Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

It seems that no sites hit by the September Google helpful content update have recovered yet, but there is still more time for the March core update to reverse those. Google Analytics updated its conversion metrics to better match with Google Ads. Microsoft is buying ads on Google Search to drive searches on Bing Search. Bing’s people also ask section has ask Copilot. Bing Search has refine your search with Copilot. And I posted the weekly SEO video recap.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• 
  Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Spam Update Done, Patience With Core Update, Helpful Content Recoveries, Yahoo Search Coming & New Head Of Google Search
  
  
  
  
  This week we covered that the Google March 2024 spam update is done rolling out. Google says to wait for the March 2024 core update to be done before making changes. Google will collect feedback after the core and spam updates are done…
• 
  Report: No Site Hit By The September Helpful Content Update Recovered Yet
  
  
  As you know, the September 2023 helpful content update was brutal to many small site owners, bloggers, SEOs and others. Some of these folks were desperately waiting for a recovery and were hopeful that this March 2024 core update (which is still rolling out) would result in a recovery. But it does not appear that any site has yet recovered from the ranking declines they saw in September 2023.
• 
  Google Analytics Conversion Metrics Updated To Match Google Ads
  
  
  Google announced changes to Google Analytics to help the conversion metrics match across Google Ads and Google Analytics. Google will rename legacy conversion to key events, and there are new cross-channel conversion performance reporting beyond Google Ads will be added to the Advertising workspace in GA4.
• 
  Microsoft Buying Ads On Google Search To Drive More Searches On Bing
  
  
  Microsoft is buying Google Ads to promote its search engine, Bing, on Google Search. I think this has been going on a long time, but you can trigger Bing Ads on Google Search through the Google Ads system for some queries.
• 
  Bing Search With Ask Copilot In People Also Ask Section
  
  
  Microsoft has been pushing Copilot within Bing Search a heck of a lot. Now Microsoft is showing a chat icon that says “Ask Copilot” in the People also ask section of the Bing search results.
• 
  Bing Search Refine Your Search On Chat / Copilot
  
  
  Bing Search has a new refine your search box that sends searchers from Bing Search to Microsoft Copilot (formerly Bing Chat). You can check off the topics below and then click on the blue “chat” button to be taken into Copilot.
• 
  Google Lolly Pop Bow
  
  
  Here is an old photo from 2017 from the Google China office then. It is of a branded Google lolly pop with a blue bow on it. I am not sure why it caught my eye – it seems a bit creepy maybe?

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

• 3 Types of Ecommerce Product Reviews for SEO + Conversions, BruceClay
• AI Spam Sites Beat Google’s March 2024 Spam Update, Search Engine Journal
• How Brands Can Prepare for SGE, Botify
• It’s not you – it’s Google Search Console, Women in Tech SEO
• Keyword Clustering in Seconds: Save Time With Keywords Explorer Tool, Ahrefs
• SEO Testing: What It Is & How to Test SEO in 2024 (+ 6 Ideas), Semrush
• The Role of SEO in Mergers and Acquisitions, Ahrefs
• What Is Visual Search? Examples, Benefits, and Optimization Tips, Semrush
• WordPress 6.5: The features you want to know about, Yoast

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:

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