Today is both Father’s Day and Juneteenth and Google had both logos on its home page for the day. Google first placed the Father’s Day logo up on Google.com early this morning and for some yesterday. Then Google later on today, June 19th, replaced the Father’s Day Doodle with the Juneteenth Doodle.

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. Microsoft Advertising is now instituting an advertiser verification program…

An SEO asked Google’s John Mueller if it is okay or even a good idea to publish blank or empty pages so Google can find those URLs? John Mueller said no, don’t publish empty pages to the web.

Google is holding an SEO meetup, a NYC Search Central meetup, on June 27th at 4:30pm, at the Google New York office. I believe this is a 3 hour event, one of the first in-person SEO events Google has held in a while, and it will take place in my neck of the woods – New York.

I found a super interesting question on Twitter the other day where someone asked, would it be possible for Google Search to use Microsoft Bing’s index when Google has no results for a query. Like Bing would be Google’s supplemental index. The answer is no, obviously but it was a new question I’ve never seen asked before.

We have seen Google tests various labels for its Google Ads in search, including “Ads,” “Sponsored,” and of course “Advertisement.” But now we are seeing the full written out “Advertisement” label in the local pack ads as well. And we are seeing a “promoted” label in the search ads.

Microsoft Advertising now requires advertiser identity verification to ensure that customers see ads from trusted sources, which improves customer experiences, the company said. “As part of this program, advertisers will be required to undergo a verification process to establish their legal identity,” Microsoft added.

Google is testing a new local widget for businesses owners to help them maintain their Google Business Profile. The widget is named “profile strength” and it shows up in the Google Search results when you search for a company you manage in Google Business Profile manager.

Just when you thought the Google core update was done, we have been seeing big tremors this week that make us question if it was really done. Google product reviews update is still only rolled out for English content…

If you search for some brands like Nike, Adidas, etc, you may see Microsoft Bing show a coupon element in the search result snippet. This seems to be an organic feature, at least it is not on on an ad in the Bing search results…

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…

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Google is testing a frequently asked questions section in the Google News tab in Google Search that is built out trending searches related to this story. I am not sure if this is new, but both Brian Freiesleben and Saijo George believe it is, so I will go with their gut.

Google is testing hiding the local pack within a locations tab that expands when you tap on it or the arrow down. When it expands, it shows you the full local pack listings.

Google seems to be testing a new format for featured snippets in the search results. This new layout has multiple answers, from multiple sites/sources in a card view at the top of the search results page.