SearchCap: New Year’s Greetings, Santa Tracker, and Google’s Updated Recipe Results

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web.

From Search Engine Land:

• A year in review: Search Engine Land’s top 10 columns of 2016
  Dec 30, 2016 by Jessica Thompson

  Which topics drew the most attention within the search industry this year? From infographics to quizzes to advice, our top 10 columns of the year covered all the bases.

• 4 steps to make your organic listings more effective
  Dec 30, 2016 by Jason Decker

  How can you improve your organic search results? Columnist Jason Decker outlines four basic steps to make your listings more compelling to searchers and prospects.

• Google’s New Year’s eve day logo for 2016
  Dec 30, 2016 by Barry Schwartz

  Here is the New Year’s eve Doodle from Google all decked out in jumpy balloons.

• Paradigm shift: Has Google suspended defamation removals?
  Dec 30, 2016 by Chris Silver Smith

  Columnist Chris Silver Smith takes a look at what could be a recent policy shift in Google’s longstanding informal policy of granting court-ordered defamation removal requests.

• Don’t just appeal to a local searcher’s wants or needs, focus on the journey
  Dec 30, 2016 by Lydia Jorden

  You’ve probably heard sayings like, “Life’s about the journey, not the destination,” but have you thought about putting this philosophy to work in local search? Columnist Lydia Jorden explains how to optimize for this trend.

• Search in Pics: Google wine gift, holiday staircase & Google paradise store
  Dec 30, 2016 by Barry Schwartz

  In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more. Google Paradise store: Source: Instagram Google holiday staircase: Source: Instagram Google wine gift: Source: Instagram Google […]

• SEO in 2017: Seizing opportunity, evangelizing success, achieving overarching growth
  Dec 29, 2016 by Jim Yu

  Columnist Jim Yu contends that to succeed in 2017, brands will need to coordinate organic and paid search marketing disciplines and understand how they can work together to build the relationship with customers.

• Organic Search Party: Our Top SEO Columns of 2016
  Dec 29, 2016 by Jessica Thompson

  Which stories got the SEO community fired up this year? Check out Search Engine Land’s top “All Things SEO” and “Link Week” columns of 2016 to find out!

• Why Google shutting down Map Maker should terrify SMBs
  Dec 29, 2016 by Joy Hawkins

  Contributor Joy Hawkins warns about the likely unintended consequences of Google’s impending shutdown of Map Maker, calling for the search giant to create more transparency.

• Google launches a new look for recipes in the mobile search results
  Dec 29, 2016 by Barry Schwartz

  Google launched a new way to find new recipes for your New Years feast. The new recipe results are seen on mobile search.

• What you’re missing with SEO that will make a world of difference
  Dec 29, 2016 by Julian Connors

  While long-term efforts are SEO mainstays, contributor Julian Connors suggests more short-term reactive strategies can also have significant rankings impact.

• Google logo for Charles Macintosh, the Scottish chemist who invented waterproof fabric
  Dec 29, 2016 by Barry Schwartz

  Google celebrates the 250th birthday of Charles Macintosh, who invented the Macintosh raincoat in 1823.

• 2016: The year in paid search (A year of massive change!)
  Dec 29, 2016 by Ginny Marvin

  This year will be seen as a watershed moment for mobile, with nearly every change reflecting mobile’s now-dominant contribution to search.

• Amazon begins testing Product Listing Ads on AdWords
  Dec 28, 2016 by Greg Finn

  For the first time ever, Amazon Product Listing Ads have been popping up in what appears to be an AdWords test.

• Google Shopping feed optimization: Speak your customers’ language and write more compelling product titles
  Dec 28, 2016 by Andreas Reiffen

  Product titles are among the most important factors influencing the performance of your Google Shopping campaigns. Contributor Andreas Reiffen shares data on how to optimize them.

• SEM’s legit: Our top paid search columns of 2016
  Dec 28, 2016 by Jessica Thompson

  Expanded text ads, the removal of the right rail in SERPs, and many other changes dominated the PPC world this past year. Read on to see Search Engine Land’s most popular paid search columns of 2016.

• Is Google’s AMP carousel working? (Or, SEO insights from Kanye West)
  Dec 28, 2016 by Barb Palser

  Publishers are asking questions about the effectiveness of Google’s AMP carousel. Columnist Barb Palser analyzed 235 million AMP search impressions to find answers.

• Improve search rankings and increase productivity with local marketing automation software
  Dec 27, 2016 by Digital Marketing Depot

  Managing online citations, claimed and unclaimed listings, reviews and ratings, landing pages and data feeds for hundreds or thousands of locations has become time-consuming and costly for enterprise brands. Automating these processes can improve search rankings, increase productivity and lower CPCs due to better SEO. Marketing Land’s “Enterprise Local Marketing Automation Platforms” examines the market […]

• Google Search Console warns of nonsecure collection of passwords with upcoming Chrome browser release
  Dec 27, 2016 by Barry Schwartz

  Have a login form on an HTTP URL? You will need to switch it to an HTTPS URL if you want to avoid security warnings in Chrome in January.

• 3 ways in-house do-it-yourselfers can prepare for PPC management
  Dec 27, 2016 by Pauline Jakober

  So, your boss just told you that managing PPC is being added to your list of responsibilities. What to do? Columnist Pauline Jakober offers tips on how to get up to speed.

• Eat Local: Our Top 10 Local Search Columns of 2016
  Dec 27, 2016 by Jessica Thompson

  Hungry for some good local SEO content? Satisfy your hunger with Search Engine Land’s 10 most popular local search columns of the year.

• Where is Santa Claus? Your 2016 guide to Santa trackers from NORAD & Google
  Dec 24, 2016 by Danny Sullivan

  Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus … but where exactly is he? Our guide to Santa trackers helps you locate Jolly St. Nick in a flash.

• ‘Tis the season! Google spreads more cheer on Day 2 of its Holiday 2016 doodle series
  Dec 24, 2016 by Amy Gesenhues

  Google’s 2016 holiday doodle series included three separate animated images posted on December 23rd, 24th and 25th.

• Google’s top results for ‘Did the Holocaust happen’ now expunged of denial sites
  Dec 24, 2016 by Danny Sullivan

  Initial fix merely bumped denial site down, then failed to work consistently. Now the denial site is gone from first page of results.

Recent Headlines From MarTech, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:

• A year in review: Search Engine Land’s top 10 columns of 2016
• What rocked digital marketers’ worlds in 2016: Marketing Land’s top 10 columns of the year
• A big year for marketing technology: Our top columns of 2016
• Relationship marketing: The new CRM
• Why Google shutting down Map Maker should terrify SMBs
• Being the brand local customers ‘know’: Brands share hows and whys of local marketing programs
• 10 behavioral science principles for great digital creative
• Top brand moments in 2016: 5 CMOs share their biggest milestones of the year
• Amazon launches Digital Day, a new sales holiday for digital products
• Organic search party: Search Engine Land’s top SEO columns of 2016
• Individualization: Mobile marketing’s next step
• Is Google’s AMP carousel working? (Or, SEO insights from Kanye West)
• LinkedIn Ads: CPC vs. CPM bidding — Stop saying, ‘It depends on your goals’
• Going viral: The top social media marketing columns of 2016
• Periscope launches live 360 video broadcasting
• Report: US advertisers spent $17.6 billion on digital ads in Q3
• Top smartphone apps of 2016: Google and Facebook control 8 out of the top 10 slots
• Email Optimization Checklist – Capture, Convince, Close
• SEM’s legit: Our top paid search columns of 2016
• 3 ways in-house do-it-yourselfers can prepare for PPC management
• Consolidation, convergence and the collective: Three Cs will drive B2B marketing in 2017
• Getting down to business: Our top CMO Zone columns for 2016
• Top martech in 2016: CMOs from PepsiCo, Mizzen+Main & Olapic list their favorite martech this year
• Revamping your email marketing program for the new year
• Amazon’s happy holidays: 9x growth in Echo family device sales
• Report: Personal health data should be off-limits to common marketing practices
• Eat Local: Our Top 10 Local Search Columns of 2016
• SEO in 2017: Mobile optimization as a competitive advantage
• Improve your paid search & social through relationship marketing
• Sisense lets you ask for analytics by voice — or by checking the color of your desk lamp
• Industry consolidation and programmatic’s power: 2 hot topics explored by the top 10 display advertising columns of 2016
• 2016: The Year in Social Media
• 5 things you should know about the Google Display Network, direct from Google
• Content about content is king: 2016’s most popular columns on the topic
• The 12 stages of email marketing’s evolution: Past and future

Search News From Around The Web:

Industry

• A Slightly More Frugal Google, Wall Street Journal
• John Mueller Of Google Helping Webmasters On Christmas Day Again, Search Engine Roundtable
• How Can I Join The Last Google Webmaster Hangout Of The Year?, Search Engine Roundtable
• 2016 Year in Review, blog.google

Local & Maps

• New Street View coverage 2016, Google Earth Blog
• Google Earth imagery updates – Fire!, Google Earth Blog
• Should You Copy and Paste Your Online Reviews onto Your Site?, LocalVisibilitySystem.com

Link Building

• Internal Linking: How to Build and Improve Your SEO, semrush.com
• Google Says CDNs Are Safe For Hosting, Search Engine Roundtable
• How To Use Follow-Up Content in Link Building, alliance-link.com
• Drop In Google Link Counts In Search Console? Might Be A Data Update On Google’s End, Search Engine Roundtable

Searching

• Answer: Searching for the place where things should be, SearchReSearch
• Google Testing New Mobile Search Results Interface, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Home Helps You Leave the House, Too, New York Times
• Yandex Algorithm: Identifying the Russian 2016 Searches, Russian Search Marketing
• Amazon Echo vs. Google Home: Who’s the Real Winner in Voice?, cmswire.com
• Google: Our job to help remove hate and harmful content, BBC News
• SearchResearch Challenge (12/28/16): A few Natural History Challenges (ears, embryonic nutrition, and virgin births), SearchReSearch
• Google South Africa Broken Gift Box Link, Search Engine Roundtable

SEO

• Are The Holidays / New Years A Google Time To Spam Google Search?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Throttle Traffic To Web Sites?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Has No Web Site Page Quota & Doesn’t Throttle Traffic, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Says The Mobile First Index Is Not Yet Live, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Says Using Site Removal Tool Won’t Speed Up Site Migrations, Search Engine Roundtable
• Hunting Down SERP Features to Understand Intent & Drive Traffic – Next Level, Moz
• Top Mobile SEO Tactics for 2017, Online Marketing Blog
• Google Recommends You Keep The Default Robots.txt Setting In Your CMS, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google Said Slow Pages Might Be Labeled As Not Mobile Friendly, Search Engine Roundtable
• How to Crack Google Search Optimization for Your Unique Niche, quicksprout.com
• Should You Hire an SEO Consultant or an SEO Agency?, Bill Hartzer
• The Do’s and Don’ts of Content Syndication for SEO, Search Influence
• 5 Silly but Harmful SEO Mistakes Digital Marketers Need to Avoid, Search Engine Journal
• Google Algorithm Update Chatter During Holiday Break?, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google’s Mobile First Index Won’t Look At Page Speed, Search Engine Roundtable
• Google’s Advice To SEOs For 2017: Make Sure You Optimize For Mobile Like You Do For Desktop, Search Engine Roundtable
• How to Craft a Remarkable SEO Strategy for 2017 – Whiteboard Friday, Moz
• Need A Special Crawl Rate From Google? Here Is How To Ask., Search Engine Roundtable
• Video: Google Mobile First, Algorithm Update, 2017 SEO Advice & More, Search Engine Roundtable

SEM / Paid Search

• 12 Ways to Optimize a Paid Search Campaign – and What Matters Most, Search Engine Journal
• 3 Ways To Segment PPC Keyword And Query Performance, PPC Hero
• SEO vs PPC: Why Not Both?, ahrefs.com
• The Complete AdWords Audit Part 15: Audiences, Certified Knowledge
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