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🗞️ Search Updates and News from Search Engines

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​Google March 2024 spam update done rolling out​
​Barry Schwartz / Google Search Updates​
​Google’s March 2024 spam update rollout is now complete after nearly 15 days. The March 2024 core update is still rolling out and will likely continue to roll out for the next couple of weeks.

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​Google starts testing AI overviews from SGE in main Google search interface
​Barry Schwartz / Google Search Updates
​Some users who haven't opted-in to the Google Search labs SGE feature may see AI overview answers in the search results. Google expects to get feedback and learn how a more general population will find this technology helpful.

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​Google has a new head of Search — and she’s all in on AI
​David Pierce / Google Updates
​Liz Reid has worked on Google local search, multisearch, and the SGE AI product. Now she’s running all of its search products.

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​Google Search Liaison: "Stop trying to 'show Google' things... You want to do things that make sense for your visitors" [Thread]
​Google Search Liaison / Google Search Guidelines
​Danny Sullivan explains why you should stop doing a lot of the things you've heard second, third, whatever that are supposed to "show Google" something and show your visitors a great, satisfying experience instead.

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​Google Rolling Out Changes To Shopping Searches In Europe
​Matt G. Southern / Google Product Updates​
​Google rolls out new search features in Europe, including changes to shopping results, to comply with EU regulations.

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​Google: Publishing Content In Bulk Is Not Spam
​Barry Schwartz / Google Search Q&A​
​John Mueller: "...if you publish awesome content in bulk, Google loves awesome content. But if you publish low-quality content in bulk or not, then Google does not like that content."

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​Evolving SEO: Fresh New Features and Updates for Website Owners
​​Fabrice Canel, Saral Nigam / Bing Search Updates
​New IndexNow Web Pages. Ahrefs and Yep join IndexNow. Streamlined Navigation. Check out Bing’s new features released this month.

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​OpenAI’s Sam Altman On Challenging Google With AI Search
​Roger Montti / Search Trends
​The CEO of OpenAI answered questions about challenging Google’s search monopoly. “The intersection of LLMs plus search, I don’t think anyone has cracked the code on yet. I would love to go do that. I think that would be cool.”

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🙋🏻‍♀️ This week's Aleyda's SEO Take

Just a few days after Liz Reid became Google's new Head of Search (who spent the last couple of years working on both AI search and multisearch), they announced they will start testing SGE in the main search results with a subset of queries. In a post she shared 5 days ago on LinkedIn she said:

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In a recent article about her, it's mentioned how "Google Search will almost certainly look more like SGE over time. It will increasingly trade links for answers — and Reid has acknowledged that figuring out how to cite those answers, and continue to be a good partner to the open web, is part of her ongoing challenge."

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Google actually has an official SGE overview, where they explain how it works, and how they're meant to be "AI-powered overviews", a sort of "enhanced" featured snippets, that are meant to keep referring users to relevant source websites: "These snapshots serve as a jumping-off point from which people can explore a wide range of content and perspectives on the web. SGE will show links to resources that support the information in the snapshot".

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However, we know how SGE snapshots have not always clearly referred to Website sources, and this is something that is still continuously tested.

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Ironically, after the announcement, Lily Ray also found SGE snapshots featuring spam pages with other SEOs like Will O'Hara and Jeff Coyle following up with even more scenarios, despite that in the SGE overview shared above they also share how they apply generative AI responsibly when training the model, human input and evaluation, and have search quality systems in place.

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There's clearly room for a lot more testing and refinement. Let's hope these "open" SGE tests serve to do that and these issues are tackled before an official release.

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​But, what you can do to prepare for Google's SGE? ​
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To help you assess Google's SGE traffic risks and opportunities, check out the following existing research, analysis and resources:

• Research on the Impact of Google Search Generative Experience by Authoritas, SE Ranking, Onely, Peak Ace.
• ​How To Intentionally Show Up in Google’s SGE by Garrett Sussman​
• ​The 3 Main Types of Google SGE Snapshots and Their Level of Ranked Pages Traffic Risk​
• A Google SGE Traffic Risk Assessment sheet I've created to analyze the potential impact on your own site's top queries through the customer journey, along with a Crawling Mondays video explaining and showing how to use it.
• A new LearningSEO.io section dedicated to the latest and best Google's SGE Research, Analysis and Optimization resources.​

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It's now *the* time to prepare for Google's featured snipp.. I mean, Google's SGE, in case you haven't started yet!

👌 This week's SEO Awesomeness

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​A large number of sites that dropped in the latest Updates had a high percentage of ads [Thread]
​Carlos Ortega / Search Trends
​Carlos highlights that while advertising is important for many websites, an overwhelming number of ads can lead to a worse experience and a drop in rankings.

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​It’s not you - it’s Google Search Console
​Gianna Brachetti-Truskawa / Technical SEO
​Gianna walks through 11 exhibits of Google Search Console flaws and how to overcome them, sharing many examples and resources along the way.

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​How To Optimise PDP’s (and why you should) [Presentation]
​Sophie Brannon / Ecommerce SEO
​Sophie goes through ecommerce product page optimization: why and how to optimize them, and when you should you do it as part of your SEO strategy.

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​How to Look at Data for SEO
​Sara Taher / General SEO
​If you’re wondering how to use data for SEO, here’s a useful, must read framework from Sara.

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​Is Your Site Reliable? Meet Wikipedia’s Reliable Sources List: Another Proxy For Google’s Quality Raters
​Glenn Gabe / General SEO
​Glenn explains how to use Wikipedia's Reliable Sources list to understand how editors view the reliability of a website.

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​How to get technical SEO recommendations implemented
​Yours Truly / SEO Management
​Learn how to overcome the most common challenges to get your technical SEO recommendations implemented, starting with principles of communication, prioritization, and collaboration for success.

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​Stuffing pages with all of schema.org = a strategy-killing tactic
​Jarno van Driel / Technical SEO
​Jarno discusses the negative impact of stuffing web pages with excessive schema.org markup. He also shares ways to create and maintain structured data that drives results.

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​How To Use Big Query And GSC Data For Content Performance Analysis
​Myriam Jessier / General SEO
​Get started with BigQuery for content analysis using Google Search Console data. Tips, tricks, best practices, and queries are provided.

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​Can Google Crawl JavaScript Links? Guide to SEO, Links, and JavaScript
​Ashleigh Noad / Technical SEO
​Learn how Google processes JavaScript, what if a whole website relies on JS and the best practices for crawlability, and more in this comprehensive guide by Ashleigh.

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​Vision Forward: Tracing Image Search SEO From Its Roots To AI-Enhanced Horizons [Presentation]
​Roxana Stingu / Image Optimization
​In an era where visual content dominates digital interactions, mastering the art of Image SEO is no longer just an option—it’s a necessity.

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​The Role of SEO in Mergers and Acquisitions
​Patrick Stox / Enterprise SEO
​SEOs have a lot to offer companies during a merger and acquisition (M&A) process. Patrick explains how in this guide. ​
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​How Inclusivity Drives Link Diversity — Whiteboard Friday [Video]
​Isa Lavahun / Link Building
​Inclusivity makes business sense. Discover how targeting diverse audiences can enhance your backlink profile, boost trust with Google, and ultimately drive revenue.

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​​See more SEO Conversations in the SEOFOMO Forum​

💸 Latest SEO Jobs

• ​SEO Manager at Wrike​
• ​SEO Specialist at Nintendo​
• ​SEO Specialist at GE Healthcare​
• ​SEO manager - maternity leave at Similarweb​
• ​SEO Coordinator at Staples​
• ​SEO specialist at Yoast​
• ​Account Manager at Candour​
• ​Senior Account Manager at Candour​
• ​Manager, Global SEO at Workday​
• ​Associate SEO & Testing - Tommy Hilfiger at PVH​
• ​SEO Editor at Washington Post​
• ​Technical SEO Analyst at seoClarity​
• ​Principle SEO Specialist at Gen​
• ​SEO Manager at AllSaints​

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Do you want your SEO job to be featured here for free? Just send it over here!​

🛠 Free(mium) SEO Tools

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​Daily SERP Tracker [Script and Looker Studio Dashboard]
​Valerio Cusinato
​Automatically extract the results in SERP in all its facets, from carousels to people also ask, to knowledge graph on a day-to-day basis.

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​XML Sitemap Auditor
​Chris Green
​Evaluate the overall quality of XML sitemaps, identify pages that are non-compliant with SEO, and generate a CSV report to work with/share with teams who can help fix the issue.

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Looking for more SEO Tools? Take a look at the recently launched SEOFOMO SEO Toolbox!

🎙️ Upcoming SEO Events

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​SEO Vibes Barcelona
​WhitePress / Barcelona, Spain / April 4, 2024
​SEO Vibes on Tour edition 2 is coming your way with some Spanish flavor! Experience a fresh local perspective on SEO trends, network with awesome people, and learn tons of valuable insights while enjoying delicious tapas and drinks.

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​Elevar Summit
​Elevar / Charleston, USA / April 29, 2024
​Get inspired and connect with eCommerce brands and marketers who are shaping the future of analytics and digital marketing.

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​International Search Summit: Speakers Application
​Webcertain / Barcelona, Spain / November 14, 2024
​Submit your SEO pitch with an international focus for this year’s International Search Summit until 12th April 2024.

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​See more upcoming SEO events in the new SEOFOMO Hub Events Section!​

🙌 SEOs & Digital Marketers to Follow

Let's follow these amazing SEOs who have been recently published excellent SEO resources about Google SGE:

• Franziska Dau (LinkedIn), Senior SEO-Manager at Peak Ace
• Tomek Rudzki (Twitter/X, LinkedIn), Head of R&D at Onely
• Yevheniia Khromova (LinkedIn), Content Marketing Manager at SE Ranking
• Malte Landwehr (Twitter/X, LinkedIn), Head of SEO at idealo
• Laurence O'Toole (Twitter/X, LinkedIn), CEO at Authoritas
• Garrett Sussman (Twitter/X, LinkedIn), Demand Generation Manager at iPullRank

Expect more awesome SEOs & digital marketers to follow every week. Do you have any suggestions? Please let me know over X/Twitter, Threads, or LinkedIn.

👀 Do you have Feedback?

I'm always looking for feedback to improve SEOFOMO! What would you like to see more or less of in the newsletter?

Just reply to this email and let mw know. If I end up implementing the change you recommend, I'll do a 30-min 1:1 hang-out call with you. Until next week!

Aleyda Solis, SEO Consultant & Founder​
Follow me on X/Twitter / YouTube / LinkedIn / Website​