Search Features: Direct Answers
The expansion of People Also Ask in the search results
PAAs now appear in 9% of brand knowledge panels. Here's how they're different and why you need to optimize answers for brand-focused...
‘People Also Ask’ boxes: Tips for ranking, optimizing and tracking
PAA boxes appear in nearly half of all searches. Here’s how they work and how SEOs can use them to their...
Want to target position 0? Here’s what you need to make that happen
Hey Google, how do you become the answer people hear on their voice assistants? Contributor Karen Bone explains how to make that happen by doing...
AI marketing and the journey through the uncanny valley
“Things usually get worse before they get better.” “It’s always darkest before the dawn.” Whether it’s the valley of the shadow of...
Is the featured snippet bubble bursting?
What's going on with featured snippets? Columnists Brian Patterson and Chris Long share data which suggests that Google may be testing a...
Featured snippets: How much do you really know about them? [QUIZ]
Think you're an expert on featured snippets? Then put your money where your mouth is and take this quiz, created by columnist Stephan...
Featured snippets: Optimization tips & how to ID candidate snippets
Contributor Brian Ussery breaks down featured snippets, explaining his observations and offering tips for pursuing the coveted "position...
3 tactics we’re using for Answer Boxes
The featured snippet (answer box) that sometimes appears at the top of the SERPs is a coveted spot for marketers, but how can you get your...
Bing has a chatbot answering local search questions
Skype-powered chatbot is showing up as an assistant to help searchers learn about restaurants in the Seattle...
Preparing for local reach in a ‘post-rank’ world: Get your data in line
How might voice search impact local businesses? Columnist Megan Hannay shares her predictions and provides some advice on how SMBs can prepare...
An answer box experiment (my journey into known and unknown factors)
Many SEOs have sought to obtain placement within a featured snippet or answer box in the search results pages, but how does one achieve that?...
Google’s “One True Answer” problem — when featured snippets go bad
Obama's planning a coup? Women are evil? Several presidents were in the KKK? Republicans are Nazis? Google can go spectacularly wrong with some...
Direct answer fail: Google gives only one side of proposed gun ammo & magazine law
Want to know about California’s Proposition 63, a measure to control gun ammunition sales and large magazines, which is on the state...
SMX Advanced recap: Dr. Pete’s Guide To The Changing Google SERPs
How have the SERPs changed in recent years, and what's on the horizon? Contributor Dan Leibson summarizes Dr. Pete Meyers' presentation from SMX...
A brief evolution of Search: out of the search box and into our lives
We live in a mobile-first, cloud-first world powered by technology that changes by the nanosecond. And search is no different. Search is...
The #1 reason why position #1 doesn’t matter
As the layout of search engine results pages continues to change and evolve, columnist Rachel Lindteigen notes that being the top result may not...
DuckDuckGo showing instant answers for MLB scores & schedules via Bleacher Report
The privacy search engine announced in a tweet that it was #OpeningDay for Bleacher Report instant answers....
What Time Is The Super Bowl? Google & Bing Are Confused
You might get information for 2015, depending on how you ask....
Google’s Not Sure What Day Super Bowl 50 Is Happening In 2016
Google sometimes makes it Super Bowl Saturday rather than Super Bowl...
Google’s Year Of Change Hits Mobile Retail
How have recent changes in Google's mobile SERP display impacted traffic, and what can you do about it? Contributor Jonathan Hunt lays it...