This week, we reported about a possible Google search ranking algorithm update brewing, after weeks of calmness. Google Ads may be mass disapproving ads…

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today…

Over the past couple of days, I’ve seen a few recent complaints about weird interface bugs in Google Search. To be honest, I know some of these are browser extension related and thus not a Google bug, but an extension changing the Google Search interface. But I found them interesting and wanted to share them – in case you see them yourself.

Google has launched a new API to retrieve call history data from your Google Business Profiles, you know, when people click call this business from Google Search and Google Maps. They named it the “My Business Business Calls API” – shouldn’t it be named the “Google Business Profiles Business Calls API” instead?

Google is testing showing the site name and URL twice in the search result snippets in Google mobile search. So not only do you see the name of the site or the URL with the favcion from the site, but you are also seeing it doubled up with the site name on top of it, with the URL and the favicon.

Over the past couple of weeks, the Google search rankings have been pretty stable and calm. It actually has been unusually calm that some SEOs are getting nervous. I recently saw some super early signs of an update brewing. Is this the calm before the storm?

Here is a not new piece of data, 15% of the searches Google sees each day are new. Google shared this stat, again, on Twitter the other day saying “Fun fact: 15% of all Google searches have never been searched before.”

A couple of weeks ago we reported that Google was sending out its first batch of manual actions (Google penalties) to news publications for Google News and Google Discover policy violations. Well, I am happy to report that Google is processing and even removing some of those manual actions already.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Google says there are no plans for a keyword tab for performance max campaigns but negative keywords are coming…

Have you ever picked up your guitar and couldn’t find the right chords? Or sat down at your piano and the notes just weren’t there? Of course. We all have. Maybe you’ve found yourself returning to your comfort zone of a familiar chord progression or melody in an attempt to unblock yourself. That’s completely understandable! It’s natural for us to look to something we already know in times of doubt. But it’s not the only way to dig yourself out of a songwriting rut, or even full-on writer’s block. The next time you find yourself stuck, try one (or more!) […]

Google is now asking searchers if they own the product before they rate it. Google asks under the rate and review box “do you own this product” and “help others by sharing your experience.”

Google will be bringing performance max campaign support to the Google Ads Editor in the next release, according to Ginny Marvin. We are currently at version 1.8 – so it might be in version 1.9 or maybe they will go directly to version 2.0.

Over the past few months, there have been some SEO folks asking me about Google’s snippet wide ban. I have never heard or seen such a thing, so I just replied as such and told them that rich results and features can go away after a core update is released – it’s a quality thing.

Google Ads announced it is adding a new “destination not accessible” policy under the Google destination requirements policy. Google is also making changes and clarifications to the document overall. Google said the changes go into enforcement March 21, 2022.

Ginny Marvin, the Google Ads Liaison said on Twitter that there are no plans for a keyword tab in Performance Max campaigns but there are plans for to support negative keywords for brand safety at the account level.