SEO
Google’s URL Parameters tool is going away
Google said this is because the tool has "low value."
Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry can be followed on Twitter here.
Google Search rolls out a more visual search interface on mobile with grid format
Are both top results position one or does Google count the one on the right as position two?
Google Maps
Google Maps blocked 100 million abusive business profile edits in 2021
Less than 1% of the content viewed on Google Maps was fraudulent or abusive, Google said.
Google Maps
Google Search adds booking and appointment availability for healthcare providers
This is a pilot with a limited number of providers including MinuteClinic at CVS.
Google claims it reduced irrelevant search results by over 50% in seven years
Also, Google said they saw an 60% increase in natural language queries by searchers.
SEO
Google releases March 2022 product reviews update with additional ranking criteria
The new product reviews update looks for in-depth analysis, actual product use, unique information and comparable product coverage.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console to show event rich results errors for missing locations
You may see an increase in rich results report errors for event schema in Search Console as a result of this change.
Google Shopping
Merchant Center can now be linked to Google Analytics 4
You can now see your conversions from free product listings by connecting your Merchant Center and Google Analytics property.
Local
Google Business Profiles new emergency help attributes for Ukraine support
Google also added hotel attributes to define if your hotel offers support to those displaced from Ukraine.
Local
Google business profile reviews posting bugs should be resolved soon
Google has confirmed there was an issue with some reviews not posting and those reviews should be processed the end of this week.
SEO
Google refine this search and broaden this search now live in search results
While the things to know and things to consider feature is not fully live yet.
SEO
SEOPress WordPress plugin adds IndexNow support
This gives IndexNow access to another 200,000 sites.
Analytics & Conversion
Google launches new Google Analytics 4 home page
The new GA 4 home page provides more personalized content, the company says.
SEO
Google page experience update for desktop done rolling out
After 9-days this page experience update for desktop is now fully rolled out.
Local
Google ‘Confirmed by phone’ label in local panel may add trust to local listings
This label seems to be based off of Google Duplex calling businesses to verify their business operation details.
Local
Google may require double verification for some business profiles
Google updated its help documents to say that it may require you to verify your business with an additional method.
SEO
Google URL inspection tool bug leading to errors for some
Google is working on fixing the issue to resolve these errors.
Google Maps
Google Search local pack’s map is now interactive
The new map lets you zoom, pan, hover and click to see more details on the map.
SEO
IndexNow integrations grow as Bing says ‘millions’ of sites are using it
Duda, All in One WordPress SEO plugin and Rank Math SEO plugin gain IndexNow support.
PPC
Google Ads latency issues and error messages within advertiser console
Google has confirmed the issue and is currently investigating these reports.