Google Announces 5 New Ways To Learn More About Your Search Results

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Just ahead of International Fact-Checking Day on April 2, Google announced a wave of new features intended to make it easier for users to learn more about where their information is coming from.

As the company revealed in a recent announcement, Google is introducing five new features to verify information online:

  • Expanding the “About this result” feature worldwide
  • Introducing an “About this author” section
  • Making it easier to learn about websites using the “About this page” feature
  • Providing context for top stories with “Perspectives”
  • Helping spot information gaps

Expanding the “About this result” feature worldwide

Launched in 2021, the “About this result” feature gives searchers access to additional information about the sources and websites that appear in search results. 

Though English-speaking countries have been able to find this information by clicking the three vertical dots next to most search results for a while, users in other countries or speaking other languages are just now getting access to the feature. 

Introducing an “About this author” section

Google is adding a new section to the “About this result” feature which gives information specifically about the author of the content you see. 

At the time, it is unclear exactly where Google will be gathering this information, but it is worth keeping an eye on as the feature rolls out – especially if your site publishes blog content.

Making it easier to learn about websites using the “About this page” feature

Google is adding a new way to access the “About this page” feature, which details information about a webpage similar to the “About this result” feature.

Now, you can learn more about a page by typing the URL of a site into Google’s search. The following search results will include information from the “About this page” feature at the top of the page. 

Here, you’ll see information about how the site describes itself and what others across the web have said about the site. 

Providing context for top stories with “Perspectives”

The Perspectives carousel aims to provide additional context around Top Stories by sharing helpful insights from journalists and other experts.

The feature has been in testing since 2022, but Google says it will be widely available in the coming days. 

Helping spot information gaps

When Google is unable to confidently provide information about a topic – either because there are few good sources available or because the information is changing quickly around that topic – the search engine will display a content warning with the search results it provides. 

To learn more about these new features, read the complete announcement from Google here.

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LinkedIn Launches 4 New Features For Businesses

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LinkedIn revealed a slew of new features designed exclusively for businesses this week, including content creation, new ways to engage with other companies, and easier ways to have live discussions with others.

Let’s look at all the new features in a bit more detail:

Improved Post Scheduling

Though LinkedIn has offered the ability for regular users to schedule posts ahead of time since late 2022, the feature has not been available to business pages until now. 

Now, business pages can create and schedule posts up to three months ahead of time. Not only does this make it ensure you’ll be delivering steady content to your users, it gives you the chance to prepare a content calendar ahead of time to be more considerate of what type of content you are posting and when. 

While the feature is currently only available to desktop users, LinkedIn says it will be coming to mobile apps soon.

First-Party Audio Events

LinkedIn is rolling out a new, built-in way to hold live audio events on the platform. This means you’ll be able to host audio-based discussions with your followers and other experts in the field without needing to use third-party external apps. 

While hosts will have control over the discussion and who gets to speak, users will be able to engage with the conversation using emojis or requesting to speak in the chat.

Automated Job Postings

LinkedIn has created a way for small businesses with under 1,000 employees to automatically create and share job postings.

Once activated, the feature generates and shares an open role job posting as a pre-scheduled post which can be edited after it is posted.

However, the announcement says that the feature will not be available for what are vaguely described as “basic jobs.”

Follow Other Pages From Your Page

LinkedIn Pages can now start following other Pages, allowing you to have B2B conversations without necessarily going through a personal LinkedIn account. Additionally, this makes it easier to find conversations relevant to your field happening across the platform.

All of these new features aim to expand the functionality of business Pages and make it easier to engage with your audience. By using these, you’ll be able to find new connections, foster better relationships with leads, and be able to become an authority in your field faster.

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Google Confirms March Broad Core Algorithm Update Is Rolling Out

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Google has confirmed it is rolling out its latest broad core algorithm update, signifying yet another potential shake-up for the search engine’s results.

Google’s broad core algorithm updates serve as some of the most significant updates for the search engine compared to the smaller updates that are happening multiple times a day. They can affect rankings for search engine results pages (SERPs) throughout Google’s entire platform.

As is usual with Google, the search company is being tight-lipped about specific details regarding the update, only going so far as to confirm the latest update. The update is also expected to take up to multiple weeks for the full impact to be obvious.

With this in mind, it is wise for brands to take note and monitor their own search performance in the coming weeks.

What Can You Do?

Aside from always striving to provide the best online experience possible with your website, there are a few specific steps you can take to safeguard your site from updates like these:

  • Monitor site performance regularly to identify early signs of issues with your site
  • Create content geared to your audience’s needs and interests
  • Optimize your site’s performance (including speed, mobile-friendliness, and user experience) to ensure your site isn’t off-putting to visitors

TL;DR

Google has launched its latest broad core algorithm update, which could potentially affect rankings for search engine results pages. The update may take several weeks to have full impact, so brands are advised to monitor their search performance. To safeguard your site, monitor its performance regularly, create audience-specific content, and optimize its performance for speed, mobile-friendliness, and user-experience.

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Google Releases New Guidelines For Links

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Having a robust backlink profile remains one of the most crucial factors for ranking a webpage highly in search, so it is always big news when Google actually tells us what it looks for in quality links. 

Yesterday, the search engine published a new set of guidelines and best practices for building backlinks, detailing how to make your links crawlable, how to craft well-ranking anchor text, and how to best establish internal links on your site. 

Below, we will cover all the new guidelines and best SEO practices for links on your website according to Google:

Crawlable Links

As the page Google updated was originally dedicated to specifically making links crawlable, this section remains largely unchanged. It reads, “Generally, Google can only crawl your link if it’s an <a> HTML element (also known as anchor element) with an href attribute. Most links in other formats won’t be parsed and extracted by Google’s crawlers. Google can’t reliably extract URLs from <a> elements that don’t have an href attribute or other tags that perform as links because of script events.”

Anchor Text Placement 

The best practice for placing anchor text for links reads: “Anchor text (also known as link text) is the visible text of a link. This text tells people and Google something about the page you’re linking to. Place anchor text between <a> elements that Google can crawl.”

Writing Anchor Text

As for the anchor text itself, Google encourages you to balance descriptiveness with brevity: “Good anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to the page that it’s on and to the page it links to. It provides context for the link, and sets the expectation for your readers. The better your anchor text, the easier it is for people to navigate your site and for Google to understand what the page you’re linking to is about.”

Internal Links 

While Google emphasizes the importance of internal links on your website, it also states that the search engine doesn’t look for a target number of links.

“You may usually think about linking in terms of pointing to external websites, but paying more attention to the anchor text used for internal links can help both people and Google make sense of your site more easily and find other pages on your site. Every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site. Think about what other resources on your site could help your readers understand a given page on your site, and link to those pages in context.”

External Links

When it comes to external links, Google has advice for creating powerful links that don’t come off as spam: “Linking to other sites isn’t something to be scared of; in fact, using external links can help establish trustworthiness (for example, citing your sources). Link out to external sites when it makes sense, and provide context to your readers about what they can expect.”

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The Top Search Trends In Tulsa and The US In 2022

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It’s time for Google’s annual report of the top search trends of the past year and this year’s list is a little different.

Along with the usual list of top queries from the U.S. and around the world, the latest search trends report lets you refine the search to see what the most popular search trends were in your local area.

By entering a US city or zip code, Google will filter the results to show the top search trends from that area. You can also view these details by clicking on a specific city on the map.

These local search trends include the top 10 search queries along with notes on anything unique in the city’s search behavior. 

First, let’s go over the biggest search trends from across the country, then we will get to Tulsa’s top search trends further down below:

Google’s Year in Search 2022

Top US Searches of 2022

  1. Wordle
  2. Election results
  3. Betty White
  4. Queen Elizabeth
  5. Bob Saget
  6. Ukraine
  7. Mega Millions
  8. Powerball numbers
  9. Anne Heche
  10. Jeffrey Dahmer

Top Near Me US Searches of 2022

  1. Gas prices near me
  2. At home COVID test near me
  3. Voting near me
  4. Early voting near me
  5. PCR test near me

Top “How to help” US Searches of 2022

  1. How to help Ukraine?
  2. How to help Ukrainian refugees?
  3. How to help abortion rights?
  4. How to help Ukraine army?
  5. How to help Uvalde?

Top Near Me Searches in Tulsa, OK in 2022

  1. Gas prices near me
  2. Cheap gas near me
  3. At home covid test near me
  4. Temp agencies near me
  5. Primary care physician near me
  6. Loan companies near me
  7. Gyros near me
  8. E85 gas near me
  9. Car shows near me
  10. Concerts near me

Interesting Facts about Tulsa’s Online Searches in 2022

  • Tulsa, OK was one of only 2 places that had gyros as a top trending “near me” search, with the other being Lincoln, NE.
  • Tulsa, OK was the only place in the US that had husky-corgi mixes as the top trending animal
  • The top trending recipe search for the Tulsa area was for making quick pancakes.
  • Tulsa searched for country music more than any other genre.

For more, explore Google’s Global Year in Search and Local Year In Search.

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Google Switches To Continuous Scrolling Desktop Search Results

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Google has confirmed it is finally bringing near-endless scrolling to its desktop search results. Not only will this make the desktop search experience more similar to the mobile search experience, it will also make users more likely to see and engage with more search results. 

The new continuous search experience is currently rolling out for desktop search results in the United States and is likely to be expanded to other markets in the coming months.

As the search engine confirmed in a statement to Search Engine Journal, this is not quite endless scrolling. Instead after approximately six pages worth of URLs before showing users a prompt allowing them to see “more results.”

“… we’re bringing continuous scrolling to desktop so you can continue to see more helpful search results with fewer clicks. It’s now even easier to get inspired with more information at your fingertips.

“Now, when you scroll down you’ll continue to find relevant results so that you can discover new ideas. When you reach the bottom of a search results page, up to six pages of results will be automatically shown until you see a “More results” button if you wish to continue further.”

While users may like this because it brings a more seamless experience and gives them more options without interruption, this also gives Google more space to include snippets, ads, rich media, and other features without completely crowding out organic search listings.

Brands languishing past the first page of search results will likely see a slight boost in traffic as their visibility increases.

On the technical side of things, very little will be changing. There’s no need to change optimization strategies and this update will not affect reporting in Google Search Console because this tool tracks ranking positions, not what page you appear on. 

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FCC Commissioner Calls For TikTok To Be Banned In The US

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TikTok is once again facing a potential ban in the United States after FCC commissioner Brendan Carr raised dire concerns about the app’s risk to national security. 

This is the second time the company has come under fire by US government officials. During Donald Trump’s presidency, the company was threatened with a ban until one was rejected in federal court. 

The issue now is the same as it was then – TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. As TikTok continues to become massively popular in the US, some worry there’s an unprecedented risk for the app to funnel data on US citizens to China. Others have suggested the prominence of the app and its current influence on American culture creates a risk for propaganda to influence American citizens.

Is TikTok Getting Banned?

The short answer, for now, is that TikTok is not getting officially banned in the US.

No formal actions have been taken, and the Federal Communications Commission does not have the authority to directly regulate or ban the company. However, the FCC has a significant influence on those that do – Congress. 

For example, it was Carr’s recommendations that largely led to the Chinese company Huawei being banned by Congress. 

What Has Carr Said?

The latest concerns over a ban were sparked by comments made by FCC commissioner Brendan Carr during an interview with Axios. 

When asked about his view on TikTok and its potential security risks, Carr plainly stated “I don’t think there is a path forward for anything other than a ban.”

Furthermore, the commissioner showed little hope that the company may come to an agreement with the US government that would allow it to remain operating in the country:

“Perhaps the deal CFIUS ends up cutting is an amazing, airtight deal, but at this point I have a very, very difficult time looking at TikTok’s conduct thinking we’re going to cut a technical construct that they’re not going to find a way around.”

How Is TikTok Responding?

For now, the company seems to be confident that they will reach a deal to continue operating and downplayed Carr’s role in any discussions about the issue. As a representative from TikTok told CNN:

“Commissioner Carr has no role in or direct knowledge of the confidential discussions with the US government related to TikTok and is not in a position to discuss what those negotiations entail. We are confident that we are on a path to reaching an agreement with the US government that will satisfy all reasonable national security concerns.”

As such, it is safe to assume that TikTok will remain in the US for at least the short-term future. How long it can withstand the growing concerns remains to be seen, though.

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Google’s Helpful Content Update Is Here

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Google’s much-talked-about ‘helpful content update’ is officially rolling out.

The company announced it had begun the process of implementing the new algorithm update via the Search Central Google Search ranking updates page.

As the update posted today says. “[Google] released the August 2022 helpful content update. The rollout could take up to two weeks to complete.

What Is The Helpful Content Update?

In short, the helpful content update intends to make content written specifically for search engines (sometimes called “search engine-first content”) less prevalent in search results while increasing the presence of content that is most valuable to actual users.

Announced a little more than a week ago, the update is being applied sitewide, meaning it will be a factor for all search results. At the same time, Google has indicated that the update will impact online education, arts, tech, and shopping more than other websites.

Early rumblings and statements from Google suggest this may be the biggest update to the search engine in years, and may radically shake up the search results users receive. 

Two Week Rollout

As with most algorithm updates, the company is gradually implementing the helpful content update. Over the next two weeks, most sites will likely see fluctuations in search performance as the update is rolled out before search performance stabilizes. Additionally, it may take even longer for the full scope of the helpful content update to become apparent following the completed rollout.

What To Do

With the update rolling out, brands hoping to make changes before the impact is felt may be cutting it too close to save their rankings. However, you can still remove any search engine-first content from your site to minimize the update’s impact on your site. 

Beyond that, there is little you can do now other than monitor your rankings over the next two weeks and beyond to track the impact in real-time.

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Google Announces Yet Another Algorithm Update This Month

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While most of the online marketing world is still abuzz over the recent announcement of the upcoming ‘helpful content update’, Google has quietly revealed it is preparing a product review algorithm update that will go live this month.

This algorithm update seeks to improve the quality and value of reviews Google highlights in search results. 

Since the new update is coming so soon after the release of the helpful content update, many are speculating it may be tied to the helpful content update in some way – such as using the helpful content update to better identify high-quality reviews which show firsthand knowledge of a product or business.

Here’s what Google actually had to say about its product review update:

“We know product reviews can play an important role in helping you make a decision on something to buy. Last year, we kicked off a series of updates to show more helpful, in-depth reviews based on first-hand expertise in search results.

We’ve continued to refine these systems, and in the coming weeks, we’ll roll out another update to make it even easier to find high-quality, original reviews. We’ll continue this work to make sure you find the most useful information when you’re researching a purchase on the web.”

While Google hasn’t released specific guidance for this algorithm update, it has previously given a list of questions to assess your product reviews. 

Do your reviews:

  • Express expert knowledge about products where appropriate?
  • Show what the product is like physically, or how it is used, with unique content beyond what’s provided by the manufacturer?
  • Provide quantitative measurements about how a product measures up in various categories of performance?
  • Explain what sets a product apart from its competitors?
  • Cover comparable products to consider, or explain which products might be best for certain uses or circumstances?
  • Discuss the benefits and drawbacks of a particular product, based on research into it?
  • Describe how a product has evolved from previous models or releases to provide improvements, address issues, or otherwise help users in making a purchase decision?
  • Identify key decision-making factors for the product’s category and how the product performs in those areas? For example, a car review might determine that fuel economy, safety, and handling are key decision-making factors and rate performance in those areas.
  • Describe key choices in how a product has been designed and their effect on the users beyond what the manufacturer says?
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TikTok Reveals Its Future Plans For Ads, Shopping, and More

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TikTok is still considered a niche social media site by some, but the platform has grand ambitions to keep growing into an even bigger platform in the future. 

In TikTok’s first-ever company event, held as part of the 2022 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the company’s leadership spoke about the challenges facing the platform and their plans to overcome them.

Company leadership addressed a range of topics, including shopping across the platform, user safety, iOS 14’s impact on online advertising, and more. Let’s go over some of the highlights:

Advertising Updates

Though it has already amassed hundreds of thousands of advertisers, TikTok’s president of global operations solutions, Blake Chandlee says the company’s current goal is in the millions.

To do this, TikTok is expanding its advertising toolset and creating new features to help advertisers measure the quality of ads.

Managing director and global head of monetization product, strategy, and operation, Ray Cao, also addressed the impact of Apple’s iOS 14 on its advertising operations. 

This update made it difficult to target and track ads to many users as it gave users the option to block many forms of online tracking. However, Cao says the social network will overcome this by increasing the options for contextual ad targeting.

At the same time, TikTok is working to improve brand safety by better assessing what type of content an ad may be associated with. 

As Francis Stones, head of European brand safety explained, the company’s review process now analyzes sounds, text, emojis, and imagery to ensure brands do not become associated with something problematic.

TikTok Shopping Features

Along with these updates to TikTok’s advertising services, the platform is also continuing its efforts to develop its live shopping functionality.

Global head of business marketing, Sofia Hernandez explained that the new feature is being developed to allow brands to take advantage of user-created content quickly and easily, though further details were unavailable.

As TikTok grows into a major force on today’s internet, it is working to provide brands and advertisers with the types of features they have come to expect from social networks. While this is just a small look at the platform’s direction for the future, it shows that the newly popular social network intends to keep growing with its userbase.

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