THE LATEST IN SEO

Google Ruled a Monopoly: Federal Judge's Verdict Sparks Uncertainty for Tech Giant

A US federal judge has ruled that Google is a monopoly in general search services and search text ads, violating antitrust laws through its exclusive distribution agreements with device manufacturers. The case now enters the remedy phase, which could potentially lead to significant changes in Google's business practices or even a breakup of the company, though Google plans to appeal the decision.
​From Barry Schwartz

Google Search Console Introduces Experimental Recommendations Feature

Google is rolling out an experimental recommendations feature in Search Console, offering website owners insights and actionable tips to improve their site's performance in Google Search. The feature provides optimization opportunities based on indexing, crawling, and serving data, with recommendations updated regularly to help users enhance their site's presence in search results.
​From Google Search Central​

Google Expands 'About this Image' Feature to Circle to Search and Google Lens

Google is rolling out its 'About this Image' tool to Circle to Search on select Android devices and Google Lens, allowing users to quickly access context and information about images they encounter online or receive from others. The feature, available in 40 languages, provides details on image usage, metadata, and can identify AI-generated images with Google DeepMind's SynthID watermark.
​From Google​

Google Enhances Protections Against Explicit Deepfakes in Search Results

Google announces improved measures to combat non-consensual explicit fake content ("deepfakes") in Search, including easier removal processes and updated ranking systems to reduce visibility of such content.
​From Google​

Google Rolls Out Interactive Local Knowledge Panel Layout in Search Results

Google has introduced an interactive knowledge panel layout for local businesses in search results, featuring a photo carousel, reviews, map, weather information, and ticketing options, as spotted by Claire Carlile and confirmed by Barry Schwartz.
​From Barry Schwartz

THE LATEST IN AI

Study Shows AI Search Not Disrupting Google's Dominance, Despite Rapid Growth

According to research by Sonata Insights and Datos, Google's search traffic grew 1.4% from May 2023 to May 2024, while AI search platforms like Perplexity showed growth but remain far behind in user activity. The study reveals that 99% of AI platform users still use traditional search engines, suggesting AI search is additive rather than disruptive to Google's dominance.
​From Sparktoro​

Perplexity Launches Ad Revenue Sharing Program with Publishers Amid Plagiarism Concerns

Perplexity is introducing a "Publishers' Program" to share ad revenue with publishing partners following accusations of plagiarism, with initial participants including Time, Der Spiegel, and Fortune. The program aims to compensate publishers for content used in AI-generated responses, offering a "double-digit percentage" revenue share and additional benefits.
​From The Verge​

Reddit CEO Demands Payment from Microsoft and Others for Data Access

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman is demanding that companies like Microsoft, Anthropic, and Perplexity pay for access to Reddit's data, citing unauthorized scraping and use in AI training. Huffman emphasizes the changing value exchange in search and AI, with Reddit blocking crawlers from companies unwilling to negotiate licensing deals, similar to those already struck with Google and OpenAI.
​From The Verge​

OpenAI Abandons ChatGPT Watermarking, Explores Alternatives Amid User Concerns

OpenAI has scrapped plans to implement text watermarking for ChatGPT-generated content due to user resistance and technical challenges, opting instead to explore alternative methods like metadata embedding for AI content identification.
​From Search Engine Journal

SPONSOR SE Ranking SE Ranking’s AI Writer now offers an advanced one-click article generation feature. Unlike other AI tools, SE Ranking uses its proprietary algorithms to ensure the text is optimized for your target keywords and can perform well in search. Set up custom parameters or use the default settings to generate an entire article in a single click. In approximately 5 minutes, you’ll get a complete text personalized to your needs that requires minimal polishing. GENERATE THE ARTICLE IN ONE CLICK

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STUFF FOR YOU FROM OLGA ZARR

How to Succeed with Your SEO Audits (& Be in Top 10% Of SEOs)

In this video, I'm giving you tips on how to be successful with your SEO audits (based on my 12+ years of experience in SEO).

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Don't Buy My SEO Audit Mastery Course Unless You Watch This!

In this video, I'm giving you an exclusive sneak peek into my brand new SEO Audit Mastery course. You'll get a taste of what's inside.

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$5K to $20K per Website Audit - The SEO Audit Masterclass You Can't Mis 😱

In this interview with Doug Cunnington, I'm sharing my journey to becoming an SEO audit expert.

I dive deep into how my ADHD and introverted nature actually became superpowers in my SEO auditing career. You'll hear about my transition from agency life to running my own consultancy, and how I've built a 6-8 week waitlist for my services.

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New interviews with SEO experts are coming soon!

SEO TIPS FROM GOOGLE

Unmissable JavaScript Rendering Tips from Google’s Experts

• JavaScript is crucial for many web pages, as it helps fetch and display content that would otherwise be missing if JavaScript is disabled.
• Rendering in the context of Google Search involves "headless browsing," where a browser controlled by a computer processes the page as a user would see it after JavaScript has executed.
• The process of rendering is resource-intensive and expensive, yet essential to access and index dynamic content on web pages.
• Relying on user agent-specific content rendering can cause issues over time, as outdated or incorrect HTML might be served to Googlebot, affecting indexing.
• Implementing structured data with JavaScript can be effective, but web developers should ensure their pages aren't too fragile in case of resource loading errors.
• JavaScript redirects function similarly to server-side redirects but occur at render time, making them reliable for Googlebot to follow.
• API endpoints necessary for content should not be blocked by robots.txt, as this would prevent Googlebot from fetching essential data, resulting in incomplete indexing.
• Proper error handling in JavaScript is crucial; unhandled errors can lead to issues like blank pages or unnecessary redirects.
• Googlebot accepts cookies during rendering but operates in a stateless manner, starting each session afresh without retaining cookie data from previous sessions.
• Using the URL Inspection Tool in Search Console can help verify if Googlebot can render a page correctly, reflecting how users would see it.

Listen to the entire Search Off the Record episode about JavasScript rendering.

Key Tips for Understanding and Using Google Trends Data

• Google Trends provides anonymized, categorized, and aggregated samples of actual search requests, allowing analysis from a global to city-level scale.
• Two types of data are available: real-time data covering the last seven days and non-realtime data from 2004 to 72 hours before the current search.
• Data is normalized by dividing each data point by the total searches in the specified geography and time range, ensuring comparability and scaling from 0 to 100.
• Google Trends reflects search interest and should not be confused with polling data, serving as one of many data points for drawing conclusion.
• Unlike Google Trends, Autocomplete is designed to speed up search completion and is subject to removal policies and algorithmic filtering, making it less reliable for gauging popular search terms​.

Watch the entire video about Google Trends on YouTube.

SEO TIPS & TRICKS

Here are a few tips & tricks from other SEOs and/or myself.

7 Key Questions and Tools to Assess Your Site Organic Search Rankings Drops

​Aleyda Solis outlines 7 key questions and tools to assess organic search ranking drops:

• Correlate traffic drops with Google updates using Google Search Console and GSC Guardian Chrome Extension
• Identify affected queries and pages using Google Search Console's comparison feature
• Determine if decreases are due to position shifts or changes in impressions/CTR
• Check for drops in SERP features using tools like Semrush
• Analyze competitor pages that have increased in rankings
• Assess pages gaining visibility for queries where your site decreased using Advanced Web Ranking
• Identify pages attracting most clicks for queries where you dropped using SimilarWeb
• Use this comprehensive analysis to determine the cause of ranking drops and create an optimization plan

SEOFOMO: The Newsletter to Keep up with SEO; News, Updates, Resources, Tips, Tools & Jobs by Aleyda Solis SEOFOMO is a weekly free newsletter sent to +30K subscribers with the latest SEO news, updates, guides, tips, free tools and jobs. Avoid missing any worthy SEO update and subscribe now! Subscribe​

CHECK MY SEO GUIDES Lawyer SEO Guide Interested in SEO for lawyers? You must check the most comprehensive lawyer SEO guide on the internet. Available in the written version (14K+ words) and as a video (1 hour). ​READ NOW →​ ​ JavaScript SEO Guide Interested in JavaScript SEO?Learn all about JavaScript SEO in my in-depth written guide (12K+ words) and video guide based on my interview with Martin Splitt from Google. ​READ NOW →​ ​ Cora SEO Tool Guide Want to get better SEO results? Cora is the tool you are looking for. Check my review of the tool and watch my video guides. You can get Cora 25% OFF as my subscriber. ​READ NOW →​ ​

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DON'T MISS THESE SEO RESOURCES

Search GPT – Can Search GPT Disrupt Google Search?

Kevin Indig analyzes OpenAI's potential launch of Search GPT as a strategic move to compete with Google, outlining six key reasons including market positioning, leveraging existing infrastructure, and securing content partnerships. He discusses the implications for SEO and speculates on OpenAI's future moves, including the possibility of developing an AI-powered browser and phone to gain more valuable user data.
​From Kevin Indig

Wix Studio & SEJ's NYC Meetup Highlights Branding Strategies for Lead Generation

At a digital marketing meetup hosted by Wix and Search Engine Journal in NYC, industry experts shared insights on leveraging branding to attract more leads. Key takeaways included focusing on editorial-first content, building trust through community engagement, utilizing personal branding effectively, and creating micro-moments to convert branding efforts into actual leads.
​From George Nguyen​

Top Marketers Recommend 24 Influential Books for Marketing Professionals

In a survey of 26 marketers from Ahrefs and other companies, 24 books were recommended as influential for marketing work. The list includes classics like "Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion" and newer titles such as "Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.
​From Ahrefs​

What is Keyword Gap Analysis and How to Do It

Anna Postol explains that keyword gap analysis compares your website's keywords with competitors' to identify missed opportunities. The article details how to perform this analysis using tools like SE Ranking, from selecting competitors to creating optimized content based on discovered keyword gaps.
​From Anna Postol​

Reddit’s SEO Growth: A Deep Dive into Reddit’s Recent Surge in SEO Visibility

An Amsive study reveals Reddit's 1,328% increase in Google SEO visibility from 2023 to 2024, now ranking 5th in U.S. organic search. Reddit's user-generated content often replaces traditional sites in top results across various categories, aligning with Google's focus on community-driven content and reshaping the SEO landscape.
​From Amsive​

Recovery Times from Local SEO Mishaps: a Quick Summary

Phil Rozek outlines recovery times for various local SEO issues, ranging from Google Business Profile suspensions to algorithmic updates. The article provides estimated recovery periods for 15 common SEO problems, emphasizing that recovery times can vary widely depending on the specific issue and how quickly it's addressed.
​From Phil Rozek​

AI Bots — Who is Blocking and Why?

A study by Moz analyzed AI bot blocking practices among top-ranking websites in Google search results. The research found that while a small percentage of subdomains block AI bots, high-authority domains are more likely to do so. GPTBot is the most commonly blocked, followed by CCBot. The trend suggests large publishers may be using bot blocking as leverage for potential deals with AI companies, while smaller sites might benefit more from allowing AI access to their content.
​From Moz​

Comprehensive Guide to Conducting an SEO Content Audit

Minnie Mururi outlines a five-step process for conducting an effective SEO content audit: setting objectives, categorizing content, analyzing data, evaluating content, and implementing changes. The guide recommends tools like Google Search Console and Analytics, emphasizes the importance of content audits for improving SEO and user engagement, and provides actionable advice on optimizing content based on audit results.
​From Sitebulb​https://seosly.com/latebird​