search appearance filter

• This lets you drill down to how searchers who get translated results interact with your content in Google Search.

Google Updates Video Best Practices For Thumbnail Transparency Guidelines

• Google has added one line to its video best practices document explaining that you should have at least 80% of your thumbnail pixels have little or no transparency to enable video indexing.

Google Search Explore Outfits & Shop Similar

• Google's search results keep getting more and more visual and with this newish Explore Outfits and Shop Similar box, we now see super large images that slide into other images. Here is a GIF of it in action, I personally was not able to replicate this but Khushal Bherwani posted this on Twitter.

Screenshots Now In The Google AdSense Policy Center

• Google AdSense said it can now show you screenshots of your issues in the AdSense policy center. "To make it easier to determine what to fix when you have a policy issue, we're introducing screenshots to the Policy center," Google wrote.

Bing Tests Branded Sidebar Navigation Tool

• Microsoft Bing is testing a branded side bar explorer bar on the left side for some branded queries. I was able to replicate it in Safari on Mac but not on Chrome yet. Basically if you search for brands, some will show a sidebar that replicates the sitelinks it shows in the search results.

Discover the latest updates to Google Data Studio

• In Data Studio, you can make your charts and tables more flexible by adding optional metrics. This lets you change which columns or fields you want to see in the chart without having to edit the chart configuration each time. You can now also use optional metrics in pivot tables

A Dedicated Google Search Local Ad Pack

• Google seems to be testing adding a local pack for ads along with a normal organic local pack, I believe. Here is a screenshot showing a local pack labeled as "Ads" that show a list of stores that have shoes near you. You can click "more places" that will load more local ads.

Google Shows Item As Out Of Stock For Items Using Back Order Value Schema

• Did you know that Google shows "out of stock" for items you label with the value of back ordered in your structured data for products? Some feel it should say back ordered and not out of stock, but I am not too sure if there is much of a difference?

Google: Don't Get Hung Up About "Toxic Links"

• Google's John Mueller responded to some concerns on Reddit about "toxic links." He was asked where do these toxic links come from, in which he replied "Toxic links is all about selling tools." He told the individual "don't get hung up about it."

Google Popular Products Carousel With Filter Selectors

• Google launched the popular products carousel in 2019 but now it seems Google is showing a carousel above the products to filter based on price, brand and other attributes. So we have an embedded filter carousel within the products carousel.

The Industry Mourns The Loss Of Bill Slawski: The SEO Mentor To The Community

• It pains me to write this - Bill Slawski, a man who has literally helped transform the SEO industry into what it is today, has passed away on Tuesday, May 17th. I've personally known Bill for two decades, starting when I first got into SEO and learning from Bill in the old Cre8asite Forums.

Important Resources

• Adam Savage rants about Google Search, Boing Boing
• 10 Things to Include in an SEO Strategy, RankRanger
• DIY SEO Testing Pitfalls, Search Pilot
• Knowledge Panels & SERPs for ambiguous search queries, Koop
• SEO 101 Ep 431: How to Use Images to Improve Rankings With Mike Blumenthal, StepForth

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